Mar 13 - Studio Cat Floral Continues, Gardens and Workshop

Using the magic of the trio of workhorse colors (Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin and Yellow Ochre + white), I'm putting in the background cools to set off the many warms that are coming along later.  This is fun to do, because there is nothing hard about filling in a flat area. However, please note (you graduates of the Color System!) that I'm using the sixth plan of values in making gradation across this supposedly flat expanse of background.

"When in doubt, gradate!!!" Makes large color areas more interesing when we vary the values across those areas. A lesson to remember, so that the end results of our hard work isn't boring areas for the viewer to land.

On other news, I'm in the second day of teaching the Color Boot Camp, and having a blast. The students are enthusiastic, they're GETTING the Color System and producing some wonderful pieces. Too hard on themselves, they sometimes find it difficult to like what they produce. I see Color System magic in places on their paintings, yet sometimes they want everything to be perfect. Perfection happens over time, and is always elusive! Be good to yourself and find small greatness in major efforts. That's all it takes sometimes to move forward.

And the gardens here at Two Trees Studio are producing gangbusters. Here is an image of the lettuces, kale, carrots and flowering bouganvilla out in the back. That's the gate that takes you out into the oh-so-green Preserve lands behind the studio. Yummy salad tonight. I have one of the wire covers propped up on that back box (filled with Swiss chard) because every once in a while, the rabbits come to dine. These are four-foot square boxes, slightly raised, built out of two 2x6 boards for one-foot deep boxes filled with compost. No fertilizing needed and it is a modified square-foot garden concept. No rows. Just groups.



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Jul 29 - Detail shots of the Wolf Painting in Progress

I thought I'd show you two of several detail images of the wolf painting that is coming along on the DVD.

Can you see the layers of paint at this early stage? These two images were taken right after the cameras stopped rolling for the "first pass" on the easel--covering the canvas. Layering with acrylics allows for nuances that might not be there with thicker applications of paint--as with oils. One major reason that I love the acrylics! I painted with them for almost 15 years straight before returning to oils.

The wolf "Yuki" who was the model for this painting died suddenly (age seven) right after I started the painting. Mysteriously eerie, as the photographs were taken years ago. I just heard about it yesterday.

It's my birthday, and I'm celebrating by having had a breakfast out and I will be going to swim and play tomorrow. Then the weekend will see serious digital editing for the DVD! I don't count the years I've lived, but count the good times I've had instead!

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Jan 25 - The "Dog Walker" Acrylic Continues

Working in acrylics gives the user a lot of latitude in application techniques, and I've used a few at this stage. Although still covering the canvas, I'm layering the snow piles behind the walker with heavier applications of pigment, giving some texture to the end result. In the gray pavement, I'm using more transparent layers, allowing the subtle values to work in harmony. I have also begun to put in more and more details on the major "heartbeats" in the painting, but still only roughly.

You see, for me, getting the "gist" of the movement and "feel" of the action taking place is more about the generalized lines of the design at this point. I am not interested AT ALL in the details, although some do manifest at this time, such as the light and shadow, blue and white on the girl's jacket. Always mindful of the focal point, her coloration on the jacket and the subtle repetition of the blues in the blue-violet of the sidewalk unify the painting, even at this early stage! That's counterpointed by the yellows in the distant taxis and in the retriever.

Yesterday (Sunday), I went on a hike with a group of fun people, and we ended up at the top of a local mountain in Riverside, Mt. Roubidoux. As you can see, the weather has cleared up from the storm, and most of us ended up in tee shirts, even though there is snow in the distance. Fun!

I hope wherever you are, that you're dry, warm and enjoying your time with friends and activities.

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June 2 - Paintings gone Wrong and Beauty Elsewhere

Uh oh. Some times an artist forgets what they're doing, and I'm happy to report to you that this painting is becoming a great teaching example of that!

Those lovely grays are gone now, and I caught myself getting so enamored with the small white rose, that I forgot one of the things I stress with students, "Don't rush the focal point!" So although this painting has some good things going on with it, I have a feeling that it is going to undergo some major surgery shortly.

