Ignatius Memories, 11x14

Years ago....  Alas, decades ago, I was hitch hiking north to Glacier Park from Missoula.  I got dropped off to wait for another ride in St. Ignatius, MT where six guys in an old Mercury  stopped for me.  My hopes of a ride were dashed when they told me they wanted to beat me up.  It was either grab my hunting knife or talk fast and I chose the latter, convincing them they needed a beer or two before commencing anything so strenuous as pounding me to a pulp.  Fortunately they agreed and in the meantime the former head of Wisconsin's department of natural resources picked me up.  Whew.

Maynard Dixon the painter spent a couple of years in St. Ignatius as he traveled throughout the West.   It is a very beautiful easy going place to be.  The roads and farms around there are beautiful with streams cascading out of the mountains.

This piece was painted in last minute desperation as my friend Bob and I spent too much time drawing and talking.  The day was waning and a storm was approaching so we just stopped on a backstreet and painted what we saw.  Drops began falling when the final touches went in and we hastily threw our gear back in the truck.

Cannery Cove Study, 8 x 10

My mother and sister are awesome musicians.  I've seen pianos perk up and stand at attention when they walk into a room.  When I was a kid I went into a music store with them and thought I saw a nervous piano wetting itself....but then I realized it was a leaky humidifier and not a B version of Fantasia. 

When playing, my sister goes through a piece once or twice as written and then a look crosses her face and she moves off on her own, using the music only as a guide for what she wants to hear, letting her heart be her guide.  She departs the text, having the skill to do so.

The artists I most admire do this all the time, using reality only as a guide for their own interpretations.  Sergei Bongart, Quang Ho, Cathe Gill, Scott Burdick/SusanLyons, Peggy Kroll-Roberts, Ron Lukas, Bob Phinney are just a few artists whose works have a singular stamp of personality that stems from letting what they see only be a guide for what they want to say.

'Cannery Cove' was a small quickie at a new park on the island while on the way home from town.  In general I like what happened yet have a feeling that 'reality' remained too influential.  I can't say right now (give me a month) what I'd do differently, but there is this sense that this was one where I needed to "depart the text" more than I did.

Swan River Fall, 10x12

Quinacridone Gold and Fall colors just seem to go together.  This was painted about two years ago and I'm posting it because I've been out of circulation for the last week due to a combination of summer flu and three immunization shots....and I wanted to share something before we take off for Montana.

I also wanted share something because I just ran across an older posting by Robert Genn, The Tyranny of Reality.  If you are an artist and don't know who RG is, you should.  And if you want to read one of the better essays (so many of his are excellent) about creating art, click the link and enjoy.

RG sends out writings about making art and being an artist, and signing up for his postings is free and well worth your time.  A fascinating man and an artist's artist.

I'll try and post something from the plains and forests of MT.

American Pie, 8 x 10

What is it about old things that is so intriguing?  Boats, cars, houses, barns, bridges.....if they have age to them they are more interesting to me.  Is it because there is the patina of history, of human interaction, or the ability to last in a world where everything is quickly replaced?

I don't know if this is a Chevy but it sure seems like a slice of an American Pie past and it was just sitting there in a box store parking lot surrounded by modern cars and shopping carts.  How many shopping trips have those four wheels been on?  How many dreams of the good life have floated around in the heads of its many owners?

Sunday in the Park, 12 x 16 demo

Last Sunday we held the plein air workshop.  Eleven or so watched this one develop and then went off and painted on their own, keeping me hopping from place to place until late in the afternoon.

Painting outdoors is not easy but the group turned out some nice work despite the changing clouds, sun and tides.  I hope they had as much fun as I did.  Here are a few hard at work...and some of that work paying off.

M's Painting:
I especially like the composition and the illusion of form on the dock.  Notice how the water is multiple hues but similar value making it believable yet colorful and interesting.

B's Painting:
This ended up very painterly and colorful.  My favorite part is where the roof of the house, the path and the tree branches come together.  It pulls me right in.

Thanks to everyone.  It was nice to paint with all of you....but I was sure tired.

