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DAILY PAINTING |
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008 'Morro Bay'...step 4
A lot of progress today. The water, sky and boat are nearly done. The land
shapes
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Start of 'Morro Bay'...step by step
I've developed an idea over several days that seems to have a chance. The canvas
is 30x40", pre-primed12 oz.,
Now I've washed in everything but the boat. I'm using a very simple palette of
colors.
I felt the sky and the land mass were too dark, while the water in the
foreground was too light.
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Sunday, April 27, 2008 Plein Air Today!
Painted up at Boundary Creek Wildlife Management Area today with Dalas Klein. 9x12", oil on muslin over panel. It has some repetition issues which I may fix later.
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Saturday, April 24, 2008 Plein Air Today!
Backyard Birches Second beautiful day this year, spring day that is. About sixty-five, sunny, slight breeze. Perfect for a fair weather painter to venture out of doors. The panel had a coat of light yellow acrylic paint which makes easy to move the paint around. I used water soluble oils. They are a little stiff. No, they're real stiff. A quick squirt with the small mister filled with water loosens them effectively. Took about a half hour, less time than I spent getting all the equipment together!
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Thursday, April 24, 2008 Studies Redo...
This was voted most likely to make a good painting. I've worked on it a bit more. Could be ok. Lots of motion.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Studies...
Vermont House
Maine Beach
Starting point I'm planning to enter the Oil Painters of America regional show in Cd'A this fall. 30x40 is the maximum size. So, I need to come up with something extra good just to get in the show because some of the best artist around are in this organization. These first two are based on photos, but greatly simplified and completely redone nearly from scratch. The black and white, no grays, image is produced from the original photo. Then color is added under and over it. Things are deleted, moved added, etc., as needed.
Emily Aglow This is just the cropped photo. I don't think I can improve it. Hi Emily! Any favorites?
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Sunday, April 20, 2008 Dalas Portrait...Done
Lightened the mountains on the right side. Added more mustache on the right. And sunlight on the right ear lobe.
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Sunday, April 20, 2008 Dalas Portrait Nearly Done
Quite a few big changes since yesterday. Getting close to the original vision. The kerchief is now green, the pattern suggested by a few random strokes.. The left side is dark. The mountains are lighter and bluer. The hat is more detailed. The glasses are just a few light gold strokes. The less the better. The value and color relationships are looking pretty good. Lot of interesting shapes both negative and positive. Generally anything that smacks of western art could not get into a high toned show at the Smithsonian. It's back east, it's elitist and intellectual. So, my only hope is they will relent, set aside their prejudice and let a bit of flyover country in their show. This seems highly unlikely. Take a look at the exhibition finalist from the last competition: http://www.npg.si.edu/competition/site/exhibition/PeoplesChoiceAward/AllFinalists.aspx See if you agree that all are civilized, citified, intellectual. Two or three are bizarre. One is shocking, a nude double portrait. With rare exceptions the artists are from the east or west coast and a major metropolitan area. Maybe they have become aware of their anti-rural bias and plan to make amends this time!
This is more what it looks like in normal indoor lighting. The one above is what it looks like in very good lighting outdoors.
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Saturday, April 19, 2008 Dalas Portrait Progressing
Seems larger paintings are easier. Why? Maybe because each stroke is relatively smaller on the larger area. And loose painting doesn't look so loose. You have to get your arm and shoulder into it which is not required, or really very natural, with a regular size, say 16x12".
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Friday, April 18, 2008 Dalas Portrait Block In
At this point nearly all the wash in has been covered by opaque mixtures. In person it seems very big which doesn't translate to the computer screen at all.
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Dalas Portrait Wash In
The start of a new portrait. Before this I drew a six inch grid so the image could be 'squared up' in correct proportion. Then, using vine charcoal, I located the main features and outlines. Here you see about forty-five minutes worth of acrylic wash in...meaning watered down paint so it goes on fast hiding most of the white quickly. There is some opaque paint as well. The canvas is 36x24" making this way bigger than life size. If it works out I plan to enter it in the National Portrait Gallery Competition sponsored by the Smithsonian. My chances of getting in the show are slim to done, but it's fun to try anyway.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008 What is it about Cats?
We live in the country This is one of our two cats, Rascal. Occasionally unwanted members of his species are dropped off on the road. He hears their distress call and encourages them to come on in. The first two were black like him. The current one is white and orange and very wild coming only at night to eat. Request to Feature Hi Robert I really like your art and was wondering if I could feature you on one of my websites? www.HurleyDeanLive.comTake a look and let me know...... Thanks... Keep up the great art..... Hurley
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008 Portrait Very Close to done...
Ellen is Bonners Ferry High School Junior miss for just a few more days. A few more adjustments and this will be as good as I can make it. Hi Bob Thanks for sharing your lovely painting, which I've just added to the Flower Painting Project Gallery. See http://painting.about.com/od/submissiongallery/ig/Project-Flower-Portrait/ppflower-RBissett.htm Regards ______________________
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Monday, April 14, 2008 Study for Portrait
The computer is great for exploring possibilities. I took many pictures with a variety of lighting, poses, location and props. I've settled on this pose at least for now. This version was the result of two filters in Paint shop. I think it's interesting...too interesting. It detracts from the main purpose of a portrait, to portray the subject. So, I'll probably go with a more realistic technique. On the other hand, I really like this!
