New Blog Posts . . . .

This blog has now been replaced by the blog on my website here

Out with the Old and in with the New ready for an exciting 2014.

This blog will stay live for the foreseeable future enabling you to see the history of my work.

If you want to see photo's of how each individual piece progresses have a look at my behind the scenes page on my website.

Thank you very much for following my work, I hope you'll continue following me on my new blog.

Wishing you a great day.

Mike

www.mike-ohagan.com

PS: You can also keep up with me on these social networks :)


@Michae11O

Pinterest 

Facebook

January 2014 the way it is . . .

Some of my friends have been doing a review of their year 2013 and what they achieved last year, some have truly inspired me; but I'm not going to conduct a review of my 2013 here just a few highlights that made it a great year;

• Spectacular holidays in far flung places 
• Getting my work to the printers
• My website mike-ohagan.com went live

I'm struggling under a muggle-wrap of a bad phase at the moment and although my treatment strategy from my Medical team has been adjusted, it hasn't helped. "My pain experienced level is exquisite" (a phrase my Dr used after testing me). I find this phrase exotic and yet strangely appealing as it adds something to the listener / reader rather than just saying "I'm in a lot of pain" leaves out. Today is the first day in 12 days that I can see a bit of light through the mist of pain and feel able in mind and body to add to my blog. Having a positive mindset helps but this only takes you so far, I rate persistence and determination to reach goals higher. Later this month I'm having some assessment days and treatment in Hospital and I'm hoping this is going to take me to a different level.

I have not been able to paint anything for 24 days and although this has bugged me, I've learned to accept what cannot be changed. The good news is that this has coincided with the Christmas festivities and seeing the joy of my children has been great.

Looking forward into 2014 I'll be finishing Miami Ice, creating a "new series" of paintings and opening up shop in China (the deal is nearly done).

So there's some great things to look forward to and get on with when I can.

As this is primarily a blog about my Art I'll show you a picture of a nearly finished piece (now finished) from a year or two ago. This one cannot be scanned and giclee printed because of the gold paint used in the corn field so it stays in my collection for now;

If you like my Art and words, please share this blog or my website (mike-ohagan.com) with your friends, and social networks, thanks :)

Miami Ice Part 4 and other news.

It's been a very busy period, not on my art unfortunately for some; no it's been a busy period in family life, creating golden memories for my children at Disneyland Paris and preparing for Christmas.

Also I've had quite a bad low phase this time and this has resulted in more Hospital treatments and tests (in the New Year I said not before Christmas).

During this period my creative mind has come up with even more ideas for paintings and some Pantone marker drawings which I'm rough sketching up now to see if they are viable. I'll let you know which if any will work.

Meanwhile I have completed the base colour on the Chevy and added stage one shadows and highlights. The girls tee shirt dress is based in with detailing to add. There is still much to do as you can see, including a key piece deliberately left out until the near end (which will make it obvious why the title is Miami Ice).

In answer to a couple of questions the work is on 5ft wide by 4ft high stretched museum grade canvas and I'm using Windsor and Newton fine art Acrylic paints.

Shoes and hair base added.

Big windy hair added and note precursor reflections.

Car body colour added and stage 1 shadows and reflections added. 

Some key points;

• The reflections are entirely imaginary. 
• The car is derived from three different reference photographs (and not one of them is this blue)
• The girl happens, just by chance, to look like one of my daughters.

Thanks for stopping by my Blog and I hope you enjoyed your visit, please explore as there is loads of info about my art, my backstory, and how I came to art. If you like my work please follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Finally you can visit my website and buy prints www.mike-ohagan.com

Wishing you a great day.

Cheers

Mike

PS. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Miami Ice Part 3

There's a saying in the business world often used for IT projects; "everything takes longer than you think." Directors and Executives usually say it to their Managers and Programme /Project managers, not because they are relaxed about a programme of work or a project being late, but to remind everyone to build in slack. When a delay or unforeseen "incident" happens there should be time enough to cover it in the plan. It's far better to exceed expectations than to tell your customer / manager "sorry it's going to be late" (and if you know it is going to be late, tell them straight-away and work out when the new delivery date will be - and build in some slack!).

You may be wondering why I'm talking "Management speak" when this is a blog about my Art? Well  . . . . . . . there's been delays on my latest work and I'm not sure when I can get it finished. The issue is that I cannot predict how well or not I'm going to be, so it's not about allowing slack time, say for supplies to be late, or things happening where I lose time on the painting. It's about how able I am to paint.

