Smooth Sailing - Reposted

The image was delete by mistake.

Smooth Sailing

12x16", acrylic on canvas. Mostly painting knife, but not all. $1100.

Woods at Work

This started as a 9x6" China Marker and pen on paper. Scanned and finished in the computer. Tiger Woods.

Maiden

~6x9", began as China Marker and pen on paper, scanned and finished in computer.

International Biennial of Contemporary Art

Universidad Autónoma Chapingo

"It´s a pleasure for me to invite you to participate in the First International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Chapingo 08, "Art with Roots in the Earth" which will be celebrated in the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Texcoco, Estado de México, from 7 to 19 November 2008." So begins an email recieved today from Juan Jorge Diaz Rivera, the General Coordinator for the Biennial. "The Organization Commitee has decided that is not necessary for you to go through the selection process in order to be accepted, given your professional experience."

Thank you Senior Rivera. I'm honored to be invited and will give it serious consideration.



Texcoco, Mexico

Another Version

Discovered there is an exposure adjustments on my new scanner that make a big difference. Converted to sepia tone and added a few highlights.

Grete with a background

Had this idea a moment ago and did it on the computer.

Sailing - Yellow

12x16", acrylic on canvas. Started this one yesterday. Sky and water were blues, the mountain was a dark grayish. A quick way to unify a painting is to glaze the entire thing. In this case I tried yellow mixed with a fair amount of matte medium and water to make it transparent. Gives it a warm, sunny cast. With acrylics you hardly need to give your procedures a second thought since almost anything will turn out alright in a technical sense. Each layer bonds with the one below it to become all one sheet of plastic. Oils you have to know what you're doing.

This is the second stage. Next I'll paint on it to correct the drawing and values and maybe glaze it red, but don't hold me to that.

See the new picture of Scarlett below...

Scarlett again - Edited 3/10

~6x6", pencil on paper. No computer retouch this time.

Hoping for a better image I used the Nikon instead of the scanner with this result:

Head Study

6x9", China marker and pen, finished on the computer.
Scarlett Johanson as she appeared in 'Girl with the Pear Earring'.

Lure (of the ocean)

The sun was out yesterday and I was able to get a better photo of this: 24x36", acrylic on canvas.

What is it about the ocean? Endlessly facinating for many and mysterious. It covers 71 per cent of the planet and is essential for life. But nobody knows where it came from! The theory is the earth formed hot and dry. Then way a long time ago, billions of years, this water showed up. One theory has millions of comets bringing it here. Another notes that meteorites have 5% water locked up inside. They don't really know. Another interesting fact: That granite she is standing on is much lighter than basalt the difference being on the order of that between air and water. That's why the granite crust floats on top.

Wading Storks - final

12x16", acrylic on canvas. This was posted last month. It looked ok in good light and on the computer. In regular light it didn't come across. A final touch to hopefully bring it to life.

MOUNTAIN STREAM GICLEE!!!

The new full size 48x36" print of my acrylic painting from last year, Mountain Stream, came back from the framer just yesterday and it looks terrific! Jim will have it for sale at Timber Stand: $950. The original was priced at $6500. That's Dalas Klein, also an artist, holding it up.

This is the original painting:

CM RUSSELL SHOW - CONSIGNED PAINTINGS

These were left with Jim today to take to the show next week.

1. Budweiser Dog 24x24" Acrylic/Canvas
2. Red Robe 16x16" "
3. Young Rider 14x11" Acrylic/panel
4. Young Dancer 9x12" Acrylic/Canvas

First time he's tried this and we all have high hopes. Many thousands pass throgh every year.

CM RUSSELL SHOW - BONNET

We dropped off paintings at Timber Stand Gallery in Sandpoint, ID this morning. Jim Quinn had a growing collection of art to take to his room at the CM Russell Show which starts next Wednesday. This bonnet and pipe will be there. Don't know who made it or how old it is, or if they are eagle feathers.

Young Dancer

9x12", Acrylic on canvas
$650

This is one from last year that seemed to have a sound structure. I thought with a little more work I could bring it to life.

Peak Experience

It's not all work. Here we are at the top of the mountain last week on a beautiful sunny day.

Boston Harbor

The result of watching many breath-taking videos of guys in batsuits jumping off cliffs on youtube.

Figure Study 3

Ink on paper, Sharpie Ultra thin

Pemaquid Point

30x48"
Giclee

Lure - detail

This maybe two inches wide. Shows the many layers of knife work and glazing.

Lure - Finished!!!

Final touches added this morning. Took photos and ordered slides from slides.com as required by the show this is being entered in: ISAP.

Step 7

A glaze of semi-transparent light blue over the ocean, then re-establish the sparkle. The rock is finally starting to shape up after more knife work with thick paint and glazing. The bushes are coming along, too. This might work out.

