East Tawas Explosion #2

I've got to keep shooting until I hit something!

This one is closer to the target than yesterdays version,

although I just noticed that the grasses along the front

are static ... equal spaces, lines the same width, that will

be fixed by tomorrow. Also, I could've warmed up one of

the blue background trees. Still not comfortable with the

style of painting. It seems so far from what I'm used to.

I'll experiment with it for a while and see where it goes.

It needs refinement and some outward confidence by the

arteeest.

Today, the wash brush didn't have total control. It took a coffee

break and I didn't, so took over until it tapped on my shoulder

and said "I'm Back".

Again no mercy! Have at it so I can learn something, huh?

I'm an old dog, so I can't learn new tricks, ooooh sorry Sam.

Hey did you all notice that we have a multiple award winner

on the blogs with us. Check out Loriann Signori and A painting a day.

She's an inspiration for a lot of us.

Till later everyone, and have a great and properous, peaceful

2010. Happy New Year Blog Friends!

Hey, who's in charge here?

Yes I know this does not resemble the value study done

for this subject. Let's put it this way, it took me about 3 hours

to take back control. (not sure who was in charge)

By the time that happened the only thing that might save it

would be to hose it off.

So I was sitting there pondering the rest of the day ... I looked

down and saw I was holding my 1" flat wash brush. Hmmm.

Well that's when things went crazy again. I sat quietly and watched

as my hand holding the brush went chunking and stroking away.

I thought, well if you think you can do better than me then go for it.

It was fun to watch (I never gave it much hope with the brush in charge).

After trashing my palette and mudding up the water containers, it jumped

out of my hand and landed back in the brush jar.

Mary walked in about then and said, hey this one is coming together!

I looked at her with a puzzled look on my face and said, "really?"

Well if like it ... Let the record show I went ahead a signed it.

Still puzzled ... whatcha all think ... show no mercy!

signed: the guy with a brush that runs his life.

Sunflower Farm

Value study! Hopefully something in color before

2010.

The Huron Side

I'm following the example set by my good friend B.

She has been practicing these value studies and sharing

with everyone at her blog loriannsignori.blogspot.com

Take a look at her wonderful work.

I'm taking this to heart. I will faithfully ??? pursue

one each for every painting I attempt. I've been struggling of

late with colors, mud and lack of punch. Seems like doing

a value study will be a good exercise for me. I've done others

but I feel good about this one. Charcoal pencil on good

quality news print. Feel free to share what your process is,

rather value studies are important to painting or you follow

another process.

Remember this is a watercolor blog so we'll see how this drawing

interprets with watercolor. Thanks everyone, have

a great Christmas!

One Minute of Thought

One minute to capture the

movement, mood, line of the

hips, the shoulders and rough

proportions. Certainly a

crude start but gives a strong

basis to continue.

Just filling in.

And what you say is this? Little scrap of blotter

paper I use for testing colors while painting. The

reason it's here is because it's a stand in for the piece

I'm working on.

I guess you could call it meaningless blog fodder.

Hey, maybe I'll change the name of my blog to

Blog Fodder Supreme with onion rings.

On one knee

Life session. Conte on newsprint.

Sketch it!

Saturday Sketches

Not Another Day

Fear not, a pastelist I'll never be. Just couldn't

stand another day of watercolor so I pulled out some

old cheap pastels. Took the shot before I knocked the

dust off. Watercolor tomorrow.

Scrap paper

When I'm painting, I like to keep a piece of scrap

watercolor paper next to the paper so I can test colors

before painting with them. I should have framed the

scrap, since the painting failed. Isn't it amazing how free

and easy we can be when not shackled by a preconceived

idea. I know that's how it works for me. I need to remember

that. Do others feel that way?

No Post

System failure...

Small but Effective

OK, here it is. In the first photo is of course some guy

in the studio acting like he's retired. The next photo is

the closet storage area. Large metal rack to store matt board

and backer board plus portfolio cases, easels, photo reference,

and anything else I can cram in there.

