10"x 8"
7" x 5"
Took about 10 minutes......and looks like it, he he.
12" x 9"
9" x 12"
10" x 8"
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Plein Air - Indian Rock Park, Howarth Park, Other stuff
10"x 8"
7" x 5"
Took about 10 minutes......and looks like it, he he.
12" x 9"
9" x 12"
10" x 8"
Friday, December 16, 2011
Plein Air - Mount Tamalpais, Walker Road
12" x 9"
I had some left over prussian blue on my palette from working on another painting. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but use it a bit too much, for I think it made the value of the houses in the background too dark.
16" x 12"
10" x 8"
This was possibly the coldest I've ever been while making a painting. The wind was ridiculous, but it's to be expected when you are on the top of a mountain.
Still Life made using "form modeling" method
For this still life, I wanted to try out a method of painting I found out from the website of an artist named Douglas Flynt.
In this method, one makes a drawing on paper of the still life, transfers the drawing to the canvas, and then paints in the objects piece by piece. While I think the method worked, I don't know if I will use it again. For me, it makes the process of painting more mechanical, and not as fun. But on the other hand, it pushed me to get the most detail in a painting I think I have ever attempted.
12" x 9"
This greyscale study is done as part of the method to keep in mind the larger value changes to help you along as you paint the forms.
In this method, one makes a drawing on paper of the still life, transfers the drawing to the canvas, and then paints in the objects piece by piece. While I think the method worked, I don't know if I will use it again. For me, it makes the process of painting more mechanical, and not as fun. But on the other hand, it pushed me to get the most detail in a painting I think I have ever attempted.
12" x 9"
This greyscale study is done as part of the method to keep in mind the larger value changes to help you along as you paint the forms.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Plein Air - ILM, Dillon Beach, Sebastopol
10" x 8"
I wasn't too excited about painting this location, and was pretty unhappy with the way it was going while painting. As a whole painting it's not successful, but I'm happy with some of the color combinations.
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The following 3 paintings were done all in the same day at Dillon Beach:
10" x 8" - SOLD
10" x 8" - SOLD
10" x 8" - SOLD
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12" x 16"
This was done at the location of the special effects company Industrial Light and Magic in San Francisco. The whole area was pretty amazing.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Plein Air
Did both of these in the same day.
8" x 10"
10" x 8"
This one took much longer than the other painting. I almost didn't paint this scene because:
a) There aren't many different elements in it - which results in not the most dynamic composition.
b) I knew it would be rather tedious with all the various weeds.
I really tried to get a lot more colors into this one using a semi-impressionistic approach. Once I took it back home, I touched it up for maybe 20 minutes. I usually don't like doing this because the colors end up more generic without the aid of the original visual reference, but this time I think it actually improved the painting.
8" x 10"
10" x 8"
This one took much longer than the other painting. I almost didn't paint this scene because:
a) There aren't many different elements in it - which results in not the most dynamic composition.
b) I knew it would be rather tedious with all the various weeds.
I really tried to get a lot more colors into this one using a semi-impressionistic approach. Once I took it back home, I touched it up for maybe 20 minutes. I usually don't like doing this because the colors end up more generic without the aid of the original visual reference, but this time I think it actually improved the painting.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Plein Air
10" x 8"
Was rather happy with the colors in this one. I tried to push them a little more than usual. By "push" I mean make them different than what I actually see, to give the piece a uniqueness.
16" x 12"
And another factory. I know it's not good to have elements exactly in the middle of a piece, but for some reason, I didn't want to paint this scene any other way.
10" x 8"
Not a great composition, but still worth doing for the study.
10" x 8"
Sunset within walking distance of where I live.
14" x 11"
I may do a larger version of this one, as I was rather happy with the lighting, color, and most importantly as I am finding out, the composition.
10" x 8"
This was done early in the morning. I didn't have a lot of time because I had to go to work, but I saw goats suddenly emerge onto a farm. One of them slowly walked towards me, and this silly little painting is trying to capture the goat's progression as it walked.
Self Portrait
This is a study for a possible larger piece using similar lighting and modeling of form. The focus on this piece was to have forms come forward and recede into space using color and different levels of contrast.
Studio Enlargement of Plein Air Study
This is the enlarged version (20" x 16") of this study I did during Ray Roberts Workshop. I may work on it some more, but for now I am kind of letting it sit.
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to working on this, as I generally don't like working from photographs, or rather....anything but the actual location. However, I came to enjoy working on the piece in a more controlled, slower manner. It's not better or worse than working on the spot, it's just different.
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to working on this, as I generally don't like working from photographs, or rather....anything but the actual location. However, I came to enjoy working on the piece in a more controlled, slower manner. It's not better or worse than working on the spot, it's just different.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Mini Still Lifes
While browsing the internet looking at art, I stumbled across a painter named Carol Marine. Her work has a very freshly painted look, many of which are small still lifes. Inspired by this, I attempted make quick, small still lifes in this vein - if only for practice.
I tried to put a time limit on these - I aimed for an hour, but I usually ended up painting about twenty minutes longer.
All paintings are 7" x 5".
I tried to put a time limit on these - I aimed for an hour, but I usually ended up painting about twenty minutes longer.
All paintings are 7" x 5".
