Color Vibrations, 30x30

It was this last January 1st.....
.....and I wanted to begin the new year in the right spirit.  Remembering that this still life was still set up downtown at the Winslow Art Center,  away I went with a blank canvas and spent an enjoyable afternoon.  I Facebooked a process shot of it but never followed it up on the blog....so here you go.

Still life is handy for studying color, what to emphasize, what to lose, and where color vibrations can be enhanced.  It doesn't move, make comments about my technique (or lack of it), complain about holding a pose, or attract gnats that fly in my mouth.  All pluses.

There are parts of this I'm enamored with and parts I'd like to change but know I'll never get around to it and will likely use the canvas for something else.  While it is still around I thought I'd share the result and a few process shots taken with my phone.  It was a dark still life and I was standing in a 'light hole' in the room.  As a result I began plans for redoing the studio lights which are much better now.  The process shots:

Beginning block in.

Fully blocked in

Where I ended.  It photographed fairly dark.

OK.  It is time to get back up to the studio and finish up the paintings I've gotten started before I lose interest or, more accurately, something else grabs my attention and months go by before I get back to them.

Hope you are having a great day.

I'll be back.  Thanks for looking.

Color Comps

Color Comps....
..... were taught to me by Ron Lukas who, after being hired away from teaching a bunch of us how to paint, spent more than a decade doing mostly color comps for Dreamworks.  Ron was looser about it than I am, but the value for me is still realized....and I sell a few.

(Now that I've mentioned his name I can't keep from saying what an incredible artist he was to learn from.)    

This is a 6x6 of a still life I had set up for classes.  I wanted to see where I could go with the color....where were the edges of still keeping it mostly a blue/purple painting?  I think I found some of them and am happy.

Here are two more, they are 4x5 and 4x4, plus one of the paintings that came from it.  I do these with a palette knife on inexpensive card stock as they are just for study....although some have been around for ten years and still look as good as new.  They only take 20 to 40 minutes to do and give me not only good information but allow playing with ideas before committing to a larger painting.  Likely I should do more of them.

Wild Roses, 20x24

Thanks for looking!  I have some more stuff in the works coming up soon.

Evening in Umbria Study, 8x10

In only a week....
..... since being announced, the Italy trip to Umbria is close to filled with signups.  If you are even thinking about it,  at least email or call with some indication of intent.  Of course those who have made a deposit will get first dibs.  It will be a fun trip staying at a villa in the country, visits to Orvieto and a castle, plus lots of painting and/or drawing time.  Should be relaxed fun.

I've done several studies lately that are going larger and with slightly different color interpretations, all of the Italian countryside (with a couple from France).  They range from 14x18 ( this one is already sketched in as that) to 30x30.  I'll post them as they get finished.

There is a looseness and tiling of brush strokes in the smaller pieces that I want to keep while also playing with new color ideas.  This one I have in mind for a green/red complementary color arrangement, straying into yellow orange for the bits of glory.  Having five of them going all at once is influencing my eye, keeping it fresh as I bounce from to the other.

Amy D'Apice, who lives in Thailand during the winters, has an interesting blog called ArtConspiracy you might want to check out.  Amy is a talented painter and sketcher with a delightful writing style.  Her word play is as enticing as her art.  You can find her HERE.

I have some upcoming workshops which I will announce later in the week.  You can find out about them and the Italy workshop at the Winslow Art Center  HERE.  The Center has a wide variety of workshops, trips and classes for any artist, beginner or advanced.

Later!

Leaving Orvieto, 8x10

The Winslow Art Center.....
.....has just announced my painting workshop in Umbria, very near Orvieto which we will visit.  I spent seven days in Orvieto during our last trip to Italy and not only is the city amazing but the countryside around it, where we will be staying, is terrific.  Take some time to check out the details HERE.  There are already people signing up.

Open to sketchers and/or painters in oil, gouache or acrylic, we will work both independently and as a group, around the villa and on day trips in the area.  More details on the website and from me later.  It looks terrific.

