Troublesome Wind

"Party Wagon" 9" x 12"

A farm next to my house was giving free rides with a tractor and wagon. This farm is always my default painting location when I don't feel like going very far. The wind was very troublesome that day and my pochade and painting ended up taking a nose dive face down into the dirt. Broke my tripod and sent turp all over me and my car. I was mad for a minute and then realized a bad day painting is better than a good day at my 8 to 5.

I plan on trying out a new brand of paints I just bought..."LeFranc". I have heard many people rave about them, especially their White. They are very affordable. I also added Viridian Green and Yellow Ochre to my palette. Common on many peoples palette but new to me. I will let you know.

Granny's Biscuits

"Granny's Biscuits"  6 x 8

    My wife was very excited to find this flour sifter at a yard sale that was identical to the one her Granny used. It filled her with so many memories that she had to have it. Her Granny is responsible for teaching her to cook. They were making cream gravy and biscuits together by age three. I never got to meet her Granny before she left us, but I would love to thank her for making my wife a wonderful cook.

Botanical Garden Gazebo

"Botanical Garden Gazebo" 9 x 12

I recently spent a fun day at the Fort Worth Kimball Art Museum with several painter friends. I was able to see paintings by artists like Guercino, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Monet, and Renoir, among others. They even had Michelangelo’s first known painting, The Torment of Saint Anthony on display. After a few hours  a couple of us actually pulled ourselves away to do some painting. This was a little Gazebo at the Botanical Garden. The light left me quickly and I was pretty beat up from the cold and windy conditions, but I was very happy to be outside!

I am also happy to report I am now a featured artist on "I love Grapevine Texas" web site. I am proud to help represent Grapevine and too have this opportunity. Please visit  the site and learn more about our great city and see more of my fellow artists.

Season's Greetings

"Tractor at Nash Farm" 8 x 10

Attended the Outdoor Painters Society Christmas Party a few weeks ago. The highlight is the white elephant painting exchange. Everyone brings an 8"x10" painting wrapped in plain brown paper. You pick a painting, unwrap it and sit back and watch the wolves steal it from you. It can change hands four times. I stole a Rusty Jones painting from someone else, just to have it taken from me. Next, I opened a John Cook that was then stolen by the next four people in line. I ended up with an awesome David Moreland Bates painting. ( click on his name to see the studio painting produced from my plein air painting I received that day )

How's that for a lineup. Not to shabby! 

"Tractor at Nash Farm" was my exchange painting and I'm happy to report it changed hands a couple times.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS"! Thank you to everyone that follows my Blog and everyone that takes the time to create a Blog to share. I'm looking forward to a great 2010.

Don't chase the Light

Subject at 3:00 late afternoon

Subject at 5:00 same day

Here is an example of how much the lighting can change on a subject while you're out painting. Comparing the photos its easy to see the drastic differences, but on site it is harder to see. The changes kind of sneak up on you.

I began this painting trying to anticipate what the light would do. I locked in my darks and then laid in my large shapes with a general color and saved the bright yellow orange colors for last.

If I had tried to paint in the light areas first, they were changing so fast, I would have been adjusting all the colors the whole time. You hear plein air painters instruct "don't chase the light" and this is what they are talking about. You can see in my finished painting that the lighting is somewhere in between the two photos.

"Chasing the Light" 8x10

"Ready to Work" 8"x 10"

The overcast weather was giving me fits during this painting and it resulted in a different palette of colors than my usual work. The light was constantly in a flux. I don't think this one scanned in very good. It looks better in real life.

Dads Old Truck Revisited

"Dad's Old Truck" revisited 9" x 12"

I wasn't happy with this painting when I posted it a few weeks ago, so I picked it up and went at it again. I added a glaze with Ultramarine Blue and Liquin to most of the shadow areas and applied a thicker and cleaner highlight to the front fender. I don't normally paint on my plein air work after it's dry, but I think this improved it and I'm happier with the final product.

Get Off My Lawn!

