Hawaiian Carver

     This man does some of the most beautiful carvings in bone and fossilized tusk.  I am sorry that he doesn't have a website so you could see his beautiful work.

Southwest Sunrise

This scene happened a few mornings ago.  I am driven to distraction with clouds and this was a particularly beautiful scene that I am glad I got to se.  I plan to make a larger painting of this one.  The light here in the southwest is lovely and when we get clouds it just adds to the grandeur.  This will be available at the The Goodnight Trail Gallery in Mancos, CO.

Bobcat Study

     There is a game farm visiting our area, Triple D Game Farm, that you pay to photograph their animals.  They will be in the area until the 25th of April if anyone is interested.  I could only afford a little bit but I got some nice reference material.  This is Captain Baily...I think.  A handsome devil and a great poser.  This came up at a time when I was having trouble painting anything, a true mental block that was broken, thankfully, by this photo op.

Deep into Winter

     This is from reference material I did last year.  I really liked this scene and wanted to do a larger elongated version.  Since I had been away from the easel for a few weeks, I thought a nice winter tonal would ease me back into painting.   This is a farm in the Dolores river valley that has many ancient buildings and is always a delight to visit.

Mary in Maine

     I wanted to practice what I had learned, hopefully it will help the lessons stick better.  This is a painting I have wanted to do for a while just because she was lit so beautifully and also those lovely eyes.  I had turned around to look at someone asking a question and Mary was sitting next to me in this very pose.  I immediately grabbed the camera and snapped a pic, the photo is still one of my favorites.  I prefer to working from life when possible but for these practice pieces a photo will do.

Day 5 - Male figure detail

     This is from my 5th day in Robert Liberace's class.  I have learned a lot in this class.  The one lesson that stands out the most, for me, was learning to slow down and look carefully.  I had lost that in trying to get information in quickly but then miss subtleties that can really make a painting sing.  This is a fine balance because the danger in slowing down can also go towards being "overworked".  This is one of the common problems in art, knowing when to stop.

I am going to put this one up for auction on the Daily Paintworks site when it is posted tomorrow.

Day 2 - Male Figure

   I am currently taking a class with Robert Liberace at the Scottsdale Artists School in Scottsdale, AZ. Robert is an incredibly talented artist and teacher and I just can't say enough good things about him.  He has a wonderful way of simplifying his techniques.  He assesses each students work, kindly, but also thoughtfully so that you are pushed in the direction you need to work on.  He is passionate about learning the figure and you can see it resonating throughout his works.

     This is the second day's lesson.  I am not sure about my first day attempt since I put it away at the end of class yesterday and haven't got it out since.  I will have to decide whether it is worthy of sharing when I take a look at it tomorrow.   We had started Monday with a simple burnt umber and burnt sienna grisaille painting then mixing burnt sienna with white making a middle flesh tone, blocking that in then working in highlights and gradation into the shadow.
     Tuesday, todays lesson, we added some color, mixing flesh from white with red, alizarine, yellow and blue, pushing the colors, red, yellow, blue or whiter as needed and also doing the same with the shadows.   This was really tricky for me because color is one of my bigger challenges but I got through it with Roberts help and I think it worked out okay.  This is a rough shot from my cell phone.

     This pic shows, left to right, my buddy Carol's painting, Robert Liberace (in the middle) and mine on the right.  It almost feels like you are learning from Michelangelo or DaVinci!

Early Risers (large version)

     I had done a small oil sketch of this scene maybe a year or two ago and had always planned on making a larger version of it.  I may still add a few small touches but this is pretty close to finished.
Update:  I went back and reworked the color and softened everything.  I am much happier with this.

The Lookout

     I have always liked this scene of the tree in my back yard when it is shadowed by the house with the lit hill in the background with its red soil and junipers.  Usually every morning there is a magpie on top looking for leftover goodies I have thrown out for them.  I enjoy these gregarious birds and their antics.  I had put out my son's left over pizza slices...deep dish.  I watched one work very hard at trying to pick up a slice and make off with it.  It finally got a good hold on the slice, he laboriously flew up on top of the closest fence, readjusted his load, then took off for the next fence.  Upon taking off, he immediately dropped, heavily, and with much effort, flapped to the next fence.  This labor was repeated again when he took off from that fence to a tree and so on.  They are incredibly smart...and determined.

Light on the Hay

     I saw this scene a couple of mornings ago and couldn't wait to get back to paint it.  Yesterday was a very grey day that wouldn't have worked so I had to wait till today.  I got there early and started painting.  I forgot to put on my coat because I thought it wasn't that cold out.  I was so engrossed in painting I didn't realize with the light wind, being in the shade and no coat...I was freezing!  Luckily I was close to finished when I discovered this so I just threw everything in the back of my trusty paint-mobile and headed home.

    This is a lovely, rustic old barn in the area that I have painted before.  Boards with no battens, gaping holes and also missing boards make for the beautiful light that falling across the hay and that was exactly what attracted me to this scene.  When I was growing up I loved to just sit and enjoy a barn such as this.

The Hay Barn

     This is looking across our field to the neighbor's hay barn.  It is always amazing to see things in relationship to other things.  In this case, it was the immenseness of the sky in relationship to the hay barn...which, by the way, is rather huge compared to one of us puny humans.

Vivian

    I did a painting of this young lady earlier, which was titled "Erin", mostly because I didn't know the model's name then.  I am proud to say that my first portrait of her got accepted into the Best and Brightest Show at the Scottsdale Artists School for this year, which is showing right now.  It is a huge honor to be included in their show and I am truly humbled to be there.

     Last Friday was our weekly portrait group and lo and behold there was this beautiful model again.  I am trying some new solvents and mediums because Gamosol is giving me a headache.  This time I used linseed oil with a small bit of oil of spike lavender for my thinner.  I am still getting used to it but I liked this almost transparent wash with build up just for the look of it.  It has a softness that reminds me of Susan Lyons work that I am so fond of.

 

Trade Wind Clouds

     I am always captivated by clouds and with them hanging over the mountains it was too much to resist.

Sunrise Palette

     This is another plein air from my trip.  Almost every morning, right at sunrise, there are these beautifully colored clouds and they only last a few minutes.  I could do this almost every day they are so varied and beautiful.

Beach Shade

     After a very busy time between Thanksgiving and Christmas it was time for a very much needed break!  It is always a challenge and exciting to paint where the color palette is a huge change.  I have worked hard at paring down my equipment so that I can travel with them.  I will go over that in the next few posts.  This was the first painting at Poipu Beach.  I am still at a loss for how to deal with sand!