Jan 9 - First ten minutes on the Labrador demonstration

I'm changing the source material from a late morning time to a backlit sunset, so the challenges to work the Color System are at hand. Looking at an image that can only guide the anatomy and then mentally rearranging the lighting and colors while talking to a group in a live demonstration has to be either very courageous, or totally nuts.

So I start with what is for me caution, only laying in the areas that are not going to be profoundly altered nor need major revisions later. Hey, play it safe! These are all cool box mixes, most notably the yellow ochre/burnt umbers in the dog and distant trees, with the counter point to these "oranges" being the blue and blue violet water reflections of the evening sky.

Last night I painted another dog painting, and captured it in stages as well--deadline to send off the submissions for the Art Show at the Dog Show is today, so this one, entitled "Entangled Relationships" will be my blog posting later this week. Late night in the studio, whew!

Now I can get back to painting the second (acrylic) for the Misty Light DVD this week. Cameras rolling?

I'm hearing positive feedback from the workshop folks on the East Coast--still a few slots at the Georgia Farm, the Carriage Museum in central Florida, and the Maine workshop at Mt. Desert Island/Acadia National Park. Looks like all will be filled, in spite of the economy. Why not take a restful mini-vacation and learn the Color System or plein air? Just email me and I'll put you in touch with the organizers for one of the few remaining spaces.

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.

Jan 8 - Starting One for the Art Show at the Dog Show

I did a demonstration of oil painting for the Canyon Lake Art Association last night, and painted this 16 x 20 oil for their pleasure. I am doing this painting for the Art Show at the Dog Show, and it is a yellow Labrador getting that spring into the water on a retrieve. The source material is from collector Dick's son, who raises these great dogs. And the body of water is Lake Elsinore, near where I lived for many years.

I've prepped the canvas with a base color of what looks like a cool yellow, but is Australian Red Gold--a burnt orange. The lights in the room weren't conducive for good color, which will play out in the other images coming. Sigh. I had one of the members stop me every ten minutes as I painted it, so there will be some nice progression.

If you look at the design of this drawing, you'll see that the splashy water and the dog's head occupy the Golden Mean of this surface. Intentional. The source material wasn't like this, and I've also moved the horizon line down into the canvas to create more distance for the viewer to enjoy. It's good to be back in oils!

Signups continue for the February three day Color Boot Camp here in Riverside! I'm looking forward to the new "recruits" to the Color System. You can go here for full information.

And on ebay is one of my book/kits for painting horses--Walter Foster had a run of these, and they are now sold out. I'm not selling this one, but find it interesting to see them come up occasionally.

My roots go way back with the CLAA, being a life member, so it was fun to visit with them again. Tomorrow you'll see what it looks like (and how I think, in the text) after ten minutes of painting.

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.