Welcome and Thank you for visiting me!

I thought I had better visit and update this site since I may be getting some interest in my recent art projects. To see my work please visit my website at www.rickblankenshipart.com.

I have been working on many commissions over the past year mainly in the interior design area. Several of my pieces are in Breckenridge and Frisco, Colorado homes. I have done some work in the Denver area as well and come to think of it, a few pieces are being sent to Germany (portraits).

Since where I live, Highlands Ranch, Colorado is such a "doggy" place, I have been pursuing pet portraiture which is a real joy. People here love their pets and take them everywhere!

Below are some examples of my recent work and includes pet portraits, murals, wildlife scenes, human portraits, landscapes, still life and abstracts.

Hope you are staying well in these challenging times and please enjoy the arts.

Rick 

Nov. 2020

33rd Annual Louisville National Fine Art and Photography Show

At the gallery opening in September 2018 with "Barrel Rider", invitation only. Lots of great art and artist and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Toni' Dad

A portrait of Toni's Dad. 20"x16" oil on canvas. Sweet man with a ruddy complexion that turned out to be a loving responsible father. I have been told that this portrait captured his spirit. NFS

Running Barrels

I revised the sketch which is in an earlier post. This painting will be in the Louisville 33rd Annual National Juried Art show in September 2018. It was one of only 100 pieces of the 400+ entries. The show includes photography and sculpture.

I am enjoying the cowboy theme series and will post a few more paintings soon!

This painting will be for sale at the above referenced show for $1500. Hope you enjoy the cowboy series!

Twisted Bull

This is one of the last pictures in my series on Western scenes. This is a large oil on canvas, say 30"x40" or so. I picture the bull as whipping his head up and down and around while bucking the poor rider off!

I used a fan brush (ugh!) on this painting in a few select areas. I know that the fan brush gets a lot of bad rep but it was a wonderful discovery for me! I will never hesitate to use it again. Time flies while painting--indeed--I get exhausted in the concentration required and must take a break after about an hour or so. Actually, this is a good thing since I need to step away, look away and come back only to see all of the mistakes that must be fixed! Yes, painting is all about correcting mistakes and for me there are plenty.

One of the tidbits of wisdom that I picked up from an instructor who was repeating what they heard from another is to figure out what the painting needs most and work on that. I believe that this is a good way to prioritize the painting process since one sees so many mistakes during the process. Eventually, the painting is done!

So much to learn and practice!

Cooking Eggs

 A large oil on canvas painting (24"x 48") of a cook scrambling some eggs.

Indian Coal Carriers

A 16" x 20" oil on canvas painting of Indian women carrying coal from the coal mine.  The colors and composition attracted me to this painting.