Feb 9 - Three Quarters Finished, Citrus Heritage Park, Riverside

Setting the timer for fifteen minute increments has really been a boon to the creative process. Although I started to do it so I could show an in-process painting while on location, the added benefit is I'm taken out of the concentration realm, and forced to draw back (pun intended!) to see the entire concept and view again, because I need to photograph the in-process phase. The result is I make better decisions about the painting, without getting so mired in the procedure of painting this or that small part of it. This "release" if you will, brings me back to center and allows me to start anew, perhaps on a different area. I highly recommend it!
At this phase, I've started with the "wiggle" brush, (that's a 3/8" filbert going all over the canvas with different colors)--making the larger areas more interesting with additional layers of color.

I added the palms now, stitching across the horizontal bands with those verticals, like the overstitching in a quilt to tie the pieces together visually. Notice that the palms, although similar in height and shape, are all slightly different. Even though a row of palm trees can be as boring as a picket fence, the artist must "make the firecracker go off", and not be driven by the match that only lights it. I varied them intentionally for visual interest, so no two are alike.

The little vertical dent in the right-most sky will come out with some water applied to the back of the canvas to tighten up the weave. It isn't in the paint, and spritzing the back of a canvas is a time-tested method of taking out any sags or dents.

Wow, next weekend is the February three-day Mini Color Boot Camp! I'm spending this week arranging the work space, organizing supplies and running off the paper material for it. Ten people are ready to come in and be crammed full of the Color System. The gardens are spruced up, and the patio is an inviting space for breaks now. I'm looking so forward to it!

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Feb 8 - Next 15 Minutes on the Citrus Heritage Painting

I set the kitchen timer for 15 minutes and started up again with the acrylics. I wanted to put layers of color on the large areas again, letting some of both the background and the first layer showing through. That creates visual interest. No details now, except way off in the distance, where I'm keeping things light and indistinct, as befits the miles of distance and air between me and the objects. The sky in this afternoon painting was done with the trio of sky colors--ultramarine, alizarin and yellow ochre plus white. The mountains were done with a veil of darker sky colors leaning toward the blue. As I painted the lower portions, and lay in the shadow green of the citrus, I'm into the thalo green and burnt umber. No palm trees yet--they'll go in at a later stage to "knit" together the horizontal areas of citrus and distant fields.
Here's the view from that bench, and you can see how much I've already changed the image. I am bringing the viewer's eyes into the painting on the path, and then making much more interesting the layers that march up to the horizon, adding color and interest. Keep this image in mind as we go forward in the next two steps to the finished painting!

Remember, it isn't the view that drives the art, that is only the match that lights the fuse. You, the artist are the firecracker that explodes in creating the fireworks of your paintings! Don't let the tiny match drive your work....

And anyone who has driven west on the 91 freeway through the Santa Ana Canyon might easily recognize Santiago Peak and the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest from this vantage point.

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Feb 4 - At the Citrus Heritage Park, Plein Air

Off and running again with another four-stage painting lesson! This one was done in 15 minute increments. Here's the first go.
Starting another plein air painting, I'm on location at the Citrus Heritage Park in Riverside for this one. A 12 x 12 box canvas, underpainted in acrylics with Quinacridone Burnt Orange and GOLD paint... how fun is that?
The first acrylic layer is done with a 3/4 inch filbert, just to get the basic colors in the areas where they will go. I'll show you the source material tomorrow, because I have a special photo to share with today's email!

Why did I choose this direction to paint? Well, the location chose me--I looked in all directions from the top of the knoll, and then noticed that someone had placed a nice bench facing the view toward Corona. So I figured if they thought the view was good in that direction, I'll paint it!

The other news is that the book for which I did the cover is now available on Amazon.com! Here's a tiny URL for it, and you can see the cover. I already pre-ordered my copy!
http://tinyurl.com/3655g8

And here's an image of the cover! Yup, that's my painting!


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Feb 1 - Plein Air Evening at the Riverside Citrus Park

In the days to come, I'm going to give another series of image/lessons showing how a different painting evolved from being on location at the Citrus Heritage Park in Riverside....but that one will be the morning painting.

I was so enthralled by the changing light of the evening of the same day, that I grabbed my gear and headed back to the Citrus Park toward dusk to capture the light of what turned out to be a spectacular moment in time.

Here is the result of an extremely fast-changing lighting situation on a 9 x 12 canvas. Done in acrylics, I wanted to capture that essence of evening sky and distance, and still have light on the palms and the tops of the orange trees. Like the demonstration for the Quick Draw, this one was built up in layers. The light was changing so fast, though, I had no time to do "in progress" images. By the time I finished up, it was dark, and I had to walk down through the groves back to my car needing a flash light!

This painting is SO Southern California in January! And I nailed the light....I'm so pleased with it. For sale for $300, just contact me to bring a memory of that evening light on the San Gabriels to your collection.

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Jan 31 - All finished and Delivered!

One hour and twenty minutes... finished and framed.
I spent the last ten minutes both studying the stage of the painting from yesterday's blog, and also wanting to place more emphasis on that steeple. So I went over the sky again with another layer, blending the brushworks away with a glaze, and then highlighting the area around the steeple with lighter values of that lemon yellow tinted sky (all Color Boot Campers know what I mean when I say Lemon Yellow in morning skies!)

