Over the past several weeks I've been on a abstract kick. I've completed four paintings in two months. That's pretty good for me, as I usually only end up with about six to ten every year. I just lack daily motivation. But my brain has provided a couple of ideas lately so I opened up some acrylics and here are the results.
Most are available to watch the creative process on my YouTube channel @Paintings by Pintar
This post is for the hard core artists who might stumble across my blog. As you've seen I don't regularly post because....I don't have a good reason why not. I just don't. BUT, here is a link to YT videos that I did and discusses the concept of color and value. There are two parts. If you punish yourself and make it through part 1, please grab another cup of your favorite beverage and watch part 2.
I recently finished my "first" wave painting. I took reference photos from a vacation to Barbados and used one of them for this work. The challenge was to get realistic looking foam getting sucked back from the shoreline to this incoming breaker. Take a look at this video for start to finish how it was created. Wave painting with oils
So I'm on a roll (with 2 posts in 1 day) and have a bunch of art that needs to be published...for whoever might be interested in seeing it. Here's another piece I did last week plein air while in the Village of Fenney, central Florida. I was facing the sun so some of the photos are a bit washed. But the sequence is shown below. Painting cypress trees with Spanish Moss is fun. And the bugs were non-existent as was the heat.
The source photo and location shot
A quick sketch to get things positioned
Darks, sky, tree trunks placed
I got to sit right next to the car so the final piece. 1.5 hours 11x14 oil on canvas panel
My relocation to The Villages in Florida offers a variety of new art adventures. The Villages is home to what looks like several 100 artists from painters to sculptures, wood makers, fiber and many other media. It's really unbelieveable!
The artist group Villages Art League recently sponsored an exhibition "Inspired by the Masters". As the name indicates, artists research historical paintings created by any of the great master painters of the past and then use one as an inspiration to create their own.
I selected Edward Henry Potthast, an American Impressionist who was known for his beach scenes featuring people at leisure. Several weeks ago my wife and I had visited Daytona Beach and I snapped several photos of people walking the beach and kids playing in the sand. This is the reference photo I used for my inspiration.
I created an oil painting on 18x24 canvas. The piece was awarded 2nd place from the 32 entries.
This fall I was driving around aimlessly looking for somewhere to paint. If I spent as much time painting plein air as I did looking for that so-called perfect spot, I'd be a much better artist! By chance, as I blasted down a highway at 60mph I glanced to the right to look up a weedy road. STOP...pull over and back up. Nothing posted as private so I drive in about 40 yards and here is this awesome abandoned bard/shed. The painting had to be looking inside the building with all the broken wood slats and light streaming through the roof.
I didn't get a close up of the 8x10 oil painting, but it was fun to try and get those grays correct. I kept the palette to just a couple colors and tried to work fast. So after driving for an hour, I painted for an hour. The sun was going down and it was time to,,,drive another hour back home. Such is the life of this plein air artist.
I was invited back this year to paint at the corporate Bostik Christmas Party. Held at the Calatrava/Milwaukee Art Museum, it was a great event. This painting was a raffle item, won by a woman who frequents this coffee shop, Colectivo, in the Fourth Ward of Milwaukee. Completed in acrylic on 40x30 gallery wrap canvas over 4 hour period. I was able to snap a couple of progress photos (bottom up).
On a recent morning this summer I stopped down by the Milwaukee Yacht Club. It was 6am and I wanted to get a painting done before going to the office. This 12x16 set up perfect right outside the main marina area. Their MYC boat with a small sailboat positioned just perfectly. I set up right next to these two and got to work. I liked it. Just need to find a MYC member to sell it to!
Since I'm a fan of Richard Schmid I was lucky enough to travel to Burlington VT and participate with 9 other artists at the June workshop with Mark Boedges. Mark has painted with Richard and shared many of his techniques that mimic those of Schmid.
