'Beauty and the Beast' 14x18" oil/canvas

I still have some minor changes that I want to make - however, I am basically pleased with this piece, and I am ready to move on to the next. The name: 'Beauty and the Beast' and the figure pose I wanted to invoke (lead) the topic to - well for me a 'King Kong' type pose along with the theme of that story. Not exactly new, but it works for me. What maybe you expected symbols such as horses or apples or ...? Maybe I could name or sub-title this 'extraordinary lengths to acquire perceived beauty'. I think I will leave it as is. 

'Beauty and the Beast' preliminary drawing

Here is a preliminary drawing that I have had in the back of my mind for awhile now. It is what I might refer to as a content piece as it is not quite representational as many of my daily painting projects are. I don't mean to say that I am completing a painting a day - no - those people are amazing in their dedication, diligence and abilities. I mean that I paint every day and then other times less. I like the idea of adding language and other symbols to my paintings, sort of updating the symbols to a current collection. Certainly there are many symbolic additions to paintings throughout history - so I'm doing nothing particularly radical here. Just my attempt at exploring the place of these visuals in my current paintings as I observe; reflect, explore.
It's a lousy drawing - but the idea was what I was after.

brush maintenance

Well I didn't wait for the new years in order to clean up my studio. What a mess - even for me. No pictures please, too gross. But I did it. In addition in my housekeeping I organized my oil paints - man, but I have a lot of paint. Especially as I was 'resupplied' over Christmas. I put them in piles organized initially as reds, blues, yellows, browns, grays/whites/black, greens. I put them in separate drawers in order to keep integrity and as I need one for painting I go to the drawer and pick out the one that I feel I need to use up first. Great plan - see how it works out in practice.

Next is a tip I picked up for brush maintenance - this for my flats, filberts, brights in order to keep a shape and edge on them. 

I wash them and shape them in an expected manner, then I use a piece of clean (no printing on the side touching the brush hairs) cardboard. I would use most any kind paper as long as it is clean. I fold the paper over into a wedge, place the brush hairs in the fold and secure the two, and apply pressure with a paper clip. Nice. Shapes the hairs nicely, with a good to excellent quality brush I now have a well tapered and shaped brush ready for my next painting.

'frog left' 10 x 8" oil/canvas

Continuing with my 'Florida landscapes' series of paintings is this wetlands painting of a frog in his natural setting. 

(SOLD)

'Mr. Gill' 8 x 10" oil/canvas

I did this rather quick portrait of my brother-in-law from a photo taken while they were at the house. It was more fun than work to do. The first background bothered me, so I went back and changed it. This painting really occurred rather fast, maybe three total hours to work it out. Pretty straight forward - get the likeness correct in a profile, and done.

(SOLD)

'under the Spanish moss' 8x10" oil/canvas

I tend to do paintings in a series - paper bags, animals, Florida landscapes. What next? Certainly there are many possibilities waiting for me in any of the previous series.

Here is another of the Florida series, a live oak draped with Spanish Moss in an atypical sub-tropical 'wooded' setting. Again I like the sun light streaming through the thickets onto selected spots dappling the open ground. 

I have been experimenting with the overall tint(s) that I use prior to starting a a painting. With this one I used a tint of cadmium red light overall with little variation to the basic tone of this red, allowing the raw color to show through in selected places in order to lend a warming feel to the vegetation versus cool bright sunlit areas. I was tempted to cover further the areas that shown through strongly, however, I think the admonition so often offered of 'just enough, and no more' prevailed. The temptation passed, I took a break only to come back and declare this picture finished. This painting stands or falls on it's own from now on. 

Sabal Palmetto Palms 8 x 10" oil/canvas

"Sabal Palmetto Palms" 8 x 10" Oil/canvas

I have started another set of related paintings - this time around is a series of Florida, well, mostly landscapes. I have been painting some animals of Florida and I haven't decided whether that would be part of the landscape series or if they will stand as there own set. I just paint - it would be fine with me to have someone else group them, if possible. 

I like these landscapes as they do remind me of the outdoors when I look at them. I drawn the settings that I like and usually paint them in my studio referring to my drawings and sometimes photos that I have taken. These are from winter and it does get relatively cold, making colors more muted than in warmer times of the year. Also, it is dryer and so the grasses tend to be more toward orange. I warmed it up by using cadmium red throughout the deep shadow areas and then various shades of olive drab for the foliage. Olive drab actually has surprised me with the range of foliage green that it supports. Add a yellow and you have a bright live green, add white and the background color is set. Oh, and I ussually add some violet to the clouds as I want the 'shaded' side away from the sun to be darker and warmer than the cool side facing toward the sun.

