Cloud Painting

 Painting Clouds can be challenging but fun.  Best idea is to study them for awhile and sketch them to get their values, shapes and edges down in your mind. 

I used a palette of Cad.yel, cad. orange, cad red., aliz.crim, ult.blue, cerulean, dioxazine purple with white, viridian and titanium white. 

 

I like to work on a toned surface.

Divide the sky into about 3 planes.

Sketch in your cloud shapes.  Go from larger on top to smaller and narrower toward horizon.

Mix ultramarine blue and white for the top plane and work your way down gradually getting lighter and adding a newer mix of cerulean blue and white toward the horizon.  

Using titanium white with little cad.orange, paint in the clouds.  Mix a shadow color using cad.orange and little dioxazene purple.  Using flat brush paint in the shadows.  Allow some edges to stay sharp.

Soften some of the edges along the top with a dry round brush and bit of medium.  

Finish it up by painting some reflections in the water using white and bit of cerulean.

The Special Artist

 My son, Kyle, has always marched to the beat of a different drummer.

 

 

 

What other choice do you have when life has challenged you with multiple diagnosis forcing you to see the world in a different way and make the best adjustments you can.

 

Kyle likes to sketch vehicles and key fobs.  (my car is the blue one) 

He has a table in my Art Studio and sometimes keeps me company while I am painting. I'm proud of him and humbled and amazed that he has found this talent. His work keeps getting more interesting all the time. 

 

 

He draws from photos he takes using his phone. 

toys are another source of inspiration.

 

So, artists out there, wherever you are, just keep going.  

Push through those hard, sticky spots...you never know where your Art will take you!

 

Here's a poem I found inside a beautiful book I recently purchased while on Monhegan Island.

 *********************

 

WHEN EARTH'S LAST PICTURE IS PAINTED

by Rudyard Kipling

When earth's last picture is painted

And the tubes are twisted and dried,

When the oldest colors have faded,

And the youngest critic has died,

We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it-

Lie down for an aeon or two,

Till the Master of all good workmen,

Shall put us to work anew!

.......

And those that were good shall be happy;

They shall sit in a golden chair;

They shall splash at a ten-league canvas

With brushes of comets' hair;

They shall find real saints to draw from-

Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;

They shall work for an age at a sitting

And never be tired at all.

.....

And only the Master shall praise us,

And only the Master shall blame;

And no one shall work for money,

And no one shall work for fame,

But each for the love of the working,

And each, in his separate star,

Shall draw the Thing as he sees it,

For the God of Things as they are!
 

 

thanks for visiting my blog..happy painting!

Monhegan Island, 2020

Hey, welcome to Monhegan Island...awesome little gem off the coast of New Harbor, Maine!  1 mile long, 3/4 miles across...Rocks, surf, little village, tiny harbor, and the highest elevation of seaside cliffs on the eastern coast of the United States.

You might recognize this lighthouse. It's been painted by sooooo many great artists...Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Jamie Wyeth, Rockwell Kent, Sears Gallagher, Rick Daskam, Frank Bruckman...

Here I am with my 2020 painting buddies, a year we won't forget!

 

It takes about an hour to get there by ferry.  I like the Hardy Boat Cruise line out of New Harbor.  Very friendly and accommodating folks!

  

 I found a nice low spot on the rocks to try and get the feel of the crashing surf closer to my eye level.  It was an overcast day, but still there was so much color, texture and movement.  I loved painting the sea!

Christmas Cove, 9x12 oil, $375 framed, shipping included

 

 

In the village there's a well known red house that of course, everyone wants to paint.

"Monhegan Red House", 9x12 oil on copper,

 $375 framed and shipped.

 

 

Lobster Cove, 9x12 oil, $375 framed and shipped.

 

 

Monhegan Lighthouse, 12x16, oil. $595

"Rocky Waters"

9x12 oil, $375 framed and shipped

 

 Thanks for visiting.  email me for payment arrangements.

Paint What's Around You

Has the current affairs of the world put you into a state of suspended animation?  Are you struggling to find your voice?  I am.

 

 

I struggle like most artists do with trying to dismiss the negative self-talk that creeps in all too often. Maybe it's because of this crazy year, the Covid, the frustration of being on guard constantly, social distancing with people you know and love.  It's depressing!!!  and not ending anytime soon.  Being an artist could lend itself easily to socially isolating, I mean you can always paint, right? 

