I’m here to announce the opening of my new Patreon Campaign. Hooray! Wow. Its really hard to type “Hooray” with out it seeming super sarcastic. But believe me, this is the opposite of sarcasm. This Hooray is drenched in scathing earnestness and a palpable almost disgusting optimism.
My Patreon Page is officially live so head on over there for all the details.
But to summarize here, the biggest changes I’m making with this relaunch is that I’m focusing on digital painting and switching to a per creation payment format. My plan is to make a digital painting every month and you’ll only be charged for those digital painting posts. And there will never be more than one paid post a month so don’t worry about me going nuts and posting 20 paintings in a week. I’m way more comfortable with this format as you won’t be charged if I get wrapped up in an art show and can’t provide new digital content.
Speaking of art shows, I’ll continue to provide updates on all art shows and print releases through public posts so even if you don’t become a Patron, it’ll still be a great resource to follow for all Kehoe related news. I’ll also continue my Progress Report posts where chronicle a painting from beginning to end. You can see an example of that here: Progress Report Example. Those posts will be provided for free to all Patrons.
I’ll be posting my newest digital painting, Habituating the Unfamiliar, next Friday, May 24th. I’m going to post some time-lapsed video previews leading up to it. Here’s a tiny preview for now.
Prints will be available immediately upon release for all Patrons and the wide print release will be a week later, Friday May 24th at 4:00 PM Eastern. More details on that print release to come soon.
Thanks you so much for those of you that sign up and welcome back to those that are rejoining for another round of adventures. I appreciate it all so very much.
Long time no update. As many of you know from earlier updates, I’ve been wading into the unknown waters of digital painting and I’ve spent the last few months getting familiar with these new tools. It’s been a tough and confounding road to travel, but to be honest, I love new art toys so its been super fun as well.
Most of this time has been spent customizing my work space and finding Photoshop brushes that will allow me to create artwork in a similar way to my original work. I also wanted to make sure that my digital work would complement the aesthetics of my traditional paintings. When it comes down to it, there’s only one way to improve at these things. Dive in, create a bunch work, punch the air & scream cry, and figure things out through some old fashioned trial and error… so many errors… so many scream cries. Anyways, practice and repetition go a long way in these matters.
I started a few pieces and played around with a ton of new techniques and tools to see what worked for me and what didn’t. When working on a traditional painting, there are always moments in the beginning stages when everything looks like dumb garbage. It’s all rough underpainting and half formed ideas, but from the experience of completing many, many paintings, I know that things will come together in the end. Though with this new medium, I reached that point multiples times, but lacking any experience of progressing past dumpster fire stage, I kept stalling out. This meant that my first few attempts were abandoned, stewing in their unfinished garbage water. In their place, new fresh pieces were started and hopes were renewed. None of this was in vain though as it’s all a part of the process. Many lessons were learned along the way, new tools were added, and on the 5th or 6th attempt I ultimately got to a point in a piece where things started feeling pretty natural. I finally reached that sweet state of creating with out thinking and getting lost in the work. Love that zone. And I finished my first digital painting. Breakthrough! Who’s scream crying now!?
Here’s the piece:
Aligning Under New Skies
Since I was dealing with so many unknowns through out this process, I decided to create a piece with elements I was super comfortable with. Really happy with how it turned out and I’m super excited to start a new one. I’m also really excited to make prints from these digital pieces. When I make prints from my traditional work, it requires me taking it to get photographed proceeded by hours of touch ups and color correcting. Getting the more subtle colors correct is always very tough and one of the hardest things to do is to get the blacks just right. These digital pieces completely cut out that whole process. The colors are what they are and the blacks are deliciously perfect. So nice.
