Fine Art

A few drawings

2009-11-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

In The Works

2009-11-09T20:34:00.001-08:00

24x36 oil on wood panel
Something I just started, so lets see where it goes.

Figure Study

2009-11-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

18x24 oil on canvas
I took a high key approach to this painting and it ended up a bit in the middle of the road as far as values go. Wanted to paint a picture that did not have real dark range of value, I often work really dark. Plus I kept my pallet real basic using earth red, yellow, black and white.

Silver Lake

2009-10-29T15:40:00.001-07:00

18x24 in. oil on wood panel

This was a very special day kayaking on Silver Lake. I used a snap shot to create this painting and in the photo there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. So I drew a sketch of the image and did the painting using only the sketch. In doing this I was able to leave the color information behind and create my own mood. I might do the snow painting at another time but for now I tried something basic. I used only four colors to paint this image, ivory black, yellow ocher, and earth red plus white.

Roadway

2009-10-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

12x24 in. oil on panel
Travel is a huge part of what brings me happiness. Even if it is just within a few hours from home, I love to drive. This was painted from a sketch that I created using a snap shot that I took a while back on one of my many road trips.

Tepid

2009-10-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

12x24 in. oil on panel
So my new home made panels are working out just fine, I still dream of buying more canvas. But for now it works quit nice, I just paint the edges black and it is ready to hang. I used a field study that I had drawn down by the river to create this image. When painting in oils I never used my pallet knife as a brush, only to mix paint and not apply it. So in the back ground of this painting I tried to use the knife to paint with and did not like how it felt to me. I will have to give it another try some time.

Virescent

2009-10-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

12x24 in. oil on panel
This is a painting I created using the studies from the Northern Coast I did a while back. I found that the color studies did not match up for me, I used the drawing more because the color studies where done in watercolor. The watercolor creates a whole new world for me that is very different than the oils, for me anyway. I think if I take the time to use color when working outdoors it will be oils because then I can use the same color pallet as I will back in the studio. Kind of fun figuring out what works for me.

Sunshade

2009-10-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

30x48 inch oil painting on panel.
Well I have been wanting to do a larger painting of this smaller study for a while and I finally gave it a go. Right from the start I had conflict with looking back at the photo I did the study from. This was bad, because I started to put in things that I had left out before in the earlier study. I ended up sticking with the study I had created from the start. This should have been a way easier process had I fallowed the clear map I created in doing the study. I guess there where things about the photo that I like in a different way and can still explore those feelings. The point is that I had a plan the whole time and almost did not stick to it. I did change the composition a bit bye adding more room on the top and bottom and that was not part of the plan at first, but I made that change before the painting even started, anyway.

Mother & Child Again

2009-10-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

16x24 inch oil on canvas
Now with this one I used the same photo but cropped it different, leaving more of the boy shown in the composition. I really kind of liked this painting but have to move on and find my own photos of mother and child to paint from.

Mother & Child

2009-10-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

12x22 inch oil on canvas
This painting was done from a photo that I took from the internet. I really wanted to do a few mother and child theme paintings but have no pictures of my own. This is a very bad path to travel, using a photo that I do not own, their are copy right laws. And I do not know anything about them, I have herd change the image 10 percent, but I am not sure. Well I went ahead and did a few paintings anyway, even if they are just studies that I will never sell, like most of my work.
Ended up doing two paintings from this photo, this being the first of two. Her forearm got to be a bit large, it is from carrying those large babies all day. No not really, my drawing is all wrong, the head is small or the arm is large anyway it is not my best work. But on the other hand I do love parts of it, like the bottom right side of the painting with the drapery. I long to get this kind of a feel to my work but it only comes out in little parts right now. Because I will do a passage that I really like and then make the head to small, I need it to all come together. The next painting of this image is a bit better stay tune.

New Illustration Blog

2009-10-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have been working on some illustration stuff and posting it on a new Illustration Blog Keeping this blog for only my fine art painting and drawing, witch has been slow because of manual labor jobs that have me to tired to paint lately.

Landscapes

2009-09-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

More studies for landscape paintings. The sea cave image was from my trip to the coast, I used the sketches that I had and created this color study. Then I went back down to the river a few days ago and did a few more drawings, this was one I liked. Then a day or two later I created the color study of it. I just was using my memory of the day and colors that I was feeling at the time.
I have to jump into one of these now and create a finished larger scale oil painting from the color study.