This small painting is actually on top of a portrait that ended up less than inspiring.  Turning the panel upside down I just blocked in the major 'dark' shapes.  I don't have a pic of the painting process but the block in looked something like this.....but with an upside down face under the paint.

Perhaps this will help to see it:

To me, when I squinted, the buildings were mostly in shadow and the sky and road carried the light.  You could just as easily have said the buildings are warm and the sky and road are cool....doesn't matter.  It's the division of shape characteristics that carries the weight of the painting.  As long as I did't go too far out of my original values (or temperature if that is how you see it) it was going to work.

Yes, there are light shapes in the dark areas.....or there are cool shapes in the warm areas....whichever.  Yet there aren't enough of those to break up the initial vision.

With those shapes loosely blocked there was no reason to draw any lines or create more definition.  I could begin 'paint carving' right away, using a limited number of values both lighter and darker than the shape.  Painting is just 'big shapes and doodads'.....I used to title my painting class that name.

By the way, here is a drawing I've posted before that was done just to the right of this vantage point maybe twenty feet and back.  Those houses on the lower left are the ones in the painting.  I drew it in the rain, shading my paper, markers and gouache with my hunched body.  It was fortunate that the heavy drops held off until about 2 minutes after I finished.

Thanks for looking.  Back soon.

Nancy meets Zorn, 16x20

Yesterday was the third session.....
......of Painting the Portrait which should end next week, although there is mention of it continuing for a bit more.  We've explored charcoal drawing and painting with just one color (Burnt Sienna).  This time it was a brief exploration of the Zorn Palette.

Anders Zorn was a brilliant Swedish artist who often used only four tubes of paint: Ivory Black, White, Cadmium Red and Yellow Ochre.  With that limited selection he was able to achieve luminous color effects.  It is a good approach to use for introducing color to the figure.

The limiting of choices allows for a focus on 'possibilities' rather than copying or coloring.  It sparks creativity, avoiding a slavish reproduction.   The image you see here doesn't show the more subtle colors that are in the painting, especially the soft lavenders and greens that the original has.

During the times that I didn't want to hover over people, I sat on the floor and did this one.  The steep angle up at Nancy....a good friend.... I found interesting and attractive.  Backlit subjects are always more intriguing as they allow for more color to seep into the image.

Signing it for Nancy.

Thanks for looking.  I haven't posted for a bit....like two months.....but l think I'm back now.

(It looks like we will be going to Italy for a workshop in October.  Stay tuned.)

Lost at the Dahlia Farm....

Lost At the Dahlia Farm, 10x12

October Dahlias, 11x14

Painting on a Dahlia Farm.....
......doesn't really require much movement.  Standing in one spot will give you any number of ideas for paintings.

I was at a workshop with the immensely talented Colin Page (HERE) and back at a spot I had been to in 2013.  That was another workshop of his and, when he came around to look at our paintings, he looked at mine and said, 'I have only one thing to say to you....think "lyrical".'  Then he smiled mischievously and walked away.

For two years I have been pondering what he meant.  Sometimes I got a bit of a glimpse of a meaning but no clear answer....so, of course, I bugged him about it this time.   When I came away from this workshop I actually think I got closer but don't think I can yet put it into words.  I think it has to do with what a writer does when being poetic.  With words it is a unique and creative linking of word meanings, sounds and literary picture making.  In painting it is the same thing but using design,shape, tone and color to invite people into your pictorial world.

I might be getting closer.  Like getting lost at a dahlia farm....

Thanks for reading.  



    

Piggy Blue, 10x12 and How Oils Dry

Trapped inside the day that nine feet of rain came down......
...... (Yes, that's correct.), we painted still life.

Because I was leaving Maine in a few days I switched to Gamblin's Fast Matte pigments so my paintings would be dry in time to be packed.  I don't think I got the hang of using FM paint.  After two paintings I abandoned trying because, even though they got tacky while I was painting them, in three days they still weren't dry enough to pack.  Plus they didn't exactly 'flow' like real oil paint.

This was my second attempt using them and was better than the first, which I may still post someday.  I confess that I did sneak in a little non-FM Quinacridone Red into this one  for that pinkish cloth.