The next photo shows what I always dreamed of having.

Flat files, 4 five drawer units. Creates a work surface

and stores piles of paintings, some matted, some not.

Different types of watercolor paper, extra palettes, sketch books

and again, whatever I can cram in there.

Shot from the door of the dining room. Most of the time

the door is closed and I have music playing to cover other

disturbing noises. My wife and I are both retired and we

have two kids and 8 grandkids living within 7 miles of our house.

Hence the closed door. Actually, it's a lost cause when the cookie

crumblers show up. I love em anyway. Most days are quiet, especially

in the winter time.

Reflections of Frustration

I think I still hear someone!

Next time Listen

This haunted me for 5 days. Laughing at me from the flat

file. It didn't deserve the amount of time I gave it. While I

was working on it, even today. I could here someone hollering

STOP, STOP, STOP! Then I realized it was me. Instincts didn't

pay off this time.

Up in the Beech

Plein Air, 5 x 7 watercolor on cold press.

Failing realism last week I went with the 1" flat.

No one said plein air was about realism. As a painting

it was short and sweet.

Blue Male

More life!

Conte on news-print.

18 x 24

Post Something! OK.

Little doodles lead to something.

Time to say thanks!

Blogging is still fairly new to me. I'm still amazed at

how many people take time and thought to leave helpful

and rewarding comments.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you that

are followers and the many that just stop by and leave

comments. Thanks everyone!

Ludington Pier

This is my contribution to vertical formats.

It's my favorite lighthouse in Michigan

because of the sharp angle shape and the play

of light on the sides. The black base just adds

to what interests me. I love the worn pier and

pieces that have fallen into the water. It stands

solid through all the storms that have tried to

take it. I've painted it several times because of

the great perspective of the pier and the range of

colors from the surroundings.

The Blue Bucket

There is a warning attached with this post. The photo is awful.

I will post it again later when I have a chance to get a decent

photo.

This is a beach scene I painted on hot press paper. The effects

are totally different than painting on cold press paper. The

paint tends to sit on top of the paper surface rather than

settling into the rough surface of cold press. So this painting

is more of an experiment than a finished piece.

Kauai Coast

This is a very simple memory painting from our visit to Kauai.

There are new paintings coming so stay tuned.

Somewhere, No where

Sometimes I just have to paint something from somewhere

in my mind or imagination. It might take 30 seconds or

5 minutes, just enough to say the brush was wet the colors

were flowing and now I'm done. I've accomplished something.

That's right, I painted.

First on the Scene

As you can see by the paper

texture that this is a very small

piece. However, it is a piece

so lets go with that. This was

going no where until I hit it

2 or 3 times with the

spray bottle. I suppose you

could call it an accident, I call

it the right set of circumstances.

High Wind

from the flat files

Found this one hiding deep in a flat file.

A plein air attempt from a couple of years ago.

Yup, that's right, it looks like a perfect clear

day. It was ... only the wind was howling straight

into my face at a steady 40 with gusts much higher.

I had enough tears in my eyes to keep my brushes

clean. I sat with my back against a large pine tree

and trying to hang onto my board, water, colors

and anything else that was loose. Maybe I'll

finish it someday. Just brought back a memory.

San Francisco Peaks

from the flat files

Just outside of Flagstaff Arizona.

7 x 12 plein air on Arches cold press,

140 # watercolor paper.

From by gone days

I thought I would throw this one in

just to change things up. A painting

I finished long ago for a client.

Life Drawing

Just getting back into life drawing after about 45 years. Here are some rough

gestures from last night. It's a beginning.

Wild Orchards by the Bay

Just finished today. 12 x 18 watercolor on Arches Cold Press.

Compare to the previous post of orchards. Two different days,

two totally different results. Mostly intensional. The suggestion

to try this came from my friend Loriann. Thanks Loriann, it

was a lot of fun.

Orchards on the Bay

from the flat files

15 x 20 plein air piece from 2 years ago.

Watercolor on Arches 140 # cold press paper.

