Feb 10 - Demoonstration Painting, the Beginning....HVAA

Today I had the pleasure of going back to Hemet and meeting 80 people who had come out to see my demonstration in oils. It was a wonderful afternoon, and everyone seemed to have a good time watching me paint and chatter along about how I do these images. I didn't quite finish the painting, but did photograph it in stages as I painted it. So here's the first step. This is a 16 x 20 canvas panel, and comes from source material I took while at the Kentucky Horse Park several years ago. This is the initial drawing of the polo ponies tied and resting beside their trailer, and shows the essential design. The canvas has been toned with a warm "peachy" middle value, and I draw the essential shadow shapes as well, so that the whole design is cohesive and shows the structure. The drawing is done with a brush filled with burnt umber thinned to an ink-like consistency.

The demonstration went well, and I have the wet canvas behind me, and will finish it tomorrow in the quiet of my studio.

Many of you have asked how it is that I do all that I do (in my 60s) and how I can be so positive and caring as I face recent challenges. I offer to you one of the major reasons I am able to live with joy and physical fitness (Believe me when I say I was pudged out and lost 27 pounds doing this!). The more I learn, the more it trains me to handle whatever life throws at me. I'm ending my third year of training now.



Although a true martial art (deadly and effective), it is based upon a philosophy of blending and taking the energy of what comes at you, without "winning" or resisting the attack. Powerful stuff, both on the mat and in my mind.

And now I'm sending this to you before I leave to spend a few days with a close friend in a gorgeously beautiful place, rejuvenating, relaxing and reassessing. Life is very, very good.

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Jan 2 - The Commission of Aikido Continues

The aikido painting continues, and now I know that there will be six seated figures, all friends from the mats of various dojos.

Symbolism abounds here, as our teacher Ace Atkinson is overlapped by the founder of aikido. Rowdy is painted against a lighter, more ethereal wall, and our current aikido friends flank me on either side (that's going to be me second from left).

Now that I've solved the issues with who's where, I can come back and paint in the mats, and detail out the rest of it. Note that I put the Japanese socks on O Sensei (the older man in the foreground), and I had to photograph Alberto's foot to get that part right. Fun how references are needed and found as they occur.

On other news, we are going to be adding a second livestock guardian dog to our critter list--another Tibetan Mastiff, like our Seiko. This pup is a male, and is coming from Shadowmear Tibetans. Here's his puppy picture-- I am fairly certain his name will be Shadow, following the "oh" sounds for most of the dogs here (Seiko, Onlsow, Qso)

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Dec 24 - Aikido Commission for A Present

On the next pass for this 30 x 40 inch oil, I've placed the midtone greens on the tatami mats and the deeper shadows behind the row of figures. I'm working out just how many people will be behind the two figures, and as I figure it out, more and more of the burnt umber/ultramarine blue shadows are cut in, leaving the seated figures in place.

As I mentioned yesterday, the fun in this work is that the people behind O Sensei will be my friends--Ace Atkinson, Steve Barbosa, Ron, Katz, me and of course Rowdy, who passed away this last year. She'll be on the far right, sitting slightly out of line with the rest of us, signifying her not being "with" us, except in spirit. The fellow receiving the art is none other than Alberto, who is still working on his master's in Spanish Literature and doing aikido, even teaching their kid's classes. Alberto just passed a major test on his way to his black belt last weekend.

On Alberto's hakama (the traditional black leggings/skirt aikidoists wear), I've depicted the speed and motion by lost edges. This gives life to the image, and creates a passing moment in time. Losing edges helps to create the feeling that this is an unfolding moment of action, rather than a static, freeze-frame moment.

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Dec 23 - An Aikido Christmas Present

My spouse asked me to do a special painting for his office as a combined Christmas/Birthday present, and how better to share with him what I love by painting something he loves?

Here is the first design for the 30 x 40 inch canvas. The subject is the martial art of Aikido, with O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, the founder, performing the art. The fun will be that the other people in the painting are all ones we both know, including the man receiving the art from O Sensei.