Flying back I was thinking about a person who has taken several classes with me and is a retired chemical engineer.  Who better to ask about what happens when paint 'dries'?

His name is Chuck Witham and he spent some time writing up the following short description of what happens to paint on the way to being solid and ready for varnish.  At my request this is a simplified version for non-techie consumption.  Chuck said he could have gone into much more depth of how and why certain pigments dry faster than others or all the chemical changes that occur within the paint structure.  I didn't know, for example, that at one point it gives off hydrogen peroxide.

Anyway, for your interest and edification this is what happens.  Remember it the next time you are in a hurry to get a painting into a frame.  Thanks to Chuck.

Drying Oil Paint
Monday, November 30, 2015

Before we start, we need to understand what the paint on the canvas really is.
  * Pigment.  Finely ground particles of an insoluble material in a variety of colors.
  * Oil Medium.  Polyunsaturated fatty oil (linseed, walnut or other oils known as drying oils).
  * Thinner.  Any volatile organic solution (turpentine, Gambol, Terpenoid, etc.)
The pigment and oil is mixed together until a uniform mixture is achieved.  This mixture is placed in sealed tubes until used by the painter.  When we squeeze out an amount of paint, we add thinner until the desired consistency is reached and spread it on our picture.

Now we are ready to understand what happens as paint 'dries'.
First, we get rid of the thinner.  The thinner evaporates off the surface but the rest of the thinner within the paint mixture must travel to the surface before it can evaporate.  This travel is controlled by diffusion and/or capillary action and is drastically influenced by the thickness of the paint.  A paint film twice as thick will require four to eight times longer to get rid of the thinner!

Now the oxygen in the air can permeate the oil and start the process of curing the oil through oxidation followed by cross linking of the oil molecules.  The result is a firm flexible film that is stable in most normal environments.

Can I speed up the 'drying' process?
Room temperature air blown over the surface will help evaporate the thinner as it reaches the surface, and provide an ample supply of oxygen to start the curing.  Providing a gentle heat (100 degrees F) to the BACK of the picture will aid in the removal of thiner and increase the rates of oxidation and cross linking.  Do NOT blow hot air on the paint surface as this will cause the paint to 'skin over' and drastically INCREASE the 'dry' time.

There you have it.  Hope it helps.

Thanks for reading and checking in.

Back soon.

Waiting for Alice, 32x42

Alone in a cabin in Maine....
....I spent the evenings contemplating what I was going to do.  Roby-King Gallery had decided to make their December show based on the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland.   This was not exactly in my comfort zone.....but why not give it a whirl....

One evening, with sketchbook sitting in my lap, I began to let my pen wander across the page with only a minimum of conscious control.  As the drawing developed I realized that I was putting down what was going on just before Alice happens to enter Wonderland.

From where she is she can't really see Lewis Carroll riding by behind the tree, or the other characters behind and above her.  It's one of those quiet moments just before something momentous happens.

We have all experienced these pivotal points and how, on one side of that life changing event we are going along pretty normally, and on the other everything has dramatically altered.

Here is the initial sketch plus some of the extra drawings I did to work things out.  Not all made the cut.  The opening of the show is this Friday, December 4th at Roby King here on beautiful Bainbridge Island, WA.

There are more drawings but you get the idea.  Thanks for stopping by.  Leave a comment if you have time.

ADDENDUM:  Here we are on opening night....

Megunticook Isle, 12x16

The warmth of the Maine afternoon sun....

.....was just waning when I got my big idea.  It was an idea I had been wanting to try for several years but when I saw a photo of Colin Page doing it, and on this very lake, how could I resist?

My only problem was I didn't have a boat.  Yet here I was staying in a cabin not 60 feet from the shore and there were, after all, some kayaks hanging about....and one was open cockpit.  Admittedly there was not a place to set up my easel in it and it didn't have an anchor....and the wind was blowing hard.

And yet I had to do it.  So I found a hunk of cord and an old propeller to use as an anchor, threw my stuff in the bottom and headed up the lake into a brisk wind.

