Transparent Oxide Red

"Speed Bump"

oil on linen panel, 8" x 10"

I have fallen in love! Yup! I did!


With a color! In fact I like it so darn much that I even ordered it for my watercolor pallett. (sp?) Transparent Oxide Red is sooooo versatile! It combines with greens to make the most natural greens any one can imagine. Yet, the greens never go to that forbidden totally neutral place called black . . . or worse . . . M.U.D. ! It just keeps pushing the greens to a place that gets more neutral but stays green somehow. And with other colors . . . .Oh, Yes!! This lil girl flirts with em all.


That said, look at the greens in the last 6 or 7 paintings. (The monitor could be off a lil bit, so don't take what you see too literally). It has earned a permanent spot on my palette!

Kick It Up A Notch!

"Carmel Cypress"

oil on canvas panel, 12" x 16"

There are times when one must rise to the challenge to see if one can take on another level of higher complexity. Today, I kicked it up a notch.

As I have said in the last few posts, I have become way more conscious of edges. There IS logic to them. I wasn’t sure that there was a few months back, but can see now that it is crucial to have variation in edges where transitions of value occur. Vegetation and trees have all sorts of edges. Notice in this piece how values change back and forth, light holes, tree trunks, background changes etc. Where one value meets another, there might be reasons for hard, medium or soft edges. Sometimes it is logical, sometimes is has to be a feeling . . .for example, in places where the eye will pass quickly, detail or sharp texture doesn’t work. Soft, blurred suggestions of edge or shapes coax the eye to look beyond and seek sharp contrasts or more detail.

This painting was no little effort. So much value change, texture, light, shadow, half light and more kept me on my toes for a full six hours. This one was a balancing act at a higher level. More complexity offers more opportunity to fail . . . but also to succeed!! With every painting, these last few weeks, I feel advancement. There is plenty much more to learn and tackle over the next 30 years or so . . . .but for now, I am reaching as far and as fast as I can. Tooooo much funnn!!!!

No Surrender!

"Containing the Dunes"

oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

Today I wrestled. As in physical struggle with another being, larger than I. The other being was this little 8" x 10" canvas and my attempt to show aerial perspective at work along a hazy beach. He won. Yup! Beat me fair and square. Not just in ten rounds either. I put up a galiant fight (I think I did) which took much of yesterday and a good part of today. I am sure he will be back to take me on again and again. But I am not giving up! No surrender here!



This was a particularly difficult subject because the aerial perspective on the beach was throwing off the feeling of closeness of the foreground sand pit. Back and forth, scraping and brushing and wiping and trying I went. All said and done, I blended too much and spoiled the effect I once had with strokes.



Richard Schmidt has been ringing in my ears, of late, while I paint. Edges! Transitions! Values! Today his lesson (from the book) was this: Given two shapes, one large and one small, same color and value . . . .in the distance, the smaller one will appear to be lighter than the large one and have softer edges . . . .all due to the effects of the atmosphere and light. (This is a simplification) . . . .I can see why now.


This entire painting was about those lessons of aerial perspective and edge management. Slowly, I am beginning to make my strokes more deliberately and less often. When I do that, I find the painting to be much more fresh and the colors crisper. (Another lesson to be applied in future paintings . . . .!! Gotta put a sign on the wall!)


Anyway, the work we do alone or together always pays off in solid lessons learned and practiced. From that perspective, it was a very successful day.

A Question for Painters

Here's a question for the painters out there.

I have always composed in rectangles and was warned, years ago, against square compostitions. I notice, however, that the square is a very common format in the oil painting world. Do any of you have any pointers for using the square format? I have always used divisions of thirds in the rectangle format to provide general guidelines for emphasis placement. Any thoughts? Drop me a note or comment. I'll be interested in hearing. Thanks!

Quick Color Experiment

"Sunset i"

oil on linen panel, 6" x 8"

This is a quick color experiment. Just ten minutes and schmearing on the paint. It is reminiscent of a late afternoon plein air trip a few weeks ago. Looks yummy in a frame becasue the contrast of dark versus light is so strong. Fun to do. Am going to try more.

Sand and Ice

"Sand and Ice"

oil on canvas panel, 12" x 16"

I have been overtaken by ice plant. Red Ice Plant.

