Repost with images - November 22 resent Dec 5

(I think I've fixed the blog problem!! Yippee!)

A wonderful ten-day visit with Michelle Walker, from Ohio, almost eclipsed the joy of teaching the November Color Boot Camp! We painted, went gallery hopping in Laguna Beach, and had the best time laughing and just being joyful artists.

I've been rather thoughtful of late, pensive in contemplating how our lives unfold, and how we cannot live a life without changes (whether anticipated or not) that will come. It's how we deal with changes that says much of our value as humans to one another. Changes come in all forms, in our art, in our art direction and also in our thinking when we actually DO our art.

I'm changing, which is inevitable. That's not to say that the old "Art Me" is no longer there, but the one evolving and emerging now is one of more depth and richness. This is good. As our economy continues to erode, and we reach back to find some sustainable pleasure in the structure of our lives, learning more about who we are as artists is a good thing. Going out and making choices about self improvement is a good thing. Self-development brings us talents and skills that will be useful in the future we have to face. To become stagnant in one's art is so self-limiting, and leaves us dead in the water, repeating mistakes or stuck in the expectations of others.

I highly recommend finding an artist who is also a good teacher to push you out of any ruts you might be in. My week with Michelle and her insights has made me do that, and it is all joyful.

So I'm moving forward with my art, and will be sharing those paintings with you. Yes, they still have the Color System!

The image to the right is a 16 x 12 oil, started to show the students not only backlighting, but also snow, and a horse in a demonstration that will unfold over the next few days on my blog. This is the dark abstract structure that most all my paintings start with. The blue underpainting is acrylic thalo blue spritzed with alcohol and allowed to dry. Makes great visual texture!

The newest DVD on the Color System is HERE
You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2010 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

April 13 - No bad luck here! Painting update and the Muse

When is a painting finished? Last night when this painting came to you, it was signed, and yet there was that itty-bitty bit of doubt that something was missing. Then an email from Cincinnati from a friend in illustration pointed the way. She acknowledged that the horse's stride would make those splashes, but that their repetition and cadence were eye-grabbing, even moreso than the horse itself. So, the solution was to bring the painting up for one more go-pass, and the addition of a large tree shading the water, and those splashes going down in contrast and becoming less repetitive. I also needed to lighten the distant trees making more value changes in them to create more form. Out came the plastic wrap, and up went the leaves (daub, daub, daub!). Once dry, glazes of other colors made those daubs much more interesting.

The lighting on this one tonight, for photography, isn't the best--tomorrow I'll cart it out doors and get an accurate one. Too much glare affecting the curve of values. I can assure you it looks much better in person!

So when is a painting finished? When you can figure out what to do, and when the muse stops poking you in the nether regions with his pencil. My muse is now snoring off a couple beers back in his corner.

Congratulations to Linda McFadden of Murietta, California, on her purchase of "Santa Rosa Plateau, Sylvan Meadows, April" from my big web site's page of paintings from the Santa Rosa Ecological Preserve. Thank you!