Painting for the Day: Two Tangerines

I really have a thing for geometric shapes,
whether manufactured or in nature.


"Two Tangerines" oil 10" x 10" SOLD

Thought for the Day

On a really good day, the painting goes even
better than you'd hoped for.

What colors are on your palette?

This seems as good a time as any to 'reveal' my color palette...Okay, so this is sort of challenge that Doug Hoover and I posed to each other (the idea came from a post from a different Doug on Aaron Lifferths blog). Just a list of the everyday colors on one's palette. I'll list the brands, too, because that can have a major impact on the color in a few instances (and for sheer overkill, a partial scan of my color charts).

Here's my basics:

• Gamblin Cadmium Lemon (a cool yellow)


• Gamblin Cadmium Medium (a warm yellow)


• Gamblin Cadmium Red Light (a warm red)


• Lukas Primary Magenta (a cool red)


• Gamblin Cobalt Teal (a warm blue)


• Gamblin Ultramarine (a cool blue)


• Daniel Smith Moonglow ( a neutral purple mix that makes a nice cool gray)


• Shiva Olive Green (an earthy, neutral green that mixes to a nice warm gray)


• Permalba White (a good, all purpose white with a nice buttery texture)

Although I must have a couple hundred tubes of paint, many languish in the back of the tabouret drawer. Other favorite colors that make regular appearances in paintings include:

• Daniel Smith (original) Quinacridone Gold (sadly, no longer in production-- they make a 'green shade' version but in my book it falls short of the original)


• Daniel Smith Pyrrol Red (a stunning pure red with no orange undertones)


• Permalba Quinacridone Violet (I actually prefer Maimeri's, but once again, it seems to be off the market)


• Rowney Alizarin Green (a bit like sap green but purer, more brilliant)


• Gamblin Cobalt Green (this brand is a bluer green than others)


• Schminke Cinnabar Green (A marvelous color than leans way more to blue than green--also sadly, no longer available! --But a fairly equivalent mixture can be made with Cyan blue and Cadmium Yellow Light)


• Daniel Smith Raw Umber Violet (a rich earth color infused with brown and purple tones)

So, with so many favorite colors 'out of print' (so to speak) what does that say about me? That I like weird colors or I've been painting too long?

Painting for the day: Primary Vote

"Primary Vote" oil 10" x 10"

Here's another attempt of painting looser, with paint tubes again as a subject. This one was done before the primary elections (hence the play of words in the title), sometime early summer, which explains the intense shadows.

As much as I prefer living in summer weather, I find the light in winter is preferable for painting.

Painting for the Day: "I've Got the Blues Again"

Why have I got the blues again, you might ask.
Well, winter, holidays, low bank accounts might be a starter.
There might be other things but you'd have to ask me.

This little painting was an experiment, something I did to amuse my summer art market boothmate (a ceramicist who had started making giant toothpaste tubes in fired clay). We thought it might be fun for our booth if we echoed each other's subject matter in a few items.

The other part of the experiment was to TRY and paint looser, like so many of the artists I admire at Daily Painters do. I love those artists who can define a fully dimensional shape with 3 or 4 simple brushstrokes. It doesn't seem to be in my nature, but it's good to stretch now and then, right?


"I've Got the Blues Again" oil 9" x 12"

PS, Tom, I'm trying to figure out how to fix the link to your blog, which sends me to log in at feed burner. I think this must be a glitch. If anyone has a clue on how to fix it, let me know. I've logged a trouble ticket at: http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help-publishing/browse_thread/thread/1f769368d6f63b60#

Tom's very cool New Mexico blog is: http://tompohlmansouthwestpaintings.blogspot.com/
Check out his painting of the 'sputnik' sign at the Comedor De Anayas.

Painting for the Day: Delicata

Finally-- many layers of glaze later, this painting is signed and ready for a new home. Glazing can be a long process but for capturing this type of heliotrope and fuchsia shades, it's great. I haven't found a shade of violet yet that can direct paint colors like these- tends to goes chalky very quickly.

For the flower, the under painting was in color in pink and violet tones; the glaze colors are cobalt violet, primary magenta, and ultramarine blue.

The background is also built up in many layers of glazes of blues, greens, and violets. I've been using this technique for many years for backgrounds but am unsure of any historical precedent it has (as far as building it up this dark for backgrounds from a pure white)-- maybe in the pre-Renaissance? I'll have to check my history.

"Delicata" oil 24" x 18"

Painting for the Day: Trio Species

Although I usually prefer to paint botanicals oversize, I always try and do a few small ones more or less life size. These species tulips caught my eye last spring, in part for their lovely blue-green foliage and slender stems.

"Trio Species" oil 9" x 12"

Thank you for the Day: Shadow Dancer

A big thank you to Marlee Huber of Everett, Washington who saw this painting through the window of the lovely Gallery Leonardo in Leadville, Colorado and was compelled to go in and see it (and who sent me a very nice note, see the comment on the Golden Wings post 9/23/08). Enthusiastic viewers are part of what keeps us artist types going.

"Shadow Dancer" oil 30" x 30"

New 'Taggee'

Thnaks to Jean Victory who so graciously consented to being tagged... she does incredible work, be sure and visit her blog!

Painting for the Day: Trinidad Hollyhock

Another in the floral vein...
I like working with canvases of unusual proportion. Hollyhocks lend themselves nicely to a tall narrow shape. I also like that they thrive under extreme neglect, in fact prefer it; a good lesson for us all. This particular one is among many from the garden of the Trinidad, Colorado Historical Society Museum.