Starting with the same picture here is another version with a totally different feel to it. Interesting, but getting far from the main purpose. This email came today...welcome news: "Good afternoon Robert, Here is the link to the page with three images of your art. You offer such a range of topics and style. It's wonderful. I am particularly taken with 2 Red Scarfs. It's gorgeous and just draws the viewer in. http://upm-idaho.com/Idaho_Artists_Page_4.html"
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Sunday, April 13, 2008 First Plein Air of the Year!
Two warm, sunny days in a row. We spent an hour or so at the Wildlife Refuge this morning. Two geese flew overhead, turned left and landed about a hundred yards into this picture near the bend to the right. They ate grass and waded in the water. Watercolor on paper. A very pleasant day.
The sketch.
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Friday, April 11, 2008 Portrait Progress
Some major corrections and it's beginning to shape up. More of a likeness.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2008 Three this afternoon...
Egret Takes Flight
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Crocus in Vase $200 plus $4.95
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In The Woods $560 plus $4.95
shipping and handling in the US
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Monday, April 7, 2008 Two Birds with One
More local wildlife...
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Sunday, April 6, 2008 Portrait Progress in Sun and Shade Before
Photographing your painting in sun or shade, which is better? After
Started by reducing the blue channel on the shadow photo by 10%.
On my screen at least this looks very much like the painting on the wall in the house from about 12 feet. For this one the blue was reduced 10% and the green 7%. I reduced the Halo effect on the soft focus. Closer than yesterday's effort.
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Saturday, April 5, 2008 Portrait Progress
Above is the latest from this afternoon. Below is from this morning. The best light for photographing paintings is sunlight at an extreme raking angle. That gives the truest colors. The problem is that nobody has that kind of lighting in their home. In the image above I applied the soft focus filter in Paint Shop and reduced the contrast a bit. First time I've tried this and I think it's much closer to how it looks on the wall. To see the difference compare the backgrounds in these two since that hasn't been touched. Artificial light is many times less powerful than direct sunlight. If you paint with the sun falling on your canvas the colors appear much grayer when you bring it indoors. That's why most plein air painters seek out shade or use an umbrella.
This is a multi-layer process made possible by the fast drying qualities of acrylics. A few days ago all areas of skin were glazed evenly with matte medium mixed with Transparent Burnt Sienna. Then the skin areas in light were glazed with matte medium mixed with Transparent Yellow Oxide. At that point everything was a shade too dark. Mixing matte medium with various colors and white small strokes were used to lighten gradually and to add more color variety: purple, yellow, orange, alizarin crimson, in very subtle mixtures. Too strong and it stands out like a sore thumb. The idea is to achieve a glow not possible any other way.
The White House
What would the White House look like if it were designed and built today? There's an online contest that hopes to answer that question. I had some ideas which I put together in a Sketchup model. It's a circular structure over a thousand feet in diameter. The wall is a hundred feet high and the dome rises another hundred feet above that. The ceremonial entry door is sixty feet high and forty feet wide. In fact the entire building is largely ceremonial. The main living quarters and offices are far below ground. It can survive a direct hit with almost anything. When England hears about the new project they will probably donate the Lord Nelson Column which will be placed at the very top of the dome. On top of the column is a twenty foot high statue of the president. The four lions face the four cardinal directions symbolizing the world spanning American Empire. Note the solar mirrors. They are fifty in number representing the fifty states.
At noon on June twenty-first a huge crowd will gather to watch the mirrors rotate into position. Before long the statue begins to glow white hot. To give a sense of scale an eighteen wheeler has been place in the foreground.
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Friday, April 4, 2008 A Bird in the Hand...
I've been trying to get a good picture of these little guys. This is the best one so far. They move fast and it's mostly a matter of luck catching them in a good pose with no blurring.
Downy Woodpecker
Hope the name is right. Had to look on the internet. This is a female. The male is around, too. He has a spot of red on the back of his head. We had Stellar Jays yesterday as well.
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Thursday, April 3, 2008 Peak Experience
By now we should be seeing spring conditions. The snow should soften toward noon so it's like skiing in mashed potatoes. Not this year. Winter conditions still prevail. Yesterday was about as good as it gets. Sunny, no wind, great snow, great grooming and not many people. Schweitzer will shut down after this weekend even though they have 130" base!
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Tuesday, April 1, 2008 Portrait of Ellen
Starting to shape up. This is the current Bonners Ferry High School Junior Miss. I donated a portrait for the winner again last year. I'm using acrylics in almost an egg tempera style. Below is an earlier stage. You can see everything is close, but a little bit off. Tried a new idea to make corrections. I opened the photo being used as reference in Photo Shop and put this picture of the painting on a layer over it. By making the painting layer fifty per cent transparent I could see the photo below and draw the correct shapes and locations. See the result below.
Taking this out to the studio it was easy to see how to fix everything much more quickly than normal!
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