Jul 22 - The Twilight Painting Begins (for the DVD)

Artists are sensitive. We react, because to do less would mean we are less than full artists. I know this from the spiral of feelings associated with recent events, and it took the helping of another artist to see it in myself. I really wouldn't want it any other way, though. Would you?

I offer the stages of the newest painting for the upcoming DVD for your pleasure this week. Here's the first pass--the toning of the canvas and the initial sketch for this twilight scene of wolves in snow. This is a 16 x 20 linen canvas, and I'm painting it in acrylics for those of you wanting to perhaps explore this medium, or already use it. The Color System crosses all media, and this DVD will do that, too!

The initial layer to get rid of the white is a composite of primary yellow (a neutral, pure yellow) and burnt quinacradone orange (going warm). I painted the initial sketch with raw umber. NONE of these colors are in the Color System, and ALL will be completely hidden with the upcoming layers, so I use these "leftover" pigments to do these early stages. When I am thinking about it, I do tend to put a warm layer under my final pigments because the contrast of temperatures helps me make decisions about what percentage of the Cool Box I use. And most of my paintings (with the dominant subject being landscapes anyway) tend to be over 70 percent Cool Box. This one will be even more--perhaps as much as 98%!

We have to use our logical mind in creating paintings--the rules and structure of design are the foundation of creating good art, and those who ignore those (or never learned!) struggle so much in this endeavor. And it ought to be fun and relatively easy. I talk about design constantly in my lessons, because it is such an integral part of the creative process. On that note, do you see the location of the wolves? Ha! I mention that in the film.

On other notes, the Cooper's hawk is now free--moving from the smaller cage as he became stronger to the covered dog run. There he gained strength and more coordination (and ate more chicken!). His mom came down to the pine tree behind the pen, calling to him, so I opened the door. A squabble of a reunion, and they both flew off to the sycamore in the canyon below the house. I've heard them since then, and saw one of them sitting near the chicken pen yesterday. Sigh. Save a hawk, maybe lose a few more chickens. So it goes! I didn't get any pictures of the hawks together or the dog pen days, so here's mom looking over her boy earlier in the week. They truly are magnificent.

As ever, thanks for reading this far.

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.

Oct 26 - Misty Light on the New DVD

The DVD painting is coming along well, and now the second layer of color has been added over the stronger hued first pass.

No details at this point, and still more to do to reduce the color intensities in various areas (can we say "purple"?), but the basic time of day is now coming across clearly.

The filming is going quite well, although my painting has been slowed down by "life events" of late. I'm hangin' in there, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel--and it isn't a train coming! One good thing is the loss of weight--I'm down over 25 pounds and with exercise and good nutrition, continue to find curves and places I forgot I had.

And here's Onslow sound asleep yet again--ah, to have that ability to just leave all worries behind and go "toes up" for a good night! He's actually curved around my hip as I sit in my office chair--those are my jeans, and that's the black arm of the office chair going off the top edge. Comfy, Onnie? Yeah, me too. Fur kids. Gotta love 'em.

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.

Oct 17 - The New DVD's First Painting - In Process

I have been working on the first painting for the newest DVD, and it is really fun! The canvas is an 18 x 24 inch panel, and is being done in oils. I'm focusing on how to compose a painting, how to paint using the Color System, and in this case, how to specifically create a misty light situation across distance in a landscape.

At this stage, I usually call it "being in the Uglies", but even now, you can easily see the harmonious colors and related shapes, although the edges and details are long ahead and yet to be found. I've done about 40 minutes of filming at this phase, and will be editing for content and quality when I go into the "cave" to work on the master movie files.

However, for this DVD I'm actually doing the editing as I shoot each sequence, which seems to keep me more focused on what I need to convey to you, the watcher. Below is the painting at an earlier stage, showing how I cover the canvas. Of course, the vocal commentary while I paint is continuous. And yup. There are definitely outtakes--such as when the canvas fell off the easel!

So, come with me on the journey as I complete this painting and the next one for this new adventure! I am quite sure that the second painting will be done in acrylics, so both media will be well represented. And the Color System crosses all media, so that's not going to be an issue, is it?

You can see my entire blog HERE.
My workshop schedule for 2009 is HERE.
Color System information can be found HERE.
If you need to email me directly, please click here.