'Top of the Food Chain' 8x10" oil/canvas

One of the benefactors of the mangrove 'swamps' are the sharks roaming the oceans, seas and tributaries. These animals are simply beautiful   to watch and are actually quite shy.

The cold blues really fits the specter of these animals as they migrate the water. This is a symphony of cold color, so rare a situation that looks and is natural for a painting. Of course the reds and yellows of colors are progressively missing in the water as they are filtered out the deeper one goes, leaving the deep, rich blues and progressively muted; first reds and then yellows.

Oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches.

Floridian Scenery 8 x 10" oil/canvas

This is a brackish water area in Dana, Florida - north of Miami. These mangrove thickets are the hatcheries for fish, birds, reptiles, and all manner of wildlife and game. They are always just broiling with activity at all times and of course the water reflects the great colors of the sky down here. 

Because these mangrove areas are brackish, the color of the water and the colors of the sky differ in the foreground. The water is murky - full of sediment; a soup of algae, small organisms, fish, insects, reptiles and *stuff*. The water just does not reflect in all areas the color of the sky. It's really a fun challenge to create the impression of this great creator of water life.

Juried Exhibition - redux

ArtView 2008 Juried Exhibition

The piece that I submitted to the ArtView 2008 Juried Exhibition was again a number of my paper bag series - and again "Skyscraper" was on display November 11, 2008, at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. I'm doomed to have this piece as my "15 minutes" of display. So, my goal is to create something more notable. Worthy.

I've been busy lately, painting, drawing and traveling. Washington D.C. is definitely a destination for the arts.

Brevard Art Museum’s 2008 Juried Exhibition

The piece that I submitted to the Brevard Art Museum’s 2008 Juried Exhibition was one of my paper bag series - it is named "Skyscraper" and will be on display from July 18 to September 12, 2008, at the Brevard museum in Melbourne, Florida. So ya'll jump on a plane and visit. :-) The quality of the artists and the art is really amazing. There is truly creative art being created on the Space Coast. I feel really honored to be displayed in this show.

This is a subtle little painting, measuring 12" x 12", an oil painting on canvas. It is painted all in browns, except the bag label in red - barely visible - seemingly as if done as monochromatic, yet we know that brown is inclusive of all reflective color.

At one level this painting represents a simple container, the skyscraper is a container as well.

Live Drawing to Painting

I really enjoy drawing live, on the spot drawings, and I've recently experimented with turning them into paintings. After all, whatever challenged or attracted me to the subject in the first place just might be worthy of further investigation. Maybe.

My daughter, Madison plays -now - college softball. If you have some knowledge of the game, then you understand that a large part of our formative years were spent in High school ball and the rest of the year travel ball, which would take us throughout three States and many, many weekends. It's actually a great game - and somewhere along the way I started drawing the games. Way difficult on any number of levels, but every once in a while something decent turned up on my drawing pad. Included is the original drawing and also the resulting oil on masonite painting. 6 x 6

I noticed that when you click on the painting for a larger view - you get a larger view - waaay larger, almost to the molecular level - lol.

Painting in the Round

Well she did it again... my wife that is, she purchased for me a series of six round canvases from three inches up to 12 inches. I'm staring to go through catalogs in order to foreshadow the next shape coming my way.

I started with this one, the ten inch round. There just seems to me to be some real opportunities to look and paint something a little different. After all our vision is somewhat circular if you include peripheral vision. Focus is usually specific to a point in front - but - division of focus by thirds isn't as firm a rule in a circular canvas.

Simple and It Works

I like things that are simple and that work. But, as a painter you might gain from my happy accident. I was over talking with a friend, not too long ago and he is a furniture re-finisher. Really great work, but it’s also messy as any an occupation as I’ve witnessed. He uses a mixture that includes diesel (fuel) and stand oil and always another oil such as walnut, depending on the color of the wood and the effect. He uses this mixture as a finish to the wood. It really brings out the grain in a way that is simply amazing. Oh, but the mess. Well, he uses this “SimpleGreen” stuff in a green bottle that really seemed to clean the area and whatever he used it on of grease and oil.

Painting is what I do - clean-up is pretty much a chore that follows painting, and not the least of which is cleaning my brushes. I don’t use many brushes, but I really like finishing off quickly. It works really well. I wipe off as much paint as reasonable, then use SimpleGreen to take the oil out of my brushes, finally I still use an oil soap that replaces some of the elasticity of my natural hair brushes, but works just as well with synthetics. Works for me.


Really - I, nor anyone I know have any affiliation whatsoever with this product.

Wow

"Congratulations! Your work has been selected for the Brevard Art Museum’s 2008 Juried Exhibition to be on display from July 18 – September 12, 2008"...

I submitted three paintings about a month ago and yesterday I recieved an email accepting one of them. I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing. My wife suggested that I make the effort - thank you. 

