Scott Serafica's Painting from Life

Yellow Carnations

2012-02-08T10:13:00.002-06:00

These are my yellow carnations. I chose not to use a warm spot light on this. Instead, I just had the overhead fluorescents on. I was painting these during the Super Bowl. Every 30 minutes I would take a break and watch the game.

White Carnations

2012-02-08T10:11:00.005-06:00

I had this in the NBAL show in January and got a lot of compliments on it. I think carnations are my favorite flower to paint.
Here are the Judge's comments from the show:

I really like the artist's use of many colors to convey one object or surface. Almost narrative in the way these inanimate objects are given life, this artist really humanizes the objects depicted in such a gestural fashion. Specifically, Carnations, reminds me of Degas' Ballerinas, the way they are painted and move off the canvas to the right.

- Mary Mikel Stump, Judge

How long will you wait?

2012-02-04T10:39:00.020-06:00

Patience is a virtue. I'm reminded of the importance of patience when I drive my car. Sometimes I'll get impatient and go when I should wait. The cars come speeding by and I think I'll never get a chance to go. I take a chance and pull out. Hopefully the other drivers slowdown a bit but I swear some of them speed up. Almost like they want to hit me. Once I get in my lane and look over at the traffic I just missed, I notice it did clear up and I should have waited. Now what's the worst that could happen? Someone could hit my car and it would be my fault. I could also get hurt and maybe hurt the other driver. Maybe I'll never drive again. If I was patient and wait for my turn, the reward is I could continue safely on my journey. And probably arrive at my destination with no time lost.

In representational art, the wait to produce good paintings can be a long time. Maybe a decade before your competent enough. Be patient. I realize I have put a decade of work into my paintings but I also realize there is a long road ahead of me. If I was in a rush to be a great painter I would get aggravated and quit because it wasn't happening immediately. Like I should be born with this talent. As soon as we pick up a paint brush and put paint on a canvas, Aunt Edna says, "That's so great you should be in a gallery", "Your so talented". Now I have no Aunt Edna but just insert the name of any supportive family member. What Aunt Edna doesn't realize is what it takes to be a great artist. What is a great artist? A great artist has years and years of experience put into every brush stroke. Unconscious competence in Composition, Warm and Cool, Edges, Values, Drawing, etc. Your not painting pretty pictures. Your painting "Life". Your painting your interpretation of how the light falls on a subject. That's why painting from photographs is a mistake if you have never painted from life. Photos may give you a pretty picture but they will not give you a correct representation of the light (what we are really painting).

I often think back to when I started painting. I was around 29 years old. I thought I was a good painter of pictures. Then after a while I realized I was not after a "pretty picture" Then it became a lot harder. It also became a lot more rewarding. 11 years later I'm still after the light. Granted I've only been painting seriously since 2008. But at 29 years old If I knew it would take this long to produce good art would I still take up the challenge? I think so. If I stay with it and keep learning, I will reap the rewards. But If I give up then this is all there is.

We need to live with an understanding that if only we have patience and keep advancing little by little, someday we will achieve our goals. But if we rush through this journey to success expecting immediacy, it could be a short one. A disastrous one. A journey infected with depression and despair. It's easy to give up and say "I tried". However, if we only held out long enough the traffic would have let up. So give your goals (your life's work) time to mature, to grow inside you. And one day you will wake up as one of the competent and happy ones of your generation.

Wednesday Night - Copinni 2/1/12

2012-02-02T19:47:00.003-06:00

The last time I painted Ayanna it was one of the best paintings I've ever done at Copinni. I would post it on my blog but unfortunately I worked on it while it was half wet. So I ended up ruining it.

Sarah - rework

2012-02-01T12:24:00.007-06:00

Sarah 2012

Sarah 2011

This was from the Dan Gerhartz workshop in 2011. Of course I left all the paint strokes by Dan. All I really did was rework the background to the edge. I'm finally getting good at these painterly backgrounds.

Thankful - rework

2012-01-22T12:16:00.003-06:00

Thankful 2012

Thankful 2010

First let me say, You should never go back and rework on paintings. I have ruined numerous paintings this way. But, I had such luck with the last reworking of "Bob" I decided to improve "Thankful" also. I was really happy with the way the face was painted but not too crazy about the bottom and background. Such a beautifully painted face with such a bland background. To spruce it up I dry-brushed some of the hair color into the background and added some more alizarin crimson. I like the unfinished look of a painting around the edges but to me the bottom looked too unfinished. I added some skin tones and played with the edges of her shoulders. This was from a Dan Gerhartz workshop at "Weekend with the Masters 2010". I had the best time there and Dan was very helpful.

Christie

2012-01-19T19:22:00.006-06:00

Every once and awhile I'll do a portrait at Coppini that I'm really proud of. This time I got really close to the model and It made all the difference in the world. Usually I'm stuck in the back of the room "Squinting at my subject".

Model - Wednesday

2012-01-12T21:13:00.004-06:00

I was in the back of the room at Coppini trying to paint the model. Too far for a portrait. All the people who were drawing on the wooden benches were in front. When they left there was 10 minutes left so I eased on up and discovered my painting had major things wrong with it. The shadow side of the face was a lot darker than I was seeing. So in 8 minutes I tried to save this painting. Good Practice!

NBAL Art Show 2012

2012-01-08T18:32:00.002-06:00

I'm privileged to be a part of the first show of the year at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery. I'm in this show because I was "Artist of the Month" in October. The judge for the show said she loved the Carnations and "they seemed to dance off the canvas like Edgar Degas' ballerinas". A very nice comment, Thank You.

Bob - rework

2012-01-07T19:10:00.009-06:00

Bob 2012

Bob 2010

Bob is from the Morgan Weistling workshop in 2010 "Click Here" for the post. Today, I decided to repaint some of this without messing with the brushstrokes Morgan gave it. I like it much better.

Working in the Studio

2012-01-07T08:15:00.002-06:00

My palette is glass taped to a board bolted on a tripod. I can set my gamsol (mineral spirits) in the metal rings on the left. The easel I've had since 2004. Wow, I hadn't realized it's been that long. I need a new easel. The white things on the bookshelf are my CDs from the Teaching Company The courses I like consist mostly of art history, philosophy, and history. I buy all my courses on DVD now. I had dreams of having my own classroom in the house to continue the college experience. I put a school desk in my studio but rarely used it. I just like to sit back in my office chair and watch TV. There is no cable in the house or my studio. I can only watch DVDs. Needless to say I have a lot of DVDs. Matter of fact, the cabinet on the right is full of 'em.