5 x 7 Conte Sketch

Trying a less literal route to this future painting of

the view from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia. I've been

using Conte Crayon for life drawing. It was handy.

Off in the Distance

from the flat files

This is a plein air piece from my last visit to Sedona.

Not sure how this ended up in my flat files.

My Wee Little Studio

Thought you all might want to see where all the paintings

come from. It's sufficient but could always be larger. I think

it's time to get clean water and put the top back on the palette.

Bark Island Light

I think something is wrong with my camera, possibly me.

This is attempt number 2. I figure about two more tries and

I think I'll have it. This is different paper (Fabriano Artistico)

It may be too soft for this subject. I'm going to let this sleeping

dog lie for a while. I'll try again later. In the mean time I'm moving

onto another subject.

New Hampshire

Passing by a New Hampshire farm on the way to Maine.

This painting went in several directions today. It came up

just short of the burn pile. I'm still considering it. What

do think ... burn or save?

This is a very poor photo of the painting

Washington Lumber Mill

From the flat files

Decided to post this while I work on paintings from

Maine. 15 x 20 watercolor on Arches cold press paper.

On Watch

The beginning of paintings from Maine.

Morning came early and told me it was time to paint.

There are still some things I want to change, but generally

I like the direction of this painting. Any thoughts?

As always, thanks for stopping by and I look forward to

future visits.

Acadia, 2nd try (Maine)

Still poor photo quality. This version is quicker and seems

to have more depth. To me it feels like a cartoon background.

Along the Coast (Acadia)

Not only is this a poor quality photo, but I'm not thrilled

with the painting. It started out way to literal and ended up

even worse.

Bar Harbor (Maine)

Only time for sketches yesterday.

View from the top (Maine)

7 x 10 Watercolor on Arches Cold Press.

A cold windy day with gray clouds rushing by and about

8,000 people all trying to stand on the same rock.

Bass Head Light (Maine)

I think it's time to clean the mud off this palette.

The Truth!

Yes I'm in Maine. I had great expectations of painting

and drawing in plein air. So far that's been a bust. I want

to but I can't work up the energy to try. Can't explain it, but

it's happened before. We've done plenty of site seeing the last

two days and like all the impressive views. I tend to worry about

things I have no control over. This creates unfounded anxiety, my

worst enemy. I appreciate everyones support and kind comments.

Just wanted you to know what's happening.

Maybe tomorrow.

Maine

Just wanted you all to know that I'm really here.

A Walk in the Park

From the flat files

One of the first plein air attempts from several years ago.

After spending far too many years as a commercial artist, plein air

painting was something new for me. Now retired, I have time to

try it out. I joined a group that met once a month and got a feel

for what I needed to do.

This trip was too a small town in southern Michigan. I found this

park and settled into this spot. It was a cold misty day in the fall.

Not conducive to brilliant color and contrasting shadows, it became

a struggle and challenge. I wanted to put in the base color scheme

with wet in wet technique. That part went well ... it was at that time

I realized that the wet paper was going to lay there wet for the rest of

the day. Wellllllllll, I was cold and damp, the paper was cold and damp,

so I fired up the car and turned the heat on high and hoped for the best.

It did finally dry enough to continue. I think at this point my interest

was no longer what it needed to be and the painting lost something

because I was in a hurry to finish and go get some coffee. The big tree

is too heavy and over worked and dominates far too much. I think the

best thing about the painting is the last stroke I made. I quick brush

across the road up close to the front. Adds a little flair. All in all it's ok,

but as I sit here writing about it, I see the things I should have done and

are anxious to attempt it again in the studio.

I know an artist is his own worst critic, but I choose to write about the

good and bad about paintings so that people at different levels of

ability realize that all of us struggle and sometimes fail. Everyone

needs to know this so they feel comfortable with continuing.

I think it's important!!

Well, Thursday I'm off to Acadia National Park in Maine for 7 days.

Hopefully this will spark my interest in plein air painting again.

Wish me luck.