Exquisite

2009-09-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

18x24 inch oil on wood panel
I was enlightened by a artist friend of mine to have the title of your painting in your head before you even start the painting. Working mostly as a mural artist or an illustrator the fine art thing is really new to me on some levels. I do not believe you have to name any painting, who makes these rules anyway. Is it a law, it is not a painting until a title is attached to it. Well I am not saying a title is bad, but it could come after the painting is completed. Up until now I never really put the effort into the title as I guess I should. This painting is entitled Exquisite, part of the Parasol Series. Sounds pretty nice.

Sketchbook Studies

2009-09-28T12:20:00.001-07:00

Here are a few sketchbook studies. I find my self using my sketch book more lately to capture little compositions of landscapes in my day to day. Instead of just doodles of faces and cartoons all the time I try to gather enough information to create a painting back in the studio with my little sketches.

Landscape

2009-09-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I had a chance this morning to get out and use my park pass. I walked down to a shady spot next to the river. With a small set of materials in my back pack I did some sketching. First the tree then the landscape. I spent an hour or two and watched people float past in rafts and kayaks. So after gathering my information it was a short drive back home for lunch. Then with my sketch and the memory of the day fresh in my head I created a color study. I left the fisherman out of the color study, he was drawing to much attention and so I cut him out. I might try to do one with the fisherman as the focal point at a later time. Now I should take this one to the next step and do an oil painting of the color study.

Figure Painting & Drawing

2009-09-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

18x24 inch oil on canvas
8.5x11 inch ink on natural tone paper

A bit of life drawing is a good way to explore with new things. So I was given a few Utrecht brand paints to try from the store a few weeks ago and I thought I would give it a go. I am not going to get into a whole thing on products here, they just did not work for me. I had some other colors with me so I still had fun doing the painting.

Parasol

2009-09-21T06:10:00.001-07:00

10x15 inch oil on panel

Workshop Sketches

2009-09-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

A two day Gouache & Watercolor workshop with Eric Tiemens in Mendocino California, what a treat. This was one of the sketches I did on the first day. Eric sent the students out to gather information in the form of a sketch. Being in the town of Mendocino it was not hard to find great views of ocean cliffs or an old historic town all right there as soon as you walk out the door. Seeing that I live in Sacramento and do not see the ocean much I decided to try it out.

Back in the class room I did a little color sketch from memory. Eric did a ton of demos and taught us about composition and even gave a little history lecture on Artists. He had the biggest collection of art books I had ever seen. Pretty nice of him to have lugged all those books for us to see.

On the second day of the workshop I went back out to gather some more info and it was raining so the cliffs edge was pretty windy. So I sat in my truck and caught a foggy seen of the landscape.
Back in the class, more great demos showing us that we control the lighting in the seen. Make it a night seen or just before dusk, play with the color and lighting in little sketches, do not just stick with the first thing you do. Well this was a big learning curve because not anyone can just make this stuff up, it takes years of being out there and studying the landscape and lighting conditions.
Well this was an advanced class, so I did many other sketches that I did not include, he had us do warm ups and just play with the medium and different papers.
In the end we where to work up a more finished sketch and this is were I fell a little short. I dropped my first cliff drawing and decided to do the landscape instead. It was mainly because of the focal point was not totally resolved in my head. Was the focal point to be on the cave I first intended or the crashing waves to the left as it appears in the color study. So I figured that I could deal with this stuff back at home. The landscape was fun and simple to do, but I did not get wild and make bold moves, I stayed in my safe zone. This was where I fell short, and should have dove in and did not. Well I still liked my little landscape painting and the next step would be to use it as a starting point for a larger oil painting. And now that I am back at home I can create the cliff painting, and explore more.

Mendocino Workshop Weekend

2009-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended a two day Gouache & Watercolor workshop with Eric Tiemens in Mendocino California. I left a day early to stay with a friend that lived 20 miles or so from the workshop. This trip I was really going to be doing some camping and packed all my food for the three day voyage to save some money. I popped a tent next to my friends home, pretty remote living off the grid as they call it. Only five bumpy miles to the oceans edge so at night the swell came in that first night and you could hear the ocean dance. This was music to my buddies ears because the surf was going to be up in the morning.
That day I did a few drawings and was relaxing before the workshop. My friend had this old wagon in his yard and it was to good to pass up. Then we went down to the ocean and this boat was on a trailer in the parking lot, so I did a drawing of it, I like all the little stuff that is on a boat like this one. I will post my stuff I did at the workshop later.

Oil Painting

2009-09-16T16:05:00.001-07:00

11x14in oil painting