Mitch Makes An Art

03/06/2026

In the home stretch on my latest piece, Cold's Conqueror. The last 10% is always the hardest part, when the final decisions of how the piece is going to look have to be made.

However, this is also when the seams are tied together and the different segments become a whole, giving the piece the atmosphere I've been hoping will come. I'm excited to share the finished artwork when it's ready.

02/23/2026

02/19/2026

Got this little 5x7 inch horse study done while waiting on my bison piece to dry a bit. Playing around with pushing color saturation and looser shapes.

02/14/2026

Continuing the work on my bison piece. There's something therapeutic about painting snow.

01/25/2026

Taking full advantage of the snow and getting 6 hours of work done on this bison painting today.

10/21/2025

Figure study using vine charcoal on 18x24" paper.

10/14/2025

Getting out into the world and actually engaging with the subjects I'd like to paint has caused a paradigm shift in the way I think about art. If I want to paint something, I need to experience it for myself in some way, observe it, and try to understand it better. It gives me more motivation to go out and find the interesting as well as look at the mundane with new perspective.

10/07/2025

Got myself some alcohol markers and have been really enjoying using them for value studies like this small piece. This is the start of planning out a larger oil painting to really give this moose the gravitas it deserves. Please ignore his nose, though. Who says artists always have to keep inside the lines? 😅

09/30/2025

One of the things that really elevated my oil paintings was understanding the power of layering up the paint. When you know the first (or even the second) layer is not going to be the last, it allows for some freedom of movement and colors. You can make a mess and clean up the areas you want while leaving some of the "happy accidents" that give a painting character.

Some of my paintings may have 4 or 5 layers of paint which I believe adds to the richness of color and makes it feel more alive.

09/25/2025

St Mary's Glacier, Colorado in oils on an 8x8inch canvas panel. This was a view I'll never forget. Felt like I could see 5 states over the sky was so clear that day. Always striving to do the landscape justice.

09/09/2025

Corn moon officially marking the start of spooky season.