Oil Painting- seeing color as value

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.

PART 1

PART 2

2nd Place & Artist Choice- New Berlin Plein Air Competition

Lucky me: The urban landscape of New Berlin, Wisconsin. About 50k people, lots of office and industrial parks, main artery freeway and a couple of winding roads and vanishing barns. But I went to one of my favorite places in NB, Calhoun Park. Three soccer fields, a baseball diamond and one pond. The pond with a bridge. I love it. Reeds, trees, scum, ducks. It's a painting waiting to happen. And the verdict is 2nd place PLUS the coveted Artist's Choice. Thanks people.

I went out of the box with my approach and got all impressionistic. Cape Cod school of art was my influence with 5 layers and heavy palette knife. Painted 9:30-11:30am on a sunny Saturday morning.

Vernazza Italy- SOLD

Created this little one in the studio after a visit to Vernazza, Italy in the Cinque Terra area. Was fortunate enough to have someone love this painting and collect it. Enjoy.

As the year ends

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.

Palette Knife 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.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Class is in session

This week I started my two new adult intro to oil painting classes. In my third year now doing it in Wauwatosa, and a new start in Waukesha. Of course, I left my sample work in Tosa. Hope no damage due to high schoolers wanting to claim them as their own!

I've decided to let students know they need to have some drawing skills if they want to have successful paintings. You'd think that's obvious, but many come in all starry eyed about learning to use oils....and then what? One of the hardest mediums to learn requires the basics being down. I believe what I was told: Good painting can't save bad drawing.