The last act was to put in one of the lamp posts that are so characteristic of Riverside, on the left. No doubt where this scene is with that unique lamp post!

So in sharing the ten minute stages of a plein air quick draw, I hope that I've been able to show how one of my paintings develop to a finished stage. I look at all of the earlier ones and say, "Yipes! Ugggg-LEEs!!" But not out loud. It is just a fact that paintings in process have to go through ugly stages to get to a finished state. And in a nutshell, the finished state is focusing the viewer's eye on those areas where we want interest, and downplaying those areas where interest is much lower on the priority list.

Yes, I know some artists go the mile in detail and focus, but I like to think my painting style is more the way the human eye sees--what is of interest to us is where our eyes focus and thus we get detail at that area. The rest of the scene/critter/person is then less detailed.

No signature, a requirement for these juried events (makes it fair to the judge), and here's the nicest reward a painter can receive--honors for honest effort! Thanks for sharing the journey with me. The painting is now hanging in the Riverside Art Museum, and the opening for that show is February 7.



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Jan 29 - One Hour into the Quick Draw

The next ten minutes of this painting were spent with a small round and a 1/4 inch filbert, essentially obiliterating the nice arches and windows that were painted a few minutes ago. I'm tightening down some areas with more detail.

By putting in the row of smaller trees, I have linked the grassy area to the church walls, and again created repetition with variety in that each tree is unique, yet similar. These trees were painted with both dark and light values, to create a sense of depth, through which you can see the church. The cars got some more work, and the sunny grass and sidewalks were laid in using those warm whites, yellows and green.

I also added more palm fronds on the upper left side, making the pole-like trunks not so obvious.
One more ten-minute session, where I take a critical long look at it, make some changes, then this pup is DONE!
Hope you've enjoyed it so far. If you missed some of it, please visit my blog below and see the steps in review.

I'm working on the workshop that comes up in a couple of weeks, and my online courses are buzzing right along. There is new work on the easel, too!

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Jan 26 - Fifty Minutes into the Plein Air Quick Draw

Whew, after yesterday's image, I'm thinking "this really is in the uglies!" But today's image shows why getting those big flat planes of color in place is essential before heading for the details (which make the finish on a piece).

I've added the arches and windows on the side of the church, using the flat edge of both a 1/2" filbert and a size 6 bright to get the shapes in one stroke, using burnt umber. Then I spent the balance of the ten minutes working on the car shapes by adding the sky reflections on the hoods and tops and painting wheel wells and dark shapes on the opposing side of the street. A little messing around under the bushes on the lower right, and I'm done with these few minutes.

But I did clean up the brush mark on the lower part with more layers of sunlit color before the "dinger" went off again!

Congratulations to new collector Pam Morthorst of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, on the addition of "Through the Woods" to her collection!

Original oil, 12 x 10 inches.
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Forty Minutes into the Quick Draw

Jiminey Crickets, did I ever hate to stop when that timer went off! Just when I get on a roll and really start cookin' with the brushes, beep-beep-beep. Oh well, I knew I was doing this for a greater purpose than painting to a timed event, so here's the next ten minutes. From the last post, you can compare and contrast the progress. So what did I do in ten minutes? (Got interrupted several times, as happens in any event put on for more than just painting). I "fluffed out" the palms, varied the roof, worked on the windows of the cars, and added some palm fronds on the left side to create yet another design element. Look for a partial circle that begins in the topmost left palm, drops through those new fronds on the left, and continues around through the other palm tops, effectively cirlcing the steeple of the church!

Hmmmm, that brush mark in the grass is still there. Next ten minutes.

(Here's the earlier version for those who, like me, get buried in emails and won't go looking.)

In other news, all four workshops through May are full. If you are considering a Color Boot Camp for your future, please look to Maine in August (full five days of "CBC") and Maine again in September on a horse farm. This second week-long CBC workshop not only can host "repeat offenders", but will finish up with a weekend of plein air painting in a special two day event for plein air painters! I'll have a page pointing to registration for these workshops in February. If you're interested, please email me for special notification.

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Jan 22 - Thirty Minutes into the Quick Draw Competition Painting

The timer ticked on.... ten more minutes passed, and I am now at the thirty-minute mark at this point of the painting. Again, this is a 16 x 12 acrylic, on location on Mission Inn Avenue, in Riverside a few days ago, done for the Quick "Draw".

I'm still using that 5/8" filbert, and painting the big shapes, staying in the cool box for almost all of this segment. The exceptions are the warm sunny grass areas and the light on the tops of the bushes.

Revelation! I realize that in the painting method I'm sharing with you, I almost exclusively work from the cool box to the warm box* in every painting I do. That's because the sky, the distance, the large shadow shapes all come from the cool box. Slap it on the serve it up!! Then head for the warm boxes to start putting on those final layers ("layers" - applicable to acrylics in this case.)

You can see the shapes of the (future) cars now, not much more than blobs, and also the subtle beginnings of the arches in the church, painted either with a layer of lighter cool colors, or adding umber to the current mix and painting in the dark shapes. I got those palm truns in, too.

