THE LAST STAND

Recently finished this one.  Hope you enjoy!

"The Last Stand"
18x24 inches
oil on canvas

Image: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

WORKING WITH THE GRADS

One of the best parts of my job as an art school instructor is getting to work with graduate students.  The majority of courses I teach are undergraduate courses from drawing and painting, to animation, illustration, concept art, fashion and foundations.  But about a third of my job is working with graduate level students enrolled in our animation graduate program at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco.  This unique group of more advanced students provides a closer working relationship allowing for more sophisticated and detailed dialogue built around the creation of their masters thesis films.  I have really grown to appreciate this kind of instruction, discussion and creative inter-play I get with these students.  Sometimes we are in a drawing lab carefully drawing and painting a live model and other times we are sitting in front of computer pouring over Maya and carefully discussing a bit of animation, storytelling, modeling or lighting and texture.  The conversations are fantastic and illuminating and many times it is I who learns equally from the student experience.  Over the years I have made some great working friendships with these brilliant artists and have stood in their "light" feeling fortunate that I was able to maybe contribute in some small way to the beauty of their thesis projects.  I am truly grateful and humbled as a teacher and as an artist by the dedication and talents of these individuals.

ABOVE:  (back row left to right) Cortney Bell, Chris Platz, Trey Gallaher(Me), Kevin Miller, Neil Miller, (front row) Albert Carmona

BELOW:  (left to right)Courtney Bell, Puttachad Sattayasai (Chloe), Trey Gallaher (Me), Ratchanon Nobnop (Charlie).

THE BEGINNING

This new painting titled "The Beginning" is completed in oil on 36x24 inch 12oz. cotton stretched canvas. 

Like many of my paintings, I start with an idea, feeling or drawing and it often times evolves into something else as I go.  Discoveries are made and it's not always clear from the beginning what the finished concept will look like.  Sometimes the initial drawing is only the beginning of a much bigger idea.



Sharp changes and additions are welcomed at any time if it makes a more complete expression or beautiful design.  Everything is fluid and in a state of fluctuation.  Sometimes the completed design or idea comes quickly and other times slowly.  I have been known to let a painting rest for a while until I know where I want to go with it.
 
 










This work is a very personal one for me and ties together many periods of my life, how I felt at the time and the people that were in it. I was clear about the initial feeling I wanted the painting to have but it grew in scope and scale as it evolved.

Fear can be a powerful motivator or paralyzer.  Life is full of endings and new beginnings, changes and choices that can be made.
Perception may be the key.
  
Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
All Rights Reserved.

"The Beginning"
36x24 inches, oil on canvas

ZOMBIE NEW YEAR

Happy New Year everybody!  Here is wishing you a bountiful, healthy and happy 2014!  May you never run into a "Zombie Geisha"!  :P  Special thanks to Elissa Fountain for the fun costumed inspiration!


Character Concept Art:  ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

"Zombie Geisha"
12x16 in.
gouache on watercolor paper

JOY TO THE WORLD

This years Christmas Card was inspired by two major events in my life this holiday season.  The first, my wife and I being pregnant during the holidays and due any day (the ultimate gift)!  The second, is the literary work of the great Charles Dickens. Mr. Dickens has always been a part of the Gallaher household at Christmas time and my wife and I continue to make our annual visit to San Francisco's own The Great Dickens Christmas Fair.  This unique one-of-kind live performance is held exclusively in San Francisco's own Cow Palace and hosted by Red Barn Productions (the same folks who bring us the Renaissance Fair in Novato, CA).  Filled with over 200 actors and stage hands, this talented group of actors, costume artists and set designers recreate the streets Charles Dickens's 18th century victorian England filled with a cast of roaming characters as portrayed in Dickens's novels from Oliver Twist to A Christmas Carol.  We love this event and after making two separate visits with family this year, I set to work on this drawing.

























The drawing was completed at 8.5x11 inches on toned paper using markers, ink and colored pencil.  My close family and friends may find one of these in their mailbox days before Christmas, but posted here this greeting goes out to you and yours... Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year! 


Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

"Joy to the World"
8.5x11 inches
toned paper, markers, ink and colored pencil

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair  -> HERE

32 WEEKS

Video: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

"32 Weeks"

graphite on paper

SUBLIMATION

I recently finished-up this new painting.  As part of the new series I am working on this piece titled "Sublimation" explores themes of empowerment, forgiveness and rebirth.  Painted in oil on canvas measuring 36 x 48 inches the imagery depicts symbols of purity and promise leaving behind ghosts of a former self.

Artwork: "Sublimation"
©Copyright Trey Gallaher
All Rights Reserved.

THE ULTIMATE ART PROJECT - P.1

I can't begin to describe the ecstatic feelings that came over us the day my wife and I found out we were pregnant.  Pure joy, exhilaration, surprise and a flood of emotions I have never quite felt before or since in my life.  If you are lucky enough in your life-time to be told those words... "Congratulations, you are pregnant" and you are ready to hear them, there is no greater feeling.   It's like winning the lottery! This welcomed news for us would begin a transformation in our lives forever changing what we were, thought we were, or were ever going to be.