"The Tree Swing" 12" x 16"

I have wanted to paint this house for some time and I found my chance when I saw the owners out front doing some yard work. I walked up to the lady of the house and she seemed delighted that I wanted to paint on her land. So I set up my easel right off the sidewalk on the corner of their property and got to painting. I selected a 12" x 16" canvas which is larger than my typical size so right then I knew I was in for some work. About twenty minutes in the man of the house sees me and makes a bee line towards me looking very confused and not very happy that I was in his yard. I explained who I was and that I had asked permission from his wife because he was on a riding lawn mower at the time. After what seemed like much hesitation he told me I could continue. For the next two hours I was stared at and given the evil eye. My wife came out to check on me and quickly noticed the way I was being looked at. The man wanted no part of me being on his land or cared about looking at what I was doing. Then he walked over and told me I was done because he wanted to mow the grass I was standing on even though he had just done it when I walked up. Very confusing. The lady of the house had asked me to show it to her when I finished but I felt like I needed to leave. The painting was officially done.

Weird day, but hopefully worth it.

Evening Sky

"Evening Sky" Unfinished 9" x 12"

I don't normally show unfinished work because most of it is finished on site. I tried a different approach with this one by using softer brushes and Liquin as my medium. I was able to paint in most of the colors and then decided to let it dry. I'm thinking that building up the colors in layers of glazes will give it a softer glow. It was difficult not to slap on that fat, juicy thick paint I normally go for. I will post it again when I return to it.

Dad's Old Truck

"Dad's Old Truck" 9" x 12"

Recently I was out painting with several other painters. Three of us started painting the same identical scene. ( See previous post ) I was excited because I really respect the other two artists that were around me and I figured it was going to be a good learning experience to compare my painting to both of theirs. After I had finished I started to walk over to view the other painters at work. To my amusement one of the other painters started to hurriedly pack his painting away from sight. With a smile on my face, I asked him if I could see it and he quickly refused. After everyone stopped down for some lunch, I asked if he was going to let anyone see his painting and I received the same answer as before. This guy is a world class portrait painter and his studio work is jaw dropping to me. He has admitted that he is relatively new to plein air painting, but I seriously doubt his painting was anything to be embarrassed about. This showed me how tough plein air painting is, even for an expert level painter.

Maybe I’m not the only guy in the world that is guarded about his work.

I heard another very successful painter state that only one out of ten plein air paintings he does is worth displaying in a gallery. I also was able to visit his studio and see literally thousands of plein air paintings he has boxed and laying around. I learned that not every painting you do will be successful, let alone a masterpiece. Lately I find myself making less negative comments towards my own work and gaining more confidence.
Being hard on myself has always plagued me. I know posting my work online is helping me to open up. Art can be very personal.

Maybe I won’t be so hard on myself the next time my painting is not turning out.

It’s Great to Have Friends!

"Spreading Out" 9" x 12"

If you don’t belong to an art group or you don’t have painting partners, I strongly recommend it. Followers of my Blog can see that I haven’t been able to post as regular as I started. My full time job has really demanded a lot from me the past few months and it still hasn’t let up. I know this is not a totally bad thing in today’s economy, but it really puts a damper on my painting time. Some of my recent chances to paint have been spoiled by this famous random Texas weather. Not sure if there is a harder place to paint outside. This is where having painting partners provides a lift. My friends keep me in the loop and let me know what’s going on in the local plein air scene. Those friendships enable me to join in their outings and even sap some of their enthusiasm when I’m down. Recently I joined around thirty other artists on a great one day paint outing in Granbury Texas. We were unleashed on a 300 acre private ranch. Even though my paint skills were a little rusty, I had a great time! How can you not love painting in a group? Every person truly wanted to be there and you can tell they all treasure their time together.

I appreciate my friends Doug and Cecilia for including me in their “Reindeer games”!

Red Mountain Ghost Town revisited

"Red Mountain Ghost Town"

About a year ago I was lucky enough to take a Rusty Jones painting workshop. The first day, we stayed inside and painted from photographs Rusty brought with him. It should be no surprise that I went straight for an old paint flaking white house surrounded by trees. After first painting a value study, I proceeded to paint what turned out to be a pretty nice little painting. Rusty told me the photo was taken in Colorado while he himself was watching a demo by William Kalwick Jr. On my recent vacation to Colorado, I almost jumped out of my car when I spotted the real house from this painting. I wasn't searching for it, but just turned a corner and it was there. You would have thought I was seeing the ocean for the first time from my reaction. It was weird to see one of my painting subjects for the first time after painting it.

Now I have several photos of my own to work from.

( What you can't see is the hundreds of mosquitos swarming me )