The way sand blows on our beaches is no different than other sandy places. On the Monterey Penninsula grasses and ice plant hold the sand from forming huge dunes or sand drifts accross roads.

The paths on beaches and how the ice place grows around them, combined with the windblown Monterey Cypress trees . . . . and the color . . . . make that area a magical place. Most who see paintings and photos of that area do not believe the colors if they have never seen it in person. Every time I see it, it takes hold of me!

This painting is larger than the studies I did in the two previous pieces . . . .I found myself caught in the textures of the 'needles' of the ice plant. A break of 24 hours was needed to regain my senses and remember that I was making a PAINTING ! Not making a photo copy.

I used several photos as reference material to make this painting. It took a while to do, but it finally came together . . . .every one I make teaches me somehthing new!!! I suppose you can tell I LOVE this stuff . . . . painting, I mean.

Studio Experiment

"Hot Ice"

oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

Today I am fooling around with a new studio tool . . . .at least new for me. I have always worked from sketches for a lot of reasons. Copying photos is just not my style. I believe in design and what it can do for a painting . . . . .most photos need a ton of redesign. I have always used photos from which to sketch and build the design for a painting. And photos just don't have what it takes to be good reference material beyond shape and value.

But, it is time to enter the 21st century. Digital cameras and compters make soooo much possible. This painting was painted from a digital photo I took while in Carmel two weeks ago. I took about 30 pix that day . . .all possible painting subjects. This, and yesterday's, were a result of that outing. The experiment is to put the digital photo on a big LCD flat panel display. . . . . . . . . . . . . .and paint directly from the monitor. What a hooot !!! There is sooo much one can see on the monitor!! Bright, full of color, zoom capability, and all sorts of cool stuff to work with! It is very much like being in plein air, except that the light isn't changing.

My 17" screen lap top computer is the subject of the experiment. It works well, but it is my business computer. It just wouldn't do to have it covered in paint . . . .or for it to be jammed up with art stuff (it is now!). Christmas is here . . . .who knows if Santa might bring a biiig monitor to paint from. I'll have to ask.

I have been a good boy! Really! I have. I have !!!! Really I have. :-)

Been Tagged

I have been TAGGED.

I was just recently “tagged” by Frank Gardener, who is an artist in Mexico. He tagged four others whom you can see if you click his link here. You might want to do a backward search from his tags to see how this came about. There are some amazing people behind this stuff!!!!

What it means . . . .

It is sort of like a chain letter, but not anonymous. It is a ‘pause to acknowledge’ and a way to introduce those of whom we admire, or care for, to others who visit our blogs. In the world of art, this is helping those who are tagged in their quest to become more well known and to expand their sphere. It is, also, a tipping of our hats to those folks and their work. Read on. You will find these people to be unique and very talented.

If you have been tagged, please follow these rules.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as wellas links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


The facts about me . . .

1. I scream and yell with excitement while I paint alone in my studio. (Sort of like cheering at a football game.)
2. I get butterflies when I am with my wife. No, this isn’t crazy or weird. She really is an amazing, wonderfully exciting lady. I adore her and her antics! Barely an hour passes without us giggling about something together!
3. The reason I paint is to answer the challenge of it and become better at it. For me, every painting is about growth.
4. My life has been BLESSED because of art and all the fantastic people to which it has introduced me. Every aspect of my life is magical because of art.
5. Learning is an unbelievable tonic that energizes me. I never want to stop.
6. While seemingly an extrovert, I am deeply analytical, introspective and thoughtful.
7. I think most of life is hilarious. . . .for that reason, I LOVE life !

Why I Tagged These People . . .

Besides their talent, they stand out as having unusually fine character.

Robin Weiss . . . .this guy has been a blog pal from the beginning and was key in helping my confidence to continue blogging. . . .and he still is. But the real reason is that he has extraordinary character as a family man.

W.K. “Bill” Moore . . . .Holy Cats! Just look at his art. He stands above the crowd with the content and skill in his watercolor paintings featuring the street culture in Bogotá, Columbia. I cannot imagine being in some of the places he went to capture art subjects. It, frankly, scares me!

David Darrow . . . he has been in the daily painting world for a long time. . . Through Dave’s quiet encouragement in one letter, I went forth into the daily painters’ sphere. David packs around a huge heart. Just read a few of his posts. I would bet big on him in a contest of character. He seems to have a ton of it. His art? Out of this world!

