Painting for my life

Another Day

2008-10-08T13:43:00.003-02:00

I painted quite a few little "daily" paintings back in the late '90's, but this image is the only one I took from it's 9"X 12" version and repeated it on 30"X 30" canvas. I can no longer remember why this seemed important for me to do at the time, but I'm happy that I did.
The larger version has a kind of surreal quality to it with the apple smack in it's center and appearing as if it's floating above the surface.

Artist Taking A Break

2008-10-03T15:23:00.002-02:00

Painting has fallen to the wayside since purchasing my new iMac a month ago. It's not that I mean to ignore the half finished canvas on my easel....

No, it's more like this new machine has taken possession of me as I discover all the cool and wonderful things I can do with it. I'm sure the novelty will wear out at some point.... ????

"Marbles In A Black Box" oil 9"X 12"

2008-09-14T09:20:00.002-02:00

In the mood to paint something fun and colorful, I looked around my studio while still drinking my first cup of coffee, not fully awake, but determined to turn the morning into a productive one.

A single marble sitting on the window sill caught my eye and before long I had several more marbles piled into an empty slide box, fresh paint squeezed out on the pallet, and a clean canvas on the easel.

By the time I poured my third cup of coffee, the painting was well underway with music playing in the background and me finding that special rhythm that makes for a good painting day.

More On The Daily Painting

2008-09-07T02:13:00.007-02:00

A simple pomegranate on a wooden plank table becomes a bit extraordinary.

Painting A Day

2008-09-06T23:25:00.010-02:00

Ten years ago a few artist friends and I started a small art group in NYC where once a month we'd gather for an art critique night with one of our members. It was a "art social night" each of us really looked forward to and always felt a little nervous about when it was our own turn. We were a mixed group of realist, conceptual, abstract, and minimalist painters all viewing each others work with the most critical eye and sometimes the harshest of comments. But, we all loved the inspiration gained through these critiques as it offered the most honest viewpoint of both weaknesses and strengths in our work and the challenge to improve.

I've always been a fussy artist, taking great pains in the detail of my work, as realists often do, and spending weeks... even months to complete what is often a large and very intricately detailed painting. I still love that kind of challenge.

But, the years I spent with my art group pushed me to explore a not so fussy side to my work... to find a more painterly quality to my brush strokes and "freshness" in the finish.

I took up this challenge by starting a painting a day project that lasted several months... ending when I had to prepare for my first solo show in Manhattan.

But, the "daily paintings" brought a new life to my work... a certain sureness of stroke, an added confidence in my abilities as an artist. Certainly, the discipline to keep me focused enough to create twenty five new paintings in six months time.... most of which were 48"X 48" still life paintings.

Now, recently completing four very large, complex landscape paintings for Bay Pines Veterans, I long to return to those little canvases where each painting day results in a finished, not so complicated piece of art work.

A new challenge in deed!

Painting Large

2008-02-25T10:05:00.005-02:00

Three phases Completing three 70"X48" landscape paintings has left me hungry with the desire to return to working on smaller... less time consuming... canvases for a while. Perhaps even a few "one day" paintings with my portable easel at some favorite locations.
Not that I didn't fully enjoy painting the "Bay Pines" series or the opportunity and challenge this commissioned work offered me, because I loved every single hour of working on it.

Intricate Architecture and Landscape

2008-02-04T12:28:00.000-02:00

This is by far the most intricately detailed painting of this series as it focuses on the heavily decorated facade of this 1930's building at the edge of a large courtyard.
The photographic references of this site show a courtyard filled with umbrellaed tables and quite a few people moving or sitting throughout it.
Obviously, much of that has been eliminated, along with trash containers, ugly signs, and everything else that would detract from the beauty of the building and the fountain ( which wasn't yet installed when I was there with my camera). I painted only what was necessary and important to maintain the architectural elaborateness of this structure and its surroundings without getting too "busy" with superfluous elements that would draw away from its central focus. Still, this painting was never simple to work on and took nearly five months to bring to completion. Even now, as it dries and waits for the framer to pick it up later in the week, I fight the urge to brush in a few more details. But, I won't.