The design is one of a top-weighted dark area with the lower area of the mats illuminated by natural light. At this stage the painting only shows the value structure (small light, large dark in midtones). I plan to share this with you through Christmas, with a break of one painting done on location, and continue with it after Thursday.

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June 12 - June 12 - Rowdy's Memorial Service, Later This Afternoon

She may be gone from her friends and from this earth, but I know in my heart that she will be close for those who knew her and see this portrait. I'm through with it now, and it was as though in painting her, I was releasing my connection to my loss. That sounds selfish to say, but please know that to me, letting go is one of the most powerful and freeing events one can have. It's a closure.

You can see from the finished portrait that I did nothing to erase the life she lived, and it is fairly easy to see her approximate age. This was intentional--Rowdy made no bones about her life and character, and my mission as an artist is to not gussie up the people I paint by doing the "cosmetic surgery" thing with my brushes. I painted her strength, and yet I think I also captured her gentle spirit.

I'm chuckling, though, because Rowdy would have hated to be painted and I have to say I thought I could hear her yelling at me while I was doing it! This painting will be publicly displayed only once, this afternoon, at March Field Air Museum, where her memorial will be held. She worked there as a volunteer coordinator and loved the planes!

A 20 x 18" acrylic on canvas, it will be in the loving hands of Ruth and Ace Atkinson in their new home in Tijeras, New Mexico, next month.

For those of you who have lost loved ones, I offer a small book by Ted Menten, "Gentle Closings, How to Say Goodbye to Someone You Love" as a way to get through the hard times. It has helped me immensely in the loss of both parents, and allows me to gently understand what we feel when we've be left.

In talking about this portrait, the finishing layers of paint show best in the white garb of her "gi", and in the layers that are in her hair. There truly isn't a better way to see how I paint in acrylics if you'll spend time seeing those layers that end up looking like hair and fabric.

Today I start the mural mosaic process for my two panels. I hope I can share the procedure with you, but I've heard through the grapevine that they are asking artists not to share early images. I'll have to ask about that.

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June 11 - Rowdy's Posthumous Portrait Continues

Well, she is coming along now... I'm building the facial planes with the correct values and colors, and starting to tighten down the smile she'd get just before starting an art on the mats.

She loved her sword, and showed it to us once, and that love of the martial arts of aikido comes through in this pose. As I build this composition, I also love the subtle changes I need to make to correct something that isn't working right. The beauty of acrylics is that we have many opportunities for change by overpainting! I've corrected her sleeves, her hand positions, and especially her stance, yet there are just as many more to come.

For example, although her expression/essence is in her face, she still doesn't have her nose and eyes "right". And her white top doesn't show the underlying form well. That's coming with additional layers and glazes.

I have to laugh, knowing that my model for the fabric is Alberto, and the model for the hands on her sword was another black belt--but she was wearing rings and bracelets!! Of course, no jewelry is allowed on the mats, so I paint it out....(grin)

In a design sense, I've lightened the area on the lower quarter so that the shape of the stance she's in will be stronger with the contrast between the dark hakama (skirt) and the lighter background.

Here's an image of the March Air Museum and our mats. These four are the others with whom I train, Ron, Alberto, our sensei (teacher) Ace, and Steve. They all knew Rowdy well.



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June 22 - Aikido in Santa Barbara

I'm so happy I brought my watercolors in a quick dash for the camper as we left for Santa Barbara! The seminar with Seventh Dan Donovan Waite was absolutely exhausting in both mind and body! But what an opportunity to study the fluid movements of this master of aikido!

So what could I do but paint the effects of seeing the flow and energy in the training? Here is a watercolor, about 7 x 5 inches, of two partners in motion, one receiving the art and doing a high fall, and the one giving the art in a balanced, centered position.

Tomorrow we go back for another day--I hope I will have the physical stamina to learn and offer good partnerships. Then it will be back home to digital editing on the Acrylic DVD!


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