My connector flight got canceled so I missed morning #1 but caught up with everybody in time to paint that afternoon. Here are a bunch of shots as Mark worked his magic at Shelburne Farms right outside Burlington.
On Day 3 we went back to Shelburne and Mark took on the Coach House close to Lake Champlaign. Here was that effort.
I realized making blog posts is not a habit of mine. Go ahead, click on "Next Blog" and see when the last day a post was made. I'm not alone. We all have good intentions. Most of us fail. This blog was supposed to be a recap of my artistic ventures. I just don't think about posting every time I paint or have a creative thought. More than likely I'll videotape my antics and post to my YouTube Channel. Hey, I enjoy writing, it's just with work and things, this is not my default method to communicate online. Part of me thinks "who cares anyway?" Most don't.
I did recently complete a pastel painting. Of course, Blogger doesn't allow uploads from your local drive, and I didn't take a picture with my Android phone and it resides nowhere else online, so at this exact moment I can't post it. Ugh.
I do have some goals set for next year. No it's not buying Eric Rhodes Artist Boot Camp DVD, but it does sound interesting. And I do have the money. But I have to ask myself, how serious do I take myself with respect to art? Shit, I just started a new full time job. This is my focus. Three years to retirement...I hope. Then I can paint all I want...I hope. If I'm lucky, I'll double my blog posts from this year. And that's good enough for me.
As the year comes to a close I was wondering how many pieces of art I created this year. I don't keep very good records by month/year but I do have a pretty good idea. Sure, I can go through the dozens....185 to be exact...paintings that pile up in my studio and I'll remember what I did this year.
I had goals for my art, many were hit, some not. Art is not my sole source of income. Thank God, because I would epitomize the starving artist label. Again, I don't create art solely for making money. It's nice, believe me, when someone purchases one of my pieces. Two galleries I exhibited in closed, so I lost local exposure. I've done nothing to get new gallery representation. But, that's okay.
So what about the art? Let's start with a piece, two to be exact, that just sold to a buyer in New Jersey. He happens to be an artist too, and saw my bit on YouTube. First the plein air video. I did it during Christmas break 2012, about a year ago.
I liked the scene enough that I decided to make a bigger version back in the studio. That video is here.
24x36" Oil "December Chill" sits framed on my dining room wall. The cool thing about this one is the scene is literally less than a mile from my house. Sometimes I drive around for hours looking for a place to paint plein air. This was the painting that started out my 2013.
It's a couple days after Christmas. I'm still looking for a job. It's gray outside. I haven't seriously painted in several weeks. Hello...brain...tell this body to get off it's butt and do something...like paint.
So I know I have to paint more from life. But, it's winter. It's cold. It's ugly out. Isn't it? As a matter of fact, I love snow. It's the cold that I really could live without. I enjoy a big snowstorm. And when the snow is wet and sticks to everything, it's really a beautiful sight. Guess what it did just before Christmas? It snowed. Wet snow. It hasn't melted down and there's a painting waiting for me somewhere.
Okay, make a decision: I'm going to go paint outside. Ya know, plein air style. And I know just where I'm going to go because I scoped this spot out earlier yesterday, a whopping mile from my house. The resulting plein air trip produced a nice little study of snow, trees and a winding creek with fallen trees. It was a beautiful scene. The study has got me thinking about a full size studio version.
But for now, here's the video I put together as I trampled through a field on a perfect neutral gray day to do a little painting.
I've used a palette knife for many years. For awhile all my paintings were done exclusively with a knife. I've got about 10 varieties, but truth be told I only use about 4. In the classes I've taught many students want to learn how to use a knife. It's pretty easy. Just don't treat it like a brush.
One of the best things about using one is the clean-up process. Just a roll of paper towels and you're done! Plus, in between colors requires just a wipe and you move on. No solvents, rags, etc. For oils it's really a great option. It also forces me to focus on big shapes and away from over-blending colors.