Bay Pines Landscape series

2008-02-04T10:00:00.000-02:00

I completed this painting back in September but never got around to posting the finished result as I found myself immediately beginning work on the third painting of this series.
All of the paintings are done on stretched canvas, 70" X 48" , and are in oil paints.
The accuracy in scale and architectural interest is achieved by first laying out a grid and then using colored pencils to carefully measure and draw in key shapes and the most prominent aspects of what I need to focus on.
With this particular painting, I spent a good week or so measuring and drawing before even starting to block in any color. And nearly a month went by before I managed to completely cover the canvas with it's first layer of paint. It's an anxious time I feel reaching this stage of the painting where I can really stand back and see how the composition is working..... or isn't.
Usually, I've done enough small preliminary sketches to visualize how the composition of the painting will look on a larger scale, but I'm never fully certain until I can see it in actuality.
I was elated to see how the strength of the composition transformed itself so well on the large canvas, enabling me to move forward and concentrate on taking this painting to its completion.

Landscape Painting...commission

2007-05-07T08:13:00.000-02:00

Since February, I've been working on the start of a number of new very large (70"X48") commissioned landscape paintings for the Bay Pines Veterans Health Center. My plan had been to post to my blog the entire process of each painting as I progressed from week to week. But finding any extra time in my schedule made this impossible.
The image here is the first finished painting showing the Bay Pines campus from across the bay. On most days, this view is cluttered with a variety of boats, which I eliminated to simplify the painting some and to concentrate my focus mainly on the campus.

Fifth Day Painting

2007-01-22T10:43:00.000-02:00

Starting to work in the position and some details of hands and arms. Adding more definition to Olive's and Metro's hair as well as the clothing.
In my next session of painting, I plan on concentrating on the background and garden area, as this will begin to define much of the skin tone and color choices I make as I move toward the final stages of the painting.
I've had in mind all along of maybe painting in a striped shirt on Metro's body to give it more dimension, but am still quite undecided about this, thinking now I'll wait until most of the painting has been completed to see how everything balances out.

Day Three Painting

2007-01-16T12:23:00.000-02:00

Blocking in the composition, I've dropped down the background a little more to accentuate the figures in the foreground, allowing me to eliminate some of those darker areas and bring in bright spots of color and light.
Working the entire canvas, the figures begin to take a little more form too as I start to define their position in the painting.
Much of the paint at this point is still thinly layered, as certain changes and redefinitions are still being worked out and considered. At this stage, "erasing" is still fairly easy with a turpentine soaked rag, which I use to raise the arm of the little boy and reposition the girl's face a bit more.
I like to slowly build my paintings, making all my alterations in the earliest stages and waiting until I'm completely satisfied with the basics before moving on to heavier layers of paint.

Day One: Painting from Photo

2007-01-15T14:31:00.001-02:00

On a 18"X24" stretched linen, I quickly lay out the painting's composition, off-centering the three figures just slightly to the left so that I may include both hands of the older boy as well as the background garden I envision in the finished piece. I am not too concerned with precise details at this stage, but am maintaining a certain accuracy to the photo, dropping the background some for enhancement.
By the end of my painting day, I have finished the intial sketch and blocked in a wash of color. At this stage I can really start to visualize where I must take this painting to reach it's completion.

Portrait Painting From Photo

2007-01-15T13:24:00.000-02:00

When painting a portrait, I prefer combining live posing sessions along with photos I can refer to without the presence of the sitter. However, some portrait commissions must rely on a single photograph a client has chosen to be replicated into a portrait painting. More often than not, the photo I receive has been taken with a flash camera, virtually flattening the image and losing much needed detail when composed onto a much larger scale. This offers a number of challenges in which artistic licence must be taken to enhance, alter, and add to what will eventually become the finished portrait.
Follow my process as I post images of this paintings developement.