To make this a reality, I’m releasing this new piece as a print this Friday, March 15th, at 4:00 Eastern Time. As I hoped, colors came out great and black is super tasty. As always, the print will be released in Andy Kehoe Art Shop. Here are the details:
Aligning Under New Skies
22” x 17” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 100
$70
Other News:
For those of you that were signed up for my Patreon page, you know that I paused my campaign to get familiar with digital painting. So the announcement of my first digital piece must have you wondering if I’m going to restart my Patreon campaign. The short answers is, YES! But before I relaunch, I’m going to do some restructuring and figure out ways to make the Guild rewards a little more streamlined. I’m also going to switch to a format where Patrons pay per creation instead of having a monthly fee. I plan on releasing a new digital piece every month, but if I get sidelined by art shows, then you won’t be charged until I get back to digital painting. All traditional work and art show updates, including Progress Reports, will be posted free of charge to all Patrons. I’ll also be adding some videos of creating digital pieces which will be super cool. So stay tuned. I hope to relaunch in the next couple months and I’ll be sure to send out an announcement email to all former Guild Members.
I also have a couple group art shows in the works this year and I’ll update you on those soon.
Cyber Black Cat teleported to our Earth dimension yesterday and he’s bringing in a time of joy, head rubs, warm laps, and synthesized robo-purrs. Tis the Season indeed. The sale runs from now until Wednesday, December 5th.
If this sounds pleasing at all to you, visit Andy Kehoe Art Shop and use discount code CyberBlackCat18 in check out to receive 15% off the entire order.
I’ve also added a few new items to the Shop. Here are some featured items:
Conjoining of the Lost – Limited Edition Print – $75
I still have 2 paintings left from my recent Outré Gallery show, The Witching Hour, and they are now available to purchase in my Shop and the discount will apply to those works as well.
Harbinger of Change – Original Oil Painting – 14″ x 24″ – $2800Ubiquitous Little Joys – Original Oil Painting – 12″ x 16″ – $1800
And one last thing. I only have 3 more Rarefied Splendor Metal Prints left, and after that, they will be gone forever. If you’ve been thinking about grabbing one, this would be the time.
Thanks so very much and have a joyous Holiday season!
As I was inflating the tires on my car, I bent over and a cold, brisk breeze slapped my exposed back and whistled down all my crevices. It was at that moment I knew… the season is upon us. The only thing more shocking than that sensation is the realization that this year has passed so damn quickly. It was certainly a hectic and trying year, but in the end, I think I’ve made some major personal strides and I’m ending the year wrapped in a thick quilt of optimism.
With the coming of the season comes another Cyber Black Cat Wednesday. Everything, and I mean everything, in my Shop will be 15%. The sale starts at Midnight (Eastern Time) on November 28th and ends on December 5th at 11:59 PM. Use this code in the checkout.
CyberBlackCat18
No limits so use this code as much as you want. **Note to Guild Members: With this sale, you get an additional %15 off your order on top of your Guild discount**
I’ll also be releasing a print of Conjoining of the Lost for this festive occasion and it will be released on November 28th at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. I decided to push back my release time a bit to be more accommodating to my awesome followers in Australia. Here are the details on the print release:
Conjoining of the Lost
20” x 20” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 120
Signed & Numbered by the artist
$75
Holiday Shipping Times
Domestic Orders:
Please order by December 17th to make sure I can get your orders together and shipped out to you in time for Christmas. If you are ordering a print with custom framing, add a couple weeks to that.
International Orders:
It usually takes around a week and a half to 2 weeks to reach any where in the world, but that can’t be guaranteed. To be safe, try to order by the end of Cyber Black Cat week, December 5th.
Thanks everyone and to those in the US, have a great Thanksgiving!
I’ll be releasing 4 new prints tomorrow, Friday October 26th at 4:00 PM Eastern time. As always, the prints will be available at Andy Kehoe Shop. (Guild Members, the prints are available now) For everyone that ordered a pre-order of Under the Glow of Anomaly, your prints will ship tomorrow or Monday.
