Welcome to My Studio

Okay, maybe that's stretching it a bit. My studio is in our home in southern Minnesota. That's where I do all of my cartooning, painting and web design.

Chris holding down the fort at the Vatican Museum, October 2000.

I've painted portraits consistently since 1990, and I estimate that I've painted/drawn more than two thousand during that time. The largest part of that number was produced at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas (1991-98.) I've also produced more than a hundred pieces for various periodicals, most notably for Saludos Hispanos and The Cause magazines. Creating a 'living' portrait from a photograph is a magic trick at best, and much depends upon the quality of the reference materials.  My usual technique is to layer oil washes over an muted acrylic underpainting, although I'm also able to complete a portrait alla prima within a single day. When beginning a new portrait I'll usually aggressively 'fill in' most of the canvas, and then after 'standing down' from the piece I'll progressively develop the likeness and expound upon or retreat from various color and compositional ideas.