Oh, that blob of umber in the lower left? Dropped a brush and it thwacked the canvas. Hey, poop happens.



Now that I'm not painting it, I can stop and talk about the design of the piece. (Don't you just HATE it when someone stops by and starts asking questions while you're working? Har...) Look at the white lines, which are the abstract structure of this piece. The slightly tilted horizontals are nicely complimented by the slightly tilted verticals, and the diagonals are balanced by the counterbalance in the lower left. Yup. Planned it that way. Also put the focal point (orange circle) where it intersects those blue lines, that represent dividing the canvas into thirds. If you can get your focal points to land near one of the intersections of those lines, you'll have a more pleasing composition.

Tick, tick, tick.... time to set the next ten minutes!!

* If you need to know what I'm talking about in "cool and warm boxes", please order my DVD set "Colorful Oil Painting" which explains the color system I'm using. It works for every medium.

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Jan 21 - The Next Ten Minutes in the Quick Draw Painting that Won

Process Lesson, Part Two. The timer was started again after I painted yesterday's ten minutes, and this is where I'm at in the process, twenty mintues into it. I'm still completely in the cool boxes as I mix up the morning light sky, using white with the trio of sky colors (ult blu, yellow ochre and the red that passes for alizarin in acrylics--Quinacridone magenta), to which has been added that morning light cool yellow. Brushy layers make for interest in that area. I'm using a 5/8" wide filbert for all of this painting, without concern for edges (except for that roof line.)
When painting the roof, I stayed with the cooler colors of Q. magenta and burnt umber, and then added cad red light where it slipped over into the sunlit area.
In the cement walk ways and the sides of the church, there is a tremendous influence of the overhead sky, so these mixes are heavily influenced by ultramarine blue, although cement is a neutral gray by nature.
Do you see how the underpainting peeks through at this stage? I don't have to worry about white canvas showing, and it makes the painting process go that much faster. If specks of that warm tone seep through even at later stages, it will only help unify the colors. Get rid of white surfaces when you want to paint quickly, is my motto.

In planning this design, the radials of the sidewalks are very important to carry you into and to the street where the cars and vertical palms will be. These radials will be broken up by opposing light and shadow shapes, but their directional lines are very important to put down first.

On to the next ten minutes of painting tomorrow!

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Jan 20 - How the Winning Painting Began

The clock started at 9:30 for all of us on location painters to do a painting in two hours. We were set up all around the Library lawns and on street corners with our art gear surrounding us. None of us were allowed to begin until given the sign.

I had prepped my canvas with a burnt orange underpainting, with some cadmium yellow thrown in to get rid of that white canvas. When the shout to begin came through the cool morning air, then I sketched the scene in front of me with burnt umber and ultramarine blue.

I can already see the abstract structure, and I'm ready to start putting in the first layers of cool colors to set the stage for what is to follow. This is the first ten minutes of my painting time, and most of that was spent figuring out placement of primary and secondary focal points for the design. There may only be two minutes of actual painting time in this block of ten minutes. I had a timer with me for this competition, not to keep track of how much time has passed, but to STOP me at ten minute intervals so I would be forced to take these in-process images!!
Here is the camera shot of the scene in front of me to give you an idea of what was presented for my painting subject. Not much color in backlit stuff. (Unless you know the Color System!!!)

So these images being sent to you in the next days will represent ten minutes of painting time each. It hopefully will help to see how much or little painting is done at each stage. Here you don't see much "painting" but my head is furiously functioning to plot and plan the design. I only used a few colors for this initial lay in of the grass and the shadow sides of the church to this point. More tomorrow!

Of course you can ask questions.

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Jan 19 - Finished with the Plein Air Week on a High Note

At the beginning of this last week, we began painting at the Riverside Art Museum and on Mission Avenue.
I did this little 5 x 7 oil of the museum sign as an exercise in back lighting. It was windy, so I didn't spend too much time on it--only about 30 minutes.

The great news was that today, the "Quick Draw" competition in front of the Library ended with me taking first place with my "Morning Light on Mission Avenue" painting. It's a 14 x 11 acrylic on board. I set the timer while I painted it in ten minute increments, so I could take in-process photos. I'll share those with you in the days to come. Here's an image of me with the ribbon... total painting time, one hour and 45 minutes from start to finish. I'm glad I stopped to take the "in process" pictures, so I can share what went on during its creation. I had "hat hair" by then... ah well. The PAAR people sure put on a great show!

Now to think about the upcoming workshops and to enjoy the finished patio adjoining the studio. On February 6, the Plein Air Artists of Riverside will be coming here to paint the green hills and have a pot luck dinner. I'm looking forward to that, too!

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Jan 13 - Plein Air in Riverside, CA

Had to take a break from the dog painting to join the other members of PAAR (Plein Air Painters of Riverside) in their week-long paint out of the beautiful city.