Friday, November 4, 2011
Sunrise Paintings
During the Ray Roberts workshop, it was mentioned that a good exercise would be to paint a sunrise - because it forces you to paint fast. So, I tried it out.
7" x 5" - This was done after the sun had already risen, but still morning time. It wasn't the most interesting subject, but I had all my paints and easel out already from the previous painting. And, painting anything is better than not painting at all, if only for the practice.
This was made right after the painting below.
12" x 9" They weren't kidding, that sun rises FAST. This is actually a bit of mix of moments that were caught as the light was changing. It's crazy how much the colors and values change within just a 20 minute period. It was a mistake using this larger size for the painting. I had no 10" x 8"s left so I went with this, but I should have used the 7" x 5".
10" x 8" - Made right after finishing the painting below, facing the opposite direction.
8" x 10" - This was the first sunrise painting I've ever done. While painting it I was in the middle of a dirt drive way, looking the through a fence gate. Halfway into the painting, a truck honked at me to move, which I had to - so that obviously changed the view from which I was originally working. It didn't matter much though.
As it turned out, the truck driver didn't drive on through at that point, as he later told me he wanted to give me some more time to paint. If I only I had known, then I wouldn't have moved right away. Nice guy though.
7" x 5" - This was done after the sun had already risen, but still morning time. It wasn't the most interesting subject, but I had all my paints and easel out already from the previous painting. And, painting anything is better than not painting at all, if only for the practice.
This was made right after the painting below.
12" x 9" They weren't kidding, that sun rises FAST. This is actually a bit of mix of moments that were caught as the light was changing. It's crazy how much the colors and values change within just a 20 minute period. It was a mistake using this larger size for the painting. I had no 10" x 8"s left so I went with this, but I should have used the 7" x 5".
10" x 8" - Made right after finishing the painting below, facing the opposite direction.
8" x 10" - This was the first sunrise painting I've ever done. While painting it I was in the middle of a dirt drive way, looking the through a fence gate. Halfway into the painting, a truck honked at me to move, which I had to - so that obviously changed the view from which I was originally working. It didn't matter much though.
As it turned out, the truck driver didn't drive on through at that point, as he later told me he wanted to give me some more time to paint. If I only I had known, then I wouldn't have moved right away. Nice guy though.
Ray Roberts Workshop
These 10" x 8" studies were done as part of Ray Roberts painting workshop I did recently.
There were definitely some great gems of advice I got during this, all of which could be applied to any painting - not just landscapes.
This was my first painting workshop, and after doing it I would definitely be open to doing more. It's a great way to get outside of your own head and into the mind of somebody else, and see how they approach things.
This was an exercise where we had to make a painting using only 2 values.
It basically forced us to pick which side any given thing we saw fell into - light or shadow.
The biggest thing this did for me was to push colors around in unexpected ways - because at that point, the only way to differentiate forms in a single tone area is through color and/or temperature.
The green section at the bottom of this was originally painted much more intensely, brighter, and more yellow. When Ray saw this, he felt it detracted from the painting and told me to scrape it off and paint the section again. After doing this, I saw that the overall cohesion and harmony of the piece was much better off for it.
The last day of the workshop was devoted to completely a larger version of one of the studies we made, based on the study and photo reference. This study was the one I chose, but I have yet to complete the larger version as I have been involved with other paintings - but I do plan to complete it, as much as I dislike working from photos.
There were definitely some great gems of advice I got during this, all of which could be applied to any painting - not just landscapes.
This was my first painting workshop, and after doing it I would definitely be open to doing more. It's a great way to get outside of your own head and into the mind of somebody else, and see how they approach things.
This was an exercise where we had to make a painting using only 2 values.
It basically forced us to pick which side any given thing we saw fell into - light or shadow.
The biggest thing this did for me was to push colors around in unexpected ways - because at that point, the only way to differentiate forms in a single tone area is through color and/or temperature.
The green section at the bottom of this was originally painted much more intensely, brighter, and more yellow. When Ray saw this, he felt it detracted from the painting and told me to scrape it off and paint the section again. After doing this, I saw that the overall cohesion and harmony of the piece was much better off for it.
The last day of the workshop was devoted to completely a larger version of one of the studies we made, based on the study and photo reference. This study was the one I chose, but I have yet to complete the larger version as I have been involved with other paintings - but I do plan to complete it, as much as I dislike working from photos.
Plein Air
18" x 14" - This was pretty much a study for a larger piece that I am working on at the same location. The dark portions of the trees are too harsh.
10" x 8"
Self-Portraits
Hadn't done self-portraits in a LONG time. I wanted to get back into portraiture in general, so what better place to start.
12" x 16"
5" x 7" - I did this right after completing the painting above, as I saw there was some left over paint, so I figured why not do a quick study.
16" x 20" - This was the first self-portrait I had done in a while. I didn't spend enough time on the drawing aspect of it as the proportions are off (mouth area is too big). The piece wasn't really meant to be anything more than just trying a self-portrait since it had been so long since doing one.
12" x 16"
5" x 7" - I did this right after completing the painting above, as I saw there was some left over paint, so I figured why not do a quick study.
16" x 20" - This was the first self-portrait I had done in a while. I didn't spend enough time on the drawing aspect of it as the proportions are off (mouth area is too big). The piece wasn't really meant to be anything more than just trying a self-portrait since it had been so long since doing one.
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