Just Off the Easel May 31, 2013

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When I saw the scene for my latest painting titled: “A Cheerful Day in Gray” I knew it was going to be painted. The location was in Canada. Although it was early spring a cold snap hit and actually the day I photographed this it was lightly snowing. However, I decided to warm it up a bit by leaving out the snow and make the air a heavy moisture laden morning. Even though this painting is a study of grays, it’s not somber. I found it to be cheerful, what with the lush green grass. Something not seen in the currently very dry area of where I live. I did add the cow and free rangers to add life to the scene.

The sky shows a slight lightening, hinting at the promise of clearing skies and a beautiful day to come! The painting is available at Folger Gallery, Midland, TX (432) 697-3778 (this painting has sold)

An overview of different stages of this paintings development can be seen in the section: Art Tips: When the wrong end of the brush is right.

What other moods or feelings does this painting evoke in you? I’d love to hear your comments.

Art Tips: When the Wrong End of the Brush is Right

When the wrong end of the brush is right.

I saw this old barn in Canada and I’m assuming it’s an old dairy farm barn. At least it reminds me of one. I was attracted to the look of the barn and its texture. If you read down you’ll see how I achieved the look of the wood on the barn. Be sure to click on any of the images for a larger view!

First I started with the door opening of the barn and worked out from there.

Simple enough. However, when it was time to start on the side of the barn, I wondered how to achieve the texture of the grayish black wood on the barn. To get the look I wanted, I first applied a thin mixture of a blackish gray tone to the white canvas. I then over-painted it with a heavier paint application. This is where the wrong end of the brush was right! With a T-square resting on the top edge of my canvas I placed the “wrong” end of the brush, (end of the wooden handle) next to the T-square and scored vertical lines into the wet paint which resulted in it removing the paint and exposing the lighter tone underneath. I then softened the effect with the “right” end of the brush.

Using this simple “trick” I was able to effectively capture the look and texture of the old barn!

The following images reflect the painting’s progress.

After this stage I begin to work back into the distance adding detail as well as in the foreground.

From here I paint in the chickens and continue with my detail work in the foreground adding more grasses.

Finally I make adjustments in the sky and finishing details.

Just off the Easel April 25, 2013

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My latest painting just off the easel is currently untitled with a generic name of “California”. The scene was near my wife’s brothers property in Gilroy. The dog and chickens were not there, but I thought they should be, although the man was actually there. I wonder if he was aware of the beauty that was around him with the evening sunlight on the humble dwelling and landscape. I imagine he was a worker hired to tend to the different crops. I recognized the corn stalks on the left, but for the flowering vegetation, I have no clue. I just painted it. I did see in other nearby areas fields with different colored flowers being cultivated. I guess this stretch of land was multipurpose.

Since I have yet to settle on a title, what do you think the title for this painting should be called? What mood do you feel when you see it? I would love to hear your ideas and comments!

Small Landscape Paintings

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Throughout art history, artists in addition to their main body of work, have completed smaller works, sketches, compositional studies etc and many of these are complete works of art in their own right.

With that in mind, I’ve started doing some small 5″x7″ landscape paintings in acrylic on Arches watercolor paper and have found them very enjoyable to do. They’re sort of like warm up exercises for my artistic mind. They get me thinking about design on a small format and if I like the design well enough some of these works may become the basis for larger studio paintings. Even though they’re more impressionistic than my normal style, I find I like the departure.

The first is a scene that I captured with my camera in what I like to call drive by shooting. This is generally when it’s not convenient or safe to pull over. Therefore, while my wife was driving I was scanning the roadside along a pretty stretch of highway and saw this scene and clicked my camera. The foreground was in light and the middle distance in shadow. I intensified the effect and added more color, but it captures my intent of focusing on the light in the foreground which to me is the subject of this small painting. It’s rather fun, doing these drive by camera shootings, because I never know exactly how it’s going to turn out or if it’s going to be one big blur! But so far, despite the blurriness of some photos, they turn out pretty good.

This is another camera “drive by shooting” of a scene in Arizona. Very dry and hot, but had it’s own beauty in creating a somewhat triadic color scheme of blue violet in the distance dull orange and red orange and yellow green in the foreground and middle distance.

The scene below is from an area near Fredericksburg, TX that I had visited on other occasions and provided source material for other paintings. This particular day had cows and this particular day, I didn’t feel like painting them. So by way of the brush I sent them off to another area to graze.