Step 6

This is slow going. Many layers to build up depth and texture. I've glazed black over the forground including the vegetation. Blue over the shadow side of the rock. Glazed a semi-transparent warm light gray over the rock in sun, the ocean and the lower sky. Put in the glare on the water with palette knife, glazed the water blue and put it in again. Painting knife with very light gray on the rocks followed by a blue glaze.

Step 5

Warm and cool gray mixed with modeling paste has been applied with a palette knife.

Step 4

The rock is the wrong shape, figure's not right. will makes changes soon. Hard to believe in this at this stage, but I'll forge ahead.

Trees in Fog

From our ski outing today...foggy with light snow.

Night Fir

Put this idea together on the computer. It may become a 3'x2' acrylic some day.

Valentine Past

16x12"
Giclee

Figure Study 2

Ink on paper. Sharpy Ultra Fine Point. Great practice and fun. The secret is don't over do it.

Step 3

Using mixtures of Utrecht gesso, modeling paste and various colors I quickly block in the picture. The large filbert bristle has left lots of big brush strokes. In fact it looks like a smaller painting for that reason. I'll let that dry now before working on the figure.

Moon Motion

We watched the eclipse in the hot tub last night. Loi was enjoying it, but I was pretty sure the shadow was moving the wrong way. If you just run out in the cold and look for a second you wouldn't notice. We all know which way the moon moves, right? From left to right across the sky. So the right side of the moon should enter the shadow first. Not so, just the opposite. I spent the whole time trying to puzzle it out. No luck. Later, on the internet, I learned the moon actually moves right to left no matter what it looks to be doing! Who knew? They told us about the sun not actually rising, but not a peep about the moon. Odd.

Second Step

The layer of Burnt Sienna has dried and things are roughed in with black gesso.

Started a new painting yesterday

It's 24x36", gallery wrapped canvas in acrylic for the ISAP international show...deadline fast approaching. A lone figure will be standing on rock gazing out to sea, an island on the far horizon. I hope to capture the facination the sea inspires in me and a lot of people. Had this great idea to put a layer of Burnt Sienna down before the black for a change. The canvas was preprimed but I brushed on a thick coat of Utrecht professional grade gesso, it's extra thick, which gives a very textured surface...lots of brush strokes when dry. I used a 2" China el cheapo bristle.

Figure Study

This began as a sketch on paper with ink. It needed some major correction so I gave up. Later it occurred to me I could scan this into the computer and keep working on it!

Technique Explained

Thanks everyone for the encouraging remarks! It's all texture, mostly from an inexpensive China bristle brush and Utrecht professional grade gesso. A multilayer technique was used. Black gesso was used to rough in the birds which was corrected with gobs of white gesso followed by a transparent glaze which was then hit with a pot scrubber to expose the little ridges, etc., etc. This detail is about an inch wide. For maybe the third time I applied white to the bird with finger tip, tinted with yellow this time. Once dry I glazed the whole thing blue again and wiped it off the bird with a paper towel. My goal was to avoid any hard edges, suggestion only with a tonalist feel. The dark spots are painting knife on the high points. Almost forgot. This was painted over an earlier painting also with a lot of texture.

A painting is a series of corrected mistakes...might as well get started.

That's it!

Added a few more touches and a final glaze of color. Pretty close to my original vision.

12x16", Acrylic on canvas ($1100)

Birds, Costa Rica

12x16", Acrylic on canvas
Still working on this. Getting close.

Motorboat - final

Added a Bimini top for those long days in the sun. This was made in sketchup 6.

Maine Harbor - Step 2

48x36", acrylic on canvas. Step two glaze with three blues mixed with gel medium. I've darkened the glaze on the water since this photo with another layer of blue in places.

Maine Harbor - Step 1

48x36", acrylic on canvas. First step is to establish the dark areas with black gesso. Then, wearing latex gloves I smeared handfuls of gesso in the water area with a bit of blue mixed in. Definately fun and it builds up some nice texture!

Proposed Cabin Cruiser

This is a home-built 17' motor boat that we may build this spring. The dream is lazy weekends on the lake at remote beaches. Looks like we'll never be able to afford a house on the lake.

That's me. I'm the captain or admiral. Loi will be the crew. Or that's my thinking anyway.

Famous Painting Stolen!

Well, not stolen, but copied. Read the whole story here:
http://www.buildart.com/secret_of_maxfield_parrish.htm

Maine Twilight

New Harbor, Maine, 2005. Built the boat and docks in Sketchup. The boat was in the last post. Put them into Bryce and added the water. Then into Paintshop to add the sky, clouds, bird and fine tune all the colors and values. From our trip to Maine a couple years ago. May turn this into a large painting...3'x4'.

Rowboat

I've been included in Google Sketchup's '3D Modeling Services' collection of professional 3D modelers. 'Wonderful job on your models', they said! Search 'buildart' in collections to find the three d models I've made with Sketchup, a great program and lots of fun to use. Several recent pictures in this blog feature my models. Here's the address: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/