Started My Largest Painting Yet...

Tonight I sketched out my largest painting yet...an 11x14" canvas!  You can see him yet, but there's a fella' fishing along side this river! Also, continued work on the San Xavier painting (I think I spelled that right?!)  I've come to the conclusion that I am quite simply...a VERY SLOW painter.  That doesn't particularly bother me, but it would be nice to pick up the pace a bit.

Working Three at a Time

Painted tonight for a couple hours.  I have three works going at once right now.  Here's a couple pics of the painting I'm doing for my dad.  Decided to use the palette knife for the light wall on the left...looks like the stuccoed.  More work on just about every part of that painting, but still more to go!

I'm baaaaack!

Wow!  A year and a half since I last blogged.  Been a busy year, home schooled our girls for a year and then just enrolled them back in a new school which we like very much.  When we started homeschooling I started building a "classroom" in our barn.  I finally finished it after we had enrolled them back in school...go figure. So...what to do with the classroom...why, turn it into my studio!!  Here are some picks of the new studio and the painting currently on my easel - work in progress!

Finally, found a good place to hang my mom's painting she did years ago.

Mood Over Sauve Island

Been a long time since I've painted...too long!  Thought I'd warm my brushes up with a small 6"x8" tonight.  This is from a photo I took on Sauve Island weekend before last.  My wife and daughters had never been out there so we made a day of it.  Picnic, fresh strawberries, hiking around checking out the wildlife and then finishing off on a beach.  Just an all around great day.  Despite the imposing clouds we only got a short, light rain at the end.  Hope you like!

6"x8" Oil on Raymar Panel

Ford Work Horse

Finally, got in a little painting this afternoon.  Awhile back I asked permission to a few wonderful photos from a friend of mine who's a terrific photographer, Thyra.  I've been eyeing this old Ford C-700 for quite a while and finally set out to painting it.  I've never tried to paint a vehicle before, but I must say....this was tons of fun (pun intended)!!  I do think I need to correct that "lazy eye" lookin' headlight :-)

Still have some more detail to go.  6" x 8" panel.  

The Yellow Rose of....well....Portland

Today, my family spent the day waiting for my sister-in-law "Auntie Koin", as the girls call her, to come out of surgery.  She was diagnosed with cancer very recently and so they went in to remove it.  We're happy to say it was very localized and hadn't spread to the lymph nodes so that was very good news!

So while we were waiting, I was reading an article in the Feb/Mar 2009 issue of International Artist magazine on one of my favorite artists, E.J. Paprocki.  His impressionist style just appears so vibrant to me! So tonight when we got home I decided to try this style of painting out.  I attempted to let some of the underpainting show through to create that vibrancy that draws me to these types of paintings.  Not sure if I pulled it off, but it certainly has a looser feel than my last rose.  I actually wanted the underpainting to be a bit more on the lavender side and the rose to be a bit more yellow, but at least it looks like a rose ;-)

6 x 8 RayMar panel

RIP Indy - 2012

Tough day today.  We had to put our cat of 9 years down.  His name was Indy, but we usually just called him "Big Kitty" because he was such a big Maine Coon.  My wife and I are very sad, but my girls, 9 and 10, are heart broken.  Indy has just always been there for as long as they can remember...and now he's not.  We'll miss you "Big Kitty"!

Bright lights, no problem...he'd just cover 'em up when he got sleepy.

He loved to talk to you!

He was often lookin' down on us from the rafters in the barn.  We never did see how he got up there!

That's a lot of fur to keep clean!

Stop to Paint the Roses

Ahh...back to painting!  Received a sample pack of 6x8 RayMar panels this week.  The pack has four different types of panels: smooth cotton canvas, medium cotton canvas, single primed linen and double primed linen.  Tonights effort was on the medium cotton canvas...love it!  This is just from a picture I took up at the Portland Rose Gardens this past summer.  Went with a slightly different red than what is usually on my palette.  Most the pinks are created using Permanent Rose.  The darker reds in the background are Perylene Red...I really dig that red.  Anyhow, hope you enjoy.

6 x 8 RayMar panel

Morgan's Drawings

So here's a couple of drawings my oldest daughter, Morgan, did.  I particularly like the gingerbread house, but she's quite the undersea  drawer too.   She loves to draw dolphins and whales...not surprising given she wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.  Guess I better refresh my scuba diving skills sometime soon...I have a feeling this girls going to be diver someday!

