I’ve been trying out a new format for the livestream – daytime streams. It’s allowing more people to drop in and watch, although many admit they’re watching while at work on another monitor. Good for them, and I’m glad to give them a diversion. But I’ve also been trying a new format too. Instead of a painting in a session, I’m working on longer-format paintings. These are larger, and far more finished than the usual painting in a night session.

The Voyager painting I’ve previously shared was the first of these. And so far it’s been a great success. The second is this scene of the USS Excelsior. At the same size, 24″ x 36″ it’s a great way to work on the ship detail with a fun scene. This one is in the last stages, so the photo is after my last livestream.

While it’s been fun to watch the entire progress live, I find that final details are a bit more consuming and it’s much more efficient for me to work on them alone. Then it allows for a fun reveal live on the show.

Which brings me to a subject that I’m finally returning to paint, the Rigel 7 Fortress. I’ve been promising a return to this painting for some time. This week I started back in on it and I’ll be working on it live over the next couple of weeks.

In this photo you see the first stages of the painting. There’s an initial drawing, and then a light layer of shading. The basic color fields were then laid down – sky, planet, building, etc. All of these will need to be detailed and refined. The painting is being made entirely in acrylic (as of this writing that is the plan, but I may switch to oils if necessary).

In short, this is a larger painting than my previous Rigel 7, which is now in the hands of a collector. It’s also a wider crop of the original painting. I received wonderful images from “BirdoftheGalaxy” over on Flickr, and it’s helped me produce a very accurate drawing. The canvas is 20″ x 30″ and roughly the same size (we think) as the original painting. There will be differences of course. The color palette I’ve chosen is closer to what’s seen in the TOS digital remaster. Brighter and more vibrant than some of the original photos. The original was also painted on glass. With my painting there will be a slight texture from the canvas, which is its nature of course. On close inspection of the above image the texture is apparent. But there are many more layers of paint to go before this is finished so I expect it to be less of an issue.

When finished, all of these will be available in the store – both the originals, and limited edition signed prints made in-house. Although the Rigel 7 original painting should be consider on hold until I contact an individual that has first-rights to purchase. If they decline then it will also be available in the store.