Hey, this happens to all of us. But most of 'em arteests aren't courageous (or stupid) enough to share the ones that aren't going so well with the general public. I've had an epiphany of knowledge that I'm a teacher first and an artist second, so I see the greater good in sharing ALL the issues with painting, and that includes problems. Since I took this last image, I've painted OUT the lower 2/3 of the canvas. Gone. "When in doubt, paint it out." So it goes. See, I, too, have to slap myself up side the head and put myself back on track. The painting will get much better because of it. After all, "it's just paint".

On another note, here's a bit of beauty from my yard... after I took the image of the picket fence, I walked up to the front patio, turned around and took this second image over the koi pond to the rose garden. I love scenes like this... it may end up as a painting, too.

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June 1 - Continuing with the Acrylic Still Life

I'm still covering the canvas using only the cool colors--the whites you see are the canvas itself, which flies in the face of my normal procedure of toning the canvas. But since the source material is so harmonious and subtle in coloration, I wanted to use the whate canvas to "keep the sparkle" as I continue to develop the shapes.

Yes, not a BIT of warm in here yet, and the harmonies of color are really pleasant. I'm using the "Trifecta" of the sky trio with white to create all those areas of gray variations. All you Color Boot Camp Graduates will know those!

On the rest of the canvas, I'm just putting in the general shapes of the things--such as the grapes and the plate shadows. There is a bit of pure on the vase now, in the shadows on the left. Ultramarine and white. It looks so warm and advancing because with the Color System, if you use a cool color solo with just white added, and surround it with other cool mixes that have two or three others combined, there's an optical illusion created. That illusion makes the purer colors advance, and appear warmer. Can you see it?

On other news, I'm clearing out the workroom for the June COLOR BOOT CAMP here this coming weekend. Twelve people are going to fill their heads and canvases with the time of day system that seems to be revolutionizing painting for people who want good color, every time.

I'm putting in a white picket fence around my rose garden this week--here's an image of it in process. OK, all the stereotypes about "houses with white picket fences" come to mind, but I've always loved pickets and roses, and now I have both right outside my studio windows. Life is good. But then we also have a swarm of bees that came into the back yard this afternoon, so maybe not. A local beekeeper is coming by this evening to take them for his hives. That's the best for the bees, and they'll be gone before they can get hungry and testy.

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Jan 12 - Another Dog Painting--Lesson in Acrylics

The second painting for the Art Show at the Dog Show comes to you with this 9 x 12 board on which I have painted some semi-transparent acrylic layers. The scene is a dock on a river, and there will be a girl and a dog fishing from it. In doing this painting, I want to have the scenery be a strong supporting player, so I've put the focal points up and away from the mid-point of the canvas (they aren't even sketched in at this point).
I'm using traditional acrylics for fast drying time and quickness of application. These quasi-translucent layers are painted over that burnt orange under painting, and are always with the cool box colors. We're off and running with another one!

Pesto, one of the cats in residence, wanted her picture taken since she hasn't quite adjusted to the newest arrival Shadow. Here she poses on the cat balcony off the large workshop room of the studio, eight feet up. She came out a little archway that goes through the studs and onto the large cat tower inside. We built the balcony to exit into the large enclosed "cage" under the eaves behind her--safe from coyotes and owls no matter what time of day! And safe for the songbirds that come to the feeder, just visible behind the bamboo. OK, today it was 82 degrees and sunny. Not even a jacket....

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Dec 11 - Well on it's way - The Maine Coast lesson

Oh, drat! Somebody get me an egg timer so I can stop before I get too far along on these lessons! I just picked up my brushes and started working on the fun of painting the textures in the foreround, and look how it got away from me! I could have made three steps in this area, but the brushes and the joy in creating it captured me!
Maybe it is the Christmas spirit, but all that red and green made me enjoy the process so much.
I will tell you that the beginnings of all that texture were created with burnt umber and thalo green, deep in the shadow areas. Then with a large, 3/4" brush, I put in the major colors of the upper layers. On the right, it was a mixture of white, thalo green and sap green, and then across the middle ground it was yellow ochre added to that mix. Finally a third pass over those big blobs of color, using a small brush to create the illusion of detail.
What fun to paint this way! Brushwork, certainly, and watching the warm colors appear in the lighter areas, and yet still maintaining that feel of a slightly overcast day.
Is it finished? Not yet--no signature. I'll post it when I'm truly finished with it. What do you think I will do with it from this point? I love to hear what you're thinking!
And the colors... Go great with the bathroom! Har de har--painting to a bathroom color scheme--who woulda figured?
Next will be an 18 x 24 commission of a German Shorthair Pointer dog... in time for Christmas! Busy, busy!

