This painting of a woman in a dark room is another portrait study in my efforts to practice specific areas that aren’t my strongest. There
The Latest Blog Posts
Jon Amdall Self Portrait
It might be sort of weird how I’m phrasing this title – a “Jon Amdall Self Portrait”…painted by Jon Amdall…written by Jon Amdall. That’s a
Relaxed Pose Capstone Figure Painting
When I started this painting, I had some vague notions of treating it sort of like a capstone project. Although I’ve done over 80 paintings
Lady with Sunflowers Oil Painting
I might say this too often, but the oil painting featured in this post seems to represent somewhat of a milestone for me. It’s of
Mike Patton Portrait Oil Painting
The subject of this post is an oil painting I did of my all-time favorite musician Mike Patton. Patton is a man of many bands
Not Quite Taylor Swift, a Portrait Attempt
The subject of this post’s oil painting is the second of two requests from my kids. This time, it was an attempt at a portrait
Dua Lipa Portrait Oil Painting
The subject of this post is an oil painting I did by request of my kids – it’s a portrait of one of their favorite
Oil Painting Blog Catch Up – Two Paths
I’ve mentioned on a few blog posts over the last few months how far behind I am sharing artwork. This has been a continuously building
Contributing to Online Ecosystems You Value
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I value different technological tools I have at my disposal, particularly those large scale online services I
Hiring Portrait Models for Art Reference Photos
This post is broadly about reference images and where to get them, but really the purpose is to discuss my first experience actually paying someone
Initial Structure Importance Despite Oil Paint’s Flexibility
This post is going to be about the importance of a painting’s initial structure. Basically, how the build and forms that you start with can
Composition and Color in Portrait Painting
With this post, I want to talk a little bit about painting composition and color. At the point in time when I did this painting,
Thoughts on Light Sources and Lighting in Art
This post is all about light and my struggles with it – I want to give my thoughts on lighting for a studio/workspace, but also
Fixing Mistakes and Redoing Artwork
This post is all about messing up artwork, which is something I have a decent amount of experience with. I’m going to share some of
Comparing Art Video Time-Lapse Lengths and Styles
In this post, I want to take a step back and compare the different types of art videos I’ve shared on the YouTube channel. Basically,
Catching Up on Blog Posts, Thoughts on Priorities
This post is basically about how far behind I am on blogging. I came across a great quote from the artist Richard Schmid who said
New Years 2023 Portrait Painting Giveaway
My last custom portrait giveaway was several months ago, but a lot has changed for me in the art realm since then. With previous giveaways,
Melina Elden Ring Oil Painting
This post is centered around an oil painting of a character from Elden Ring named Melina, who acts as a guide for the player during
Proportional Divider for Facial Feature Positioning
My painting journey has taken a learning-oriented turn towards trying to abandon some of my most loved crutches. The most significant of these crutches has
Poll: How do you digitize your artwork?
Buried at the end of my last post, I posed the question, “How do you digitize your artwork?” I embedded a crowdsignal poll with some
Portrait of Morrigan from Dragon Age
The next artwork in my recent parade of oil paintings takes us back to the topic of video games, which is not an unusual one
Underpainting Practice – Andre the Giant
As I discussed in my last post, I’m making an effort to push myself more when it comes to artwork. A huge part of that
Freehand Painting Goals
A couple of specific things are at the forefront of my mind right now when it comes to painting. The first is that, in a
Holocaust Survivor Portraits, Remembrance Display
Recently, I was approached by a co-worker to ask if I would help out with a display featuring Holocaust survivor portraits for an event called
Size Constraints on a Princess Bride Painting
With my 9th painting, I ran into a bit of a conundrum and drove home a good lesson for myself. To this point, I feel
One Month of Oil Painting – A Self Portrait
Perhaps this post will trigger a bit of deja vu, as it’s a topic that I’ve already covered somewhat recently. This is all about self
High Contrast Challenge – Antje Traue Portrait
As I continue on clearing my backlog of paintings that have yet to be shared, now I’ve come to the fourth of five paintings done
Portrait of Comedian Eric Andre
This post continues the discussion of a wild painting weekend I had in October, during which I somehow churned through five paintings. As I’ve mentioned,