Over the years, I've filled several sketchbooks. If I was an art student I would fall short: Always be drawing and sketching was what I remember. But alas, now I'm more mature with a fuller schedule, and an art career that is mainly just a hobby. But, I still sketch and love to draw. Here are a couple of my doodles.
Tux, my cat. Charcoal on vellum.
Some super hero. Pen
Male portrait, pen
Blues musicians. Pencil. While at Bluesfest 2010 Wisconsin
RIU Palace resort. Riveria Maya, Mexico. pencil. This was paradise.
Poolside at The Venitian, Las Vegas. Pencil. It was 100* that day.
For some dumb reason I walked into a closet I have downstairs and wondered how many paintings I had in there. So I started counting. These are paintings/drawings I've completed over the last 12 years.
10 years is about the amount of time I got "back into" my art. During 2000 when I lived in Grand Rapids, MI I took a class on figure drawing. It was fun. Then I found a local arts group called Grand Valley Artists, GVA. This was more fun, and I met some very well known national artists; Jim Markel PSA, Larry Blovets, and a few more. It got me back into art, something I had given up during the previous 10 years as I pursued a career and got married.
So around the house I went. And in the end...not counting a drawer full of smaller canvases and my "paper" box of sketches and pastel works: 139 pieces. I was kind of shocked. I've also got, without going to my inventory list, another 40 pieces at galleries and two dentist offices.
139 and still counting. I need to have a show, even if it's my own private show just to look at how far I've come as an artist. Maybe I'll do that. Stay tuned.
So what is it to be an artist? Do you just roll out of bed one day and decide to create? People just aren't born and ready. They're inspired. By Life. The stories the artist tells, whether it be in words or pictures comes from a deep place within their sole. The heart becomes a place that is full of memories of the past and dreams for the future. So what is it to be an artist?
My story may be like so many others: I'm troubled about things. I bottle up feelings. I'm angry. I'm sad. I need love. I can't find love. I see things around me in this world that are troubling. I see beauty. I want to see God. Most don't. Can you believe?
We're all story tellers. Cover your mouth before you think! Words can get us into trouble. Actions get us into trouble. Anger, jealousy, rage...it's all around us. So we need an escape. We need a way to let those feelings out. So many of us try the seduction of booze and chemicals. Freedom from the bondage of self. It's all so momentary. The feeling is gone as fast as it happens. But we chase the dream. The dream to express our true feelings, to tell a story, and to be heard. So we lay down paint...we write lyrics...we see moving images....we dance....write....act. Who are we?
I'm an artist. But I struggle still to please people and not myself. That's what masturbation is for anyway. Why not lay down a different track? Compliance is such a dirty word. I want to be different. I want to be known. I want to be creative in my own right. I want to let those bottled up, pent up emotions flow out the end of a paintbrush, out of my mouth, through words on paper. That's what it is.
I just finished my first piece of 2010; abstract acrylic. I'll get the photo up shortly. I've got a portrait of my daughter on the easel, where it's been on and off for two weeks. It's a bit intimidating...the biggest canvas I've ever worked on...and a 3/4 figure with hands, which is always a bit tougher. I have to get over the thought if I screw it up it's a bust. Fact is I can just gesso it and start over.
Hope to get some paint down soon.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
My submission for the Cedarburg Plein Air competition. Painted at Covered Bridge Park.
Got a call from gallery today to let me know I sold another painting! Hurray, I can pay the rent for 4 more months. Now how do I live off my art? How about paint more and focus. Sorry....didn't even take a photo off this piece. Shame on me!
It's been awhile since I've painted outside (plein air) but with several events coming up I figured I'd get some practice in. Stumbled on this spot while biking the other day and decided to hike back in. Worked a lot on my value range since I really feel there are some problems I'm having in that area. Color didn't matter as much this time around. Even though I finished it in an hour, the sun had moved enough to wipe out the shadows I was looking at to begin with. These are the sequence photos:
