A rose a bit wilted

Hello my friends,

I've been a little wilted lately.  Spent a good portion of the day this week at the doctor working to get my blood sugar under control.  It looks like I'm going to have to go back on medicine.  I'm not pleased, but you know...I am going to do it, and kick this diabetic crap in the butt so I can get back to doing my art the way I want to.

Speaking of my art!  I've made some major progress on 'Spooner'. 

Here are some close ups, and of course...as you see in the top picture we have the Miley Cyrus tongue.  I'm renaming that pose the "MC HORROR TONGUE" Because it scares the crap out of even me, and look what I paint. 

Here it is in the big version.  A little bit further and I'll be done.  Really happy with how it's turning out and the mood is just as creepy as I wanted it to be.

One more thing before I get off here and get my butt to work...

I have "Pirate's Booty" up for sale on ebay here : Buy my BOOTY  Just two days before it's off, so grab her now, while you still can.

I'll catch you all next week...


May the darkness comfort you,

Nick

Chicks with guns and a Rose for the ladies

Hello my friends!

It's been a roller coaster week for me.  I've been chasing sleep this week, and can't seem to get a schedule.  Then a friend reminded me, "Hey, you are an artist, and you don't have to live on a set schedule anymore."  How do you like that?  A total moment of reva-freaking-lation.  So I'm going to be up when I want to be and sleep when I want to and see how that works out for me.

No fear though I've been working steady on a couple of projects that I'll share now.

The first is a continuation of "Spooner" 

For my art friends who follow you can see I am layering it up from the darkest values to the lightest.  

You'll also notice that the umber glazing I did is giving it an "atmosphere". I had to re-draw his arm due to a mistake, but it's fixed and I'm feeling solid about it in general.

That isn't all I've done this week either.  I have one of my sexy ladies going on now too!  

I'm working on this pencil drawing and I have to say I'm drooling.  A tough sexy woman is beyond compare!  

I have a featured Print this week, For all my sins

Take a look, leave a vote, make a comment, and *cough cough8 Christmas is coming ;)

One last thing before I hit the canvas again.  Not too much longer on my ebay auction.  it's going for a steal at the moment.  One day twenty-two hours left as of this posting.  Original oil Pirate ship ebay auction

Alright my friends, it's back to the oil mine with me.  I'll catch you all next week!  If you have any art questions hit the comments, and I'll be glad to answer! 

May the darkness comfort you, 

Nick

A rose on Ebay

Hello my friends,

This won't be a long post.  I just wanted to let you in on what could be a great deal for you. 
I have an original oil painting up on Ebay.  Pirate ship original oil painting

I'll be back on my regular Thursday posts this week! 


May the darkness comfort you,

Nick

A rose you'll never forget to remember

Hello my friends,

Say hello to my new logo!  Indeed, this is me and when you see this new design you'll know it's Nick Rose.  I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you, and let you know my daughters helped me decide on this for my new legal logo for my studio.  I'm thrilled about it, and think this is the best logo I've ever had.

In the next couple weeks I'll be working on and unveiling a new place for people to buy prints of my art.  It's high quality and a couple of my artist friends are using it to get their work out there.  I've asked around and they are impressed with how the art is made and what all is available.  Details to follow when I get things set up.

Speaking of my art...The above picture is the finished drawing, of "Spooner" with an "umber" glazing.  I'm trying it out as something new in my style.  Glazing can be done over the top of a finished painting to change the chroma/hue/tone of a section or entire painting to give it a certain feel.  Doing it under the painting changes depth and texture (some what)  because it changes the hue slightly of the more transparent pigments over it, giving the over all painting it's own feel.  I'm letting this get nice and dry, but will update you on it when I get started in earnest.  The color I used here has a strong impact on middle tones and dark tones, so I'm excited about how it will add to the creepy feel.


Well, that's all for now my friends.  My body is still healing but I am in good shape.  I'm pulling up my Dr. Creep boxers and getting a lot of work done. Until next time...

May the darkness comfort you,

Nick

Pirates and more, a rose at your door

Hello my friends!