New Year

2012-01-01T23:32:00.004-06:00

Head study from Copinni. We have had the last two Wednesdays off so I'm posting a study from awhile ago. This is a very loose study. I barely hinted at her eyes.

Artist of the Month, October - NBAL

2011-10-01T18:32:00.003-05:00

October is a big month for me. I'm artist of the month in New Braunfels. I also have two paintings in the Artoberfest show. I've been working hard these last two months. I took a break from posting because I was concentrating on these shows.

Wade

2011-08-22T22:17:00.002-05:00

I painted this today at Perspectives Art Gallery at Stone Oak. This isn't finished but it will have to do. They have a model on Mondays from 3-6pm. Wade is a professional Santa Claus. Hopefully some day in December, he'll pose in the Santa suit.

Onion Harvest

2011-08-06T21:21:00.003-05:00

Now this is the reason I paint. Actually, I painted this a month ago and I've been enjoying it hanging on my wall. I've painted a lot of onions and this is the best one I've done so far. There are Yellow Onions, Red Onions, Pearl Onions and Shallots. No garlic this time. This is very reminiscent of another oil painting I did earlier...Onions still life.

Head Study

2011-08-04T15:40:00.001-05:00

90 minute study from last night. I really tried to pay attention to edges.

House in Austin - Sold

2011-08-02T23:00:00.005-05:00

This is my first commision to paint someone's house. I actually painted this twice. The first one had some drawing problems so I wiped it away and started over. Now I'm ready to paint some more houses. I really got a sense of the light. The shadows are a bit on the cool side but unfortunately you can't really tell from this photograph.

Better than Yesterday.

2011-07-29T22:05:00.028-05:00

If you had the power to be better than you were yesterday would you do it? What would it take? I was listening to Tony Robbins and he talks about CANEI. Constant And Never-Ending Improvement. It took me a long time to find something in life I wanted to be better at day after day. I found it when I approached 30yrs old. I painted a self portrait in my painting class and immediately fell in love with (myself?...no) oil painting;) I also took some art history courses and became enamored with the Renaissance and Dutch painters. I knew what I wanted to do. I just didn't know at 40 years old I would still be chasing this dream of being a successful artist.
I thought, here was something that I had control over how good I became. I didn't have to depend on someone else. I was solely concerned with improving myself so I could one day make a living in the art world. Meanwhile, I was also working 40+ hours a week at my real job. Business philospher, Jim Rohn says, "a job stands for....Just Over Broke".
I took Benjamin Franklin's words to heart, "Pour your purse into your mind and your mind will fill your purse with gold anew". So I started filling my brain with all the painting information It could stand. I'm still doing that today. Will it work? I think it will. Is it easy? No!! However, I am optimistic about the future and about my art. Am I better than I was Yesterday? YES! So here's to tomorrow.

Henry's Back

2011-07-18T10:24:00.011-05:00

I should have stopped around the time I took the pic on the easel below. I liked it better. However the colors where a bit on the green side.

I set this up for 5 days before I started painting it. During that 5 days, I was learning how to get the most out of my Canon 30Ds I bought way back in 2006. I took many shots of this set up. Here's one of them.

The Meaning of Life is...

2011-07-01T22:07:00.015-05:00

I entered a contest around 2006 at http://www.themeaningoflife.com/. It was for $10,000 for anyone who can come up with the best "Meaning of Life Philosophy". I pondered this for a week and came up with "The Meaning of Life is a never-ending pursuit to reach your potential - spiritually, physically and mentally." I thought that pretty much took care of everything in my life. It's more of a self improvement philosophy but that is how I think. I didn't win the $10k, but it was interesting to read some of the submissions.

Here is a copy of the e-luminator newsletter email I got from the founder, Adam Christing. It Includes my submission (my claim to fame).

********************************************************************************

Thursday November 8, 2006
Dear Scott,

Soar with your strengths.
I am going to repeat that to you: Soar with your strengths. Life is short. Don’t mess around. Focus on what makes you feel empowered, what makes you great.

What about improving your weaknesses? Don’t fall into that trap! If you spend most of your time trying to fix your weaknesses, guess what you’ll have? Strong weaknesses!
Concentrate on your uniqueness—your gift to the world. You will still have to deal with many things outside of your special unique ability. How should you handle those?

Spend your energy doing what you do best. Pour yourself into the areas where you are outstanding. What about the other activities where you are only “good” or average? Whenever possible:

Ditch them or Delegate them!

Fulfill your mission on earth. We need you.
…………

I promised I would give e-luminator readers a chance to remind me of their great entries in our $10,000 “The Meaning of Life is…” contest. Here are 5 great ones. And the last one is a our October winner!

"The Meaning of Life is... to find your passion and run with it! Wave your flag, shout your song and share your joy with all you encounter along the way." ~Donna Chika, Clarkston, MI

"The Meaning of Life is... to die in a merciful, dignified manner." ~Albert Rosen, age 85, WWII Veteran, Farmington Hills, MI

"The Meaning of Life is... a never-ending pursuit to reach your potential - spiritually, physically and mentally." ~Scott Serafica, Tallahassee, FL

"The Meaning of Life is...not defined, but rather determined, by the journey's we undertake, the lives we touch and the legacies we leave behind." ~Jeff Rouse, Garland, TX

"The Meaning of Life is... about generosity; to give without taking is to receive without asking. Therefore, when one is focusing on giving, one is ultimately focusing on living." ~Vivian Tran, Riverside, CA

And our October contest semi-finalist is...

"The Meaning of Life is...to find a balance between doing and letting go that allows you to live life's moments yet accomplish your mission." ~DeLisa Sexton, Los Angeles, CA

'Til next week.
Become who you were meant to be,
Adam Christing, Founder
------------------------

This was from the eluminator announcing the winner.

Wednesday January 3, 2007

Congratulations to J. David Donovan from Flagstaff, Arizona. David is the grand prize winner of our “The Meaning of Life is…” contest!

Here is David’s entry:

“The Meaning of Life is…We must all come, one-by-one, into the light of the knowledge of God to conquer fear, love others and care for the earth.”

A) He starts right off with a powerful word: “We.” You and I are in this thing called life together. This is one of the great truths that religion, spirituality, and even good football teams understand.

B) His next line, “one-by-one” reminds us of another vital truth: Our lives are transformed one at a time.

In just 24 power-packed words, David touches on God, relationships, personal growth, and even the environment. I like how his ideas build upon each other. This definition is worthy of further reflection.

Way to go, David! And thanks to all who submitted wonderful, thought provoking “answers”.

******************************************************************************

My only change would be: "The Meaning of Life is... a never-ending pursuit to reach your potential - spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally." I added "emotionally" because I think we can grow emotionally by becoming more stoic.
Stoicism arose in Athens around the 3rd century bc. It's founder was Zeno of Citium who preached his philosophy from the painted porch.

