Thursday, December 20, 2018

Observation II Study


Up on Every Day Original tomorrow morning! This is a study from an older painting which I recently revisited for an experiment in what could have been.

"When he [Johannes Kepler] found that his long cherished beliefs did not agree with the most precise observations, he accepted the uncomfortable facts, he preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions. That is the heart of science."
-Carl Sagan


Observation II Study by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 8 x10 inches


Reference for the background of this piece was collected while visiting the telescope in the 127 year old Ladd Observatory, in Providence RI.


Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Face of Cassini


A new video documenting the painting process of Cassini. The satellite dish in her hair was a last minute addition that you can see me pencil in at the beginning of the video. I then added a flower later because the dish looked lonely on it's own. Full image on my website.




About Cassini:

In our pursuit to understand the solar system we find ourselves in, we sent an explorer on a billion mile journey to the Saturnian system. The Cassini Spacecraft sent back amazing new data and images of Saturn and it's 62 known moons, 46 of which were unknown when Cassini left. We learned that the moon, Enceladus, may have everything it needs to support life deep in it's global ocean, Titan has a liquid methane sea, and so much more.

Last year, low on fuel after twenty years in space and so much information gained, Cassini took several dives between Saturn and it's rings to learn a little more before it's mission came to an end. To avoid possible microbial contamination of any of Saturn's moons, Cassini dove and burned up in Saturn's atmosphere, while sending back it's final data.

Email subscribers: Sorry, videos don't seem to get included in emails, watch here.

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Starswept


A little starscape for Abend Gallery's 28th Annual Holiday Miniatures Show opening this Saturday.

Starswept by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Starswept, Oil, 8 x 10 inches

Earlier this month, I had a great time exhibiting at Illuxcon, the best convention for imaginative realism. It was full of great people and great conversations! It was extra awesome this year to have my image on the program cover, and other show materials.



And finally, here are some Detail shots of my last completed painting, Hubble:









Thursday, October 11, 2018

Hubble Deep Field


Since it’s launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has produced some of the most spectacular images of our universe. In 1995, the spirit of discovery led the Hubble team to point the telescope at the darkest patch of sky they could find, not knowing if they would see anything at all. In that patch of sky, the size of a pinhead at arms length, the Hubble Deep Field observation revealed 3,000 galaxies stretched out to distances of up to 13 billion lightyears. Since looking deep into space is also looking deep into the history of the universe (when the light left it's source), the observation was our first nearly complete view of the entire history of the universe in one image. Hubble’s observations narrowed our knowledge of the age of our universe to a decimal point of accuracy (from a range of 10-20 billion years down to 13.7 billion) and brought us that much closer to understanding where we sit in this vast and beautiful space-time.


Hubble Deep Field by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 18 x 24 inches


More about the Hubble Deep Field observation:


Take a look at the Hubble Deep Field Observation here or check out other Hubble images.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Cassini


In our pursuit to understand the solar system we find ourselves in, we sent an explorer to the Saturnian system. The Cassini Spacecraft sent back amazing new data and images of Saturn and it’s 62 known moons, 46 of which were unknown when it left. We learned that the moon, Enceladus, may have everything it needs to support life deep in it’s global ocean, Titan has a liquid methane sea, and so much more.

Last year, low on fuel after twenty years in space and so much information gained, Cassini took several dives between Saturn and it’s rings to learn a little more before it’s mission came to an end. To avoid possible microbial contamination of any of Saturn’s moons, Cassini dove and burned up in Saturn’s atmosphere, while sending back it’s final data.

Cassini by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 18 x 24 inches


This video explains more of Cassini’s accomplishments: 

And final dive:

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Best of Show!


Bioluminescence IV picked up Best of Show in the August BoldBrush painting competition! A big thank you to BoldBrush and juror, Mark Lague. Check out the other winners here.

Bioluminescence IV by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Bioluminescence IV, Oil, 18 x 24 inches


And here are a few peeks of a new painting coming soon! Stay tuned...

Cassini (Detail) by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com

Cassini (Detail) by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com


Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Studies


A few studies. I went a little crazy with the color on this first one at a live session, but I think it worked out. It's been added to the available works at robreyfineart.com.