Sandra Flood . . . .I have only recently discovered Sandra and her work. Just one look is all it took. She has cornered the “WOW Factor” in her art. Her pieces show off the artist’s hand and speak with enormous emotion. What she does with edges just amaze me. Sandra, you ROCK!

Silvina Day . . .One very beautiful person who is driven to know as much about painting as she can gather . . .and she shares all with youngsters. Quite a lady!!

S.L. “Stacey” Peterson . . . . . .I saved her for last because she really touched me recently in one of her posts (Sept 17, 2007). Stacey stands above most in the ‘admire / respect’ category. With a baby, she and her husband each quit their jobs to do what they loved to do (she, her art and he, to build houses) and make their living doing it! That is pure courage! She just finished her first one woman show! WOW !
Stacey, I hope this tag, and your subsequent tags will extend your market reach somehow and help you build the fame you so deserve. As you know, every little bit helps!

Icy Dunes

"Icy Dunes"

Oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

On the central coast of California we have a succulent which grows everywhere. The closer it is to the sea, it turns these incredible shades of red. We call it 'Ice Plant.' I am not sure of the real latin name, but that is what we call it. Mixed with the greens and yellows, the sand dunes are covered partially with it and are eye popping gorgeous! I have always dreamt of painting the dunes' mystical undulations and the colors and patterns of the ice plant. Here is the first one.

After spending a few hours with Richard Schmidt in his book, "Alla Prima," I have been growing ever conscious of edges. That is some subject!! As a career watercolor painter, edges are something a bit new. While lost and found edges are something we work with in watercolor, oil painting is different. I am glad I have had the opportunity to hone my thinking (and painting) skills around this subject. I can see a difference in all my work as a result of this study. Elio Camacho gave me a stinkin' crit once about edges. Ever since then I have been very conscious of them. Not that I am good at it yet. I can see they are a big deal! They can make or break a painting.

Working Process

"Can You Believe It?"

watercolor on treated paper, 14" x 17.5"

Design is an elusive subject. First, there is the issue of "like" and "don't like." I happen to think there needs to be a different set of words; "works" and "doesn't work" is probably more appropriate. It removes taste from of the notion of design.

When building a painting . . .and it is a process of constructing . . .parts have to be built upon one another. Also, trials and errors have to occur because the process of design is occurring at the same time the actual constructing is happening. I happen to depend, largely, on two major tools in my processes. Those are sketching first and developing a series of paintings. In my experience, the best stuff comes out after the blunders have been processed in 'not so hot' paintings.

This "November Challenge," on which I have been working, has been no exception. All sorts of considerations appeared after the first painting . . . .and the second. The end result was an intimate view of a conversation between two women, where we can nearly sense the exclamation in the words and the dubious feeling of the listener by looking at the painting. No commentary necessary. I had to modify the tilt of the head of the listener, imply facial features without being descriptive, have the speaker press the listener a bit more through her posture and position in the picture plane . . . . and set out a design that offerred visual entertainment on a number of other levels. Those levels range from color balance, abstract pattern, textural surface implications, value structure and a host of other things to make this idea work well.

Again, I put it on treated Arches watercolor paper with matte medium. This affords a paint manipulation possibility that is otherwise unavailable with regular paper. This project is now finished. It has certainly shown me that the development process is an intense and tedious process to arrive at what I would call an excellent painting . . . .I am not sure I have spent enough time on this to attain that, but must move on to other things. It has made me dig and think much more deeply than ususal. And that is a good thing!

More November Challenge

"Think of it This Way"

watercolor on treated paper, 15" x 22"

About ten days ago, I took up a challenge from Myrna Wacknov to use a grid pattern to compose a painting built on a figure drawing using some interesting drawing techniques. The outcome, then, was not as good as I had hoped for because I became lost in all the variables I had set up. This little project had its way with me absolutely! I have been dreaming about it at night for the last week or two. So, I killed off some of the variables, or 'hooks' as I called them in that post. I changed the drawing. In fact, to achieve the content I had hoped for, the contour drawing and all that detail had to go over the side. Next, more attention needed to be paid to the grid and the sort of compostition I was looking for. (Yes, I did more value sketches).