I'm a complete pirate kick right now, as our little ghost ship will tell you and the last three posts too.  This one is a water color I just got finished.  If you want it it's 175.00 first come first serve.  It was a lot of fun to make, and I find myself growing in the water color medium with every painting I do. 

For those who don't know, water color is challenging, not only for it's consistency but for it's translucent nature.  If you aren't an artist and have never worked with something like this, let me describe it to you, and tell you that you can get a feel for it by trying to guide a droplet of water around a piece of paper into a smiley face or something.  Then factor in that you need to do that sometimes many times over to get the boldness of color you want, you'll get the feel for what I mean. 

If pirates aren't your thing and you are ready so see me go back into some horror work then this next piece is going to thrill you. 

A friend of mine brought this piece up to me a little while ago, the bottom picture is an old digital piece I did back in 2010.  I call him "Spooner".  The top picture is kind of a clue for you to let you know I'm working on doing it in oils.  I'm kind of excited, and think this might be better than the original work.  I'll be updating it soon, and we might have it ready to show you for my next blog post. 


One more thing before I go, a good friend of mine, Lisa Brandel, was just featured in an online art magazine.  Art by the Hour Magazine, featuring Lisa Brandel  She's a good friend of mine and I've watched her develop her art since the beginning. 


That's all for today my friends.  I'm getting my stride back as you can tell.  It's crazy to think that just six months ago I was in a terrible dark place.  Now things are going great for me.  It just goes to show you that if you hold on, and keep working everything can change for the better.

May the darkness comfort you,

Nick

The Rose in bloom

Hello my friends!

I have been a productive and busy person this week.  My body made me take two days off, which I filled with some relaxation and television.  I needed the rest, I work until my body makes me rest, but that's ok.

In art right now I have pirates on the brain!  You remember last week I posted Ghost ship.  This week, I have a sexy pirate lady.  It's days like this that I love my job.

The top picture you see me (and I feel like I've aged ten years this year)  with the finished piece. Then the finished piece below it.  I'm selling it for a super low price of 125.00 first come first serve. 

I am also looking for a Kindle book padd if you or anyone you know has one, I am willing to barter something for one.  I have over 500 art books, and would really like to put them in a form where when I move I don't have to bust myself up. 

I'm feeling stronger all the time, and can now push myself more in my work than I've been able to.  I have a fire in my heart to get my career back on track, and then get down to see my daughters.  I feel really blessed to be back on the road.


Now I have to tell you there is a good friend of mine who could really use some help.  Her name is Michelle, and she is facing cancer.  Help Mighty McT kick cancer's ass  That link will take you to her fund raiser page, and if you can't donate share it for her.  We all need a little help up from time to time.

So until next week, May the darkness comfort you...

Nick

Nick Rose is back and better than ever

Hello my friends,

I bet you thought I wasn't ever going to blog again.  Nope, here I am.  I'm heading into a new chapter of my life and art career now, and want to be able to share it with all of you.  It's been a tough road of moving, recovering from a surgery, and finding the daughter I never knew I had.  If that sounds like a lot in the last year, it is!

I'm well on my way though.  I'm feeling stronger and better than I have in a long, long, time.

Now that I'm back blogging I can't tell you now what all I'll be talking about.  Surely, some new art, like the picture above. "Ghost Ship".  It felt good to get into the studio after recovering from the surgery.  So good in fact that I just finished this one, and am excited to get back on the canvas again today.

Speaking of blogging, I plan on doing a post at least once a week, more than likely on Thursdays to share new art and new events going on in life.  I plan on doing some more videos soon too!  As you can tell I have a new energy to create.  I feel better and stronger everyday.

"Ghost ship" is for sale and if you are interested in the painting email me at my brand new address: nickroseart1@aol.com 

Mark that new address down for contacting me about commissions, questions, buying art, or just to drop a "Hey Nick!" in my inbox.   Before I take off to start my new painting..I want to share a few more pictures.  

This is part of my new studio set up, and man am I loving it!  

I finally have some room to move around and create!

And one more piece of new art before I go.  "Dark Priestess" was one of the last paintings I did before my surgery. 

So my friends, I'm ready for a ride into your nightmares, bringing them to life on my canvas!