It really has been a interesting experience. First there is CaFÉ Call for Entries web site in order to directly upload high-resolution digital images of artwork for jury presentation. I needed the assistance of my good friend, Keven Roberts, who owns Intimate Images photography, here in Melbourne, Fl for the high-rez digital photos. After that it was straight forward process to enter.

I've had great fun in the art community and this will put me into contact with a whole group of people that support the arts.

I'm pretty excited.

New Painting - New Comparison

Florida Wetlands - 6 x 6
This is a painting of the Florida wetlands as the title states. I really enjoy the long vistas and the wildlife that packs these areas - not that you might notice from the "long view" such as this painting represents. These areas are the very nurseries for a great number of species that toward the top of the natural hierarchy are represented by fish, birds - yes insects, all manner of plants, reptiles, and alligators.

I thought that I would compare a digital picture with minor adjustments with a digital scan.
Digital Photo

Scan

Even though I took some care - there is a substantial difference between the two. And I am ignoring the differences in the monitor that you may be using.
So, you can get an idea of a painting on the web, mush the same as looking in a book - even a high quality one, but it is best to see the actual painting.

Luckily, there is a location that has agreed to display some of my paintings - it is:

"From The Heart"
1428 Highland Ave.
Melbourne, Florida, 32935
Opening Fall of 2008, if you are in the area, please drop by and take a look.

Really Small Painting...

Row House III 3"x 3" Oil/canvas
This is a very small painting that happened by a happy accident. I have wanted to paint a number of small paintings in order to keep me painting consistantly. I am thinking six inches by six and above. I was given package of six canvas supports that are three inches x three inches. Well, for whipping out small compositions - these canvases are really fun. I displayed the painting, about the size of the the actual six x six, because I really like the painterly look of the brush work. I was actually counting brush strokes on this one... Actually that was not very difficult for me to count.

Florida Tech Panther Statue

Fla. Tech Panther statue in Melbourne,FLA.
This is a 6 inch X 6 inch oil painting that I did recently. A very highly shined marble base and angular panther statue against a background of Florida vegetation. I like the color combinations of this painting. I took some liberties with the panther color itself in order to contrast it and the background - my apologies to the sculptor.

I'm Cheap

Palette

I must be cheap as I save the paint that I use from one painting to tint the canvas of another painting - or two, or three. When I finish painting, I scrape the paint from my palette into a container and add turps in order to keep it useable. The sum of my colors are a neutral grey which I use to tint the canvas of subsequent canvases. Hey, I don't like a white  support - Just doesn't work for me. Neutral grey is OK for me at most times, others I like another color in the background. I'm a divided Artist.

I like to experiment

I like to experiment.
During the course of a recent portrait I took a picture as the project got underway, then another somewhere near the midway point, and finally the finished work. It was not well thought out and not a through job. But... looking back at them there are some interesting things going on. At the time I was too caught up in the painting and so missed an opportunity to "document". I think that the best solution for me might be to find a camera that periodically takes pictures - or gee, scrap the whole idea.

Regardless - I started this painting with a pencil sketch in order to establish the features quickly. More often, now I just put a background color overall, such as a medium grey (50% grey). Then I will use a faster drying color in order to draw in paint the basic features as well as rough in the shadow areas. As I said - usually - I pretty much violated my own operating habits in order to return back to pencil drawing followed by paint. Bad boy!

Somewhere at the mid-way point. Well, looking at this, you can see that - just about everything changed - maybe except the basic positioning.

And finally, the finished and framed portrait.

I Love Life Drawing...

I mean, I really love *live* drawing - I try to get to those studios as often as time allows. The spontaneity, the accidents of form and line, and sometimes color - very stimulating for me. Great challenge. As if that's not enough, I draw in public - public life drawing, if you will. Sports - simply impossible to feel that I am doing justice to the subject or idea. I find that i have to capture the moment first in a flash to my memory and then when the moment is over to be able continue to commit it to paper. Geee...

These are a couple of scribblings that are at least an approximation of the moment.

Concentration...

I sometimes go with my wife to the Seminole Hardrock in Tampa. Yes, it is a casino operated by the Seminole indian tribe, but that's not really me point. She goes off to do her thing, and I, being a miserable gambler (I might as well hand my money to the nearest Seminole...) find that it is a great setting for drawing. The entire room is very open to viewing and the people have such variety, and they are concentrating on the lights and sounds, and the operation of the machine in front of them to be concerned with the observer me. Pretty cool. It's a target rich environment for the people watching artist!

Thank you time & space. Thank you materials, thank you subjects. Thank you frustration. I never have enough time, the angle is never right... I'm never in the right position. I return to the immediacy of this exercise always...