The more I assessed the direction in my mind of the emphasis being on one lady's hand, the more I had to hold down the detail in other places. That hand is only a gesture, but it says so much about the communication in between the women. Also, the posture of the woman on the right had to press inward more to show that she was making a point . . . .and bring both women closer. Once that was done, then I could work on value alternation, abstractions, textures, directions, shapes . . . without disturbing the story inside the painting (content). It took two full painting sessions to complete this, but I think this is more of what I originally had in mind.

Paper treatment? After stretching and mounting the paper on a board, the paper was coated with a solution of half and half acrylic matte medium and water then allowed to dry for 24 hours. This gives a surface that is very forgiving. Paint can be lifted back to pure white. It doesn't take the paint as well as untreated paper, so new techniques have to be discovered to make it work well. This was fun.

Another Day in Sunshine

"Tree Study"

oil on linen panel, 8" x 10"

Here is a piece done yesterday en plein air. This tree has appeared before in this blog . . .very early on. This tree is very unique and beautiful with silvery bark and twisted arms. I like visiting her and watching the light bounce around inside of her. The dappled light on the ground is still a bit mysterious to me. Am going to have to study it more and paint it more before I fully grasp what is going on there.

Heavy, dense fog today prohibited any painting out side. Maybe I better start playing with that a little bit, since it is so common here.

Until tomorrow. . . . .

Who Could Possibly Resist?

The "Workstation"

Blocking it in . . .

More Progress . . .

The development of the final piece starts here . . . .color variation, edge management, texture, shape modifications, color saturations and temperature adjustments . . .until sunset.

"Field of Impressions"

oil on canvas panel, 12" x 16"

The coast can be damp and cold at this time of year. Yesterday, that just wasn't so! It was 75 degrees and gloriously sunny at the water's edge . . .and I couldn't wait to get out and paint. So, I drove 40 miles up the coast, made a dozen stops and took nearly 100 photos (for rainy days!. I finally landed in this little secluded field, freshly planted with artichokes that were so small I nearly stepped on them. And the light was shifting into afternoon, slanted, shadow producing light that was nearly blinding. In a Tee shirt, I was in a hypnotic state. Whadda day it was!!

Ala Peter Yesis, who lives in Omaha, I am offerring up some progress shots of the day. . . . . . . . .......Thought you'd be interested.

Toward sunset, my setup took a wind blast broadside. The umbrella did the expected and became a spinaker. In sailing, that is a huge bulging sail that collects wind and makes for speed. You can imagine what happened. I don't need to explain. I will say, though, that I got some extra solvent and paint on me that I hadn't planned on . . . .if you get my drift. ;-)

I'd do it again and again. Who could resist a day like that?!!

What it Izzzz . . .

Posting Problems

I have noted and notified the trouble group that this blog is not accepting comments. Apparently something is up. Please bear with us until it is repaired. Thanks!

Improvements . . . .

"Big Sur On Sunday"
Oil on stretched canvas, 16" x 20" . . . .the improved version.



The next one is the original painting, "Another Sur" . . . posted back in mid September.






In the last month, I have taken the opportunity to sit quietly and reflect on some of the work I completed over the last several months. I must admit that I either did not see well (as in artistic seeing) or wasn't paying attention when I painted some of those works. Having a studio full of paintings that came down from the show, it is incumbant on the artist to look at each with a different set of eyes than those he painted with. If for nothing else, it helps the artist see work that could use more finishing touches to make it less . . . . .shall we say, rough.

Here is a piece in which I saw rawness, but it (in my new eyes since painting it) definetely had some glaring needs while it still had promise. Having no experience with glazing or going back into a painting to make changes (I have only pained alla prima up to this time), this also provided another learning opportunity. So, up on the easel "Another Sur" went. It was coated with alkyd medium then the improvements began.

I could feel a different tempo within me as I rebuilt this piece. I had to correct color intensities, atmospheric perspective, shapes and create more movement in the piece. There was much more to be done, but that was the major thrust of the effort. I went at it deliberately, wiping away when needed and replacing spots of color with the precise value, intensity and temperatures called for in each lighting condition in the piece.

I think it is much better and easier to look at.

Too Many Hooks!

