An Aerial View Painting Inspired by Spain

My latest painting began live at a special event at Will Leather Goods in Venice on Nov. 22, 2014 (see that story HERE). Since then, this piece has evolved dramatically and my progress and the final painting are presented below. This one has been a wild ride and way more challenging than I anticipated. Sometimes it goes that way, but the education en route is well worth it!

It was inspired by my window seat view of the Spanish countryside moments before landing at Aeropuerto Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas. Beginning with Madrid, the places I visited and the things I saw on that trip opened the door to a change in painting style and sharpened my focus on subjects important to me.

10 Stages of Aero No. 14

Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46 x 23" (Complete painting to the Left, plus extreme closeups to the Right)

Actual scale of Aero No. 14

On the easel: Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46 x 23"

Scenes from Art Night in Venice

I joined forces with Will Leather Goods at their flagship Venice store for their inaugural "Art Night" on November 22. Special thanks to Tim Chan and the Will staff for hosting me, and to all the friends who made it a fun and special evening of art and fashion.

The exhibition included over a dozen cloudscape and aerial view paintings from my Aero Series PLUS a live, in-store demo of me painting the latest in the series. Enjoy scenes from "Art Night" @ Will Leather Goods here:

Something exciting is happening in there! The view of Will from world famous Abbot Kinney Blvd.

Aero No. 33 (Mountainscape) greeted visitors to Art Night.

It was a lot of fun integrating my paintings throughout the store. Here's Aero No. 6 hanging out behind the counter.

Live painting about to go down!

The beginning stage of my newest, Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid)

Aero No. 25 (Barcelona Sky) and Aero No. 39 (Powerlines)

Making progress...

Aero 2014.3 (LA Sky)

Spreading it on thick! I made the switch from painting with brushes to exclusively using palette knives about 1 1/2 years ago and haven't looked back since.

Getting extra encouragement from my fiancé, Rachel.

The base colors are all there. Will have to finish this one up in private in the studio. Stay tuned! Aero No. 14 (Miami -> Madrid) | Acrylic on birch panel | 46" x 23"

And The Winner of the Reyes Travel Photo Challenge Is…

There was not A winner, but TWO winners of the Reyes Travel Photo Challenge, a social media event (#reyestravelart) where fans submitted work that I would ultimately paint. For their trouble? Oh nothing, just a free print of the winning image on canvas. After a hiatus, and with many more new fans, maybe it's time to host the Reyes Travel Art Challenge, Part II?

A print of one of the winners, "Aero No. 33 (Mountainscape)", just before shipping to its new owner, Carole K.

THE BACKSTORY

In April, I invited readers of my newsletter, followers on Instagram, and fans on Facebook to the Reyes Fine Art "Travel Photo Challenge". The winner of the contest would get a free print reproduction of an original artwork I create based on travel-inspired photos they shoot and submit. The artwork I create will become welcome additions to my "Aero Series" (www.aeroscapeart.com). 

The response was overwhelming and it was so much fun fielding your questions and seeing the photos roll in to my inbox! Here's a visual look at my process to go from 60+ submission to a winner:

On the first pass, I was able to narrow 60+ photos down to these 30 images. Decisions, decisions!

Getting from 30 to these 6 was incredibly challenging. I was focusing on colors that suit my Aero Series palette, and dynamic compositions. So many could have made the top 6!

After narrowing down to the 6 semifinalists, I took a week to think things over. Ultimately, it was impossible to pick only one winner, so I chose TWO! I loved the sculptural feel and abstract quality of Carole's aerial mountainscape and the effect of the light hitting the irregular shapes in Jay's cloudscape. Congratulations to Carole, Jay and all who participated.