Bob Ross Style Landscape Painting
This post will be an interesting one, at least from my perspective. If you’ve browsed this site, you can see pretty quickly that I’m all
Oil Painting Portrait of My Wife
Lately I’ve been discussing my recent journey into the world of oil painting, having shared my first attempt, a portrait of my kids, and an
Painting Without Planning – Using Up Leftovers
One of the many unexpected questions that arose as I started learning to paint was, what do I do with extra paint on my palette
Amdall Girls Painting – First Solvent Use
A few weeks ago, I finally made the leap to attempt painting for the first time. I’ve long admired the “painterly” look across the different
Drawing from Stock Photos and Memes
I’ve talked about my affinity for stock photos on many occasions. In previous posts, I’ve written about royalty free images, photo spamming on social media,
Dirk Nowitzki Portrait with Trophy
This is going to be yet another piece of artwork dedicated to Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki. Considering this is now the fourth drawing I’ve
First Attempt at Oil Painting
This post is about my very first attempt at oil painting. Well, really first ever attempt at any type of painting, which to my surprise
Art from Stranger Things Season 4
As with my original post from a few years ago, I am once again a bit late in writing about Stranger Things. This time though,
European Travel via Mediterranean Cruise – Tips and Thoughts
This write-up covers some tips and thoughts regarding European travel, specifically when taking a Mediterranean Cruise. Like a lot of the world, we haven’t traveled
Author and Travel Show Host Rick Steves
Somewhere in the neighborhood of a decade ago, my wife and I took a honeymoon trip to Europe. To celebrate this anniversary, we decided to
Summer 2022 Portrait Giveaway
When I shared my last custom portrait giveaway, I mentioned that I had somehow let a year go by between these artwork raffles. I thought
Delayed Portrait Giveaway Artwork
In my last post, I wrote a bit on the fact that my posts are often a bit delayed from when the artwork is actually
Blog Post Length and Total Views Comparison
There was a point in time, just a few years ago, when I typically referred to Amdall Gallery as both an art and data analysis
A Longtime Friend’s Wedding Portrait
I am often slightly backlogged on writing blog posts. It’s something that I’ve mentioned previously and is probably fairly common for many artists who write
More Random Selections from the Archives
One Month of Oil Painting – A Self Portrait (11/10/2022) - Perhaps this post will trigger a bit of deja vu, as it’s a topic that I’ve already covered somewhat recently. This is all about self portraits, but… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Mark Hearts and Kids at the Dentist (5/18/2019) - In my last post, I discussed using Unsplash images as inspiration for artwork. Although I have a ton of backlogged ideas now, and many of my sketches… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Portrait from the August Giveaway (9/29/2018) - I haven't been drawing much lately, which is pretty apparent looking at the site's front page. It's kind of an odd coincidence, but right around the one… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Round 2 with Color, Dad and Youngest Daughter (1/7/2018) - Now that I've gotten my first attempt using colored pencils down, I decided to jump right back into the fire and try again. I think I learned a… (click to read more of this randomly selected old favorite)
Historical Timeline
4+ years of blogging on Amdall Gallery
The very first blog post. Site was abandoned fairly quickly afterward until 2017.
Returned to the site, started analyzing data. The beginning of continuous blog posts for the next 4 years (and counting).
First artwork post, returning to drawing after over a decade. Didn't know at the time this would become a major hobby.
Early attempts at using colored pencils. Initial efforts were rough and poorly blended.
Artwork started to feature a thicker layering and blending style, which has been refined during the last couple years of practice.
Published my first book! Essentially about my experience returning to art after being away from it for so long.
Rejected by a local art show. A bit of a setback, but didn't impact me as much as I expected.
Start of the pandemic, stayed busy publishing a new book, drawing, and getting organized.
Launched a YouTube channel to show progression videos instead of .gifs.
Launched a new website focused on product impressions and reviews.
I have shown improvement over the years, but know there is still much to learn.
What's next? More drawing for sure. But will I attempt to enter another art show? Finally try painting? Perhaps get some formal training by taking a class? All great ideas - we'll see!