Here's my first work, a 12 x 16 oil of "Las Campanas", the restaurant at the Mission Inn (John, you didn't think I'd forget, did you?) The Mission Inn is a landmark block-large hotel in the downtown area. People were coming and going, valet parking right where I set up. I learned after the fact that they frowned on painters "cluttering up" their drive way. Ha! Better to ask forgiveness than permission.... no one requested for me to move, so I just painted to my heart's content.

If you look at the composition of this painting, you'll note the asymmetrical balance, the arched entry on the left balanced by the seating area on the right. Teh verticals of the palm trunks and bamboo are also counter-balanced by the horizontals of the hedge, the arch and the gentler curves of the walkway and curb. This was done with 80% cool colors, with only the lit areas of the bench and podium going to the warm side. No signature, as it may make it into the jurying portion. If I sell it first (for $300), then I'll sign it.

PAAR has a great group of friendly artists, and this week we'll all be painting together in the parks and urban areas. Tomorrow it is off to the Martha McLean/Anza Narrows Park overlooking the Santa Ana River. The weather has been wonderfully warm, yet windy today. Mid 70s, and bright sun.

The March workshop only has one space left, then I start taking wait list folks. If you were thinking about it, now is the time to contact me for that last slot. The February workshop is full, and so is one of the weeks in May. Color Boot Camp!

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Jan 10 - Another Dog Day Afternoon...?

I'm starting a painting, another square one, because this image of an agility dog has been in my head since I saw the videos on YouTube. The energy of agility is amazing!

Again, design is king (or queen!) in these new works. Look at the tire shape creating the arc that sweeps the viewer through the canvas, counter-balanced by the other arc of the dog's body and direction of travel. Another arc is the shape of the tunnel behind, and the arcs of the tube tunnel itself.

This is design! -- repetition with variety, which encourages the viewer's eye to travel around the painting, going from arc to arc. Although most viewers aren't aware that is what they are doing, having the repetitions there also creates harmony--this is a GOOD thing. Even without color, the structure of the painting emerges. Structure within a painting is key to making good work. One can have all the color knowledge available, and not making traditional realism fly because the underlying abstract structure is weak. Have you looked over your own work to find the abstract structure?

This will be another entry for the Art Show at the Dog Show in Kansas City. Wish me luck!

On another note, one of my painting shipping boxes ended up in Utah, because of a mis-print on the address on the return shipping label. It is "The Quest" the acrylic done for the acrylic DVD "Acrylic Painting Fast and Loose", which was shown in Chicago. Just a reminder not to reuse shipping boxes so often that there is too much writing on them! I've learned. Ship with Strong Boxes by Airfloat systems. Worth every penny. I didn't use one, and they said the painting was damaged... I will see when it finally gets here how bad it is.

Our hills are greening up now with the rains. Here's an image of the view out our back gate:


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Jan 7 - Round Puppies Finished, and Workshop Filled!

Here is the finished painting, photographed digitally and then sent off for slide duplication--this one is going into the Kansas City "Art Show at the Dog Show" competition under the oils category. I hope it gets in!

In finishing this one up, you can see I didn't do all that much more major painting, just refined and detailed out the legs, pats and heads of the two dogs. I paid special attention to the contrast areas on the tails and the gently varying values on the white areas of the right pup ("Sparky").

The added color of the red-violet collar puts the finishing touch of a discord for this analogous color scheme. In Hal Reed's Color Wheel, he shows that there needs to be a dominant hue of the one compliment (in this case the orange) and a much smaller physical area of the partnering complement (in this case, the blues). Hal Reed's Analogous Color Wheel helped me get the correct proportion of hues when I needed it, making my work more pleasing to the eye. Although not part of the Color System I use now, it is useful to have one of these while planning your paintings.

I'm so pleased to report that the first week's workshop in May in Georgia is FULL. I didn't think it would fill THAT fast!!! I'm still taking waitlisted folks in the case someone doesn't make it. So if you want to come to Georgia's second Color Boot Camp, please let me know, as the second week has a few spaces left. Curious? Go here.

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Jan 4 - Oops! Not Finished yet!! Round Puppies

Oops, got ahead of myself! (I just get so excited about sharing information.) Here's the pup painting at the second stage, where I'm laying in the darks of the dogs' coats and reinforcing the design elements.

Remember what I said about circular design, and Raphael's work? Since you may not have a familiarity with these design concepts, I've added a second image of this stage of the painting below, taken into Photoshop and with what I see as the abstract structure of the design. Those of you who have had a session or two of "yellin' by Elin" know that design and the structure of your paintings are key to good end results.

In the second image, you'll see the most obvious circles in the design (in red), clearly understandable my Mr. or Ms. Everyone. They may not say, "Oooo, nice circles!" but they will say that they like the painting.

Look now at the partial circles (also known as arcs) that are intersecting the picture (done in purple). These are the supporting design players, but every bit as important in their role. These arcs carry the eye through the work, and reinforce the three main circles. Think of them as the band behind the lead singer. They enhance and reinforce the most obvious circles. These purple lines of the design also show the viewer repetition with variety--more design principles worth having in successful paintings. As your eye follows the purple lines, look where they cross areas of the paintings, and see how those areas continue to carry your eyes. What I'm saying is that we as artists don't have to be obvious with our abstract structure, but it ought to be there.

More tomorrow!