Sorry for the rather late announcement on this. Turns out that 2 straight, solid months of painting, followed by a round trip to Australia, really frazzles the brain. My head has been pretty lagged out since I landed Stateside so I needed a few days to recoup. That being said, it was all totally worth it. Being able to attend the opening of my Outré Gallery show, The Witching Hour, was an all around wonderful experience. Special thanks and gratitude to Martin and the whole Outré Gallery crew, and thanks to the city of Melbourne as a whole for charming me to the core. Can’t wait to return again. There are still a couple pieces available so check out the Outré Gallery website for more info. Or Just Click Here—–> THE WITCHING HOUR SHOW
In respect to aforementioned frazzled, laggy brain, I’ll keep this post short. Here’s the specifics on the prints:
Under the Glow of Anomaly
20” x 20” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 120
Signed & Numbered by the artist
$75
Solace in the Hidden Splendor
18” x 22” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 120
Signed & Numbered by the artist
$75
Spirit of Universes Unseen
20” x 16” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 120
Signed & Numbered by the artist
$65
Visions of a Familiar Obscurity
16” x 12” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 120
Signed & Numbered by the artist
$45
I’ve been hard at work on my upcoming art show, The Witching Hour, and all that work is finished and on its way to Melbourne, Australia. *Fist Pump* Travel safe my children. The show opens on Friday, October 19th at Outré Gallery. Here’s the postcard with all the pertinent info:
I’ll be leaving for Australia this Sunday and I’m beyond excited. It’s going to be a hell of a flight, but Zelda and Stardew Valley will keep me company along the way. As I’ve said before, Australia has been amazing to me over the last few years and I couldn’t miss an opportunity meet all my Aussie friends in person. I have much gratitude to dispense.
Print Shop News
On the eve of this grand voyage, I’m going to release Stormbreaker as a limited edition print this Friday, October 12th at 4:00 PM Eastern in my Shop. I need a new smaller print in the Shop and this fits the bill nicely.
Also on October 12th, I’ll be listing a pre-release for the print of, Under the Glow of Anomaly, which is the painting used for the postcard image above. The pre-release will run for a week up to the opening and print will be offered at discount during this time. Then the wide release will be a week later on October 26th, along with a couple other prints from this show.
Both prints are available now for Guild Members and they can be found in the Guild Members Section. **You can use your Guild discount on top of the Pre-Release discounted rate.**
Here are the specs on the prints:
Stormbreaker
12” x 12” (including 1″ white border)
Limited Edition of 100
$35
Under the Glow of Anomaly – Pre-Release
20” x 20” (including 1″ white border)
Limited Edition of 120
$65
I got a decent amount of info to unload which includes: upcoming art shows, a new Open Edition Print section in my Shop, and a big announcement on my art show plans for next year and onward.
Upcoming Art Shows
First up, I’ll be submitting a piece to the 13th Annual Blab! Show which opens on September 8th at Copro Gallery. As you can see from the flyer above, its a pretty stacked lineup and these shows are always amazing… and always an amazing honor to be involved in. I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my painting and will be releasing the image in the coming weeks.
I’m simultaneously painting a new body of work for my upcoming show at Outré Gallery which opens on October 19th in Melbourne, Australia. I’m planning on having at least 9 pieces for this show, and I’m also planning to attend the opening in Melbourne. Supposedly all Americans say “Melbourne” incorrectly so that’s something I need to work on before I enter the country. Australia has been super amazing to me over the years and I’m super excited to visit for the first time and meet all you wonderful people on the other end of the world.
Art Shows Going Forward
With these 2 show announcements, comes another important announcement. This Outré Gallery show will be the last big art show that I do for a long while, and quite possibly might be the last big show that I ever do. I’ve decided to take a bit of an art show hiatus for many reasons and instead of talking your eyeballs out about it, you can check out this Patreon Post for a more detailed explanation.
In short, I cancelled all my shows next year, including my upcoming 2019 Jonathan LeVine Gallery show (which is crazy sad), and I don’t plan on booking any more solo shows for the foreseeable future. That being said, I’m not giving up painting and I still plan on doing a couple group shows every year. I’m just not currently in a position where I can spend so much time, energy, and resources on a big show.