Head Study by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 12 x 16 inches

I've been wanting to get reacquainted with graphite and charcoal recently so I played around with some graphite last week and this is what happened.

Head Study by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Graphite, 9 x 12 ish


Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Auction Ending!


There are less than 24 hours left in the auction for Blue Bower, or at Every Day Original

Due to a glitch, there has been some discrepancy in the ending time on the auction page for those not in the eastern time zone, but the countdown is correct and the auction ends at Noon EST, tomorrow 8/22/18.

Here are a few more views of the painting in progress:


And another video:

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Blue Bower

The auction for this painting is live on Every Day Original!

Lucky are we to find ourselves nestled in such a comfortable nook of the cosmos. We have evolved, of course, to fit this planet like a glove. Yet for that evolution to take place, a multitude of serendipitous circumstances were necessary. It is possible we owe a debt to the vastness of our universe, which has created such statistical possibilities. From our planet's protective magnetosphere and temperature, balanced in the range of liquid water, to our Sun's stable size and Jupiter's gravitational deflection of hazardous debris, we are privileged to occupy so tufted a nest. It may be the only soft spot such fragile and short-lived biological creatures as we, will ever be capable of reaching – a precious thing, this beautiful blue bower.

Blue Bower by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 12 x16 inches

Here are a few videos of the painting process:

Monday, August 6, 2018

Upcoming Auction on EDO


I've been working on a new piece for Every Day Original's next auction, starting August 15th. Here are a few peaks:

Blue Bower - Detail, by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Detail image


Sketching out the preliminary drawing



Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Gravitational Waves


A newly completed this commission for IX Arts, which will be on display at the IX show in October. The allegorical image of merging black holes is a poetic representation of recently observed waves of gravity.

Since our ancestors first looked up at the stars, everything we've observed of the universe has come in the form of light: electromagnetic waves. In the last century we've learned everything we know from looking at every part of the electromagnetic spectrum and analyzing that light. For the first time in 2015, humans observed energy arriving at earth of a different sort than electromagnetic light.

1.4 billion years ago, two black holes spiraled around each other and merged, releasing three solar masses of energy in the form of gravitational waves, literal stretching and squashing of space. If you had been nearby the waves could have squeezed you to spaghetti, but when they spread out and passed through earth in 2015 we detected those waves, dissipated to less than the width of an atomic nucleus. Our whole lives, these waves have periodically passed right through us, unnoticed, but now humanity has gained the eyes to see them.

Gravitational Waves by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 30 x 30 inches
More about Gravitational Waves

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Deep Sleep


Nestled in our comfy spot amongst the stars. This small study for a larger painting will be available on Every Day Original tomorrow morning!

Deep Sleep Study by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil Study, 6 x 8 inches


Thursday, May 17, 2018

OPA Demo


I'm excited to be giving a painting demonstration at the Oil Painters of America National Convention in Steamboat Springs, CO, on June 3rd!

The OPA National Juried Exhibition is always a great show and I'm pleased to have "Magnificent Universe" selected to participate in this year's exhibition. Come see the show and watch me paint!

Magnificent Universe by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Magnificent Universe, Oil, 18 x 24 inches


Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Goldfish


New Bioluminescence for Abend Gallery's 10x10 show opening this Saturday

Bioluminescence,Goldfish by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil, 10 x 10 inches


Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Hubble Study


My next small study goes up on Every Day Original tomorrow morning!

Since it's launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has produced some of our most spectacular images of the universe. Hubble's observations narrowed our knowledge of the age of the universe to a decimal point of accuracy (13.7 billion years instead of 10-20 billion). In 1995, the spirit of discovery led the Hubble team to point the telescope at the darkest patch of sky they could find to see if there was anything there. In a patch of sky the size of a pinhead at arms length, the Hubble Deep Field observation revealed 3,000 galaxies stretched out to distances of up to 13 billion lightyears. It was our first nearly complete view of the entire history of the universe in one image. Check out this video about it.

The HST is nearing the end of it's life. While there are many space telescopes that preform many functions, Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope is set to launch just next year!


Hubble Study by Rob Rey - robreyfineart.com
Oil Study, 6 x 8 inches