Oh, the link for the March workshop: Three Day Mini-Color Boot Camp is here.


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Happy New Year! Dog Paintings Galore...

How fun it is to start the new year, and subsequently start the numbering system for my painting inventories all over again! I've begun the new year with a bang, completing two paintings already, and getting the slides for them for one of the specialty art shows of the year. This one is slated for the Art Show at the Dog Show.


This is an 18 x 18 inche gallery wrap (1.5 inches deep) canvas, on which I'm painting almost life size, the two puppies Onslow and Sparky asleep. The source image for this is in my blog from a couple days ago. You can see it here. (Opens a new window.)

I love the circular design of the image, and have worked to keep those circles and inter-twining arcs going in the painting. Reminds me of a Raphael painting from the Renaissance, since he was known for his circular designs. Here is his "Madonna of the Chair" for your pleasure. Look at all the circles and arcs in his design!
One of my New Year's Resolutions for you is to link what I do in the studio to the history of art, so you can understand that as artists, we are so connected to what has gone before.

One of my resolutions also is to make paintings with CONTENT, or soul, so that I am not just creating a technical exercise with the pigments, but giving more of myself, the story, and the design more emphasis. This looking-down view of the puppies is my first endeavor.


In doing this painting, I am using oils, and made a quick drawing with burnt umber and ultramarine blue (which I forgot to photograph!) and then laid in the washes of Australian Red Gold (Artist's Spectrum) and a new experimental color for me, Green Umber (Lukas Pigments). The combination of warms is really exciting for me, and I can hardly wait to see what will develop. They are both warm in the spectral reflectance arena, so would go in the warm box. But these are "oddballs" so, they'll only visit once in a while!

I've been working on the February Workshop (full) and now am opening the March one to outside artists--there are only five slots left in this workshop here in my studio. Contact me if you are interested in this three-day "Mini-Color Boot Camp"

And I'm opening the May workshops in Georgia in the coming days (been a bit late on this one!) so the five-day Color Boot Camp and the returnees' Boot Camp will be taking registrations by this weekend. You know who you are!!! (They dubbed themselves "repeat offenders!!")

I'll post a direct link in the days to come.

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December 25 - Peace on Earth, Enjoy..

One of my favorite songs, sung in two languages. May each one of us work for "Peace on Earth" and I'll be back to the easel tomorrow. Merry Christmas!



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Dec 24 - Much to Enjoy

With this message are images of the new construction on the studio, almost finished now, and ready to share as my gift to you this Christmas Eve. The old entrance to the studio was narrow and dark, and there was a four foot wall right by the door, making getting in and out difficult. All the excavation resulted in this more pleasant welcome. I took these pictures this morning. ..temperature about 58 degrees.

This first image is the new walkway and lamp post, going to the stairs that drop down to the recessed patio. All concrete was stamped and stained to look like the natural granite boulders on the right. The outer studio is the green part, the main house is above that. Yes, those are the puppies!

This is the view looking up the new stairs toward the parking area. We added the used brick trim to continue the look of the house. Before, it was pink cinder block (think prison walls, and they matched the pink paint--arrgh). The stairs curve, and the railing is the same color as our driveway gate. I'm already planting and hanging baskets!
In all the construction, I wanted to keep the natural boulders and enjoy their sheltering presence and the wildlife they harbor.

This next image is looking down into the patio at the eight-foot sliding door that replaced a small window. Great north light coming in now. Installed into the wall next to the soon-to-be-painted door is a lovely mosaic by artist Judy Wood. I have two of her pieces and love each one. I will add more sculptures to the yard and gardens in the years to come.

Here is the view you'd get if you were coming to a workshop, bringing your supplies. The patio opens off the two doors, and the seating walls on the planters will be great for breaks and for lunches outdoors. They'll be full of plants by February's workshop, and we'll have a table and umbrella out there, too. The metal sign near the top of the door reads "Welcome" on one side... and "Go Away" on the other... just a joke!








Between Ron's Honda and the pond, I'm working on a rose garden. There will be between 8 and 12 bushes in it, and by this spring, we ought to have some very fragrant roses growing there. Right now, the fall foliage is reflected in the koi pond on the front patio of the house. (The sand bags are only there because of the recent rains. )
So the upgrading of the yard and studio continues, and all will be finished by the workshops next year. I'm so pleased that this will be ready, and I couldn't share it until it was.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best in 2008!

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Dec 21 - Holiday Commission, Landscape in Acrylics

I LOVE last-minute commissions! I am so pleased that I can deliver a painting in a week or less when other artists take months. It has been especially wonderful this year, as my contact list and word of mouth has brought some wonderful folks to my email "door" with requests for paintings for gift giving.
Here is an example of the one I just shipped--a 16 x 20 acrylic of a place that is so very special to the person receiving the present--his favorite place for camping and in the high country with that distinct peak. His wife sent me images, and I pulled the view together (and you know how much I love to paint water!). She was very pleased, and so am I.

And two paintings as last minute Christmas gifts were sold from my ebay store, one shipped to arrive Tuesday, and another to be hand delivered by me this weekend.