Like Spock told McCoy in Star Trek II "The Wrath of Kahn"..."You really need to govern your passions, they'll be your undoing."

Fredericksburg, Tx. Tree - Finished

2011-06-30T09:45:00.002-05:00

I'm submitting this to the New Braunfel's Art League "Texas" art show.

Fredericksburg, Tx. Tree - In Progress

2011-06-26T15:35:00.007-05:00

This was Friday around 1:30pm. I took this with my cell phone. As you can probably tell it's hot and dry. Texas is in a big drought. I think it got up to 100°. Actually, it wasn't so bad because I was in the shade. I had more of a problem with the numerous stickers (burrs) attached to my pant leg. Luckily I wore long pants.

One man stopped his truck to look at the painting. He gave me the thumbs up sign and went on. I wonder if the many residents on this road ever stopped and looked upon this tree or the myriad of others in the area and really admired it for the beautiful sculpture-like qualities it possessed.

Henry

2011-06-18T22:22:00.003-05:00

Pamela

2011-06-16T11:26:00.001-05:00

This was our model at Copinni last night. I was painting right in front of the model this time. We had a low turn-out. I like the hat she was wearing. She said it was made of old kimonos.

Henry at Easel

2011-06-14T12:14:00.001-05:00

I'm working on this now. All I have left is the name tag. But before I do anything else, I have to clean my palette.

The People Person

2011-06-10T23:33:00.002-05:00

Books from my teenage years.

"Never criticize, condemn, or complain." Dale Carnegie

I bought a few books on personal development when I was a teenager. The two major books I read are still with me today, Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", and Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich". Today, I want to talk about Dale Carnegie's book. As an artist it can be a stereotype that we are flaky, studio bound introverts who are soley concerned with our art, and find people hard to deal with. The truth is, we are less confined to the studio, and more and more in front of the public. Art openings, especially at galleries, work in the favor of the more outgoing artist. We can all be outgoing with an understanding of how to better deal with people. The secret is...talk about what they want to talk about.
Now my wife has told me I can be a bit over-passionate (overbearing) about art and I believe her. I am passionate about art and I love to talk about it. The truth is the majority of people will listen politely, but what they really want to talk about is something that is interesting to them. Earl Nightingale speaks of a friend of his who carried a marble in his pocket. Each time he was talking to someone he held that marble in his hand. The marble reminded him to keep the focus of the conversation on his companion. Many times we catch ourselves ignoring what the other person is saying, we are thinking only about what we will say next. Sometimes we are listening to a conversation and we hear something we can relate to. We immediately jump in and say "That happened to me let me tell you about it!"

When business philosopher and motivational speaker Brian Tracy was younger, he would approach a conversation armed with knowledge to voice his opinion and prove everyone wrong. He noticed that everyone scattered. He soon realized that people did not want to hear that they were wrong. Once he changed the focus from him to them, he saw people were drawn towards him, rather than repelled.

Molly listens to Dave Ramsey all the time. He always answers the question "How are you?" with "Better than I deserve". This is a small, but effective way to remove complaints from our everyday conversations and focus on how blessed we are.

Maria

2011-06-09T11:49:00.005-05:00

We had a packed house last night at Copinni. I was pretty far away from the model. Generally the closer you can get to the model the better but in a class environment the space is limited. The painting turned out good for a three hour pose with one hour on break.

Workshop Paintings

2011-06-06T12:29:00.012-05:00

On most of everyone's workshop paintings there was a really nicely painted area. That was usually where Dan Gerhartz worked on it:)

Darlene 16"x20"

This is a close up of a different painting not pictured.

Molly in Cloak

2011-06-05T11:25:00.007-05:00

Molly posed for me after I got back from the workshop. Unfortunately it's 90° in the studio so I had to run the AC. She was sitting there with this thick green cloak on. Very hot. On top of that she had to listen to my music. I think I was playing Frank Sinatra "Strangers in the night" among other things. Then, after we finished I wiped away most of what I painted. Ready for the next session.

Daniel Gerhartz Workshop

2011-06-02T15:39:00.009-05:00

These are pictures from Dan's workshop in Kewaskum, Wi. I got to spend 5 days in Dan's studio along with some other accomplished artists. We got to see him paint 4 demos. We spent the last day painting a more involved portrait with a still life set up.

This backlit portrait of Sam was my favorite.

This was a portrait of Darlene. She is very nice and poses for Dan quite often. Dan captures her character masterfully. Look at the brush stroke flowing out from her hair line like a sun flair. Awesome!

Happiness

2011-05-20T17:37:00.015-05:00

I am getting really happy about my trip to Kewaskum, Wisconsin tomorrow. As I think about my trip, I'm reminded of a quote by Cervantes, "The road is better than the inn." That means the journey is more satisfying than the destination. Now, am I really happy about my journey to Wisconsin? Am I happy about taking a plane and spending time in airports waiting for my flight? No. However I have a goal, a destination and striving to reach that destination makes me happy. I have something to look forward to. I enjoy the 9 hours of anticipation while on my journey. Now what really is the Journey? Is it the trip to Wisconsin? Not really. I'm excited about it to be sure but this trip brings me closer to another destination I'm more excited about. The life-long Journey towards competency in art. See I'm going to spend 5 days with Dan Gerhartz in his studio. Dan is the leader of the "paint from life" movement and his paintings are truly spectacular. I took a one day workshop with him last year at "Weekend with the Masters". I can only imagine how much my paintings will improve after this 5 day workshop.

Here's the secret...being happy means being successful. Earl Nightingale talks about success in "A Worthy Destination" from his series, Lead the Field. Earl says, "Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal". He goes on to say, "Success does not lie in the achievement of a goal, although that's what the world considers success, it lies in the journey toward the goal". That means I'm successful. Since, I'm working towards something in my life that I want to see happen and every day brings me a little bit closer, I'm happy. There are other things that bring me happiness like spending time with the ones I love, family and friends. These too are journeys. My journey with my wife is on building a relationship based on respect, acceptance, and courtesy. My journey with my children is truly a love without end, amen :)

So find something worthwhile in your life to strive for. Do it for you, your family and loved ones. Do it because this world will be a better place with you having been on it. Spend every day thinking of ways to bring you one step closer to your goal.

My favorite quote on happiness.

John Stuart Mill -
- Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness: on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming at something else, they find happiness by the way.

Head Study 4"x5"

2011-05-20T10:38:00.008-05:00

Wednesday night I started painting on a 11"x14" panel for a figure study. Before I knew it, time flew by and I was still working on the head. So I'll peel the canvas off the 11"x14" board and glue it to a 4"x5" panel.