I've had some real "challenges" with my arms and the Medics are working on possible solutions. I've tried to stay upbeat, especially with Christmas just around the corner with lots of fun things planned; but I have to admit that I have felt a bit down, and that's even doing positive attitude affirmations, meditation and relaxation exercises. Most of my lowness is down to frustration and dealing with my new challenge. Anyway one thing life has taught me is that everyone's life has a natural rhythm to it and that it's natural sometimes to feel a bit low when tough things happen. The main thing is to hang in there and keep being you, so whilst I've not been able to do much, if any painting I have been able to keep tweeting and responding to sales of my work.

Thank you for hanging around waiting for the latest news, here is the latest photo of Miami Ice.

There's still a lot of work to be completed, as you can see; including adding the Ice Cream Cart, creating the male figure, completing the car and then adding detail touches. I was hoping when I started that it would be finished by Christmas; now I know it will definitely not be.

Thank you for following my news and my work! You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and see my full collection on my website mike-ohagan.com (where you can also buy High Quality Prints).

See you again soon.

Cheers

Mike

Miami Ice Part 2

It's been a busy few days and not without the odd challenge that makes life interesting. Had a bit of a stumble, bumble trip, whoops, fall down "sequence" which I escaped from with only minor grazes and bruises and more of a dent in my pride than anything else. Still it entertained a few passers by and also luckily nobody got out their smart-phone and filmed my antics.

Meanwhile I've managed to add more paint to Miami Ice in the shape of Palm trees and a headlight. I completed the headlight for my benefit and although it looks like it's finished out of sequence with the rest of the painting, it's there to act as my primary reference for sunlight and reflections later on. And by-the-way the reflections and chromework in the headlight are constructed from the image in my mind. I used three reference headlights to get the shape and angles right in the sketch.
 
 

 

 

Thank you for watching Miami Ice appear :) I hope you like it.

Mike

Progress on Miami Ice in Photo's

The new project is under way and as you can see it's called "Miami Ice;" this may become clear as the picture progresses.

The picture is 4ft x 3ft on stretched canvas and painted in acrylics.

Sky and seafront based in.

Car sketched in.

Road based completed.

Clouds and sky finished.

Palm tree trunks, crown and side stones added.

Detail on Palm trees started and darks based in, also sand drifting on road.

First Palm tree finished.

Hope you like Miami Ice. I'll post up more progress photo's soon.

You can see all my art and buy Prints in two sizes on various archive quality mediums here :) www.mike-ohagan.com

Website goes Live and other "Stuff."

The BIG news for me recently has been getting my website mike-ohagan.com live. It launched on time, officially on my Birthday 1st October 2013 which was fun! A double celebration and a very exciting day for me. Thank you to everyone who made it special xx.

Have a look around the site if you like it please share with your friends; if you think something needs fixing or you don't like something let me know on the website or in the comment space below, thanks.

My favourite parts of the new site are the pages showing my work in a living space, this is The Posse;

The Posse at home. Prints available here

I'm biased of course but this is my favourite. But I love them all . . . .

Over the next few months additional features will be added to the site including the option to buy Post Cards and other merchandise. This has been requested by so many people, that I've talked to a few suppliers to see how to get it done to the standard I want. Not that I'm fussy about my work . . . . no correct that; actually I'm very fussy about how my work is presented to you, my Customers, my liker's, my followers and of course my critics. It has to be the best quality materials used in the prints and anything else that my work appears on. It's something I had not even thought of, but I'm always open to new ideas. I'll let you know how this progresses.

I've also been on a shopping spree to buy the new canvas and top up my paint store for my next piece. And I've got some new equipment to help me get the best out of me:) which I'm also really excited about.

My regular readers, followers and liker's may remember the news about my recent health MOT; well the outcome is that some of my medications have been increased and some changed for a different approach. It took me a few days to get used to the increased doses and changes (made me feel foggy and a bit vacant - and anyone who says there's no change there then, will be immediately removed from my Christmas card list). I'm feeling a bit more stable and with-it today, so I thought I'd try getting some news on my blog and here it is.

Looking forward I'm hopeful that I can start my next painting very soon. And as usual I'll post up progress peaks of it as it takes shape.