So my holidays are busy and full of the real pleasure of bringing visual joy to so many people, while doing what I love, (and must do) to be who I am.

To all my collectors and friends, I wish you a very safe and loving holiday season filled with your most treasured wishes. For me, it will be a quiet season, reflecting on all the wonderful friends I have made through my artwork. Well, as quiet as it can be with two new puppies!
Here's an image of them when it truly IS quiet....
Congratulations to returning collector Frank Barrese of Temecula, California, on his purchase of "Mission Inn Arch" and new collectors Ronny Klemm of East Northport, New York ("Bored" --English warmblood) and Vicki Harris of Lake Forest, California, ("His Favorite View") for their purchases.

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Dec 18 - German Shorthair Finished, and delivered!

A marathon couple of days in the studio this week... two commissions to finish up, and this is the first. The second is done, too, but I'm waiting for feedback from the folks before posting it.

This is the finished 24 x 18 inch acrylic portrait of "Robi" and I am going to quote for you some of the writings that her former owner wrote:
This pup was singularly responsible for bringing my dad and I back together. Dogs work a sort of magic with him--soften him up. Sounds a bit silly I guess, but my dad accepted the pup and put our troubles behind him. At any rate, his young dog and my young pup became fast friends, so close, so inseparable in fact that even though Robi was my dog, she was happiest with Tarn and my dad. I could never have moved her to Southern California--it would have been unfair to all three.

She was, without a doubt, the oddest dog we've ever had. Until about four years of age, she would not gain much weight. She grew and always had an incredibly shiny coat and healthy gleam to her eye, but her ribs and hip bones always stuck out (despite eating large quantities of food). She was very active (not hyper or yippy or a bit crazy--none of our shorthairs have been as they are sterotyped).

Robi was our only digger. She did dig a few holes in the lawn, but stopped that quickly on her own. Instead, she was prone to burrying things in the couch. The two dogs got a selection of milk bones and pig ears in the evening time. Robi would take each one and run off to one of the couches, where she would wedge it down between the cushions with her nose. If there were blankets in the way, she'd dig at them with her paws until she could shove the treat where she wanted it. She'd then dig up her little hidden treasures later that evening or the next day for a snack.

Robi was a good hunter with a good nose. She was keen to retrieve and a good swimmer. Although, she was always far more content to hunt very close to my dad, while Tarn would range out farther and cover a lot more ground. Tarn was often the first dog to find a bird. Robi would honor Tarn's point every time. She did this instinctively without ever being trained or taught to do so.

In terms of dimensions, Robi was small for a shorthair. She was about 35-40 pounds at her normal weight and around 28" at her shoulder. She often wore a guilty look, though she was very rarely in trouble.

In her last year she had moved with my dad and Tarn to the Isle of Man and then to Alaska, my dad's permanent residence. In August, my dad was entertaining some company that wanted to do a lot of salmon fishing. On a scouting expedition, my dad let both dogs out on the side of a country road. Both dogs have been around their fare share of traffic and cars--they are traffic safe. It was one of those fluke things where Robi just got out on the wrong side at the wrong time and a car just happened to be right there, coming out of a blind turn. The car hit her without having time to break. My dad was just crushed. He performed CPR on her for 10 minutes, but to no avail--she passed away quickly from massive internal injuries. (End of quote)

I'm sure you can see why I had to paint Robi. Stories like this one make my painting journey such a poignant one. The painting is now in the hands of Summer and Shawn, and it will travel north to Alaska next week, as a present to his dad. Here's a photograph of the painting when they picked it up today. Yes, these two also shoe my horse!


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Dec 13 - Commission for Christmas

I'm off and running on a 24 x 18 commission to be delivered on the 16th. It is a German Shorthair named Robi, who was co-owned by a father and son, and who was tragically killed this past year.
I've owned German Shorthair Pointers, and know how loving and silly they can be, and how very "birdy". So it is fun to revisit the breed in this acrylic painting.
Here you see the rough lay-in of the structure and position of the dog, in a characteristic pose, over the underpainting which is composed mostly of Quinacradone Burnt Orange and Ultramarine Blue.
I did a small sketch from images provided by the son, and read his words on how the dog behaved. I haven't decided yet whether or not to put the dog on a familiar couch, or put smaller composite pictures in the negative space of aspects of this bird dog's life. The painting will tell me what to do when the time is ripe.
I'm also working on another commission, which needs to be sent out Monday. Busy! I'll share that one with you soon, in a couple of stages, so you can see the mountain landscape come together. I love making paintings for people that bring moments back to them! I don't think there is a better way to depict a moment in time than through a well-executed painting...so much of the artist's hand and the "life" of the moment comes through that is difficult to capture in ordinary snap shots or digital imagery.

On the Maine painting, I had several wonderful suggestions, and will be working on that one after these two commissions are put to bed. But no boats on the water...sorry!