Thousand Oaks Bridge - In Progress

2011-05-20T10:15:00.003-05:00

This is just a block in. It was cloudy in the morning but as it got later the sun came out..and it went away. I ended up changing the lighting. Finally, I decided to stop and come back on a more cloudy day.

Majestic Barn

2011-05-16T15:16:00.011-05:00

This barn really stood out when I passed it on the highway. I actually went out here twice. I wanted to make sure I had the light correct. There were some objects I indicated inside the barn. You're probably thinking, "I wonder what's inside the barn?" Well, to me it looked like a door to the house on the same property.

Rusty Shack 2

2011-05-15T15:22:00.005-05:00

This is the same Rusty Shack I painted before. I'm much happier with this. It was cloudy and everything had a cool tone to it. Not much light was shining on me or my subject. That's good for time concerns. I could have stayed out here longer and the light would be basically the same.

Start Small

2011-05-13T13:33:00.026-05:00

I painted small 6"x6" and 5"x7" still lifes when I started this blog in 2009. I was relatively new to the "painting from life" movement and I needed a lot of practice. So starting out with 16"x20" canvases was not a good idea. For one thing, paint is expensive. Another thing is, the garage (studio) has limited space now for storage. A small canvas would take me a good 6 hours to complete. I'm sure If I started out painting 16"x20" canvases I would be at it for days and days. Now, 2 years later, a small still life can be finished in much less time. I recently did a 16"x 20" still life that took me a few days to finish. But I didn't paint on it all day.
Now, I'm painting a lot of landscapes. Trees, hills, and fields are "great" but If I threw in a building..."DANGER". Since I know the principles of painting (shapes, value, edges, and color), I should be able to paint anything I see. That's true, but buildings can be a challenge. It's obvious in trees not to include every leaf and branch. But do I include every single window and every door of a building with precision detail? No. I strive for an edited version. I might go crazy with detail if I paint big and that becomes unappealing to me. The best thing to do is paint small interpretaions of what I'm seeing. Once I get better at that, it's time to move on to bigger canvases and more challenging scenes.

Gladys Rolden de Moras

2011-05-13T13:27:00.005-05:00

This is me with my teacher Gladys Rolden de Moras. She is taking the summer off from teaching so I'm on my own til August or September. Gladys just became a permanent artist at the Insight Gallery in Fredericksberg, Texas. All of her students are very proud of her.

Metal Barn, Shertz, Tx.

2011-05-10T18:54:00.008-05:00

This is the best building I have painted. It was painted on location and then touched up in my studio (for about 6 hrs). I got there at 9:30am to set up. Luckily, I was parked at a power plant tower so I didn't worry about tresspassing. Unfortunately, only a few wildflowers were present. This painting has a looseness to it that was actually very controlled.

Wildflower House

2011-05-08T13:22:00.015-05:00

Finished!!
Almost finished.

I've decided to go back to small paintings for any kind of structure. I'll go into why on Friday when I write about philosophy.
There were more interesting barns to paint on the same road but this allowed me to get out of the road. I see these great potential paintings in places it would be hard and distracting to put out an easel and palette.

This was a two hour plein air study. When I got back to the studio I tweeked it for around 3 hours (closer to 6 hours).

Missy - Sold

2011-05-08T13:17:00.011-05:00

Missy is a great little dog. She is always happy to see me. Except when I'm trying take her picture. By chance I captured a great expression.

Abandoned House

2011-05-07T23:52:00.007-05:00

This is getting wiped away. I'll go out here again for another painting. I don't think the composition is the best. Probably wait till later in the day when the sun is directly above.

Rusty Shack

2011-05-07T18:37:00.007-05:00

This looked pretty good til I overworked it. Fortunately, I took a picture with my cell phone before I ruined it. Now it's wiped away. But I can always go back to this area and paint again. I was standing in some really dry brush. I kept looking behind me for rattlesnakes but all I got was sand mites.

Achieving Balance

2011-05-06T15:57:00.026-05:00

Achieving balance is an important part of a completed painting. Here are some things that need to be balanced in representational painting. These are not 50/50. Some weigh more than others.

Hard Edges - Soft Edges
Thick Paint - Thin Paint
Opaque - Transparent
Palette Knife - Brush Work
Abstract - Drawing
Pure Color - Greys
Straight Lines - Curved Lines
Big Brush Strokes - Small Brush Strokes
Lightest Light - Darkest Dark

If any of these are too dominating, then the painting might suffer. For example, If I'm painting a landscape and give everything a hard edge the viewer won't be able to focus on any one thing because it's all in focus. The opposite goes for all soft edges. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule because this is ART. It depends on our subject and the message we are conveying.

Achieving balance in life is harder to accomplish. But if we fail, the consequences can be personally disasterous. This week, Molly is gone with the kids to visit grandparents and friends on the east coast. So I'm left to fend for myself. The good thing is I can be totally dedicated to my art. Every morning the alarm is set for 6am so I can go plein air painting. After 3-4 hours I come home and work on the same painting. Eventually, it's ruined and I'm wiping it away. Then I have to think about why it was ruined and why I didn't take a picture of it when I had the chance. Pretty soon it's dinner time ("suppertime" if you live in Mississippi) and I haven't eaten all day. Matter of fact, nothing has been done. No gym all week. The plants are wilting. There are clothes all over the floor. Dishes are piling up in the sink (mostly empty glasses of Spicy V8 juice). Before I let this continue I put a stop to it and took some time away from my studio. The house is now clean and I cooked some healthy meals.

I have gotten better as an artist this week at the cost of letting other important things in my life suffer. That's O.K. for the week when I'm alone. But, when my wife gets back with the kids, this house better be in order. If I was to continue concentrating solely on my art it wouldn't be long before every area in my life started falling apart.

Model Head Study 2

2011-05-04T23:07:00.006-05:00

I was debating on whether to post this. It's definitely not great. It has some nice qualities, like the background. I also like the warm light and cool shadows. The problem was I was too far away from the model. This caused me to make the light side a little too light. I'm trying to get away from using so much titanium white to lighten. The hair looks weird because it was pulled back in a pony tail.

Plein Air Study

2011-05-04T22:30:00.006-05:00

Here's the scene from this morning. I was at a gravel plant in Schertz, Texas. I had a constant flow of semi trucks, school buses, and residential traffic all on the road behind me. I'm sure everyone was suprised to see an artist painting this old shack. I wasn't really expecting the train to block my view 50% of the time. It seemed like he just went back and forth the whole time. I'll have to come back on a weekend to finish.

