#wings & strings

[wings-and-strings]

“Passersby”

The last piece of this painting batch, a somewhat looser painting style with more vivid colors. A traveler in a ‘55 Ford Fairlane dips under the mainline as the Santa Fe Super Chief storms through the Arizona desert with a steam helper in its final year of service, a fleeting encounter bookended by miles of sagebrush and solitude.

With all scheduled commissions finished, I’ll be taking a brief hiatus to work on portfolio pieces and personal projects; I plan on re-opening for a transportation-themed commission batch at some point in May, open to commissions with a railroad, aviation, automotive, or nautical theme, followed by a couple of standard commission batches in the summer. Stay tuned for updates!

--Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

“A Space Pawdyssey” - Commission

Another commission painting from this batch, for twitter.com/spacepawdyssey’s paperback edition of their webcomic. The painting’s a very blatant spoof of posters for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey of course.

Commissions are still closed as of 4/24/2018 but I’ll be re-opening soon, so be sure to check back or follow along for updates and more art!

--Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

Second 3D Sculpt: "Keeley" - 3D model by Tom Coletti

My second completed Sculptris/Zbrush sculpt of Keeley, a black shiba inu character of mine. I’m gradually learning to refine my models and reduce poly counts as I go, using more emphasis on textures than polys to show detail. This is also my first time joining two subtools so that I could add a simple mount and plaque for the character bust to rest upon. Still have much to learn and improve upon, but the process has been fun so far. –W&S

Click the link to open an interactive 360-degree viewer!

I’ll eventually try to offer these Zbrush sculpts as commission items for those who want to get a custom 3D bust of their characters.

[wings-and-strings]

“A Las Tiendas”

A newly-finished painting of engine #67 of the Ferrocarril Interoceánico de México, drifting somewhere through the streets of the Mexican capital in the late 1960s. This narrow gauged steam locomotive is now on static display at the Monument to the Revolution. This piece was done as a painting study of a period photo taken of the engine while it was still in service on the NdeM which had absorbed the FCI by this point.

Still closed for commissions but I’ll let you know when I’ve re-opened for my winter sale!

More info available at wings-and-strings.tumblr.com/commissions;

Inquiries can be sent to [email protected]

–Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

‘Warring on Paper” (Commission)

If you’re wondering where I disappeared to in the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on this painting commission between several wildfires. It depicts a fictitious naval battle in the early 1800s between the USS Ohio, HMS Prussianti, HMS Duke of Kent, and La Vestale. The Duke of Kent and the Prussianti--listed as an unnamed 160-gun ship of the line--were drafted by the British navy but never built, so for this painting I had the interesting task of studying both the drawings and other contemporary ships of the line to flesh out their details. The client was especially helpful in providing the plans, models, diagrams, and other historical information to help this painting take shape.

As of 12/19/17 I am still currently closed for commissions so that I can work through my queue, so follow or check back often to find out when I will reopen for a new commission batch! Critters, portraits, machines & more will be available.

More info available at wings-and-strings.tumblr.com/commissions;

Inquiries can be sent to [email protected]

–Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

“Rainhill Triumph.” (Commission)

First painting of the new year, a 30-hour piece for https://www.furaffinity.net/user/ddoc13/ of their dog character on the footplate of Stephenson’s Rocket. In 1829, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway hosted the famous Rainhill Trials in search of an improved steam engine design, where the Rocket met all requirements with flying colors. One of my earliest memories is of doodling this locomotive on a restaurant napkin as a child, and now, twenty-something years later, I’m painting it as a freelance artist.

As of 1/3/18, I am still currently closed for commissions so that I can work through my queue, but I will be re-opening shortly for my winter holiday sale, so be sure to follow along or check back often for updates! Critters, portraits, machines & more will be available.

More info available at wings-and-strings.tumblr.com/commissions;

Inquiries can be sent to [email protected]

–Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

Some selected works from the past 12 months. 2017 was a raging dumpster fire of idiocy & fascism, but hopefully I made some decent art while the world went to shit... except in August. August was exceptionally shit.

Commissions will be re-opening soon for my winter holiday sale, so keep an eye out for that if you’ve wanted a commission piece but could benefit from the discount. But before that I’ll be holding a small portrait raffle on Twitter in the coming days, so if you have an account there, I’ll post a link for Tumblr users to participate.

--Wings & Strings

[wings-and-strings]

“Playing to Lose” - Commission

A piece painted for https://www.furaffinity.net/user/darkriderx/ of their wolf character, an ex-train robber and blackjack gambler who outlived the wild west as little more than a rumor and a name. In the distance, an ex-Rio Grande Southern C-19 steam locomotive enjoys a more comfortable retirement.

As of 11/8/17 I am currently closed for commissions so that I can work through my queue, so follow or check back often to find out when I will reopen for a new commission batch! Critters, portraits, machines & more will be available.

More info available at wings-and-strings.tumblr.com/commissions;

Inquiries can be sent to [email protected]

–Wings & Strings