Nick Rose is back and I am ready to shake the world of horror again! 


May the darkness comfort you,

Nick

Miracles.

     Hello my friends. Hugs to you all. I have missed talking with you. I have been doing a great deal of soul searching lately as well as making miracles happen, and that's what this blog is about today.
     Have you ever set so many goals for that you just overwhelmed your own self? lol I sure have, but I am learning not to do that anymore. Just set one, go after it and keep at it until that goal is a reality. I have been doing that lately and it is working like a charm.
     I am sure that a lot of you would think that my art would be my top priority?  It's not, my health and my loved ones are, and that is what I am focused on right now.  I set certain goals for myself and I have met them all so far. First I had to quit smoking and drinking. I quit smoking over 2 years ago now. It took awhile for me to quit dreaming about smoking and wanting a cigarette every time I saw someone smoking one, or especially being around the smoke. But I did. I really quit drinking about 2 years ago as well, except for a few nights a month. Now, I've finally quite drinking all together.  I got myself on a regular exercise program and I stick to it every day. Mostly it is using the treadmill and weight lifting.  The most recent thing has been getting and staying on a healthy diet. That is helping with my diabetes and high blood pressure. It was hard at first because I have had to cut out the fast food or the processed food.  Everything I eat now is mostly healthy and fresh. My meals include oatmeal, or a oat type product with fruit for breakfast. For lunch, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, cheese and  no salt/low salt crackers. I may vary this with rice, homemade beans and cottage cheese.  Just don't overdo the fruit, but I have found that the sugar in fruit in not as nearly as bad as the processed kind. My insulin amounts have came down drastically. I am constantly lowering the amount of insulin to  compensate for the better sugar readings. Hopefully I will be off of insulin in a few more weeks. I have improved that much.
   The exercise is really helping with the COPD as well as all the other issues, and I have found by playing video games my stress levels and blood pressure levels have really dropped as well. I find Role playing games to be very relaxing and they are sharpening my mind as well. I am thinking much better than I was.  I have been able to reduce the Blood pressure medicines to half as well. 
   A lot of this turn around has been because of all the dental work I have been having done as well. I had no idea how important that was to my body. Apparently, my body had been fighting infections for years from gum disease and bad teeth. The thing is, I brushed my teeth twice a day and used mouthwash every day for the last 20 years. Most of this damage came from my youth. In those days, dental care was not an issue that the poor folks of the south could address.
    But now, seeing my body recover and improve because of the dental work has me brushing 3 times a day with two types of toothpaste, flossing, and pro-health mouthwash as well as the standard, Listerine. I even bought a electric toothbrush. lol I used the white strips for 3 months and my teeth look really nice now, well, the ones that are left. lol. I will have my partials in about 2 months.  But this has served another purpose and goal as well, I haven't been able to eat most meats because of the lack of teeth. So now, except when Madison makes fish, I am not eating any meat and don't miss it at all! Eating healthy is not as bad as most people think. I have lost weight, toned up and feel great almost every day now.
     In my case all of these changes came because I was faced with an early death if I didn't, but it does show that if you set your mind to something you can make healthy changes in your life. Hopefully you will do it before your face to face with death.
    That was the Miracle part of the blog I was talking about, now for the soul searching part......
    Anyone that follows me knows that this has been a very different year for me. The last 2 years I was burning it up. (That doesn't include the 12 years straight of non stop learning and training by Masters and other means.) Outside of all the art, I was interviewed  a total of 20 times and filmed for a Documentary. I amassed over 50,000 known fans and became known as "The King of Scream" and "The Dark Artist" and with all of that came a great deal of fame, and there we have found the problem. I remember on several occasions people have said to me "Be careful of what  you ask for..."  What a joke? Everyone wants to be famous and known. Isn't that what we work for? That an money?
     Through the years and one of the reasons that I am just so sick of the publishing industry is because of all the idiot's I have the displeasure of running into during my travels. I was once told I was a "Nut Magnet" and the person that told me that turned out to be one of the biggest ones I have ever known.  But you have all of these individuals running around that are just to lazy or inpatient to earn something the only way you will really get it. They stab you in the back, screw you over, use you and so on. Just evil worthless people. To all of them, I say this.... "You can have my place, my fame. All of it. I will gladly give it to you. YOU truly deserve it.
   I have cut myself off from these people by leaving the industry. I could care less about it or them. My world is very small now. Only a handful of people are in my life, and I am going to keep it that way.  All I want is to paint what I want and just be happy. Since I announced my retirement from the publishing and commission part of the business, I have had nothing but have fun and I intend to keep it  that way.
    I know that over the past few years I have talked about doing a lot of things and to be honest, at this moment, I really don't know if they will come to fruit or not.  At this moment I don't want to spend the time or energy on them anymore. Maybe that will change, I don't know. My motivations are not money or fame anymore, so I asking myself why I would want to spend so much time on a project that I would have to spend countless hours promoting and doing?  
     When I was training under Daniel, I had to promise him that I would help someone else one day. At the moment, I have helped countless artist and done my best to share with them the things I have learned.  In return I can proudly say that in most cases I have nothing but disappointment and regret for wasting my time on some people. No more, no more teaching, at least not now.
    Of course, let us not forget the agony of producing a piece of art to someone else's specifications. You can easily look at my body of work and tell which peices stand out over others. The ones that have sold lots of prints are the ones like "Spooky" and "Dark Fairy".  Both I did because I wanted to and they where my idea's. The commissioned pieces can not even compare to those. It is obvisious that if my heart is in it, I can fly. Otherwise, I was no different than other Illustrators.
    The above reasons are the 3 of the reasons I have decided to change gears and do things different and on a different level. I have no more desire to be in the spotlight or for people to know my name. My ambitions now are very simple. To paint what I want and sell a few of them to buyers here and there, and that is it. Madison is talking about putting up a store to sell posters, but I don't know about that. I am thinking of something different for down the road, so we will see.
    I will be deleting all of my Facebook account soon (this coming week), except for Nick Rose Two. So if you want to keep up with what I will be doing, you need to send a request to it, You need to join my group  and you need to follow me on twitter, NickRose2011 and continue to read this blog. This will be the places you can keep up with my work. I am having to streamline my social networking in order to continue it.  I am not being a snob or trying to push people away. It is a simple matter of time. If folks want to be able to talk to me about art, then my group is the place to do that.  If people want to know what the big picture is, the blog is for that and if you want to know what I am up to on a daily basis, then Twitter will serve that purpose.
    I am going to work on finishing up that 'Steampunk" piece I started back toward the end of last year. It will be for sale when it is done and I will be posting pictures of it on my group and here, and notes on Twitter to let people know that art is up.
   So my friends, this is what is going on for now. I hope you choose to continue to follow my work. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Love and Hugs. "May the Darkness confort you"