July 2010 Marker Workshop

While waiting for the class to experience sketching outdoors with markers I kept occupied with this one.   I entertain myself watching how drawings develop out of blank paper.  It's really an amazing thing how so much can be communicated with a few lines and tones.

People in the workshop seemed pleased watching their own drawings develop throughout the day as they learned this simple yet effective technique.  Here are a few photos from the class and a scan of one of the demos.  They were eleven fun and enthusiastic people.

You can get a glimpse of what the demo setup looked like in a corner of one of the photos.

Tomorrow I'll post some things from the plein air workshop.

 

Working Dock, 11 x 14

This last weekend it was time again for both the marker drawing and plein air workshops.  To make sure I hadn't forgotten how to paint .... and to find a good spot for a demo ... on Friday I did this one of the ferry repair yard.  It was another of my block in, don't draw paintings.  The dock, the shadowed water and the opposite shore and trees were all painted as a mass with a reddish hue which you can see peeking out in several spots.  I was helped out by a six year old who added, with some help, a few of the strokes in the shoreline.  He and his grandmother were visiting from Oklahoma and asked if it was always so sunny in Seattle.  Snicker, snicker... a week ago we were still wearing our woolies.

Tomorrow and the next day I'll post some photos from the workshops.

Dad! Where Are You?

Waiting for our daughter and her husband I sat on the grass and drew knowing full well that it was impossible for them to bus down and make the ferry on time.  Little did I realize that they had just run up the ramp I was drawing and were calling me as the ferry pulled away....leaving me on one side and them heading for the other.  To top it off, it was an hour before the next boat.  So I drew some more...

Value Sketching With Markers
This weekend the final of the new edition went to the printer and will be available by July 12, 2010.  Here is link to a sneak peek.

Hope you had a grand 4th!

New Book...finally!

This morning I sent a completed file off to the printers and expect a proof back in a few days.  After the inevitable corrections it will be printed again and be ready for distribution by July 12th.

If you have been waiting, thank you for your patience.  There are now over 150 illustrations on around sixty pages....I say 'around' because I'm thinking of throwing in a couple more  before final printing.

You can get a copy by contacting me....see my profile....    I'm not biased or anything, but I think it came out well with it's new layout and additions.

Now maybe I can get some painting done...

Portrait, gouache

Whenever I paint in gouache I seriously wonder why I don't do it more often as it is such a pleasurable experience.  Intimate, simple materials, forgiving....what else could I ask for?  Perhaps it's the need to frame it under glass, because of both the extra expense and a barrrier that then exists between the viewer and the artwork.

I'm still traveling so this is not a current piece....can't wait to get home and swing that brush again.

Plein Air Study, three colors

I'm on the road so this is one from a year ago or so.

Inspired by a friend I did a series of seven or eight paintings in either oil or acrylic using a limited palette.  Burnt Sienna, Thalo Blue, and Cad Yellow Light were the only hues I used in this one, the first of the series.  Later I added Ultramarine Blue to get more vibration in the blues, especially where there was more sky showing.  I'm always impressed at how much you can say using fewer colors.

Summer is here.  The outdoors is calling...

Near Tucks', 10x12

Last week out by Monroe the weather couldn't decide between rain and sun.....but it made for some dynamic skies.  Once again, since I'm working off my laptop, I can't tell how accurate the color is.  I remember the trees as having a less intense green.

This was a simple quick sketch just to capture the sky, particularly those light struck clouds that silhouette the trees.

William F. Reese Memorial

A fierce wind must have howled in off the plains the day Bill left us, trying in vain to fill the huge artistic vacuum he left behind.  Oil painter, watercolorist, pastelist, etcher, sculptor......outstanding in all, Bill approached his craft with an intense dedication.

This pochade and painting, his own, sat on a stool at one end of a simple pine box.  At the other end a charcoal portrait of him done by Scott Burdick.

A dozen years ago Bill told me, "Darrell, my advice for you is when you sit down play your guitar, and when you stand up, paint."  I wish I had followed his advice more closely....

Thanks Bill.
And thank you Fran for sharing him.

