Oregon Coast Landscape

Continuing to work on landscapes in palette knife technique. This one needs a few final touchups but too wet to work on it any more tonight.

New landscape

Have spent the past month on some other projects, including going through 16 years of art magazines to save only the articles I want. Have them in folders to use finally. Also did a custom mirror project, a left over from my art fair.

Now back to my palette knife painting from some of my old references. This is a 16x20 oil from a photo I took from a ferry boat in the San Juan Islands. It's a facade of trees and a little of the water.

Also set my 2010 goals which include much more art reading to keep me motivated. Spent 2009 not pushing as hard on the art as was waiting for my part-time job to end but now it's permanent so need to use my evenings and 4 day weekends to crank up the work again. Always have way more ideas than time so no problem keeping busy.

Next weekend go through my old issues of Art Calendar to pull out articles I want to save. Part of my year end clean up to enter the new decade lean and mean in my studio.

New figure painting

Finally finished my mirrors project and sold eight at my work crafts fair so was worth the effort. All the ones sold were my newer ones painted in oils so verified my change from acrylic as the colors are richer.

Now moving on to new projects including creating entries for an exhibit titled Unclad, the nude figure. I have had some prior experiments that I now want to enlarge and see how they look. Some were posted earlier on the blog. Here is a very abstracted "split figure" I just completed in a small version. There is something about the repetition and mirror image separation of the parts of the figure that resonates with me. Stay tuned.

Last of mirrors

I'm finished with my mirror project. Here are the last two. Now need to insert the mirrors and glue on backs and hangers. The fair these are for is November 6th so I'm right on schedule. Then, back to my regular painting projects.

The mirror on the bottom is another from my Magnuson Park photos that I have done small paintings from. The other is a classic Monet landscape.

Near the end of mirror project

Here is another mirror. Only a couple of "blanks" left but realized I need to save a few for possible custom orders. I will have about 20 plus new ones so should fill my need for the crafts fair. Still need to varnish and put backs on the completed ones so that will keep me busy. This brownish design is a Monet I liked so did another version of it.

After mirrors are done, will have to decide on next art projects. Have a few things in mind, especially entering my "split figure" works in a local art show calling for nudes called "Unclad 2010". May do a few more of these too as have some time before the entry deadline. Always felt these were fairly original and was looking for a place to show them.

New mirrors

Here are another three mirrors as my production continues. Here I have one Monet design, the orange one. The landscapes are originals, the flower scene from Magnuson Park in Seattle, and the sunset is on Lake Norman, outside Charlotte, N.C.

More new mirrors

Continuing my mirror production and my hand is healing nicely after some surgery to fix a defect. Stitches come out Monday so back to full production. Trying to vary the colors so my mirrors can match more decors. Will have all the photos also for custom orders later on.

New Mirrors

Have continued painting mirrors in oils, all Monet designs. Had a day off from my part time job today after a hand surgery but was able to paint so worked on these three. The crafts fair is back on after a possible cancellation so need to stay busy.

More mirrors

Have done several more mirrors. I just enjoy the oils more than the acrylics because the color you put down is the color you get after it dries. Plus, I can be bold or subtle more easily. You can see the range here from bright Monet gardens to Van Gogh's Starry Night. Two others are subtle waterlilies based on Monet.

New Mirrors

Still in a crafts mode with the fast drying water soluble oils. Here are two more mirrors, one a Van Gogh and the other a Monet.

My part time job keeps being extended so haven't begun any new large projects and the crafts work keeps me painting in the meantime.

New craft mirrors

I'm slowly getting ready for some possible craft fairs by working on a few new "Monet" mirrors. I do mainly water lily designs in acrylic however wanted to try a few in other media. These two are in wax (the brighter one, and oils. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Wax is harder to blend and do subtle colors due to the limited palette I have without investing in more colors. Oils dry more slowly but give the richness I like. Both are though good alternatives to the acrylic which tends to dry too fast and much darker so colors are more difficult to control.

Travel over

Been travelling and then Seattle had a record heat wave. Hit 103 yesterday, including 100 in my bedroom and studio. Due to limited heat waves like this, most homes here are not air-conditioned so you use fans for a few days and suffer. Difficult to paint when you are roasting....

Here is a 12x16 older work I went over with thicker paint although don't know if I improved it much. Texture is better but image is not as strong as some others I like more.

New small work

I have been in North Carolina for a week so took my small paintbox and did a few 8x10's from earlier references. These are two new tulip field paintings plus a Hawaiian sunset from Lahaina on Maui.

Bought some new medium size canvasses on sale today and will move up the size scale slightly to 12x16 and 16x20 for my palette knife paintings and see if can get the same effects I want.

Oregon Scene

Finally finished with one of the works from recent trip to Oregon. Have several more scenes I want to work on. This one is 14x26 inches.

New small work

Here are two 8x10 oils. First is a river scene from Arizona, in Cottonwood. Other is one of the new photos from my trip to the tulip fields.

Tulip Fields continued

Another redo on a tulip painting. This one is 16x20. I'm getting there. I did three sessions going over the thinly painted first version. Might do another touch up but am pretty happy with this version. The small photos don't do justice to the texture.

Tulip Painting

This is a tulip painting I overpainted using my palette knife technique. I'm preparing for some new tulip works so reviving some old ones as practice. They were painted thinly enough and are dry enough that there should be no problem with adhesion and I like the new version much better. I'm glad I didn't destroy some of the prior work I wasn't satisfied with. You never know....