Mission - Impossible

2011-05-02T19:31:00.016-05:00

Mission Espada
I made it to the San Antonio Missions Park at the crack of dawn. Only problem was intense wind and no sun. Not to mention it's 55 degrees in May. I sat here and painted for an hour and a half. I then gave up and left to find the next mission.

Mission Espada
This was my first choice to paint but the wind was really bad here. My coffee cup is in here. Can you find it?

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Mission San Jose.
I actually painted here too. The wind was so strong I saw a bird walking sideways and he stared at me like I was crazy. I gave up and left. These all need a sunset or surise.

Challenge for May 2-7, 2011

2011-05-01T17:54:00.009-05:00

The challenge for this week is to incorporate buildings into my landscapes. I have plenty of time to do this so there should be no excuses. The trick is to do it realistically and better than I have before (actually, that's always the goal). Tomorrow I will be up at 6:30am and ready to go. I'm going to a place in San Antonio where it seems every landscape artist goes to paint eventually.

White Vase and Tomato - Finished

2011-04-30T16:47:00.005-05:00

I brought "White Vase and Tomato" to Glady's class on Friday for her critique. She said, "You commited a big painting 101 no no". "Never have two objects touching each other". "Have one object in front, behind, or away from the other". She also told me to darken the base. She made a few brushstrokes on this which included adding space between the two objects. She also added a little yellow to the purple at the top of the vase.

Goal Setting in Art

2011-04-29T19:22:00.023-05:00

I have heard from many artists that their goal in art is simply to be a better artist. Now this is too vague to be of any use. Some other artists will say, "I just want to paint more". They really don't mean it. If they wanted to paint more they would do it. It's really an excuse of not being serious about being an artist. I too have been guilty of doing other things instead of art. Just look at my blog. In March of '10 I only posted once. Was I serious about being an artist? No. I was serious about making money in some other venue so I could go back to art in the future. The next month in April I became serious about art and I posted 13 times. I even sold some paintings on ebay. One of the paintings I posted in April won 2nd place in an art show. So painting everyday should be every artist's goal and not really written down. What are the goals we need to write down? Here are ten of mine.

1 - Attend workshops with artists I admire and wish to emulate.
2 - Become more knowledgable in Art History
3 - Paint better flowers
4 - Paint better landscapes
5 - Paint better portraits
6 - Do color charts
7 - Paint more realistically
8 - Be more painterly
9 - Really get a sense of the light
10 - SELL SOME PAINTINGS!!!!

How do I accomplish these goals?

1 - I attended Weekend with the Masters in 2010. I started painting with Gladys Roldan de Moras' group. I just signed up for a workshop in October with Kathryn Stats.
2 - Order more Teaching Company courses (even though I have courses still in the plasic wrap I ordered a year ago). Read more art books.
3 - Buy some flowers and really study the petals and leaves.
4- Drive around and find a scene you really want to paint and do it (never mind gas is $4 a gallon).
5 - I run the figure class at Copinni and every week I strive to do a great portrait.
6 - I talked to Gladys Roldan-De-Moras today and told her I was going to finally do some color charts (in the future).
7 - I had a lot of comments on how realistic this copper pot is.
8 - I'm striving for this in every painting. One thing that kills it is going over my brushstrokes again and again. I'm guilty of that too often.
9 - I got the lighting correct in this. I wish they were all this good.
10 - Sell more? Isn't that the goal of every artist? first thing I need to do is to put prices on my website and blog. Make it real easy to click on a painting and buy it. Don't have your customers navigating through different web pages and have to email the artist for pricing.

All this simply means is I'm working to become the artist I believe I can be. Goals are the only vehicle to take me there. Remember, "If it to be, its up to me". Take responsibility for your art career and make some goals to become better at what you do.

White Vase and Tomato

2011-04-28T19:26:00.008-05:00

Who says you can't have two objects in a still life? Well, a lot of people including me. Generally you should stick with odd numbers of objects. However, I do make exceptions. I had ears of corn to go with this and an onion. When I put everything in it was too much to paint on an 8"x10" canvas. I did this in class today for my students. We were there bright and early at 8:30am. Yes, I had my iced coffee next to me. This is set up at eye level. I had to put this on top of two stools on the stage to get it high enough.

Wurzbach Pkwy Landscape - 1

2011-04-26T17:03:00.014-05:00

This was actually painted before the last post. It's bigger at 11"x 14"and was painted in one sitting. I got there at 7:45am on Wednesday and set up beside my car. This is a big parking lot next to a brand new stadium. Every time I'm there I have to share the parking lot with the remote control plane enthusiasts.

Wurzbach Pkwy Landscape - 2

2011-04-25T22:15:00.010-05:00

This nice little scene is visable from Wurzbach Pkwy. I pass it every time I go to McCalister Park. I painted this on location but took it back to the studio to finish. I worked on the brushtrokes and palette knife-work to make it more interesting. I added the flowers at the bottom last and they really make the painting work.

Parable of Talents

2011-04-22T19:23:00.029-05:00

It's Good Friday and what better day to talk about the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25: 14-30 in the Bible. The story is of a master who entrusted his property (talents) to his servants. One servant received five talents while the other servant received two talents and the last received one talent. When the master returned after a long journey he asked his servants " How did you invest your Talents?" The servant with five talents doubled his investment and so did the servant with two talents. When the master approched the third servant he asked him how he invested his talent, the servent replied "I only received one talent. C'mon what am I supposed to do with one talent? I went ahead and hid it in the dirt." When the master heard this he was furious and called him wicked and slothful. He then gave away the one talent to his other servant. "He that giveth taketh away"! What does this have to do with painting? What does that have to do with life?
Each of us has the potential to be great at something. It's up to us to find out what that is through experience and education. We should all work on common goals such as being a good citizen, spouse, parent, son/daughter, or friend. We should all strive for good health and work towards saving our money. But deep within us lies a truth we must follow. If we don't it's wasted. I'm not saying GOD will be unhappy with us and call us wicked and slothful. However, we will be unhappy because denying this truth will lead us to an unhappy, unfulfilled life. How many of us end up wishing they followed a dream to be something great? Not to impress others but to impress ourselves. We are our biggest critic and in the end we are responsible for our outcome in life. Did we waste it watching too much TV ? Or did we take a more challenging journey through education and accomplishment?
The most important word that can really make a difference in our lives is just a nasty four letter word to most. However, it's a life fulfilling secret, which once uncovered can shed light on even the darkest of night. It reaches deep within our soul and tells us "This is why you are here". The four letter word is WORK!