NOT SO EASY!

In the past month or so I just didn't pick up the brush enough.  I didn't put in the time, I let myself slump into binge watching series on Amazon Prime, letting my available painting time get systematically vacuumed up by the needs of others.  That's it.  Enough of the pity party. 

I'm Breaking Through to the Other Side! 

And here's my latest painting.  I'd like to say it was fun, or that I really love it.  It was torture, I tell you.  Pure torture.  My biggest obstacle was my own doubts and negative self-feedback. I was frustrated that I was never  going to get it right.  I even heard my own voice say to me, "you have no business being an artist." 

OMG!!!

When I get to this dark place I've learned that it's actually a good sign, and that quite often it means that I'm about to break through to the other side, make a discovery, figure out what it is I need to do to improve a painting.  I have to step out of the emotional struggle, get back to logic and ask myself, "ok., what's the issue?  is it composition, value, color, brushwork, do I need more contrast? what am I trying to say?

So, I powered through, just putting in the time, coming outside at the same time of day, trying to simplify, create an interesting light and shadow pattern and trying to get the values and colors the way I wanted them to be.

                                  

 

"Come outside and swim!" said my dog.  Time to get unstuck!!

 

So I stepped outside and saw my patio plants.  Bingo!

In the spring I planted all kinds of exotic flower bulbs that I bought  Costco.  I patiently waited for many weeks for them to burst forth into a symphony of colors and designs and I wasn't disappointed..  

 

I got started...

 

I added new colors to my palette:

Perylene Red, Thalo Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Sap Green 

"Let's see what this does," I thought to myself. "What have I got to lose?

This painting took five days to finish.  Even if I'm not crazy about everything in it, there are sections I just love.  I know I've discovered something new. I know I'll pick the brush up again tomorrow.

So here it is, my 297th painting done over the past 3 years.

 

What should I title it?

 Summer Surprise

  oil on canvas, 18x24 

$575 

 

framed in your choice of gold with black liner

 or walnut wood contemporary style frame.

 (includes shipping) 

 

 Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope I've made you smile or nudged you along on whatever path you are on.  

Stay safe, be well, and buy Art!

Let's Hear It for the Girls!

Women artists deserve a shout out!  We're caretakers, sometimes wives or mothers and often faced with the challenge of balancing home and career.  Not an easy task.  Often unrepresented in museums and galleries, the truth is there are some amazing female artists out there!!!

Here's a few whose work I greatly admire.

(click on the name to go directly to their website)

 

Alison Hill 

Monhegan Island artist.  beautiful landscapes and portraits. 

Mary Nagel Klein 

casein and oil painting artist, beautiful still lifes, landscapes and portraits.

Christine Lashley 

Sarah Sedwick

Purple Passion Steps in Process

There's so many ways to start a painting.  Some artists like to "tone" their canvas with a neutral color in a midtone value.  Some artists tone their canvas with the complimentary color of their scene or painting.  I tried something different and worked just on the white surface.  It's worth trying again.

I Looked for the Shadow Patterns in my composition.  I Painted them  instead of the shapes of the flowers and leaves.  This way I could see where my eye would travel in the painting and whether or not I liked the composition.

 

(reference photo)

 

 Step One:  Shadow Patterns

Next, I added in the midtones trying to pay attention to temperature as well as value.

 Step two:  Shadows and Temperature

 

Step three:  Filling in positive shapes, paying attention to brush edges

Finally, I added in the rest of the painting being sure to soften edges where there wasn't a big value change and crisp up edges catching light.

I tried to simplify the little carnation type flowers in the bottom right.  not sure if that's been resolved yet.  But, there you have it, a painting may never be finished, right?

Don't stay stuck too long in any painting.  Move on for awhile if you've hit a wall, then come back to it with new fresh eyes and ask for help and feedback from other people.

Happy Painting!

Roses

Painting Roses is a challenge!  Here's some images to help inspire you.

by contemporary artist: Renuk A Sridhar

by Vincent Van Gogh

 **************************************

search the masters and find a style that interests you. Here are two beauties:

by Henri Fantin-LaTour

it always help to do a value study first and then really look and decide where are the cool colors and where are the warm colors in both the light and the shadow.