After these upcoming shows, I’ll be shifting my focus to Patreon where I’ll be diving head first into digital painting and print making. I’ve been wanting to get into screen printing for a long time and I have some big plans in the department. More on that to come. As of now, I have a lot to learn in both of those departments and will have a clearer picture of where I’m heading in the coming few months. I am excited though and I look forward to fully committing to these new endeavors.
Print News: Open Edition Prints
There are always pieces from shows that I really want to release as a print, but hesitate due to the risk and constrictions of a limited edition release. I also get requests for older pieces as prints but, again, hesitate for the same reasons above. So I just up and started an Open Edition section in my Shop where I can stop all this damn hesitating and offer those pieces as prints. Now you can buy them, or not buy them, since it’s all super cool and mega casual. They are the same quality as my Limited Edition prints, printed on the same paper, are titled and signed, and since they are Open Edition, they are also less expensive. Seems like a good deal all around.
Last weekend, I dropped off my original painting, Out of the Fog, at Spoke Art NYC for the opening of the group exhibition, Suggestivism: Resonance. I really wanted to attend the opening to see some old friends again, to meet some new ones, sign some copies of the new, beautiful Suggestivism book that was just released, and to eat a slice of NYC pizza which I miss so, so dearly. I accomplished all of those things and had an awesome time. The show itself is amazing and I highly recommend you to check it out if you’re in the NYC area. You can find more info here: Suggestivism: Resonance
As much as I wanted to attend the opening for all the reasons listed above, the main reason I had to attend was because my painting was insanely late and wasn’t dry enough to ship. Driving it from Pittsburgh to NYC to hand deliver it to the gallery was the only viable option to get it there in time for the show. I’ve been working on this painting for a few months so why did a 16″x20″ oil painting take me so long to complete? I wrote a rather long-winded and brutally honest exposition into my creative and mental challenges over the past 8 months, but I’m going to spare you from that… also, after rereading what I had written the next day, I closed it without saving it. I think the importance was just writing it and knowing it for myself.
In brief, I’ve been mired in an existential quagmire and I’ve been trying to climb out of it for the better part of a year. This painting was a symbolic first step for me to climb out of the miasma of crushing self-doubt that had enveloped me and to get back on solid, creative ground again. It was an important piece for me to finish, and even though it took to the very last conceivable moment, I finished it and jumped that first mental hurdle. Relief. I wanted the piece to speak to my experience, so I came up with this painting and this title, Out of the Fog. I felt like I was in a deep, dense haze, but I wasn’t standing idle in it. I was journeying deep into it in, hoping to find something grand and meaningful within. Even though this piece is pretty small, it feels enormous to me in many ways.
I’ll be releasing limited edition prints of this piece on Friday July 20th in my Shop at 4:00 PM Eastern time. Here are the details on the print.
Out of the Fog
16” x 20” Including 1” White Border
Limited Edition of 120
$65
Also, for those of you that are signed up to the Multiversal Creature Guild, the print will be pre-released today, Tuesday July 17th, at 9:00 AM in the Guild Members section of my Shop.
It’s been a while since any meaty art updates and this a going to be a big juicy slab of an update. (Note: This post will pair well with a spicy, bold red wine.) I’ve been super busy starting up a new endeavor that I hope will aid me in my quest into creative unknowns. What creative unknowns? That’s what I am going to find out. Confused? Me too. Pretty much always.
As you know, I’ve been making original works for galleries for over a decade and it’s a position I’m endlessly grateful for. It’s a privilege and an honor to hang my work up in these amazing galleries. I still have trouble figuring out how I actually pulled that off. Making a living by painting dragons, cats, trees, and the Cosmos is kind of a miracle. It’s been my obsession to keep pushing the bounds and scope of my work and I’m very proud of the evolution of that work. But…
(Yes, there’s a “but.”)