Henry - Class Demo - Limited Palette

2011-04-21T13:40:00.004-05:00

When I'm doing a demo, I make sure I'm painting something I've painted before. I don't want to experiment or take chances. Especially while I'm in front of a group of artists who expect me to know what I'm doing. Speaking of taking chances, I used only four colors. This was painted with the Zorn Palette. A Zorn Palette consists of - Titanium White, Ivory Black, Yellow Umber/Raw Sienna, Cadnium Red Medium.

Varnishing Day

2011-04-19T21:39:00.007-05:00

Today is varnishing day for a few paintings of mine. I'm always taken back when the deep, rich colors come back to these paintings. I've used Soluvar Varnish for over 5 years now. I'm reminded of "Varnishing Day" at the Paris Salon. That was a big social gathering with music, food, and critics. No critics showed up for my varnishing day but that's OK. The Paris Salon was the biggist art event of the late 1800's. One year so many works were rejected by the Jury they held a Salon des Refusés. Manet's Luncheon on the Grass was one of the paintings refused by the Salon.

McCalister Park, San Antonio, TX. -5

2011-04-17T22:07:00.007-05:00

This was painted Thursday. I found this nice little scene in a matter of minutes as I entered the park. The great thing is that I was able to paint this next to my car. It's a rare find when I don't have to go treking through tall grass, over big rocks, and down steep hills. Usually, I have to make several trips back and forth from the easel to the car. I painted another landscape on Saturday. Here's the story. I woke up at 6:00am and brewed some coffee. I left quietly while the rest of the house slept. I wanted to get there around 7:00. It was about 48 degrees so drinking hot coffee kept me warm. When I got to the park I drove around a little longer and found another scene I liked. Again, I was painting next to the car. To the left of me were the softball fields so I was in danger of getting smacked by a home run. That never happened. As the sun came up my scene got really bright so after 2 hours I left and went home. I decided the painting wasn't finished so I planned on going back. The greens were too green and I needed some detail work. This morning, Sunday, I repeated the process and drove out to the same area. Now the gate was locked to the softball fields. I drove over to an adjacent field and parked the car. I had to trek through all that I mentioned before to get to my spot. Not to mention the four trips to get everything set up. At last I was ready. I put on my headphones and started to paint. The lighting was a bit different so I changed some things. Then I changed more, and more. Pretty soon I had painted over the nice painting from yesterday. Now I was looking at an overworked messy painting that had lost all of it's freshness. So I grabbed my pallette knife and scraped the whole thing off. Oh well, it happens.

Time Management - Drawing

2011-04-15T17:14:00.018-05:00

This is a 30 minute portrait. On Wednesday night I wasted the majority of model time painting a view of the face I wasn't happy with. At the last 1/2 hour of the class, I rushed to a spot in front of the model and wiped away the last painting. I should have moved earlier but I had high hopes. As soon as I got a fresh look at the subject it inspired me and everything fell into place. The lighting was good and the face was much easier to draw. I was so rushed on the rendering of the face I didn't even put in a background. In the past, I would have spent a considerable amount of time just getting the drawing right. Now, especially with a straight on head shot the drawing just happens almost immediately. It's all measurement basically. When artists, and I'm talking about representational artists, seek to put down what is front of them on canvas. The most important time-saving skill they can have is to draw well. I can't tell you how many painting sessions are wasted when the subject is not drawn correctly. I can attest to that. I've had what I thought were beautiful brushstrokes and color only to find out that the nose was off or the face was too long. So, how do we learn to draw well? You can start by investing in a sketch book and start drawing all the time. The next thing you should do is draw from life. My drawing skills needed much improvement when I started drawing from life. I was so used to drawing from photographs it took a lot of time to develop a sense of how to put a 3 dimensional object on a 2 dimensional canvas or piece of paper. Now I try to avoid photographs if I can help it. Check out some Andrew Loomis books for more help.

Bougainvillea

2011-04-11T20:43:00.006-05:00

I had to really pay attention to the shape of each leaf and get the values in the light correct. That way I can get a sense of the warm light on the subject. It definitely is a good record of what I was seeing. I especially like doing edgework on plants. This turned out even better than I expected.

Plant Searching

2011-04-09T16:00:00.007-05:00

Yes! Today is Saturday and I'm going to search for that ever-elusive plant for my next painting. And even better, I get to pick up an ice coffee from either Starbucks or McDonalds. Starbucks is better but McDonalds is cheaper. This is my reward for waking up early.

I took these pictures at The Grove on Austin highway. They have plants for landscaping that grow well in the San Antonio climate. I bought some here and I also went to Lowe's to buy more at their $5.00 sale for all hanging baskets. I picked only the plants I thought would look nice in a painting. Mostly Bougainvilleas (pictured above).

Thinking about Painting

2011-04-08T13:04:00.011-05:00

I'm going to paint later today but I wanted to post on my blog what I'm doing if I'm not at the easel. I'm thinking about painting. I'm constantly painting in my mind. I look at things around me and imagine how I would paint what I'm seeing. I've often heard stories about P.O.W.'s playing golf in their head. They imagine every detail about their golf trip. They sense the wind blowing slightly to the right. They see the clouds creeping across the sky. They feel the weight of the golf club in their hands and imagine the tee being pushed into the ground. When they swing, they hear the ball being struck with the club. The force of the club sending the ball down the fairway towards the green. When it's time to putt they imagine changing clubs to a putter and walking over to the ball. When they stand close to the ball, they take a few practice swings. The slope of the green goes down over to the left of the hole. They compensate and send the ball "home". After thousands of repetitions of the same subject and finally the taste of freedom. They get back to the states and play almost perfectly on the golf course. Then someone asked how they played so well when they haven't played golf in so many years? The golfer says "Actually, I played every day". The reason is the subconcious cannot differentiate between the real and the imagined. If we imagine with conviction. I've tried it with golf but I'm not passionate about it, so it doesn't work for me. It does work with painting.

Teapot and Turnips

2011-04-04T16:57:00.009-05:00

While I was at it scraping away paint from another painting I went ahead and scraped off the tomato from Teapot and Turnips. The tomato was so red all I saw in this painting was the tomato. I like the distance between the turnip in the foreground and the one in back.

Turnips and Copper

2011-04-04T13:40:00.008-05:00

Above is the finished piece, Finally.

This went through a lot of changes. I wasn't sure about the potatoes so I scraped them off. I then changed my mind on the pansies and scraped them off. I decided to make all the vegetables turnips for simplicity. I reworked my edges and made my highlights stronger. I made sure that if I was going to paint over something it needed to be removed totally from the canvas by using a paint scraper. This prevents cracking.

I'm glad I stuck with this painting through all my changes and indecision. I had to sit for hours just looking at it to get an idea what it should look like.

Still working ...