"Conversation"
watercolor, 15" x 22"


The challenge lain was to do a contour drawing of a person or people, over lay a grid pattern from some unrelated source, then paint the piece, being sure to show the influence of the ‘grid’ and to embue the character derived from the drawing. It has been so long ago . . .last Wednesday maybe??? . . .that I have forgotten how much time I have spend on this piece!

What an incredible diversion from everything else in the world!!! This was a great challenge, but there were just to many hooks on which to become snagged . . .and some I had created myself. One of which was to work on a soft, hot pressed paper. Mind you, this paper doesn’t accept color well, so you get what you get, whether or not you intended it to be that way. That was another hook. The other one that I handed myself was that of a value composition . . .to plan it and stick with it . . .(I do that in my work anyway, but it made for another ‘purpose’ on this mission of insanity). Then there was this amazingly complex drawing with waaaay too much in it. (I become very tight when I spend hours on the drawing!)

Having committed my self to complete this project, I had hoped to do so with honor . . .that is with a fine finished piece full of mood, solid composition, evidence of the grid, emotional content . . . . .and, oh yes! Did I mention stunning color, brushwork and incredible examples of radiant transparency? I think I did say ‘insane,’ didn’t I?

So here is a full week of effort. Stiff. Off purpose. Blotchy. And everything else I can dream up and, to summarize: yuch!!

So it is done. I accepted a challenge (mostly to honor Myrna Wacknov.) Maybe I’ll have another attempt later, but first, I have to remove about six of those ridiculous hooks. What was I thinking???!!!

Stooooopid !!!

These are the 20 value studies made to determine how I would compose this painting. It may seem like a lot of work (it is actually fun!) but there is a huge pay off.



"The Conversation" first washes. The painting is begun.


The guy was so lost in his thoughts as he walked across the railroad tracks, he never heard or saw the train coming before it hit him.

Sounds dumb, huh! It is! This is an almost image of me, except there was no noisy, ground trembling train. I just kept painting without thinking. By the time I figured out that something was wrong it was too late. I had not provided enough ventilation in my studio. And the odorless mineral spirits had me. I hadn’t opened a door or window or turned on a fan or anything! Don’t let this happen to you if you are a painter. Make sure fresh air is circulating through your studio!!!!!! I have had a dizzying head ache (just like the one I get from regular mineral spirits) for a week! And just a little senseless (which I am without the bad fumes added), too. I am better, but a heckuvalot wiser, too ;-)

I have been fooling with the watercolors for the week in order to detox . . .and keep my mind on the painting process.

Today, I did work on an oil painting I had completed the first week of September and didn’t particularly think it was much good. . . . .so, I coated it with alkyd and began glazing and reworking with all the windows and doors open. And I am fine. It was cold and drafty, but I had a good time . . . .and, I was concerned.

On another note, I am now into the November challenge painting. Myrna Wacknov threw down the gauntlet and set out the terms a week or so ago. And I took the challenge. When a drawing takes hours to complete, I get really tight at the end of the brush . . . .particularly when the direction I want to take is not obvious to me. This morning, I completed the 20 value studies to look carefully at composition alternatives before beginning the painting. I chose number 19 (numbered from left to right, top to bottom). It was a struggle to just decide!!! But there is a mood that I want to express here . . . .and a need to keep the sensation of a conversation in progress. Two figures facing each other does not make for much unless they are visually related somehow. And this grid thing that Myrna taunted us with . . . . !! How can one keep track of both mood, content and then plug in the grid too?? I ask you !!!

I have laid in my initial washes. Chosen the compositional pathway and pretty much decided on a color scheme. So, the painting part has begun. My guess is that it will take less time to actually paint this piece than all the preparatory work beforehand. Maybe, just maybe, a good painting will come of it. The time invested in studies and evaluations and planning just HAS to pay off! At least I know which direction I am going now.

(Oh, yes, she DOES have a huge nose. It really is that way! More about that later.)

The News . . .

I went 'out of town' today. To Carmel to keep an appointment with a very nice, mainstream gallery to review my oil paintings and for them to consider representing my work. To make a long story short, the work was accepted and will be hung prominently! Not all work was shown, obviously, but enough to show consistency. I am pleased! This is a new beginning! Can you see me beaming?

Stopped In My Tracks

Myrna Wacknov has a delightful new blog which is very instructive for all artists, no matter the medium. She happens to be an expert watermedia painter and is extraordinary in portrait work and figures. She issued a "November Challenge" which called for a contour drawing cut up with a grid of odd derivation then to paint it. I took the challenge and expect to have my painting completed toward month end (No point in rushing things . . . since I have plenty to do!)

