Jim Dziura

This is the finished oil sketch done of my son Jim Dziura, an independent film maker and director in California. Jim stopped by last month for a visit and I got a couple of photos of him. The painting was started with a charcoal sketch on canvas and then through a series of washes and development I arrived at what I call a finished painting. I paricularily like the subtle use of color and the sketchy quality of the background drawing the viewers eye the face. The composition is unusual but I like it. Scroll down through the posts and pictures to see how it progressed from begining to end.

Stage seven

I'm almost done. well actually I'm not sure one ever gets done but I think I'm beging to get the likeness and am just looking for the last view adjustments to make.

Stage six

Now I begin to work on some detail and further refine edges, lights and darks.

Stafge five

The face is begining to take on some character at this point.

Stage four

Still filling in some color and developing the darks and lights.

Stage three

Here I begin to add a little color. I am using burnt sienna, french ultramarine blue and white. Three colors.

Stage 2

In this stage I applied more wash to develope value and modeling.

In the Begining

This is the begining layout for a sketch portrait of my son Jim. I used charcoal to rough in the features and washes of thinned oil paint to begin the establishment of values.

Photographing Paintings

Photographing paintings to day. A couple of fly fishing oils and a couple of drawings from a life drawing session the other night. I have a set up that is dedicated to photographing art so it is real convenient...just a matter of doing it. I like to wait until I have seveeral to do and that way it is a little more efficient use of the time. Post processing of the images actually takes longer than the actual photographing them. I shoot everything in "raw" format so that if I choose to make prints of the image at some point in the future I have the files on hand. They will of course all be processed for the web also.

Hopefully I'll get them posted tomorrow.

Travel Log Update

As you know if you’ve been following me for very long, I like to get out and about, traveling hither and yon as they say. I keep it somewhat close to home, two or three days out a week at the most. I’ve got too much to do to be gone for very long.

What is particularly fun is to strike out for a couple of days in search of a painting. I love to discover a beautiful landscape that would yield a wealth of material for new paintings. A big bonus is to find a little town that is friendly, has a pretty good place or two to eat and maybe enjoy an adult beverage in after a long day out in the field. A comfortable bed in a cheap motel would be nice. Not too much to ask for.

I like to stroll the typical old Main Streets that most of these little rural towns have, discovering interesting shops and keeping an eye out for some appealing light cast upon an old building or store front. One can usually find something unique in every little town, with any number of paintings waiting to be made or photographs waiting to be taken. The joy of the search and the reward of the find.

I came across such a place earlier this winter. I just sort of took some time to look around and pay attention. Ignoring the “grass is always greener” syndrome. What I found was really very pleasing. I could say that the landscape surrounding this little burg is typical of what one might find in the Intermountain West which would be true. The local people however seem to be pretty proud of their view and rightly so. There is a lot of incredible scenery to paint near this little settlement. I could probably never go anywhere else and not live long enough to paint what is there.

The Main Street of this little town had everything an artist would want. There were a number of old very interesting buildings and in the right light they yielded some very good subject matter and true to my expectations I found a couple of really good places to eat. Everything from the quaint café/bakery eatery to a couple of fine dining establishments with unique menus. I found a local brewery making some pretty good beer too. The best part was that the local folks are very friendly and inviting. There was even a gallery or two to boot.

I began to realize that this is a place where I could stay and paint for the rest of my life. Welcome to Montrose, Colorado, my home town.

This column originally appeared in the Montrose Daily Press yesterday, Feb. 5 2010