2011-04-01T11:15:00.007-05:00

Happy April Fools Day! This is NOT a completed painting even though it's in a frame. I use the frame to get a good idea of what I need this to look like when I hang it on the wall. I was not happy with the background of "Turnips and Potatoes". I scraped several different backgrounds before I put in the pansies. These pansies are also in "Philco Radio and Pansies". Hopefully, the pansies do not distract from the copper pot. I need to tighten up the edges on the copper pot.

Fruit Still Life

2011-03-31T19:15:00.004-05:00

This is my painting demo for my class this morning. We had a good time and got some nice paintings done. Look at the edge between the pear and bannana. As I squinted at my subject, I saw no definite edge between the two so I didn't put one in. I've already framed this and put it on my wall in the studio.

Turnips and Potatoes

2011-03-29T18:36:00.015-05:00

I painted the copper pot last night and was very happy with it. This morning I decided to put a little more darks in it and that ruined it. So I had to scrape all the paint off the pot and start over. Luckily, it turned out better the second time. The vegetables were easier.

Organic Apple

2011-03-27T11:21:00.005-05:00

Now this is much better compared to the last version. I was not happy with the background in my last post. My intention was always to finish the background at a latter date and today is the day. I used my left over paint from yesterday's adventure to do this. I grabbed a flat bristle brush #8 and laid in the darks. I used broken color of blues, browns and reds. Broken color is when you don't mix the colors completely on your pallett. When you pick it up on your brush, the different colors are still visible. Then you just lay it on the canvas in one sweeping movement.

Apple Study - Practice

2011-03-24T13:24:00.003-05:00

Another painting where I focused on brushstrokes and value. These are fun. They remind me of the good ole days of when I painted small pieces of art every day.

Head Study - Practice

2011-03-24T13:17:00.003-05:00

This was a head study from last night. I spent about 2 hours on this focusing on drawing, brushstrokes and value. I think this was on it's way to becoming a good painting I just ran out of time. I started using too much white in the light side of the face. The model was great and didn't move at all.

Roxy

2011-03-21T14:57:00.006-05:00

This took several classes to finish. One of my fellow artist, Patrick, brought in this elaborate set up that reminded me of some of the dresses and hats in "My Fair Lady" and "The Music Man". My view of the model had her eyes completely in shadow. That's good because it tells the story of the hat blocking the sun. A function in which all hats should do.

Warm Light

2011-03-15T10:11:00.009-05:00

After the New Year I took every painting down from the walls both inside the house and my studio. This allowed me to move on mentally from last year's paintings. However, I will probably put this on the wall to help inspire me as I progress into a better artist. This was painted in my Friday class with Gladys Rolden-de-Moras.

The painting is a warm, bright light on the model with cool shadows. I had to keep the shadows basically two dark values. Those values cannot compete with the light side of the face.

Model Head Study

2011-03-06T21:55:00.003-06:00

This from Last Wednesday night. The model did a standing pose and I tried to get a whole figure painted in but after a while I just settled on this head study. The lighting is really true to the subject. I had a warm light on her so the shadows go a bit cool. BUT, close to the flesh the shadows stay WARM. After all it is a human being.

Philco Radio and Pansies at Gallery

2011-03-05T08:29:00.003-06:00

This is a pic of me from last night at the New Braunfels Art Gallery. I received 3rd place for my first 16x20" still life titled "Philco Radio and Pansies".

Philco Radio and Pansies

2011-02-28T15:33:00.015-06:00

This was quite an undertaking. This is the biggest still life I've done so far. I was ready for something a little bigger than usual. I chose 16"x20" because the radio I wanted to paint would not look right on a smaller canvas. As you can see, the painting went through some changes. I got rid of the yellow pansy and I also got rid of the flower in the foreground. Tomorrow I'm entering it into the "Magic of Music" show at the New Braunfels Art Gallery.

Weekend with the Masters - Morgan Weistling

2011-02-21T08:46:00.008-06:00

I never got around to taking pictures at the Morgan Weistling workshop during my September 2010 Weekend with the Masters event. Luckily Ryan Mellody, a volunteer at the event and a great artist, took a couple of pictures and posted it on his Blog. The first picture shows Morgan talking to us at the beginning. I think he was telling us about getting a quick sketch on the canvas with vine charcoal. The second picture is me painting "Bob". However, Bob is not in the picture. The model for the other group is. I'm glad Morgan brought his own models because I have seen them in a lot of his paintings.

Teapot and Turnips

2011-02-17T14:27:00.011-06:00

Teapot with Turnips was painted early this week. This is one of the times when everything seems to go right in a painting. The values, the shapes, the edges are all seemingly correct. A pure joy to experience. I painted the turnips last but they seem to be the stars of the show here.

Value Study

2011-02-17T13:43:00.005-06:00

I was more interested in getting the value right in this. I had to lay in the brushwork thick because I was using a panel of masonite for my pallette. Masonite will soak up all the oil in your paint and make it very hard to work with. This was why I rushed and finished way under 2 hours. This has an abstract quality I really like.

Henry 2011 -1

2011-02-17T11:11:00.002-06:00

I painted this during the afternoom. I knew I wanted to paint Henry again since in my opinion, my skills keep improving. This is clearly an improvement. It's really apparent that I used yellow in the highlights. This gives the light more of a warm feeling. I also used a more loose manner with the brush which looks more like my style now.

Onions Still Life

2011-02-12T08:52:00.008-06:00

This was started on Wednesday and I finished on Thursday. Off and on I would walk up to it and tweek it a bit. Being especially careful not to disturb the freshness of the brushstrokes. I find the more I lay brushstrokes over brushstrokes they tend to flatten out. So it's best to lay the correct stroke down the first time.

Audrey

2011-01-27T12:07:00.008-06:00

Week number three of running the Figure class at Coppini. I decided to stand for this painting. Standing allows me to move back and look at my painting. I almost stopped with the preliminary block in. This was a succession of successfully placed brushstrokes. That's pretty much what painting is. I did not do a lot of "licking the canvas", not to be taken literally. Licking the canvas means going over your brushstrokes again and again. That leads to overworking. Hopefully, next week will be as good.

Garlic in Warm Light

2011-01-24T11:50:00.005-06:00

I played around with different set ups for this garlic. I finally ripped off a piece of garlic and settled on this. This is very warm with the lighting. The shadows go warm and then cool out towards the edge. This is due to relective light in the center.

Audrey's Hat

2011-01-21T17:45:00.005-06:00

This is the second week of me running the figure painting class at Coppini. Audrey modeled for us again. I asked her to bring a few hats and she brought a boxful. This pose lasted 3 hours but 1 hour was spent on breaks. Even though the light is warm the shadows stay a bit warm because of flesh.