So here is the drawing with the grid outlined in blue line (watercolor pencil that will disappear as it is painted). After hours of development of the drawing, the grid and getting it onto a piece of hot pressed watercolor paper, I stopped dead. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure how to go about painting it. I was stuck!

As you may know, there is much much more freedom to make errors with opaque media, such as oil or acrylic or gouache. Watercolor doesn't provide such liberty. One needs to plan a lot in order to complete complex paintings such as this one. The best device I have found to work out of such a planning puzzle is to do value trials . . .sketches. And do more than one! I will complete nearly 20 before I make my choice of which plan to follow . . . .it's called exhausting one's alternatives and picking the best one for composition, mood and content. (Yes, it is much more than just a picture that looks like a photo!! Much, much more!)

So, here is all I could get done this morning before heading out of town for the day. I think there are 8 or 9 different ideas here. I used Tombo pens in three different values on a big sheet of tracing paper. I made a single quick sketch on paper, then traced it enough times until the big sheet was full. Then it is just a matter of concentrating on how and where the lights, darks and mediums will be placed to achieve different emphasis.

Click on the photos to get a closer look.

Answering The Call

This is a new start from yesterday. Instead of drawing with pencil, I used a staining pigment and paintbrush to rough in the shapes of Van Gogh's Olive trees.







Here, I put a heavy line to work to accomplish two things; 1. to establish movement and rhythm accross the page and, 2. emphasize the bottom of the trees to hold the eye in that part of the image.







This is the progress of shading and bringing a little olive color to the trees and making some calligraphy in the clouds to repeat the same rhythm as in the trees. The rest is more calligraphy of lines of different widths and colors to show shadow, texture and more rhythm in the piece. It took some thought, but it was fun to do!








"Homage to Vincent"
watercolor, 22" x 30"



This morning at 2:30 AM my eyes sprang open unexplainably. This happens now and then, so it isn’t a big deal because, usually, I go right back to sleep . . . . .unless something is nagging and nagging and nagging at me. Then it is simply absurd!

Well, maybe not so absurd after all. It is noon time and I have been up since 3:30AM answering the call of the ‘nag.’ (No, I am not speaking of my beloved wife!)

Every winter, I teach a class called “Watercolor Beyond The Obvious.” (Otherwise known as WBTO). Around this time of year, I begin rethinking how and what I teach in that course. It is ten weeks long and focuses on several art aspects at once; learning design and how to use it, painting in series, opening one’s self to making breakthroughs, clearing away those famous ‘yips’ that artists suffer from. Mind you, learning of design in ten weeks is far from completed in that amount of time, but the participants get a good solid introduction to it with much new experience (painting practice).

Yesterday, in the shower, which is where most of my sudden shocks of creative clarity come to life, I got another shock about what to do in this coming WBTO. My post yesterday was part of that inspiration.

But in the wee hours of this morning, I was awakened by this revisiting of my idea for a painting series that I began yesterday. Yesterday’s painting was supposed to be a tribute to Van Gogh . . . with some use of line and texture, but I got sidetracked with a yellow sky and yellow color statement . . . .rather than line and texture. So, the ‘nag’ awakened me with a constant review of what I had painted and what needed to be done instead. For an hour I laid there attempting sleep. Finally, I gave up and went to the studio. . . . . .and painted something else (that’ll show that mean old nag! I’ll do what I please!) . . . .when that was done, I laid down for a nap at around 5:30 AM.

You guessed it. She was still shaking me awake to go do it! So I did. I am tired, but I have a smirk on my face. I actually had fun. Maybe that was the point of it. Ya think?

For Leslie . . . .

This is an idea from a journal I wrote while in Provence ten years ago. Sitting in an olive orchard, I sketched the old, twisted olive trees while realizing that I was in St. Remy . . . . Van Gogh's last 'address.' It was here that he trecked about and painted many versions of olive trees. At the time, I remember a chill going up my spine as I realized I could be in one of the very places he had painted. Today, ten years later, I was haunted by that moment and ran to my journal to see if I could come up with a painting about that moment.