Finding a sheltered spot I carefully climbed over my gear to the front of the boat and threw in the anchor and played out the line.  Making it back to the seat, again carefully, I jammed my palette between my legs and began painting.  Only one foot was wet by this time.  Not bad.

All was going really well until the paddle fell overboard.  The physics of a kayak are interesting.  Something about for every action an equal and opposite reaction kept coming to mind.  Reaching for the paddle caused the boat to move in the opposite direction.  The paddle was now further away.

Scooching my butt to try and wiggle me over had a similar effect.  

I began using my hands to paddle to it yet each time I got close the action of my hands made it drift away again.   The wind was beginning to catch the blades. 

As a last effort I grabbed my largest and longest brush, stretched out as far as able without getting swamped and tickled the paddle back to me.  My seat was now wet.

So.  Basically that's how I painted this one....but I haven't told you about the cramp in my leg from being bent up around the palette for so long or how the wake from motor boats came over the side.  

I came back smiling anyway....they call this plein air.

Thanks for reading.

Be back soon with a larger piece I've been working on.

Helene, 14x18

Vocal artist, attorney, supporter of the arts,......

......I first met Helene when she was hosting art displays of a mutual good friend, Bill Johnson, at her home.  She probably appears a bit older in life than you see in this painting, but I paint what I see....and sometimes what I want to see.

I think the first task of an artist is to convey a feeling, and, secondly, to make an interesting painting.   Hopefully I did both of those successfully.  After that, if you can get a likeness, so much the better.    We are all working toward better.

The colors are pushed slightly and the reds, especially in her face, are not that intense.  I still like the result.  

Thanks for looking.  I'll be back soon with some of the Maine paintings.

Kathy's Red Scarf, 14x18

The approach of winter....
.....brings with it the switch to working indoors more often.  In this case it was painting Kathy who came to sit for our weekly group.  I couldn't tell if she reminded me of elf or someone getting a jump on the coming cold.  (Kidding, Kathy, you did a good job.)

Driving to the model session I began to wonder how much I purple I could work into a portrait and still make it work.  I had two different ones with me just because I threw a handful of paint tubes into my bag as I was heading out the door...but I can't remember what they were.

Knowing how they would likely effect the color I overstated the reds and yellows at the beginning and then worked in the purple as much as I thought I could get away with it.  It didn't take much of the stuff to twist the colors to grays so I had to be careful.  For example, that background is brilliant yellow, purple and white.

I had fun with this one and it went along pretty easily.  Sometimes I like to leave unpainted parts of the canvas.  I think it's because it retains the magic of how a flat panel can begin to look so dimensional with a few strokes of value and color.   It's only paint.

Less than two months until the days begin to get longer.  Yes, I'm counting.

Thanks for looking! 

Water Experiences

Port Blakely Harbor, 12x24 plein air

Here are three....
....paintings with water, harbor waters actually.  This is one I did last weekend while the weather was very uncertain.  Most of it was done before the rain got really heavy but I still had to come back the next day to nail down some details.  It's a long piece that was challenging to compose but I think I'd like to try another one.

The pilings are what remains of the town that was here, the posts being the support for the boardwalk and the buildings that rode high above the water.  It was the Largest Sawmill in the World for a couple of decades and I've seen pictures of this harbor with wall to wall tall ships loading on the lumber.  It stopped when the old growth trees were gone.

Port Madison, 11x14 plein air

Port Madison Harbor, normally a harbor teeming with boats and kids and all, was very quiet on this day making for a nice experience.  I liked the patterns and shapes set up by the docks and the water between.

Originally I painted what I saw which made that far zig zag dock similar in darkness all the way across.  Of course that split the painting and prevented the eye from getting out to the far water....so I used a little lighter reddish paint to still represent the dock but give the eye a path to get through.  Seems to work.

Water Shack, 8x10 plein air

Poulsbo Harbor.  Notice how the sky in these paintings is very similar.  Gray.  We really do get blue skies and had a great summer yet all of these were on 'iffy' days.  I like the orange glow from the underpainting and that spot of glowing yellow.  I also like the perspective and wish I had been able to do a bit larger version....like a 20x24.  That would have been fun.