Tomato and Garlic

2011-01-19T07:47:00.004-06:00

If I can keep painting like this I'll be a happy man.

Onion and Garlic

2011-01-17T16:02:00.009-06:00

Now this is what I mean when I say "I really want to capture the lighting". The last thing I painted was the hilations on both the onion and the garlic. That really gave it that warm feeling. I used a Royal Sable 559o. These are flats and give a nice crisp edge to the brushstrokes.

Roxy

2011-01-14T17:48:00.003-06:00

We had a Japanese motif today in Gladys' class. Of course I painted a loose portrait. I ran out of time so I painted her eyes shut. The background was so wet it dripped down the canvas. I really wanted the sense of light to show. She is great model. She never moves and doesn't need a lot of breaks. This looks great in a dark frame.

Carol Marine

2011-01-14T17:26:00.003-06:00

I was at Coppini today for Gladys' class and Carol Marine was upstairs with her students. I stopped in to meet her after her 4 day workshop. I have been a fan of her work since I started my blog. I really admire her brushstrokes and sense of light she puts in paintings. I would really like to take her workshop but there is a waiting list a mile long. Here is her Blog.

Painting 101

2011-01-06T09:02:00.004-06:00

I'm happy to announce that I've been approved to teach a beginning oil painting class at the Coppini Acadamy. My class is starting in February 9am -12pm. We will focus on painting from life. Students will start painting still lifes and then progress to other subjects.

Bulverde Landscape

2011-01-01T20:54:00.002-06:00

I drove around the Stone Oak area looking for a nice landscape. Often I've driven around San Antonio for hours looking for something to paint and find nothing. I like mountains, houses, and trees. This struck me as I drove by and it was right off the road. I was able to park right next to this scene. For once I didn't have to hike a large distance to get there. The first day on location it rained non-stop. The second day was much better, cloudy but no rain.

McCalister Park, San Antonio, TX. -4

2010-12-31T16:04:00.003-06:00

This was painted as the sun slowly sunk beneth the tree line. Notice the blue sky in the background with the extremely warm foreground. I was so happy this turned out the way it did. I love trees, they have such character. I like the soft edges in the leaves mixed with the hard edges of the trunk. It's good to have different edges it gives the painting a more interesting look.

Miss T. - Sold

2010-12-30T20:22:00.003-06:00

Miss T is a "Toto" dog. She lives with two really big Labs named Midnight and Sunshine. Miss T. is the barker of the house. She also loves to run along the fence line whenever a car drives by. I gave her an impromptu bath one time and she scowled at me the rest of the night.

Jen - Sold

2010-12-29T21:17:00.002-06:00

Jen is a poodle. She lives in Richton, Mississippi. I like the way she is coming out of the darkness. There is a cool light from above which causes her shadows to go warm.

Maggie - Sold

2010-12-28T20:42:00.003-06:00

I love painting animals. They all have such interesting fur. I feel like I really get good use out of my brush.

Cisco - Sold

2010-12-27T20:38:00.003-06:00

This is Cisco, my Dad's dog. He is a very smart little dog. He'll sit in front of you when he wants something and he won't leave until you get it. My dad always talks about how Cisco gets so happy when he walks in the door. It's nice to have something like that waiting for you at home.

McCalister Park, San Antonio, TX. -3

2010-12-26T11:34:00.005-06:00

I painted this before Christmas. I admit, I did take it home to work on it a little in the studio. But I did have a picture. A lot of times I don't take a picture just because I want the painting to be a true record of what I experienced out in nature. You can almost feel the warm sun setting to the left. I'm standing about the same place as the McCalister Park -1 but I'm turned 120 degrees to the right. Who says math isn't important in painting?

Molly's Lady Bug Bar Stool w/ Baby Stool - Sold

2010-12-25T14:26:00.007-06:00

Molly loves ladybugs so this Christmas I made these for her. It took about 3 days of working secretly in my studio. No one was allowed in.

I wanted a clean look to these so I opted to not paint in the dots and used wooden discs instead. I got wooden discs at Michaels. The small stool came from Michaels but the bar stool came from Wal Mart. Michaels doesn't sell bar stools anymore. I had to prime everything even the discs before painting the black and red. I had fire engine red latex paint for the body and flat black for the legs. I used small nails and adhesive to attach all the dots. Last night when I varnished these two they simply looked amazing. Much like a vice coat of varnish does to an oil painting.

McCalister Park, San Antonio, TX. -2 - Sold

2010-12-22T21:54:00.006-06:00

I got to the park at a great time to set up. It was around 2:30pm when I got there so I had a good 2 hours to paint. The weather was beautiful and I just listened to my ipod and squinted at my subject. I only painted for an hour and 10 minutes. Then I packed up and left.

McCalister Park, San Antonio, TX. -1

2010-12-21T15:26:00.006-06:00

I arrived on location with 1.5 hours of daylight left. I quickly set up and started to paint. There are a number of views I could have painted but this one allowed me to paint in the shade. The sun was really setting fast so I had to hurry and get a good mental picture of what the finished painting would look like. During the painting, people rode by on bikes, ran by in groups, and walked their dogs down this path. It was great being out of the studio and into nature. I think I'll come back tomorrow.

Marcie

2010-12-09T17:51:00.008-06:00

I actually contemplated not going to class last night. I'm glad I did. The clothed model, the lighting, and the pose was all right on. Of course when your painting just a head it doesn't really matter how the pose is. There were about 5 people at class so I was able to get closer to the model. Usually there are about 10 people.

Monochrome Block In

2010-12-03T17:25:00.004-06:00

Gladys told me to stop painting and leave this the way it was. I agreed and started another. This is what I would typically do to start a painting. You would get your darkest darks and lightest lights so you can go always gauge your range of values.

Coffee Pot Still Life

2010-11-29T11:30:00.005-06:00

I love coffee. I'll drink coffee til noon on most days. I was at a yard sale and saw this coffee pot (actually it is a warmer for water or coffee, I think). I started my usual way of laying in a wash of mineral spirits and dark green. Then I would wipe away the large masses with a Viva paper towel. I realized I needed a better drawing tool so I got out the vine charcoal.

The background was a struggle. I first had it lighter and then I painted it red. Then I decided to go dark so I could lose some edges. I prefer dark backgrounds for that reason. This is going to the Copinni Small Works Holiday Show.

Tea Pot Still Life

2010-11-28T18:37:00.004-06:00

This certainly wasn't painted in a day. I painted this over two Fridays just like my last post. I used a cool North Light for this. This will be the last time I paint pumpkins in a still life til next year. This tea pot has sat around my studio for quite awhile. I got it from a thrift store.