Aug 23 - Second Painting for the DVD Finished!!

Finished! Amidst all the editing of the footage and clips from the first and second paintings for the new DVD, I thought I'd never get to the point where I could say the second one (twilight in acrylic) is finished. But here it is! A 16 x 20 acrylic, and every brush stroke, and I do mean EVERY brush mark, is on the tapes.

In filming and then editing this past couple of weeks, I realize that there is just TOO MUCH information for one DVD disk, so I'm putting everything and the kitchen sink on two disks for this fourth in the series. This will be great for me--as well as you--because I don't have to pare down the information I've captured on the digital media to fit on only one disk. I can use almost all of it (well, perhaps not the footage where the dog is drinking slurpslurpslurp behind me!). That will include a longer, more detailed slide presentation, and the special tips and tricks for advanced Color System users.

And on other news, a local fellow was moving and had no one to rehome his koi to, so I said I'd take 'em--now I have fifteen koi in the front patio pond, and wow... some are really big ones! Here's a shot taken the morning after they arrived...some already have names--the one on the lower left is "Titan(ic)". He's about 16 inches. The water is much clearer now than this photo, I'll have to take some new pictures tomorrow. Yes, there will be paintings... Who needs television when you can watch the fish channel?
I have spaces in the three-day Color Boot Camp here in November going on the block. You can check out my web page for workshops to find out more. When the snow flies where you are, California in November is paradise!

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.

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!

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

Jul 24 - Wolves for the Twilight DVD

Amazing how harmonious the Color System can be when it is so easy to use for twilight and overcast day paintings! This second DVD painting is further along than I planned for photographing it, but it just caught me up and carried me. (Not to mention that the camera was somewhere else in the house--sigh.) What we have here is the first full coverage of the canvas, laying in the initial abstract structure of values done ENTIRELY with just four colors plus white.

Which four colors? I bet Boot Camp Workshop graduates can tell me with their eyes closed. But for those of you not fortunate enough (yet?) to be in a "CBC", I'll share. The workhorses in this painting are:
Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Umber
Alizarin or Quinacridone Magenta
Thalo Green
and (drumroll.....)
Titanium White
Mixing them together gets all those wonderful gray greens, gray blues and violets. Wowza.

I already like the design, although it has changed from the photo reference. Improved, I think. Now I'll go back into it and lay in "the rest of the story" with the cameras running. I even promised ON FILM that I would do a "Best of the Best" DVD of the combined footage for advanced students of the Color System--sort of a categorized visual lesson on tips and tricks for making the most of the CS from the hours and hours of footage from ALL the prior DVDs, even those no longer in production. I know the Color System works, and works WELL for all artists.

Speaking of cameras somewhere else in the house, I thought you might enjoy seeing the front of Two Trees Studio in summer. The hills are brown now, however the palo verde tree on the left is blooming, the roses in the picket-fenced bed are doing their thing, and the new siding (last year) really sets off the colors. My studio, and where I sit typing this right now, is inside that lower left window by the green vines. Do you see me waving at you? I love gardening, and just love this space!

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