Thanks for looking.

 (I got the blogger comments turned back on if you care to leave something.  Don't ask me why they went away.)

Quayside, 12x12

It's been two years.....
.....since I was last in Maine, but I will be there again soon.  Later this week, so lucky me.  As I was walking along it was the vibrant color in the evening that struck me, quickly followed by the simplicity of shapes.  It had to end up in paint.

The same thing happened the other day when I was walking down Seattle's Second Avenue and happened to cross over to see what was so interesting in the Patricia Rovzar Gallery.  Z. Z. Wei was having a one person show of his large evocative landscapes.

Their impact kept me mesmerized long enough that the ferry left without me.  Terrific pieces.  I came home and looked up his website, saw more work but, if it hadn't been that I had just seen his paintings in person I wouldn't have been half so impressed.  His website is HERE.

I kept searching the web for more about him and came across an interview at Triggerfish which is one of the best interviews of an artist I've read.....or maybe it just hit me where I'm currently at.  Some of the things he says remind me of the lessons I learned from Sunny Apinchapong Yang, who I was fortunate enough to study with several times.  A link to Sunny is HERE.

Among many other things, Sunny taught me to not take it all so seriously.  He said it once as he was flinging a demonstration painting into the woods.  "I suppose now I'll have to go pick it up...." but he was laughing.

 In this interview with Steve Parker Z. Z. Wei says things which also give me a fresh take on it all.  I encourage you to go read the whole interview but here is a segment that said volumes to me:

SP:  That’s fascinating, thanks. It sounds like some sort of shamanistic relationship with paint. Does the paint represent part or parts of yourself in that process, or do you think it has some objective life of its own?

I’ve been wondering how I would describe you to someone who had never seen your work. Do you have a name for what you do? I mean as in do you in any way see yourself as part of a school or a movement? Who have been your biggest influences or mentors? We mentioned Giorgio de Chirico a while back. What other artists do you like or see as important? I know that’s another big question.

ZZ: I am not familiar with “shamanism”, but for sure I am not“possessed” when I paint. I like the scientific, analytical approach of your questions, but I might disappoint you. My answers are likely allegorical/fabular. I think that my relation with paint is more like life’s relation with air. Is it parts of a whole? No. Can they be separated? No. (This is oriental thinking.) I think you have a difficult task. We don’t know each other and at the same time I am a person without “stories”. I understand stories are a big part of any article (even so for articles about art) and I am sorry that even the materials I can provide you are also scarce. I always feel strongly that artists are on the back stage of their work. It’s enough to just enjoy my work. If you like the eggs, it’s not necessary to meet the hen that lays them.
I don’t belong to any schools or movements. (I know that art history, especially history of modern art, is mostly about the evolution of schools and movements.) I am merely an “individual” living in today’s world, who enjoys painting. I express my feelings, and I hope to move others. I know it’s comfortable to “swim with the flow”, but I prefer those styles that are different from what’s trendy, and the artists with unique artistic skills and feelings. The list is actually very long, and should include roadside graffitis and shop signs of some country stores. Let’s just forget about listing the names. Once we start labeling, we are limiting and restraining ourselves. As a poet, you must be agreeing with me that we learn about art not just from art history. Life and living are what’s most important.
As for mentors, I think my father, an unknown art enthusiast, is my most important influence. The reason why I say this is not a “gesture”, but is based on facts. Because of him, I am passionate about art, nature, painting and reading. In my childhood, only when I was painting and reading was I allowed to stay up late way passed my bedtime. He taught me that art has to be “real”—to truly express one’s true feelings, not as a tool to obtain fame and wealth by pleasing the crowd with bombastic words and deeds. I think it is the traditional value of the Chinese scholar gentleman of his generation. Arts (in the forms of string instruments, strategy game of go, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting) are their required accomplishments and important part of life. Of course, it won’t be practical in today’s society. Art is still my “occupation”.  (Maybe they were a group of people who didn’t have to worry about their means of living.) However, my father’s belief in honestly expressing oneself still deeply affects me. It enables me to remain independent from the often massive and momentous, “populars”. Behind the Dazzling forms there are often commercial hypes. Obscure terms and theories are usually created in need to fill the void of substance (or lack of contents?). What do you think?