This work is 12x16 and has been hanging in my stairwell for several years now.

New Southwest painting

I am keeping up my series Southwest works before turning to my local scenes. I have taken some new photos of our Northwest tulips and will try the knife painting technique on those scenes soon. This is also an 8 x 10 in oils.

Two new landscapes

These are two recent landscapes, one of the Southwest, the other of a Western Washington scene. Both are 8x10 inches. I'm also working on a larger interior scene but can't quite get it to where I'm satisfied with it. Still working part-time at my old job so not getting as much painting in as I'd like. Also it's finally getting to be decent weather in Seattle so am working out harder at my racewalking as racing season is starting. When the choice comes down to more fitness or more painting, the fitness is still first priority for the health benefits.

Skagit Mountain View

Here is a small, 8x10, thickly painted oil of a scene I shot from my car while travelling through the Skagit Valley. Those are the Cascade mountains in the distance. I'm still developing the style I want and experimenting with the right amount of palette knife painting versus brush painting. Used both in this scene.

New canyon landscape

Ending up doing about one painting a week lately which is OK production now that I'm working part-time outside of art. Reading more art now too as my job winds down soon and I can get back to full time art by summer. My son-in-law said today it is a good time to reinvent myself which is what I'm doing through the new painting styles, including encaustic which I will go back to soon as spring brings warmer weather and I can use my ventilation system again.

This is an 8 x 10 oil from a photograph taken by my daughter who is really getting to be an excellent photographer. You can see her work on fickr.com under the name jennhx.

New Southwest Scene

Here is a colorful southwest sunset scene done entirely with palette knife. The more I paint the rocky scenes the more I like the texture I get that mimics the scene. This is 9x12 inches. The water soluble oils let me paint every day with the paint "set up" a little although at this thickness it's still pretty wet. I can mix the paint on the painting as I add refinements yet overpaint as needed too.

Lake Washington View

This is an 8x10 thickly painted scene of Lake Washington in Seattle. I'm next working on a challenging interior scene and will see how it works out.

Still working part time so less time to paint but have a bigger series of new landscapes in mind and will start working on these soon. Was going to take a related class to get me going on these new works but figure can invest the price of the class in materials instead. Also have some schedule conflicts and at the high hourly price, wouldn't want to miss a session. Mainly take classes to motivate myself but in this economic environment I'd do better to motivate myself and spend the money more efficiently. Most classes I end up being the most advanced learner and don't get that much out of them other than the several hours of class time to discuss art.

Portrait

Here is an 8x8 inch portrait from a photo by a traveler to China. It's for an informal contest among the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters. Portraits take a lot of time and effort. I had trouble making the young lady look young enough until I finally rounded the features and blended the shadows. Portraits are not my strength even though I do a lot of drawing and can get a pretty good likeness. That last few percent is the difficult part. This was also painted on an absorbent gesso on board so the texture is not what I wanted but I am fairly satisfied with the result. I have a nice red antique frame for it.

Also been busy updating my art database to get ready for when the economy picks up and sales perk up again.

Chinese Village

This 11x14 oil is part of an informal contest for the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters. Several photos from a member's China trip were selected and each member can paint from them to do their own interpretation. I did my thick palette knife style as usual. There is also a portrait option and I'll work on that next although not sure which style. I may redo the landscape scene in wax as another option. I enjoy having a goal like this and like competition.

Worked on my taxes all afternoon so painting was a nice break. The business tax portion takes as long as the rest put together.

Another Grand Canyon

This is an 11x14 oil done completely in palette knife technique. After a few layers the surface looks like the aging eroded rocks.

Malibu Landscape

Here is a 9x12 landscape from my trip to LA in the winter. This is a view from the park high above Malibu beach. It's the thick palette knife style I like although sometimes it's not the best for some scenes, like a smooth ocean in the distance.

New Arizona Scene

Here is a 9x12 oil using mainly palette knife. Still working part time so haven't gotten organized to paint as much plus had a family trip for a week where was too busy to do much. I know, excuses, excuses. Also went a little nuts converting my music collection to mp3 for a new tiny player my wife bought for me for my birthday. Use it at work while creating curriculum at my desk. Have converted and loaded 416 of my favorite songs now. Bought a few online to supplement the collection plus bought speakers to play them off my computer as my little stereo in my studio doesn't play the mp3 format. I have mainly mellow songs that are great background music for when I paint so I guess I can call this preparatory work?

The palette knife technique works well for rocky scenes like this because it matches the texture of the landscape. Have to remember to adjust my technique to the scene but liking more and more the thick textures of the knife painting.

Haven't done much with wax lately as it requires ventilation and it's too cold to be blowing all the warm air from the house outside. Hoping it warms by March so can do some of the same scenes in wax for comparison. Wax also provides the texture I love and works well for scenes such as this one, titled "Canyon".

More snow scenes

I have completed a few more snow scenes from our recent storm. Now there is flooding throughout our corner of the world as it warmed with rain to melt the snow. And it's only early January. Hope the rest of the winter calms down.

Winter Scene

I have been working again part time in curriculum design so put my painting on the back burner for a few weeks. It also snowed heavily in Seattle so I have some snow scenes to paint from. Here is the first for now. It's Green Lake as usual, but very different from the greens I usually paint. This is 9x12.