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Dec 11 - Well on it's way - The Maine Coast lesson

Oh, drat! Somebody get me an egg timer so I can stop before I get too far along on these lessons! I just picked up my brushes and started working on the fun of painting the textures in the foreround, and look how it got away from me! I could have made three steps in this area, but the brushes and the joy in creating it captured me!
Maybe it is the Christmas spirit, but all that red and green made me enjoy the process so much.
I will tell you that the beginnings of all that texture were created with burnt umber and thalo green, deep in the shadow areas. Then with a large, 3/4" brush, I put in the major colors of the upper layers. On the right, it was a mixture of white, thalo green and sap green, and then across the middle ground it was yellow ochre added to that mix. Finally a third pass over those big blobs of color, using a small brush to create the illusion of detail.
What fun to paint this way! Brushwork, certainly, and watching the warm colors appear in the lighter areas, and yet still maintaining that feel of a slightly overcast day.
Is it finished? Not yet--no signature. I'll post it when I'm truly finished with it. What do you think I will do with it from this point? I love to hear what you're thinking!
And the colors... Go great with the bathroom! Har de har--painting to a bathroom color scheme--who woulda figured?
Next will be an 18 x 24 commission of a German Shorthair Pointer dog... in time for Christmas! Busy, busy!

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Dec. 9 - Lesson Continuing, Acrylic Maine

Oops! A day slipped away from me, but it was certainly a busy one! We opened our home and studio for a holiday gathering of friends, family and artists on Saturday, and I'm now recovered enough to write again. All the guests who were strangers mostly to one another wore name tags with their first name, their affiliation to Ron and I (Aikido, Artist, or something else) and some added an interesting fact below that. Conversations abounded as folks asked questions upon viewing the name tags. "Oh, you're a gardener! Where is your garden and how big is it?" "Endurance riding? Can you tell me about that?"

I cooked for two full days prior, and most of the food disappeared! Bruschetta, cookies, tropical fruit cake, fudge, meatballs in sauce, deviled eggs... whew. We still have beer, though.

So, on to this painting! The 16 x 24 inch format is clearly visible now with the sky, water and distant headlands painted in. Those of you boot campers (prior workshop attendees) know that this entire section was done with the cool palette, using mostly the "big three" for the sky and water. I used burnt umber and ultramarine mixed into the sky mix to create the headlands/islands out in the sea. The entire area "lays down" because of the use of the cools.
Although the canvas looks almost divided in thirds at this point (Ack! Bad design!) the weight and angulation of the lower area for the vegetation will carry the painting when I get to it. And that will be very soon!

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Dec 7 - Lesson! Acrylic Painting Beginning

OK, it has been toooooo long! Lesson time! I've been thinking about each one of you this holiday season, and want to gift you at least two lessons before the new year...

This is an interesting canvas size--it is 16 x 24, not your usual 16 x 20. I had a couple of frames of this size made up some time ago, and I'm doing a painting for myself.... imagine that! This size is the 2 x 3 ratio that one usually sees in 24 x 36 canvases.

Ratios in canvases are interesting in any event... we have the square 1:1 ratio, the 3:4 and 2:3 ratio, and the 1:3 that results in really looong canvases (or tall ones if it is 3:1). Finding the right ratio for the subject matter is important to me as an artist, because when I design within that space, I am influenced by the initial concept, and I then grab a canvas that mostly works with that structure. Trying to fit a concept into a canvas that isn't conducive to it is a scenario for frustration. Thus the guidance of a sketchbook to work through the best design before beginning! If you're interested, you might go back in the blog to see the whippet painting that is on a 1:3 canvas (12 x 36) which lends itself to the long, running stride of that dog breed.

Now this lesson canvas is destined to hang above the towel rack in my guest bathroom, and the subject is the coast of Maine. I've been thinking about this painting for a while--most of the past month--and so it is almost finished in my head before I lift a brush. I'm curtailed in my colors to match the bathroom (oh dear!) but that won't affect me until later in the painting. I may have to soften somewhat the concept to fit with the gentleness of the (ulp!) deep pink and gray-green and gray-blue of the colors there. But that's later.

For now, I started this acrylic with an underpainting of Quinacradone Burnt Orange and Cadmium Orange to get rid of that white canvas. Then I sketched in the design with burnt umber and ultramarine blue. I have a high horizon line to focus the viewer on the foreground, where I'm going to be having a riot of fun with acrylic texture to create the vegetation on the coast of Maine. Tomorrow the lay-in of the sky, sea and clouds.....

Other news, the two puppies are deeply entrenched in my heart, and have adjusted to the routines around here. They bring me such joy at their lively puppiness! (Now, just as a note, can you see the DESIGN in this photograph???)

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Nov. 26 - Interior, University of Redlands Chapel

During the fires last month, when the air quality in Southern California was "Hazardous", artists were painting "en plein aire" on the grounds of the University of Redlands as part of their centennial celebration. On one of those afternoons, I went inside the chapel, to get a view of the light and space from the balcony. Sitting up there, I listened to first a flutist, and secondly an organist, come in and play to an empty house. The acoustics of the building are spectacular; listening to the chords and tone of the Casavant Opus 1230 organ rising to the rafters lifted my spirits as well as my brushes! This is an 18 x 24 inch acrylic on board that showcases the stained glass, the stage area and the organ on the left. Both the grand and baby grand pianos were on the platform as well.
I used mostly my earth colors (burnt umber, yellow ochre, and burnt sienna) to facilitate the unity of the interior, then pulled out all the stops to create the luminescent windows above. The contrast of those pure colors against the muted earths inevitably pulls the viewer to the beauty and glow of the stained glass.