These are two quick sketches to get the feel of the idea first . . .and to sort of decide what I was going to do. I have always loved the energy of the scribbally line in sketches and wished I could do the same in a watercolor painting. So, I decided to make line a very visible element in the painting.





After 'drawing' the layout with rigger brush and a light blue pigment, I blocked in some washes where my shadows would lie . . .and 'sort of' defined the tree shapes and the beginnings of the shadow shapes.





In this part of the painting I had decided to use Van Gogh's yellow sky as the dominant color in the piece.





And now, the sky color is Yelling out of the painting, the trees are defined and shadows are setting the diagonal direction through the painting. In particular, the white 'line' which lies at the horizon holds the feeling of looking UNDER the trees.






"Vincent's Sky"
Watercolor, 22" x 30"

This is the final piece. Many glazes define the colors that bounce around in the painting . . .and all the calligraphy with riggers and other small brushes set sort of a Van Gogh feel of the piece. I have never used this element (line) quite like this. I like the energy that it gives off. Sort of like a sketch. Click on the image for a closer view to see the calligraphic work.


A lady who attended my last workshop commented recently that she liked the posts that show the progress and development of a painting. So, here ya go, Leslie . . . .

Sunday Morning Corrections

Corrected "Copper Hook"

oil on linen panel, 12" x 16"

Sunday, after breakfast, I found myself looking again and again at Friday's painting "Copper Hook." The reason I kept after it, was that I realized it had become waaaaay too dark. There needed to be a much lighter hand in this piece because of the big dominating shape of the hill and cliff. It is just toooo much!

So, instead of darker, I went cooler in places of deep shadow. Also, I completely shifted the value scale of everything in the painting two or three value steps lighter. The sand on the beach in this photo doesn't play well, for some reason. It is much lighter and brighter in the painting. Perhaps I should start waiting until the paintings are dry before I photo them. Am just not happy with the results I am getting.

I suspect, and you can confirm it if it is true, that mixes of Thalo Blue become progressively darker and more blue as they dry. The first photo of the painting on Friday is NOTHING LIKE it looked this morning. Thalo blue stains everything. But I am beginnging to suspect that it creeps into neighboring colors and 'has at them.'

This was my first real try at glazing and scumbling on top of a dried painting. Using lots of alkyd to coat the painting first really helps to integrate everything. My wife and I are still rubbing our chins over the mood of this painting. We just have to wait and see if it grows on us.

Umbrella? Or Not?

"Copper Hook"

oil on linen panel, 12" x 16"

I could hardly refuse the gorgeous weather today. I could tell as soon as the sun came up that it would be a memorable day . . .and it was.

Directly from the shower, I sprang to the car to go up the coast to paint. I had one thing in mind, but couldn't find what I was looking for. So, like a magnet, I went to this spot. The shadows were ripping down between the brush on the hillside landing on the sand below. It was so captivating, I RAN to set up! By the time I was ready to draw on the canvas, the shadows had nearly disappeared. (five minutes!)

The sun was beaming down right onto the palette and painting surface . . . . .should I hoist the umbrella? I seem to find that I cannot quite see the paint on the palette with the umbrella up . . . . . . .and besides, it seems as though I push some mysterious button when I put it up . . . . .the wind comes up. As you know, the umbrella works like a sail or parachute. I have see the easel nearly launch on the days I have erected it . . . . so I passed.

What happens is that the colors and highlights come out much darker than they should. So this painting will need some adjusting. It will be good to make those adjustments after it is dry. That will allow for some scumbling practice and a little bit of glazing. Should be fun!

Edge Discovery !

"Receding Fog"

oil on canvas panel, 8" x 10"

Wow! This one excites me! A complex piece it is with many different color intensities, values, and temperatures. With all the different degrees of aerial perspective and places for different levels of soft versus hard edges, this was a challenge waiting to slap me around a bit.





From the moment I blocked it in, I knew this was going to be a nifty piece from the big dark shape that dominates the painting. Settle that shape in amongst all the different textures and near neutral colored negative space, and the design calls to be noticed!





I have been struggling for months attempting to learn how to soften edges . . .and to do it convincingly. I think today was the day to find out. It was do that or go down in flames. It just came to me naturally today. . . .I found myself doing it as though I had done it hundreds of times before! There is an old saying; When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I must have been ready today. (I am dancing!!!! :-)) )