Last night and tonight - WIP

Worked on my San Xavier painting last night and Backward Glance painting (pony) tonight.  Still lot's of work to do on the San Xavier painting, but I think I've pushed the pony painting about as far as it'll go.  So two enjoyable evenings in one post!

San Xavier del Bac Mission - WIP

Just got back from visiting my dad and stepmom down in Tucson.  Met my sister and her husband down there also.  We had a wonderful four days with lot's of site seeing and just enjoying the company of family.  One of the places we visited was San Xavier del Bac Mission.  While wandering around the mission my dad spotted a very cool view of one of the small buildings between two walls, one newly stuccoed and one rather dilapidated.  He has an excellent eye for good compositions.  So tonight I started a painting of this photo.  So far not much to see but the underpainting.

It'll be fun to see where this one goes.  9"x12" Ray Mar panel.

Another Wood River Painting

Haven't painted in quite some time.  Actually, I've been doing some drawing, but not paintings.  So tonight I pulled out a small canvas board and did this one.  Can't say I'm particularly pleased with it, but what do you expect when you haven't painted for awhile, right?!  9x12 on canvas board.

Just sketch what's in front of ya!

Just did a little sketching at the kitchen table today.  Nothin' fancy.

Backward Glance II - WIP

Okay, so I decided the last painting I did of this pony looked more like one of those funky horse-like creatures in the movie Avatar.  So I'm taking another crack at it and at the same time zooming in on the pony so he takes up more of the canvas.  I'm liking it much better!  Still some work to do, but here's a sequence of shots.  I didn't start with a wash like I usually do.

 

Backward Glance - Study

Tonights effort.  This is just a 9"x12" study for what I hope will be a larger painting, maybe 16"x20".  This is based on a photo taken by a friend of mine, Thyra.  I've already done a painting based on another photo she took...what can I say, she's a terrific photographer and was gracious enough to let me use some of her photos as inspiration!

I'll definitely do another study that fills up more of the canvas with this horse before launching into the larger piece.  Never done painted a horse before, but I'd sure like do more...just my favorite animal!  We have two horses for my girls and neither is big enough for me to ride, but I don't care...I just enjoy looking out my window and seein' them in my pasture.  Hmmm, I should just go get some pictures of my own horses - now there's a thought.   9"x12" canvas board.

Paintin' with my daughter, Rachel!!

Had a wonderful afternoon painting with my youngest daughter, Rachel.  We started out just painting a purple sphere and then decided to make it a grape...and in the end decided it looked more like a plum.  So a plum it is!!  9"x12" canvas board....with none of that cheap student grade paint...no, this was artist quality all the way, baby ;-)  Oh, and colors chosen by Miss Rachel!

Ranch on Wood River - Final

I've been neglecting my painting lately.  But given I'm home the next couple days taking care of my wife after surgery (which went very well), I think I'll "reapply" myself.  So tonight I finished up the Ranch on Wood River painting.  Mainly some touch-ups in the foreground and barn, but I also added in some more clouds behind the tall pine tree.  

Shooting these pictures at night is really tough, especially when you don't have proper lighting.  The foreground isn't quite as bright as what you see here.  

Reach for the Sky...

So finished another painting tonight based off a photograph taken by an old high school friend named Thyra.  With her permission, I've grabbed several photos off her FB to use as inspirations for paintings.  She's an amazing photographer! Just want to say thanks, Thyra, for letting me paint from a few of your photo's!!

I have no idea where this is, but the orange rock contrasting against the blue sky and grayish-blue bushes in the foreground just really caught my eye.  I added a few clouds for some interest in the sky.  Spent a few nights on this one and decided to call it done tonight. It really doesn't do the photo justice, but I think I did alright capturing the colors. Thanks again, Thyra!!

Back from Disneyland...

Well, we just got back from the "happiest place on earth" and I'm inclined to believe it.  We had the most wonderful time at Disneyland!  We were there 5 days and did and saw just about everything there is.  We also have very tired feet so it was nice to kick back today before we're all back to work and school.  As fun as Disneyland was, I did miss painting so I put in a little brush time tonight...

Ranch on Wood River

Started a new painting tonight based on some photo's I took while down visiting my dad and stepmom. They have the most wonderful cabin in Rocky Point, OR, I nice little town along the north shore of Klamath Lake.  I grew up in southern Oregon and it was nice to get back there for a long weekend.  You can take boy out of southern Oregon countryside, but you can't take the southern Oregon countryside out of this boy.  I miss it!

So anyhow...here's a start from a picture I took along the Wood River...

9"x12" oil on canvas board