The “but” being that working as an exhibition artist was never intended to be the apex or end point of my creative ambitions. (Before I continue, I must stress that I will continue making original works for shows. I just intend to offset my creative time into other areas.) Branching out into other creative fields has been long time desire for me. Unfortunately, the all-consuming nature of my current work state has put all those desires on the back burner for years. At this point, those ambitions have been reduced down to burnt, black coal, but put that coal under some flame and you got… hot creative fire? Doesn’t make much sense but I’m running with it.
For instance, I’ve been writing off and on for years and I’d love some time to dedicate to writing and see what I can come up with. A book or some sort of animated project are dreams of mine but I need the time to really focus on that. Also, I recently invested in equipment to learn how to paint digitally. This medium will aid me immensely with any concept art work and possibly lead to some collaborative work. But as I said, I need the time to learn and master these digital tools before I take that next step.
How in the living hell can I reformat the very fabric of time?
It’s a conundrum I’ve long been trying to solve, and I think I might’ve found the answer. Patreon. If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s essentially a patronage system, where you support a creative with monthly subscription payments. Like Kickstarter, there are a number of tiers and each tier affords you a different rewards and access to a certain level of posts.
Here’s a video that explains it better than I can:
Here’s a link for those that can’t see the embedded video. Patreon Video
I’ve already launched the page in preparation to this announcement and it explains my creative goals with Patreon in better detail. You can find it here: ANDY KEHOE PATREON
Not only will this help me in other creative endeavors, but having a more sustainable income will greatly help me with my original work. As amazing as this job is, one thing it isn’t is consistent and predictable. Art sales should never be the standard of success, but its an undeniable factor when it’s how you make your living. I can honestly say that I’ve never let sales influence the course of my work. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky in this regard, because I never really had to. My work grew and evolved but my fans and collectors took the journey with me and supported me though it all. But times are changing and when work doesn’t sell like it used to, doubt creeps in and that little buried voice on financial practicality starts to get a bit louder. Time to slap that voice back to its “shut up hole.”
I appreciate all my collectors more than I could possibly describe with my addled, semi-coherent brain. That being said, I’d prefer not to be in a position where the only thing separating me from financial ruin is dependency on collectors buying my original work. That’s not ideal for anyone involved. So that’s another huge reason that I’m turning to Patreon. Having a sense of financial independence would allow me to continue with my passion of creating without the fear of it all coming crashing down.
With my Patreon launch, I also get to announce the MULTIVERSAL CREATURE GUILD. When you support my Patreon page, you can access this esteemed secret Guild that will connect you to like minds from multiple universes.
When you become e a member of the Guild you get a Welcome Kit including a Certificate of Membership, a Membership Card, and an Official Guild Hard Enamel Pin (to help you spot other Guild Creatures in the Human World.) I hope to see you among our ranks one day. Here are some pics of the Welcome kit items:
I’m very excited for this next chapter in my creative journey and I hope that you can join me for ride.
Just a quick notice that I’ll be releasing a new print through The People’s Print Shop tomorrow, Thursday May24th at 4:00 Eastern. (1PM PST) The print is of my piece, Enter the Deep Hour.
Enter the Deep Hour
The prints look super amazing. They’re a quality print shop and it shows. Here are the specs on the release:
Enter the Deep Hour
24” x 20” including 1” white border
Limited Edition of 50
Signed and Numbered
$75
I also did a small interview with them and you can find that here.–> Interview
I have a few AP’s for sale from the release and I’ll be posting them in my Shop Tomorrow at 3:00 pm Eastern.
Also, I have some big news coming up very soon. I’ve been working on a new endeavor for months and I’m just about ready to release it. If all goes according to plan, you should be receiving my next Newsletter on Monday laying it all out.
Under the Glow of Anomaly
Solace in the Hidden Splendor
Spirit of Universes Unseen
Visions of a Familiar Obscurity
Stormbreaker