Hit the Painting From A Photo link to bring up the different days of painting I've added to my blog.
Any comments are welcome and appreciated.

Vermont Visit

2006-10-04T18:02:00.000-02:00

Visiting my brother's farm in Vermont always inspires me to paint some cows in the pasture. I started this one on site but will finish the painting here at home in my studio.

Painting for my life

2006-10-02T11:00:00.000-02:00

Painting for my life

Painting Time!

2006-09-21T09:28:00.000-02:00

Like many artist's, I have a full time job to pay the bills and keep me fed. All my painting time is squeezed in and around that 40 hour work week...and often, it's quite difficult getting myself concentrated on my painting in such limited and spare chunks of my day.
The dream is always to find that perfect nitch in the art world where my paintings could adequately support me without too much worry. Or to win the lottery and have the freedom to paint whatever my heart desires without any constraints whatsoever.
In reality, all I can do is keep pushing myself for those hours at the easel every day, ignoring the mounting laundry and dust bunnies as best I can.

Art Integrity

2006-09-06T08:16:00.000-02:00

The "painting a day" artists blogging here in cyberspace have created quite an interesting networking draw to their work. Some of it is pretty damn good too.
It's a virtual art market where the average person can find cheap little paintings to buy and collect without worrying if it's a good investment.
But artists should be careful here about devaluing their time, talent and skill by selling their work so far below market value.
The 24"X18" painting shown here of "Yellow Bowl with Peppers" took several hours to complete, but in reality this painting is the result of a life time of dedication.
It actually saddened me when this piece was sold in a NYC gallery back in 2000, as I hate to part with many of my paintings, but it felt good that someone loved this work enough to make a real investment too. Maintaining market value is important to the integrity of the artist's life time body of work. And this will never be achieved by selling your work at dime store prices.

Portrait In Landscape

2006-08-27T19:55:00.000-02:00

In recent years, I've fallen in love with painting landscapes. Plein air painting especially.
With my painting of "Olive In Vermont", I combined my love of portrait painting with my love of landscape painting.
It's a direction I've taken with three other recent portraits as well...enjoying very much the portrait in landscape effect.

Portrait painting

2006-08-27T19:52:00.000-02:00

Painting for my life

Portrait painting is a lot more than simply capturing someone's likeness. For me, a successful portriat also exudes character, personality, and a bit of the person's spirit as well.
Years ago, while still a art student at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, I took a summer position in Louis' Art Village in Atlantic City drawing pastel portraits right there on the boardwalk. Basically, I was expected to churn out as many completed portraits as I could in any given hour. The real trick here was capturing a likeness without fussing too much on such nuances as layering cool and warm colors or getting into any specific details outside the face. Relatively easy work that paid well, but ideally felt totally unsastisfying to me as a young artist. It lacked the personal depth I craved and said barely a thing about the person sitting there before me. But, such fast renderings of so many faces also taught me a great deal too, benefitting me enormously throughout my career.

Morning focus

2006-08-26T09:48:00.000-02:00

Beginning each day at sunrise with a cup of coffee in hand, I head directly to my studio where I can focus my waking brain on the canvas waiting on my easel. A work in progress energizes my senses even before the caffeine enters my bloodstream as my eyes focus on content, color, and the direction this painting will take me this day.
By the time the morning light fills my studio, my pallet is wet with fresh oil paint that I'm rapidly mixing and blending into the cool and warm colors needed for my brush.
On a good painting day, my focus remains concentrated and smoothly flowing from brain to brush hand without hesitation or particular awareness of any extraneous elements of the world outside. Hours pass without notice as the painting takes on a life of its own, becoming the image I envisioned while the canvas was still blank and raw.
Bad painting days are those when focus is broken and the flow of my brush never connects with where my brain tries to force it to go. Concentration is lost with the ringing of the phone, honking horns outside my window, or nagging thoughts of my personal life.
Over the years, I've learned certain tricks to keep those bad painting days away for the most part, but still they make their way in now and then....defeating me in frustration as I clear my pallet and clean my brushes for another day.