Into The high Country

Here is another oil painting I just finished. It is a commission from the Western Colorado Wool Growers Association. It will be auctioned off at their annual banquet held tomorrow evening. It was a last minute request but I applied myself and got it done for them

I really love this painting. Colorado high country is a favorite subject for me but this is my first painting that I have put sheep in. The herder in the lower left corner is moving his flock into the higher ranges. The early evening made for a great effect of light with the long cast shadows contrasting against the warm bright late day sunlight. I hope it does well for them. It was a joy to paint.

Bow Lake Morning

This is the painting of Bow Lake I was referring to a few posts back. I finally got it finished and yes I did crop 4 inches off of the bottom. This makes the painting a 28 x 40. The reason I cropped it was because I wanted to lower the horizon line, thereby putting more emphasis on the upper two thirds of the painting which is where I wanted the attention.

Bow Lake is a wonderful spot in the Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The Num-ti-jah Lodge sits on the shore with a commanding view of the glacier, lake and surrounding mountains. We have stayed there and highly recommend it. The owners of the lodge are very supportive of the arts and have hosted many artists over the years.

Gesture Drawings

All artists should know the importance of drawing. It is absolutley critical when it comes to realistic paintings. Landscape paintings are somewhat more forgiving in that nobody really knows if that tree is a little taller than it should be or the mountain has a bit more peak to it than in reality. However, when it comes to fiqures, buildings, most man-made objects in general, proper drawing is very neccessary. Gesture drawings are a good practice for several reasons. The artist can use the sessions to sharpen hand-eye coordination and in the case of moving objects, train the mind and the eye to capture the motion, force and sharpen the skill of observation.

Last weekend I decided to watch the play off game between the Saints and the Vikings with sketch pad in hand. It was quite a challenge to capture bits and pieces of what was happening on the field. As can be seen in the following images, I started off with some trepidation but soon got into the groove. I began to look for a certain movement or action that I found interesting and then made rapid lines in an effort capture the essence of what I saw. I quickly realized I had to rely a lot on memory of what I had seen. Slow motion replays also helped. Additionally I began to see certain kinds of actions repeat themselves. Pass receivers generally moved in a similar manner. Blockers and tacklers likewise.

One could just as easily use most any scene in a TV program for the purpose of gesture drawing. I found the effort very rewarding and quite fun. I'll be doing it again for sure. I used a ball point pen and some inexpensive 11 x 14 newsprint for this excersise. With practice however, I can see using a journal type sketch pad for a collection of these types of drawings.

As you can see here, I began with some pretty simple lines and stick type figures, finally gaining enough confidence to do two figures engaged with each other. The point was to try and capture the energy and flow of the figures.

Again, I'm still in the early stages of the game and just trying to "warm up" to the idea.

It was hard to do much analysis of what I was drawing as I was doing it because I was working quite rapidly which did allow me to react to the motion without thinking about it too much however.

This was my first effort at handling mutiple figures. Obviously I had to work it up after the action had taken place but I found it easier to do than I thought it would be.

Another "pile up".

Hope you enjoyed these results and maybe it will inspire you to try it.

Back in the Groove

Well, it's been a grueling Holiday Season...I'm happy to say. Having a frame shop, studio and gallery open to the public and doing most of the work myself (since cutting back on staff due to the recession) I was quite busy for awhile there. Consequently, my painting efforts suffered somewhat. The two little oils in the two previous posts below were done before the Christmas rush but I waited until now to offer them up.

Additionally I've been working on a larger 32x40 oil of a scene looking on Bow Lake in Alberta Canada. We stayed at a lodge right on the lake a couple of years ago when a group of us rode our motorcycles into Canada. I did a couple of little watercolor sketches on location there and then used them and some photos to do a 12x16 oil, pictured above.

I am using this oil and a photo to do the larger version. As is often the case however, moving from a small format to a large format doesn't neccessarily result in the same effect. As a result, I am struggling with the new larger version, particularily with the foreground. I am happy with the upper two thirds of the piece and I suppose the easy way out would be to crop most of the foreground off with the knife. I am going to continue to try and resolve the issue first however and save the cropping as a last ditch effort to save the piece. I'll keep you informed as to how it is going. Hopefully it won't be long because I'm getting tired of fooling with this painting.

Jazzing It Up

I love to come across street musicians. It doesn't matter what the instruments are, I am fascinated by musical talent of any kind. I found these two guys blowing some great tunes on a sidewalk in Southern California a couple of years ago and knew I had to capture them in a painting.

On the Crystal River

Here's a little oil painting I did of a gentleman on the Crystal River in Colorado. The little river is one of the most beautiful there is. To top it all off, there is a campground right on a portion of the river. Last summer Kathy, my wife, and I stayed there for a couple of days so I could do a little painting and fishing. As I approached this segment of the river, I caught this figure in the shadows sillouetted against the opposite sunlit bank. I knew immediately it would make a painting. I may use this idea for a larger studio painting.

Albert Handell

Spent a wonderful day with Albert Handell on Saturday. I took my wife Kathy to Santa Fe for the New Year weekend and I arranged a meeting for her with Albert. She is a fan of his and wanted to get one of his books.

I met Albert several years ago at the Telluride Plein Air Festival in Telluride, Colorado. Albert is a real gentleman and was very gracious. We spent several hours with him touring his studio and looking over his pastels and oils. What a treat that was. Then later in the afternoon he joined us for a bite to eat.

Albert is very focused on his art and a true inspiration. I look forward to going back and spending more time with him.