Talk about the ultimate art project! Everything in our lives would begin to be taken over by this news no matter how small.  You begin to see life in a new way through a new set of eyes.  You can't slow it down or speed it up, you just have to hang on for dear life and watch as the woman's body begins to do what it is programmed to do.

The first weeks are slow, and you feel tired, tired, tired...  Your body starts to change in little ways, not significantly, just in little ways that you can't quite put your finger on.  Eventually the news begins to spread to your friends and family and now you are eating voraciously with cravings that would shock a caveman.

Watching my wife eagerly wanting and waiting for changes to happen, to show the life that was growing in her, would soon give way to feelings of anxiety that her body is taking over and not caring how she feels or that she has a meeting first thing in the morning at work.  Life can't just stop because you threw-up before your day even began, feel un-rested, can't eat and have an annoying allergy that seems to be getting worse than ever.  Welcome to pregnancy!

Her belly begins to grow at an alarming rate about twenty-four weeks and it's like an out-of control steam locomotive barreling down the tracks headed straight for you both... hold on!!!! And right about that time you suddenly think this can't get more shocking and amazing watching all this happen before your very eyes, suddenly you feel a little sharp jab, bump or a poke... "WHOA, did you just feel that? OMG!"

(... to be continued)


Artwork: © Copyright Trey Gallaher
 "24 Weeks"
graphite on paper
 "8 Weeks"
graphite on paper
 "16 Weeks"
graphite on paper

CONCEPT ART SUMMER 2013

I just wanted to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to my Concept Art class of the Summer of 2013!  I have always loved teaching this course and am so proud of the hard work my students give me.  This course develops visual ideas and artwork for animations, game art, comics and story-driven entertainment.  From initial sketches and scripts these students develop the look and feel for various commercially viable projects.  Students learn to sharpen their drawing and illustration skills and how to communicate and visually develop ideas. This summer over a speedy eleven weeks, this group gave it their very best and produced some amazing concepts and artwork!  I will miss our fun and power-packed Wednesday nights together watching you guys fill the walls with ideas and drawings.  Keep up the great work everyone, I believe in your talents!

ECHOES

"Echoes" ... is one of the newer paintings from the series I am currently working on in the studio.  Standing 24x30 inches and painted in oil on canvas it conveys spiritual connection and transcendence.  A sense of balance and harmony reverberates throughout the landscape.


Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
"Echoes"
24x30 inches, oil on canvas

DRAWING ON FASHION: JAPANESE DESIGNERS OF THE 80's

Several years ago I had the fortunate and eye-opening pleasure to visit  a fantastic exhibition at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum of exemplary and influential Japanese fashion designers from the 80's.  Designers like Issey Myaki, Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto have become legends in the fashion industry and several of their most famous and inspirational pieces were on display.  Not being a fashion history buff but still a lover of great figurative art and the Asian Art Museum, I figured I would poke my head in and see what was on display.

To my surprise I immediately found myself right at home.  I took the afternoon to walk through the exhibit several times in absolute rapture and awe of what I saw.  What passed before my eyes resembled more of a science fiction movie than a fashion retrospective. Shape and form spiraled together to create an imaginitive and innovative running story in my mind that inspired me immediately bring together two art forms that in my mind couldn't have been farther apart. I never could have imagined that high-fashion and science-fiction could tolerate standing in the same room together let alone working together in such a natural and elegant way.

With my small bag of drawing supplies and sketchbook I began to draw immediately whatever I could capture, I had to.  Somehow I had to get down on paper what I was seeing.  Being more of a fantasy geek than and fashion diva I was unfamiliar with the work of these artists from the opposing side of the galaxy.  What I walked away with that afternoon was an idea that maybe as artists from differing worlds we might sometimes feel light years apart, but in our search for "The Edge" of creativity and imagination we might just be next door neighbors and maybe even friends.

If you would like to learn more about exhibit you can visit the SFGATE review on the exhibit -->  HERE

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco --> HERE

Drawings & Studies ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

plate 1:  dress design by  Yohji Yamamoto
Study (marker)

Plate 2:  dress design by Issey Myaki
Study (graphite)

Plate 3:  dress design by Junya Watanabe
Study (charcoal)

Plate 4:  dress design by Rei Kawakubo
Study (watercolor pencil)

Plate 5:  dress design by Junya Watanabe
Study#2 (marker, ink)

Plate 6:  dress design by Rei Kawakubo
Study#2 (marker)

SUMI DRAWINGS 2

Artwork: Copyright Trey Gallaher

image 1: "Deduced"
image 2: "Call of the Wild"
image 3: "Nocando"

FLOWERING SPADE

"Flowering Spade" is another work from my new series.  Painted in oil on wood panel it touches on several classic themes in art, reflection, desire and purification. Confinement in our lives is often self-imposed and can be outwardly defining in nature.  How do we begin to replace inherent preconception with truth and set ourselves free?