That strikes a whole keyboard of chords with me, especially his comparison of paint to air.

Hope you enjoy that interview.  I hope to meet him someday.  

I'll post more when I return.

Fort Casey Deere, 11x14

Waiting for other people.....
.....there was time on my hands until they arrived.  Glancing around I saw her standing alone waiting to be asked to dance, this well loved tractor resting glamorously in the setting sun.  'Perhaps', says I, 'just a few color strokes to see what might happen could be good.'  I think she had a crush on me.

My friends took their time getting there so I just kept putting down strokes until they showed up and ended with this...but adjusted it slightly the next morning.  I had a good time playing with how the light flowed over that bank, not unlike water over a falls.

With the two from the last post, that ended day one on Whidbey Island.  After not enough sleep parked behind a garage it was the second day and it began with this one looking down toward the ferry landing.

Morning Light, 11x14

Keep Drawing.  Keep Painting.  ....or keep doing whatever you do....

Thanks for looking.

Peek Through, 14x18

Fort Casey and Ebey's Landing....
....are pretty much next to each other a ferry ride away over on Whidbey Island.  They are both historically foundational to the Puget Sound area and still, along with Coupeville and the local farms, form one of the more beautiful areas of the State.

I spent two days....well, a day and a half....over there with the Plein Aire Painters of Washington and the Washington Pastel Association.  Plans were shortened as I had originally planned to be there the week turning out as many paintings as I could.  My plans were changed and the paintings were limited to six.

This is the second one from the first day; below is the first.  Someone stopped by and told me that this is the second oldest house in Washington and it is Federally protected.  I spent two days there and only saw one person come to the property so I'm not sure who they are protecting it from.... but I'm behind whatever it takes to keep these old structures viable.

The wind about beat me to death but it was very nice to paint all alone.  I realized that I talk to myself while I work, mumbling away and admonishing myself when things aren't going smoothly, asking myself questions about what to do next.  About drove me crazy listening to all that drivel.

Ok.  So here is the view from the road.  A pretty cool place to spend an afternoon.

Ferry House, 11x14

Thanks for stopping by!

Hazy Morning, 14x18

Amber color....
......and haze suffused everything.  Standing on the shore my eyes burned....but the early morning color was so unique; unworldly but yet softly beautiful.

It was from fire smoke on the other side of the Cascade mountains and, while the source is very sad, the effect on color was certainly out of the ordinary.  Normally this scene would be of deep green trees and very blue or blue green water sparkled with sun reflections.

Because little was as expected I had to do a lot of careful looking and mixing.   Curiously some parts of the scene seemed to have ramped up color saturation.  It was an interesting painting to attempt.  The abstract patterning in the water was the most fun, not only to make it look like water but to lead the viewers eye around and about.  This deserved a bigger canvas.

And I got to meet a lot of nice tourists and residents of the boats who stopped to chat.  Unusual, no one mentioned that they had an aunt who could really paint.

On another note, have you checked out John Crump yet?  I mentioned in the last post that he had a new video which I like....but I've really enjoyed all of his vids.  Yes, I feel like an art pusher....but I don't even benefit from mentioning him....except to send you some place I think you'd enjoy.  Head to the last post for the link.

Thanks for looking.  And wishing safety for the fire fighters and the people living through hell....

Woodland Roses, 14x18

An Overcast Day....
.....in a garden on the edge of a dark wood....and these roses were glowing.  It was fun to try and capture that effect.  Since 'stopping when you don't know what else to do' is a pretty good guide that's what I'm doing even though feeling a bit flummoxed.

I like the painting, especially the subtle hint of trees in the background...yet I feel that there is something that could make it better.  Perhaps if I wait six months it will all come clear.  You know, one of those 'the clouds are parting' ah-ha moments.

