Monday, September 17, 2012

Everything must....

Going through some changes....maybe that's why I haven't been up to posting lately. Happy with some paintings...not so much with others. I'm hoping it will all settle down after the move to Portland....

I felt good about the work I did at the NW Plein Air event, but much less so with the few studies I've done since. The exception has been the roses....lots of work to do there still, but I like the direction so far...





Friday, July 20, 2012

West Coast Travels Part 1

So.....hard to say where to start. We've been on the road for two months now. Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington....still compiling notes and thoughts from my hand written scribblings in order to create a blog about the trip. With all the different places, internet access is sometimes sketchy so I figured I have to settle for a few "update" posts and then write some more complete as things wound down. To tide things over, here's a few paintings from the first half of the trip.....











Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Waiting for the band.....

Couple of new ones today....the first I painted out at a gig in Page Springs. I showed up two hours too early for set-up. Fortunately had my box and a panel with me.....
"Page Springs Ranch"; 8x10; oil on panel

"One More Change"; 6x8; oil on panel


Friday, May 4, 2012

New work.....


 "First Now"; 24x24; oil on canvas
 "Everything Changes"; 11x14; oil on panel

Sunday, April 22, 2012

New studies.....

"Prelude"; 8x10; oil on panel
SOLD

"San Carlos Ranch"; 8x10; oil on panel
SOLD
"Shoreline"; 8x10; oil on panel
SOLD

"Verde Morning II"; 8x10; oil on panel
SOLD

Monday, March 12, 2012

More studies.....

"Who's Studying Who"; 8x10; oil on panel
SOLD
"Around The Corner"; 10x12; oil on panel
SOLD

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Time flies....

I can't believe it's March already.....summer is coming way too fast for those of us in the Southwest Sun Belt....100 degree days are on the horizon.

A quick update is in order....I was very honored to find that my piece, "Midway," won third place in the annual juried exhibition at the Sedona Art Center

"Midway"; 12x24; oil on panel

I was also very honored to hear that I was juried into membership in the Oil Painters of America...I will find out if any of my submissions made it into the OPA 2012 National Exhibition

Finally, some new pieces:"Evening Cows"; 6x8; oil on board
"Valley Sentinels"; 10x12; oil on panel

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Resonance....

"Resonant Spring"; 8x10; oil on panel

"Fairview"; 9x12; oil on panel
SOLD


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Working through......

"Difference Of Opinion"; 12x12; oil on board

50x50 update: 45 days; 60 paintings; next week I'll begin the selecting/editing process

Friday, February 17, 2012

Still life with Pear

"Still Life with Pear"; 11x14; oil on board

Inscape III - Morning sequence....

Surprisingly, I've had a few people ask me about my painting process -- which actually cracks me up, because I rarely feel like I've got a handle on what I'm doing day to day, let alone describing it to others ---

Anyhoo...here we go...
This is the initial sketch I worked from; 8x10.....

First off I tone a 16x20 panel with a light wash of burnt sienna color; then a loose sketch to draw in the major elements; at this point I also a looking at spatial relationships in the drawing...often drawing lines around elements to see if I'm happy with the negative spaces as well.

Initially, I lay in the darks first as I have a tendency to lose my darks quite quickly. I work from a three-color palette -- Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson or Cad Red Medium, Cad Yellow Lemon, and Titanium White. Also at this point in my development it helps me think about working with the shadows. Working loose and thinly with a mixture of Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson (my chosen red for this painting), and Cad Yellow Lemon.

Still looking at spatial relationships, I decide that another grove of trees helps balance the composition a bit and helps establish more of a feeling of distance by creating what I think of as a secondary middle ground.

Once I feel pretty good about the drawing and my placement of darks, I move to the sky and block in the color from a mixture of Ultramarine, Alizarin, White and portions of my left over dark mixture -- the foreground and water will also be derived from these colors in one proportion or another. I also go back to my trees and horizon lines to adjust edges, blend, and re-establish some darker shadows.

Completing the initial color pass, I lay in the middle value colors of the trees, foreground and reflections. Up to this point, everything has been done in one sitting, working wet-into-wet. I'm trying to pay particular attention to color harmony and edge relationships before letting the painting "set-up" for a bit.

After letting the piece sit overnight (if longer than overnight, I will often give the piece a very light coat of Liquin or Neo-Megilp to unify the colors and create a wet-into-wet feeling), I start to work in more local color on the trees and foreground, tighten up any details that I want to add in the center of interest, and generally make sure my value relationships are where I want them.

After this stage, I will set the painting aside and place it in a frame before going back over it for any final adjustments -- for me, this is now the hardest stage....

Inscape III - Morning; 16x20; oil on panel

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Inscapes......

"Inscape I"; 6x8; oil on panel
"George Goes To Tillamook"; 10x8; oil on panel