At the time I was painting this I was listening to the music of one of my favorite singer-songwriters Sean Hayes.  The title is also a 'nod' to his moving song by the same name.

Sean Hayes Music -->  seanhayesmusic.com

Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher
"Flowering Spade"
oil on wood panel
18x24 inches

JOURNAL 6: EMERSON, FRANK & GANDHI

Artwork: Copyright Trey Gallaher
From the Journal  Hummingbird.

Qoutes: (by their respective authors)
Mahatma Gandhi
Anne Frank
Ralph Waldo Emerson

OUTSIDE THE BOX

I finished this painting a while back and wanted to post this sooner rather than later.  Completed in oil paint on wood panel 18x24 inches I wanted this piece to encompass a glorious sense of light, luminosity and vibrancy while still allowing for interesting brushwork and paint application. Using a limited palette and a strong gestural pose, I strived to capture a sense of "strength" and "reconnecting" with something spiritual, primal and perhaps lost within ourselves. This is one of the earlier pieces in a series I have been working on for exhibition next year. I've included a detail shot here and you can click the images to see them larger. Enjoy!

"Outside the Box"
18x24 inches
oil on wood panel

Artwork:  Copyright Trey Gallaher. All Rights Reserved.

GRAPHIC NOVEL SUMMER '12

I wanted to send a SHOUT-OUT to my students of my Summer '12 Graphic Novel class at the Art Institute of California-San Francisco.  You guys did a fantastic job and I am proud of you and your fantastic work.  In an intensive eleven weeks together I watched you crank out original stories, characters and artwork to complete your graphic novel projects.  Layouts, pencils, inks, coloring, cover and masthead... it took hard work, dedication and you did it all with passion, talent and elbow grease.  I want to applaud you, thank you and let you know it was an honor to watch you work.  I hope you take your ideas and your work and continue to push them both forward.

photo: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher 2012
All Rights Reserved.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

 

Just a little glimpse at a piece I have been working on recently.  This is part of a series I have been working on for a over a year now. I'm hoping to have a show sometime next year.  These works are quite a bit larger than most anything I've done recently and working in oils is slower and requires more process drying-time.  I included here a drawing study of one of the figures depicted in this painting titled "The Beginning".  Enjoy!

Images and Artwork: "The Beginning"  ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

ON THE COVER 2

Gracing the homepage of my website this month is a detail shot from this recently finished illo I completed titled "Sorceress". While working on this piece I was thinking about science fiction and fantasy writers whose work I am familiar with. I had recently watched an interview with the great concept artist Ian McCaig and remembered him being inspired by the American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell. A few Google searches and thirty minutes later I was immersed in Mr. Campbell's life and work.

An amazing visionary, pioneer and savior of world mythology in the modern age, Joseph Campbell would have many interests and influences from the likes of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Stekel. Campbell was great freinds with fellow writer John Steinbeck and even lived in Monterey, CA next door to the legendary "Doc" Ricketts of all people. Campbell would go on to originate the term monomyth or what would later become known as the The Hero's Journey and what has now become a standard in contemporary story writing structure.

Being totally blown away with Joseph Cambell's dedication to story writing and the survival of mythology in modern day society I decided to include a famous quote of his to accompany my illustration. They seemed to fit nicely together.

"Follow your bliss, and the world will open doors where there were only walls."

- Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)



For more information on Joseph Campbell click --> HERE

To see the detail shot of this work on my homepage click --> HERE

Artwork: "Sorceress"
                9" x 12" oil on paper
                ©Copyright Trey Gallaher

JOURNAL 5: KINDNESS, SOULS & EINSTEIN

From the journal "Hummingbird".

Artwork: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher. All Rights Reserved.

ON THE COVER

Recently I finished this pastel painting I call "The Guardian". I have had this piece working for years and had gotten away from it for a while. My new years resolution was to clear out some old pieces that have been waiting to be finished... starting with this one.

Years ago now my dear friends Gary and Guinevere had their first baby, Koen (now six). It was an amazing transformation to watch that little life come into the world and change so many lives for the better around him. Even in his earliest stages of life he was bringing smiles and joy to everyone and I saw my friends change in ways I couldn't exactly describe. Something different was happening, the focus, the protective nature, the intensity, the love, the hope, and the joy were bringing a new perspective on the world and our future.

I had set out to to do several pieces on this subject matter. I didn't want to focus on the baby, but on the social, cultural, and emotional aspect of going through this transformation in one's life; becoming a parent. This is not a picture about the baby, but about the people around the baby.




This month I am putting this piece on the cover (homepage) of my website as a tribute to Koen's sixth birthday, and also to honor another new life that has entered the world recently named Cameron. My friends Clayton and Stephanie have been recently blessed with a new life that is a smiling happy bundle of joy... and the transformation begins again.




"The Guardian"
27x20in. (68.6x50.8cm)
pastel on paper

Homepage --> www.treygallaher.com

Artwork and photos: ©Copyright Trey Gallaher