Moving Forward.

Hello to all that read this, which is few I am sure. I have put no meta-tags on the blog, nor have I promoted it in any way. I'm not even sure I will keep this blog. It depends on whether or not the domain host I go with for my new website offers a blog feature.

I have changed a great deal, and matured in ways I am not sure is good or not. So far, so good, so far. My goals as an Artist and Man have changed drastically. As an artist my main goals are to become the best I can and open my mind to new ideals that have been hard to obtain in the past. I also intent to become the most professional professional out there. I want the Art Director's and Buyers to enjoy their experience working with me. Quite often that means putting the ego on the shelf and bending to their will to give them the "vision" that they see. After all, that is my job as an illustrator. So many artist can't get past that thought.

My goals as a man are private, but I promise you, you would be surprised if you knew me personally. As an artist, things are going very well. The new work is winning award after award from a group of peers, other artist, AD's, and buyers. When this crowd is honoring you, it really means something. I think the "Dark" turn my work has taken has really people noticing, and I love doing it. The piece above is called "Dark Justice" and the model is Daniel's wife Joy. She is by far one of the best models I have ever Painted. I have a new model "Melissa" who will be shooting on Nov. 8th. She has a wonderful "dark and edgy" look.

Stay tuned here, and if I do move the blog, I will post a note to the new addy.

"May you find comfort in the darkness"