Tugs, 11 x 14

Two weeks ago, knowing I had a plein air workshop the next day, I wandered down to where we were going to paint so I could get a sense of the area and the color.  Sitting on the beach  I mushed my way through this one before the tide began lapping at my feet.  It was a good way to get warmed up for teaching.  This begged for a larger canvas....like at least a 20 x 24.  That would have made it even more fun.

Spring Runoff

This was the day before the international kayak competition on the Wild Mile of the Swan River, Bigfork, MT.  I puzzled how to move the focus away from the white operations building down to the turbulent water and finally settled on subduing everything in the background....about what I'd do in a painting.  If I had darkened the trees next to the house it would have made it more of a bulls eye than it already is.

'V' just wrote me that she thinks there is a comedic component to my marker drawings.  Perhaps she meant 'cartoon' and I'd agree with her.  Marker drawing pulls you to simplify and express the essential caricature of a place, finding more (less and less?) of what is necessary to show the feeling and design.  It's what I'm always working on.  Robin Weiss is constantly aware of this also and it shows in his paintings and drawings.  Check out the drawing and painting of his called 'Flatbed Truck' for a great example.

This drawing will end up in the new edition of my book which I expect to be out in early July in time for my next workshop.   (Yes, I know.  It was due out the end of April...what can I say?)

Grasslands, 8 x 14

 

Another field sketch from the Bison Reserve in Montana.  Sit by a stream and move paint around....sounds like heaven.  I simplified the detail in the distant hills to get the eye forward in the piece.  I've recently added Quinacrodone Red and Indigo to my palette for obscure reasons.  Like Turkey Umber, Indigo is just weird enough to make me interested.  

I like the water in this one.

The Crossing

Twenty minutes to wait before picking someone up I stopped the car in the Vietnamese Market area and drew what was in front of me.  The guy kept walking back and forth to his truck so he just fell into the drawing.  Even though there is all the detail and the figure is only 1/2 inch high the eye is drawn there right away. 

Marker drawing is so quick and easy to create a sense of depth and form.

I'll post some more of Montana later this week.

The Coming Rain, 11 x 14

I'm posting this because it has a good story.  Leaving the cabin about 6 in the evening, I headed out across the forest making lots of noise to alert the bear and other critters (I did run across a griz one time doing this.)

Anyway, the drops were already beginning to fall and, although I'm not usually a big vista kind of painter, this is what was easily available with the rain coming.  Mountains first and then I hit the sky because that was changing quickly.  As the rain increased I moved to the bottom and just got in the river as the storm hit.  Everything got soaked.  Rivulets were running off the canvas.   I've been asked why I don't use water soluble oils more often and this is the reason:  The painting would have ended in a color pool at my feet.

This image looks dark on my laptop.  Check back in a few days....I may correct it.

Speaking of critters, two red fox showed up early in the week.  This boulder is less than twenty feet from the cabin.  Later I found that their den was about 150 feet away and I've spent the time watching the kits play as they wait for their parents to bring in the next meal. 

Early Blooms

Just inside the National Bison Range southwest of Ronan, MT we began looking for what to paint.  I roamed about for 45 minutes sketching and absorbing, and thought I had finally found a spot.  Going back to the car to get paints I noticed this ten feet from my bumper and stayed right there.  Like they say, 'When you know, you gotta go.' 

Blocked-in with a purple color it was fairly easy.....until I got to the mass of flowers and reeds in the sunlit area.  The trick was to state it simply with just enough 'stuff' to make the illusion.  Painterly but with some detail.  Perhaps it worked... 

Steven Smallsalmon, 12x14

The Montana Painter's Alliance is a group of twenty five talented artists from across Montana who have regular group paint-outs and were kind enough to include me as their guest.  The morning of the second day they had Steve come in from the Flathead reservation in native dress.  Since I have never painted a Native American before this was a special treat.  After taking several five minute poses to get us warmed up, the group and Steve settled on this one and he posed for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Here is also one of the warm-up sketches.  Of the four or five sketches I liked this one the best but, alas, he decided on the one that became the painting....which I also like but the shapes in the sketch were more interesting and I wished I could have brought it to a painting.  All the sketches, including this one, were wiped away.  This should give you an idea about how these begin.  Actually, there are more lines here than usual.  Enjoy.