15% Off Diploma Framing

During the month of June, bring your high school or college diploma and receive 15% off the total framing cost. No limits, so bring as many as you wish.

Small diplomas start at around $35. You'll be saving 15% though, so feel free to splurge a little.

Your document will be well protected with acid free matting and mounting. Conservation and museum glass is also available for those who want to provide the maximum in protection from UV light.

Come in, get creative, and show off that degree you worked so hard for.

The BISON is Here!

Just wanted to introduce my new bison painting. It is 36 x 48 inches on gallery wrapped canvas. The price is $1500. Prints will be available soon. Come by and see it in my display window soon. I've also included snap shots of the work in process.

Make an Offer Monday!

Ok. This Monday May 14th only, come in the store and make me an offer on any ready made frame, artwork, or canvas, and you might just get a super deal. This excludes custom jobs. But you can make an offer on anything else in the store. So if you've had your eye on something, come in and give it a shot. If we agree on a price, it's yours. I'll even have my morning coffee so I'll be in a good mood!

Painting a Portrait

I recently had the honor to do a portrait of the late Schree Brogdon and baby Lily. The end result, I felt, was touching and delicate.

In the following photos you can see my step by step approach to rendering the subjects in acrylic on canvas. The finish size was 16x20 inches.

In the first photos you can see I have made a detailed pencil drawing on the canvas. This is sealed with fixative to prevent smearing. Next the background is carefully worked in around the figures, and a sienna tone is added to the figures allowing the sketch to show through.

Outline areas are then reinforced with paint before adding a medium flesh tone. Each tone of flesh is added separately, since wet blending is prohibitive in acrylic. I add darker shadows then work my way up to the lightest values.

Lastly, details and highlights are added to finish the subjects. This includes teeth, eyes, hair, and jewelry. The same procedure is followed for the baby separately, because of the slight difference in skin tone on the newborn.

I enjoyed doing this portrait and hope it is loved by the family for years to come. If you would like a portrait of one of your family members, you can reach me at 501-278-5547 on week days or at www.pollardstudio.com.

The Final Result

This is the final entry in my TARDIS building project. Here the final coat of paint and distressing has been added for that ancient look.

The top lantern has been installed. It was made from a garden path light I found at Lowes. I made some slight alterations and painted the finish to match the rest of the box.

The signs were made of 3/4 inch picture frame moulding. These were filled with plexiglas. Black vinyl courtesy of www.conleygraphics.net was cut and added to the front of the plexi. I also sanded the back side of the plexi to give the letters a foggy matte look.

Finally I installed a sound effects board inside the roof area. This includes a sound to light modulator that controls the intensity of the lantern glow. I have hidden buttons to control the sounds which include the takeoff and landing "breathing" sounds that all Whovians adore.

All of the electronics are plugged into a single remote controlled power strip so everything can be engaged at once.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on my journey.

Ready Made Frame Sale

For the rest of April I will have my ready made frames on sale 50% off. This is only for my blog and newsletter readers. So come in any time before the end of the month and mention the ready made sale and receive the discount.

TARDIS Blue

Well you can't just go to the paint store and order TARDIS blue, but I did the best I could. Here is the first coat of beautiful paint on my phone box. Later I will add a layer of weathering to give it an older appearance. You can also see from the picture I've installed a working door lock and key.