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July 12 and 13 - Twofer! Lesson Painting Revised.

Two for One! The night slipped away from me and I missed a post, so today you have two images in one to play catch up. The painting is an acrylic, 20 x 20 inches on 2" gallery wrap bars (no frame) and what you see on the left is the original that I painted on location some time ago. It has always lacked that "spark" that catches a viewer's eye, and so tonight I decided to work it over and bring a newer, more contrasted image to you.

One of the most powerful strengths of the Renaissance art world was the use of value as a design element--taking the range of values through their paces in works such as Nicolas Poussin's "Holy Family on the Steps". By taking the balance of value from a master work like this and applying it to one of my own works, I end up with the changes below:


I only changed the painting by the addition of a few layers of glazes, using acrylics' incredible versatility to accomplish the value changes necessary to help this painting come to life.

Although I did not follow Proussin's "diagonal of light/dark", I was brought to the thinking point of making these changes because of viewing his work.

Tomorrow, I head to San Diego and Balboa Park to lead a field trip with my Art Appreciation summer students! A day in museums! Wowza!

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June 18 - The Acrylic DVD Painting LESSON!!

I'm deep into the final editing on the Acrylic DVD, and this painting is the one I'm doing for the Intermediate/Advanced section of the lessons. It is using the Color System, with some explanation, and will incorporate elements of water, horses and landscape. I'm really enjoying this!! The image below is the first pass to "get rid of the white"--sure looks like a mess at this point!

I'll post more images later today (running a tad behind on yesterday's post, but this is so exciting, I just had to make sure the presentation of it was done on a rested mind.



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May 6 - On Being an Artist, the Lesson Continues (Ack! Headless Horseman!)

Being an artist is not something I chose to be, rather it evolved from not fitting in as a kid of about nine. I had a good hand-eye coordination, and was really poor at dealing with the teasing that comes of that age. Drawing was an outlet to gain acceptance. ("Draw me a cat, Elin, can you?")
Now art is inherently a part of my daily life, and to cease creating would be equal to having my hands tied. There is one advantage to being an artist--it is in one's head. I found out that i can paint with my brush in my toes, showing that the mental control is the delivery system for creating, not the facile handling of a brush.

Train the mind, the rest will follow. Today's work on the start of yesterday covers the canvas, and puts in the major areas of color for embellishment later. Big fields of color are easier to break down into harmonious pattern than just trying to paint the pattern alone. Tomorrow this one will be finished.
And tomorrow I have a demonstration in Murrieta from 2 to 4 pm, in oils, for an art group. There is also a one-day workshop the following week on the 15th.

Life is full!

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April 11 - Celebrating 543 daily paintings today.

Now take a look at how this acrylic painting is developing! Such fun to add layers on top of what was there yesterday, and start to build the contrast and movement! Although my source material (Rolex, equestrian three-day-event) was much larger, I want the horse and rider to fit into the scenery, so as they head pell-mell through the water (yes, that will be water, just not tonight!), the surrounding scenery will play like the backdrop of a huge stage, with the spotlight on the rider and horse. Do you see how all that mish-mash of brushwork under this focal point now works like the myriad instruments of a symphony? All the players are important when brought together, yet each has its individual "loudness".
Couple other things. One, ebay hiccupped my store into oblivion, so I had to rebuild it with the listings for my paintings today. The link is here, and this'll allow you to revisit some of your favorites. I'll add more paintings in the next couple of days.

And I accidently deleted some forty emails from the google group that receives these messages. If you're wondering what happened, it was me. I do hope you'll email if you've missed a few days so I can put you back on.

