MOO! Teaming up with MOO.com for a Giveaway!

My moo.com cards arrived and they are lovely! I'm very pleased.  The gloss coating on the postcards is like a rich candy lacquer - mmmm... I'm considering keeping a set of one image each for myself! Maybe putting them in an album to create a portfolio of sorts?! Below are some images of my order - It's a shame the gloss can't translate in a photo but just look at that packaging - good stuff ;)

Hey Guys! I just placed my order with Moo.com for a bunch of postcards and minicards to hand out at NYCC. I'm super excited because Moo allows you to have as many different designs as you want per order! So I get to show of tons of my stuff on my Moo cards instead of having to choose just one image - which is great for me and my epic indecisiveness ;)

But wait - it gets better! The great folks at Moo.com have allowed me to offer a giveaway of some awesome Moo products to you! Try Holiday Cards, Business Cards, or (my favorite) mini moo cards! I'll be updating on here, instagram, and twitter (@nopunchbacks) with more details.
Get ready to get your Moo on...

Empty Moo?! That just won't do!

 My new mini cards come soon - I'm pretty excited :)

The Wedding Commission

No silly, not a committee that oversees weddings, but a lovely bride-to-be that commissioned a painting as a grooms gift for her fiance! What an immeasurable honor.  They were married this past Sunday, September 9th and now that the gifts have been exchanged and I no longer risk spoiling the surprise, I'm going to show you the completed piece! (click it or scroll to the bottom to see it larger)

18 x 20 inches, Acrylic on Wood Panel

I was given no direction other than general scale and tone and so subject was completely open! Both an exciting and a daunting undertaking.  Though it was a wedding gift, I realized I didn't want to make the portrait too wedding-centric.  I didn't want to focus on that one day but on the lifetime the couple is planning together.  That's when the idea came to surround the embracing couple with animals that mate for life! My research on the subject brought into light all sorts of creatures in the animal kingdom that are fiercely loyal and monogamous - termites, albatross, wolves - who knew!? But to avoid other connotations some of those animals carry (destruction, doom, general naughtiness) I decided on animals that have a visual elegance and/or a ingrained history of being symbols of love everlasting - swans, turtle doves, and french angel fish! Below is the original sketch and some details of the painting and animals.

A close up of the flower bouquet - I had a little fun here painting thick & loose which I don't often find opportunity to do in my style.

The final sketch

Detail of the Swans at her feet

Detail of the French Angel Fish

Detail of the Two Turtle Doves

(I put this here so you could see it larger - in case you didn't click the first one ;P )