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November 13 - Demonstration Snow Scene for Corona Art Association

Last night I was the guest demonstrator for the Corona Art Association, in the town just west of where I live. A very nice group of artists came out for the evening, and many I hadn't seen in a while (Mary!). I painted this 16 x 12 acrylic during the demonstration, starting with a toned canvas panel on my new Easyl.

I used a burnt orange color to get rid of that white surface, choosing a warm color to offset the dominant cool colors to come. The design was drawn without reference from memories of snow scenes I've seen in the past. Although I didn't take "in process" steps as a lesson series for you, I will do my best to explain how it came to this point.

First, I used the cool pill box colors entirely for 98% of the image. I laid in the large darks where the pines and spruce trees were to go, and also using that mix of burnt umber and ultramarine blue, the water area.

Then the rest of the canvas was covered with varying shades of the three ever-useful sky colors: Ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and yellow ochre, lightened with titanium.

Controlling the opacity of the mixes was important, so that underpainting shows through as the layers became lighter. I wanted that translucency of frozen water to convince the viewer of the layers of snow.
After the break (the Corona Art Association is to be commended for the great hospitality--I didn't need dinner!) I came back and "finally" opened the warm box, where I used cadmium orange tinting the titanium white for the final sunny areas. Holding off the accent areas until the final colors are put in helps keep the rest of the painting interesting. Then those highlights become the "plink" to finish it off.

Many artists put too much importance too soon on that "plink". Far better to have a really good painting, and then add that "plink".

On the home front, we came back from Chicago with "Onslow!" Puppy breath and happy wiggles... Here he is with our old German Pinscher. He's about 6" tall. She's 16".




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November 3 - Moonlight on the Chapel, U of Redlands

Original acrylic, 8 x 5 inches, on board. One of the nice things about painting on location is the freedom one has to interpret what is "out there" and make a decent expression of the mood, the effects of light, and to add one's personal statement.

"There I was, painting on location, with about a dozen others in the same area...." Each one of us painting a familiar scene, yet uniquely our own end result. Me, on a sunny afternoon, decided to change what was in front of me to a moonlight scene. With the Color System, all I did was close the lids on four of the pigments, and paint away, keeping my values fairly close to one another, and focusing on the focal point's facade to convey night time.

Here's the actual view during the day, to give you an idea of how much freedom I expressed in changing the time of day and the composition. Being able to move away from "what's out there" to my own artistic expression is the most freeing thing for me as an artist. No longer constrained to the limits of photography, or on location sites, I can begin to exercise my unique vision in pigment. What does it take? Miles of canvas, a willingness to make mistakes for the purpose of learning, and belief in one's ability to have a fresh vision on ordinary subjects. And miles of canvas. Did I already say miles of canvas? Oh, senior moment! Miles of canvas. Paint. Paint more. And then paint more. No shortcuts in this business, sorry!

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November 2 - University of Redlands Browsing Room

Here's one of the acrylic paintings I did as part of the Centennial Celebration of the University of Redlands. They had almost 100 plein air artists painting around the campus for a week--unfortunately during the wildfires when the smoke was so bad that we had advisories to "stay indoors". I took that to heart and went to the Hall of Letters to one of the most unique "classrooms" on the campus. Lined with bookshelves, it also has two stained glass windows that were installed in the 1950s, which depict a knight and a prioress. Home of senior seminars, and many a student presentation, HL213 is now forever captured on canvas. It is a 12 x 16 acrylic on board, and when the Dean whose office is in that building saw it--she bought it!

It also won an award at the opening reception, judged by John Budicin, past president of the Plein Air Painters of America. Nice to know that there is some flexibility in what we paint "outdoors". And I was able to save my lungs for another day's painting later in the week.

Here's a photograph of the painting, on the wall at the showing of all the artist's paintings, complete with ribbon. I had two of them, both sold, and both in this image. Can you guess which is my "other" painting?

The word is back on the Three Dogs painting: "Elin,it is beautiful!!! We are so excited about it and can't wait to hang it in our living room..I especially love the way the yellow lab looks. I think she stands out because she is looking at the viewer. I didn't think about that aspect when we were planning the portrait. All three of them look simply divine! Well done Elin!!"

Now I can rest. Thanks for letting me visit with you!

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November 1 - Three Dog Commission Finished!

It has been a long time for this painting, and not my usual time frame, but this one is now 95% finished, and I've sent out this image to the collectors for their comments and (hopefully) approval of what is done so far. I'm pleased with it!

It is an oil, 30 x 50 inches, and has kept my studio out of order while I painted it on the wall. My Hughes easel has been in the middle of the room, and it pouts there while I walk over to the wall to paint. It is good to be able to see the finish on this one and to share with you the plein air paintings tomorrow and this week that have been waiting for this commission to finish!

Now with the new construction on the outer studio, with a new eight-foot tall sliding door letting in north light, I'm so excited about the upcoming workshops here! The February one is full, but there's a new one in March that still has space.

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