April 10 - The Muse is Back, Acrylic Lesson

Now take a look at this canvas surface, and compare it to yesterday's underpainting. An idea of a painting has come to me, and it will be fun to pull it out of this sketchy-skritchy brushworked background! I have set up the major values and color scheme, without any focal point yet, as I want this background to play a subordinate part in this 12 x 16 acrylic. Yes, it will be horse-related! Even though you can see the underlying abstract structure of the painting-to-be, I doubt very much that you can tell how the finished work is going to look! That's the fun of being an artist--sometimes the path I take to the destination of a finished canvas goes through some mighty interesting territory!
The lighting on this will be overcast, and diffuse. There will be a bit of backlighting on this one though! (Oh, I do love backlit subjects...)
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April 9 - When the Subject Won't Come

Sometimes the muse that sparks one's creativity takes a serious hike. What do you do when the muse is on vacation, and you have to create? I find that if I'm IN the workspace, and start noodling around with a canvas, an idea will come. Thus it is tonight. After a LONG ride (again six hours in the saddle, pre-riding the trails on the mountain behind the studio for a ride scheduled two weeks from now), I have a mind of mush and the creative energy of a snail. So into the studio I go (the discipline of doing 540+ paintings in the past 18 months helps), and I get out a 12 x 16 board, and start "funnin' around" with some acrylic color and gel medium, alcohol (not for me) spray and daub a bit here and there.... and an idea starts. This painting is going to be a really textured pastoral scene, lots of blades of grass, bushes, and horses. Haven't figured out the lighting yet, but misty sounds good, as does low evening light across pastures.
I can see these paintings finished almost, once the idea is there. My muse is back home again, chuckling and chortling in the corner. I gave him a beer. Let's see where this one goes tomorrow, OK?
Complete archives of all those paintings here.

March 31 - Trail Ride and 90% Finished Horses

After a six hour ride up and over the mountain behind my studio, I came home with one tired mare, and a bit achy myself. Organized trail rides can be great fun, unless you end up behind a complete idiot, which I did for part of this ride. Makes for some very challenging moments, however my mare came through fine. Today's ride was a good one for a pre-ride for the one I'm leading next month. Knowing how tired my mare is, I can easily see her in this painted pasture, resting with her buddies, glad to be home. So the painting progresses with real-life experience to back it up.


That said, tonight's work on the 11 x 14 acrylic brought it almost to completion, with the light just about in place, and with tweaking that will not majorly change it to come on the morrow. Most of the added paint is in the form of glazed layers, with come opaque areas created to bind and unify the colors and composition. Playing wiht the layers and texture in the foreground will come next, as will the dust, which is only partly in place right now. Fun!

Complete lesson here.

March 30 - Acrylic Backlit Horses, 11 x 14 Lesson Painting

Here's the second step in my painting process using acrylics. I go for the darks, laying in the abstract structure with value contrast and not worrying about edges at all. It is a lot of fun painting with different colors over the underpainting--one person said it reminded her of the cave paintings!
You can see the values and the backlighting coming to the fore as I put umbers, alizarin crimson, untramarine blue and yellow ochre mixes creating the value structure. I am not looking at any source material at this point--letting my innate design sense tell me where to put those darks.

Complete blog here.

March 29 - Beginning a Lesson Acrylic 11 x 14

I have had so many people inquiring about the upcoming acrylic lessons DVD that I can do no less but give you a lesson on how I handle acrylics. Although this one won't be in the DVD, you can certainly enjoy how it comes together. The first layer of this 11 x 14 canvas board is covered with soft gel medium mixed with a couple of colors to make a more neutral red orange, and then before it is dry, patted with a wad of plastic wrap to give it interesting texture, both real and illusionary. Those peaks of gel medium are then gently wiped away as it begins to dry, to keep the actual texture under control.
The second layer is again a mixture of soft gel medium, but this time with two blues. Only bits and pieces of these two layers will show through the final painting, but they will be ever so much more exciting than plain white canvas!
I now take a brush handle and sketch in the location of the horses, their shadows and the landscape shapes that will define this painting. It will be another pastoral scene, backlit, as I'm enjoying them immensely. (Perhaps that's because I've done with taxes and it isn't as bad as I'd feared?) No matter, painting is solace, rejuvenation and pleasure. Houseguest Betty Billups is up near Walnut doing her mural for the next couple of days, so life here is full of her paintings, but without her joyful personality.

Congratulations to Lorna McPhee of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on acquiring yesterday's Belted Galloway acrylic! Thank you!