Loxihatchee Green

Participated in a Paintout at Loxihatchee National Wildlife Refuge.  I was overtaken and saturated by green. The goal was an impressionistic piece with a balance of darks and lights to overcome a tremendous amount of midtone green. 

Iron Gate

Went to a paintout with the Palm Beach Plein Air Artists.  It was in the Northwood Village district during thier Art Walk and WIne Tasting.  The urban scene was pretty busy, so I concentrated on a narrow field.  First thing was to capture the lighter green wall.   Everything else was already in shade.  That wall shadow would be moving quick as I set up at 5pm.

8x10 Oil on Panel

THe Captain's Sail

I did this for a friend and mentor. Capt Coleman Landers.   He was the commanding officer of my first ship in the Navy. One of my shipmates posted a photo of a sailfish he caught off of Costa Rica. I remembered that day instantly. I had just got back to the fantail and he asked me to watch his rod as he tended to some business. He no longer left when the rod spun. I had him paged back to his post and watched him fight til I had to go on watch. The recollection inspired me to in two ways. To try watercolors (I'm more af an oil painter) and If the result wasn't too bad, send it to him to thank him for the great mentoring. He is also one of my biggest fans on facebook. 


"The Captain's Sail"
20x24 150lb Arches

Thousand Island Sunset Drama

I practiced small study last week.  I learned much, but mostly I learned to pay a little more attention to Edges and Color Temperature.  The small study, just lost its unity as I did not have the temp correct.  I used a much larger collection of brushes this time.  This was fun.
16x20 Oil on Panel
 

Thousand Island Sunset Study

Hoping to use this for a larger studio painting.  This is from an evening Laura and I spent in Clayton, NY at the Thousand Island Inn.  Home of Thousand Island Dressing.  As the sun set, the sky just got more dramatic.  I wanted to premix some of the colors on a small scale prior to starting a large studio paint. 

Done Alla Digitale

7x5 Oil on Masonite Panel

Glocester East Light

Finally back in the Apartment after living in a hotel for 2 week.  I have been aching to paint this lighthouse using the same set up as the hunting shack and MN farm.  It makes for a rather appealing painting because of the color harmony. 

I felt like a draftsman at one point trying to get all these angles right.  I did quite a bit of scape and repaint. 

The palette scheme was limited to UMB, Ver, AZ Crim, YO, Cad RedL and Cad Y.  Also premixed some grey modifiers to tone down chroma and ease into unified values. 

Minnesota Winter Farm

Feeling a bit nostalgic this morning, set up for another timed landscape.  I have decided to call these exercises "Alla Digitale".  From the combination of Alla Prima and Digitale. 

8x10
Oil on Linen Panel

Woodbridge Island Hunting Shack.

Another timed landscape.  3 Hours.
9x12 oil on linen panel. 

I used a premix of Neutral Greys from Cad Orange and Ultramarine Blue.  Using this mix really helped with the tone of the painting and to tie all the colors (as muted as they were)  This shack is purported to be a duck camp for Hank Garvey a fellow decoy carver and sports enthusiast.  I added the eider/scoter flight and differing cloud formations from different reference.  

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

9x12
Oil on Linen Panel

I painted this in studio with a time limit.  About 3 hours. 

The challenge was for my to work in the muted whites of an overcast but bright day.  It may still be too bright.  I plan to work my next painting with some premixed greys.

Harvest Still Life

11x14
Oil on Linen Panel

Painted this over the last month.  I have made so many changes to it. It is very difficult to paint these squash.  This is where I really respect artelier or classic artists.  \

Red Pear in Low Light

Set this still life up in low light using a 15W light bulb.  Hard part was lighting the panel and palette without influencing the set up.  I had to make alot of adjustments to the color on the wood slab and the cast shadows.  What is normally a dark mixture is not dark enough for a low light condition. 

This is a 5x7 Oil on Linen Panel. 

Hey, Made my first sale. The Village House

So, I brought the painting by the house that I painted.  They made an offer I could not refuse.  Nothing crazy, but fair for a journeyman artist.  Kind of embarrassed by the praise.  Told them I was happy when the framer recognized the flowers even thought they were painterly.

Gooligan and Friends

Went to the Farmers Market yesterday.  Decided to grab some little pumpkins and gourds for painting.  Always an opportunity to practice my drawing skills.  One of my goals was to paint a white object convincingly.  As always, shadows were frustrating.  In keeping with a cool light warm shadows, I made use of Trans Red Oxide for the orange pumpkin and a warm grey for the white. 

8x10 Oil on Linen

Market Sunfowers

The Market in Syracuse is full of Sunflowers this time of year. My inner Van Gogh could not resist trying my had at a botanical arrangement. The use of live flowers certainly makes for motivation to complete in short timne. I tried to keep a little loose while capturing enough detail to work on my sketching.   I tried to reduce my palette this time, by using only one blue and no greens. Deciding on shadow color was tough. I tried three different schemes before settling on a transparent red orange to keep it warm.  Still having a hard time discerning shadow color.  I am told this comes with time.  Sure it does!?  Just like I'll start seeing the world in Henche color study blocks too!.

Village House

Drove by this place a few times, I thought if the sun poked out this morning, I would head there and paint. It did; and then it rained; and then the sun came out again. I hid under the SUV hatchback and kept the umbrella over the easel. The owners came out and took my picture.  Said they wanted to see it when it was done.  I'll go back. 


10x8 oil on primed panel.

Couple of New Paintings

"View from the Crew House"...8x10 oil on Panel

Set up by the Syracuse Univ crew house. Looking down river to Onandoga Lake. Thought about painting the crew boats, but fear got the best part of me. The green already had me vapor locked. 


"Morgan Road Farm" 8x10 oil on Panel

Road past this washed out barn on my bike, came back and painted it from across the field.

Red Jungle Fowl Rooster

This was certainly a fun experiment in using paints; lots of palette knife work.  The reference was of a red jungle fowl from a farm in Kauai.  These birds sort of lend themselves to be painted impasto.   I took some liberties with the extra color throughout the canvas for balance

Griz-ailey Painting

I was thinking about a drink made up by my friends Dave and Bobby Connolly while up at Krausman's carving studio and was inpired to paint the ingredients.  The Name is pronounced something like Griz-Ailey which is a total mispronunciation of Grisaille, the french word for underpainting.  We were in a decoy painting cand carving class. 

The Boat House

20x30 Oil on Linen

Planned Still Life

I recently finished the Ted Goerschener Workshop Book.  This painting is not a exercise from the book, but a replection of what I tried to do.  First of all, I drew this out in much more detail than I have ever used.  I took measurements of the pieces and then sketched the local, highlight and shadow lines.  I started with a complete transparent red oxide underpainting.  That was cool as I have never attempeted it.  So far this is a series of transparent colors built up.  The glass vase has been the most difficult.  It must appear round and transparent at the same time.  The sun flower will need 2 more coats at least to start to take shape.  Even though I am using cadmiums, there is not enough covering power for the underpaint and pencil marks.  Anyway, this is my weekend. 

Here is my set up in the hotel room.  Keeps the boredom in check..