Lately I feel I've been searching for something that is elusively just beyond my awareness.  The waiting for it to surface is testing my patience....but I keep on with the belief that it's going to happen.  This sounds like an essay on fishing....

Moving on.

 John Crump (and his grandson Sam) just posted a new video that is part of a series he is doing.  John is from the small town of Glenorchy on the south island of New Zealand and is one of those painters who I find mesmerizing to watch.  His command of the canvas is impressive.

He uses big brushes on large linen panels that he paints plein air.  Juicy paint, impeccable composition, great brushwork and someone who is willing to share his extensive knowledge.  The video is available currently for download on Vimeo or through his website HERE.  You won't be disappointed.  He also has a couple of others for sale.

Additionally there is a video about him through Color in Your Life, an Australian art television program that is currently expanding to the U.S.  That video is right at the top of John's dvd page for you to watch free.

Thanks to all who venture here.

Johnson Farm Cub, 12x16

Headed Home....
....from delivering a painting I noticed the sign for Johnson Farm Trust, an old farm site set aside for the public to wander around and grow things.  The late afternoon sun, a red tractor in a mostly green field....no choice, had to paint it.  Plus, I have always wanted a Cub.

While Noelle the wonder dog slept behind me in the van I raced the lengthening shadows to pull this together.  I especially like how the background trees turned out considering how fast it was done.  The tractor took longer.  Nice evening.

Noelle thought she deserved an extra treat for putting up with me....so she got one.  Only fair.

After drawing a box and circle for where the tractor would go, a couple of lines for the poles, a triangle for the distant shadow and a single line for the bottom of the tree line, I began painting.  First that triangle shadow to establish it's size as well as to value key the rest of the painting, then on to the tractor.  I can't remember the order of the rest except for the fun of scratching in those slender lines for the wires between poles.

Thanks for looking!

Coastal Ledge, 10x12

Now That I Have....
......my ticket I can begin to get excited about my almost annual trip to the Maine coast....interrupted last year by going to Italy.  It's a tough life but I'm doing my best to keep up.

I love painting in Maine.  It has all kinds of quirky twists and turns and the fiberglass luxury yachts take a back seat to real working boats, net sheds, farms and towns with as much anglo history and dignity as can be found anywhere in this country.  Interesting shapes and color are everywhere.

With that in mind I thought I'd post this painting of rocks at a beach I don't remember exactly how to get to anymore.  I think I did it two years ago.  Check out those big and little shapes of color that bounce around everywhere.  Mostly variations of blues and reds except for that green ribbon weaving itself from side to side.  Immensely satisfying to me.  I wish more of my paintings had the qualities of this one.

So think of me during the last half of September working away on as many paintings and drawings as I energy for....but with a smile on my face.

Thanks for looking....

Blue Pottery, 12x16

The First Two Were....
......boat/harbor paintings and were a bust.  Actually they didn't even make the 'bust' stage as I scraped them down at about the half way point.  Later I realized I was doing them as an intellectual exercise and not because they aroused any passion in me.....not the best way to go about it.

So, a bit bothered with myself,  I drove over to Nancy's for lunch and a glass of wine, which helped.  There were other painters there doing some fine work and eventually the bug again got to me.  Wanting to make sure that I stayed away from anything involving my brain I began to just block in color on a bare panel.  No line drawing or guidance marks, just smears of paint.

 
Someone took a picture near the beginning.  I like this open way of working, letting the shapes evolve into things and carving out form.  It doesn't always work but it keeps me so involved in the process that I almost don't care how it comes out.....but it actually works pretty well....and I don't think too much.

There is really only one leaf on that geranium that has much definition on it, the rest being inferred from everything else.  It's all illusion, isn't it?  Perhaps that is how we lead our lives without being especially aware of it.  Uh-oh.  Getting too close to the edge.....

But on a more important note Colin Page posted a photo on FB.  I've been thinking about this for years.  He may be pushing me to it.  I suggested he name it the 'Filbert Flyer'.   There is a flavor of Wind in the Willows here.

Colin's Floating Studio

 
Later.  Thanks for looking!