"Trinidad Hollyhock" Oil 8" x 24"

Tag! You're It!

Okay, so I've been tagged by Michael Lynn Adams.
This is way more fun than when I was a kid.

Here's my list of "Seven (not so) Unusual Things About Me":

1. I love a good pun and a pithy witticism.
   
2. I alphabetize my spice rack.
   
3. I was nine years old when I was hired for my first 'art' job. A real estate company wanted a "kid's drawing" of a house for a billboard. I got paid $35. Ultimately the illustration was never reproduced, as they thought it was "too sophisticated".
   
4. I've been collecting cartoons for as long as I can remember, especially cartoons about art and artists.
   
5. Others suffer from my occasional dyscalculia (like dyslexia, but only affecting numbers).
   
6. I was so poor in art school that one morning I woke up and realized I had nothing to eat in the house except shredded wheat and red wine (the really cheap kind in a box). Which got me through the week.
   
7. My favorite movie of all time is still Buckaroo Banzai ("Wherever You Go, There You Are"), and I've always wished they'd released a soundtrack.

And now for my seven artists picks to tag. I've tried for the most part to pick other 'untagged' artists like myself so we can join the game and play too. In no particular order:

1. Tom Pohlman http://tompohlmansouthwestpaintings.blogspot.com/
2. Cyndy Carstens http://cyndycarstens.blogspot.com/
3. Douglas Hoover http://douglashoover.blogspot.com/
4. Taryn Day http://awakeandpainting.blogspot.com/
5. Steven Walker http://www.stevenwalkerstudios.blogspot.com/
6. Mary Kay Wilson http://exploringwatercolors.blogspot.com/
7. Duane Keiser http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com/

OOPS!!! Late breaking edit-- It seems I cannot comment to Duane Keiser through his blog, so I need to find another worthy artist to tag. Any ideas, anyone??

Painting for the Day: Friend or Anemone?

Sometimes the finishing touch on a painting is the perfect title.
As much I as like breaking the rules of composition, and rendering water drops, making the realistic abstract, and juxtaposing a sharp focus foreground with a luminous, multi layered glazey, gauzey background, in many ways this painting is all about the title.


"Friend or Anemone?" oil 48" x 24"

Thank you for the Day!

A big thank you to Michael Lynn Adams - Modern Realist Painter, who 'tagged' me yesterday... I'm new to this but extremely flattered to among the seven artists he tagged this time around. I think the hardest part will be coming up with seven interesting things about myself. Stayed tuned.

Painting for the Day: Fuschia Cattleya

I have another orchid painting in the works; I hope that I can post it before the big T-day. As much as I like this one holiday above all others, all I really want to do most days is paint. Any tips out there on how to squeeze more painting hours into everyday?



"Fuschia Cattleya" oil 18"x24"

Painting for the Day: The Red Plate

It's an amazingly warm fall day, about 74 degrees. I'm watering the catalpa trees that surround our lot as it's also been a very dry season. This painting feels like the day does to me-- sunny, satisfying.

"The Red Plate" oil 9"x12"

Painting for the day: Forbidden Fruit

I love the idea of pastries as design objects.

"Forbidden Fruit" oil on canvas 9"x12"

Back in BlogLandia / Painting for the Day: Your Fortune is On the Line

Okay, sure it's been awhile. Was getting ready for a one person show, opening last night. Most of you arty types know what that's all about. Here's my 'thought for the day' on exhibitions of this type-- I always leave at least 1 or 2 paintings uncompleted, so that I don't have to go back to the studio facing a wall of blank canvases. This makes it easier to pick up and begin again.

"Your Fortune is on the Line" oil 14" x 18" SOLD

Coffee in 3 colors, #2: Cuppa Black

...and this is the same composition as yesterday's in cool primaries: cadmium yellow lemon, primary magenta, and ultramarine blue.



"Cuppa Black" 10"x10" oil

Coffee in 3 colors: Cuppa Warm

Okay, here's #1 in a series of two...
each painting uses a only set of primary colors. This first one is warm primaries of cadmium red light, cad yellow medium, and cobalt teal ( a very groovy color from Gamblin that mixes well with others...)

"Cuppa Warm" 10"x10" oil

Another in the coffee series: Coffee/Comix

"Coffee/Comix" 10"x10" oil, as always. SOLD
An aspiring comic strip artist bought this. How fitting!

I have a few more of these in mind...

Painting for the day: Coffee/Crossword

"Coffee/Crossword" 10"x10" SOLD

Boy could I use a cup this morning. Up too late working for a client's deadline. Excuse me while I go and try to master the coffee pot... (see ya later, percolater...!)

Painting for the day: Golden Wings

"Golden Wings Deux"

36"x36"

Based on a simple five petal rose in our garden. I've painted a few so far in a series of these.

Painting for the day: Basket of Lemons

"Basket of Lemons"
Oil, 24" x 24" SOLD
from an Italian market in Rio Maggiore, Cinque Terre

A few years ago, I asked my mom to pick anywhere in the world to go on a trip, and she picked Italy. We went for three weeks in late October, and it was lovely (if chilly). I ending up mostly taking pictures of artfully arranged fruit in the outdoor markets, unusual signs, and Italian graffitti. I'm still painting from the images. Because it was overcast most of the time, the paintings have a different kind of light to them, more diffuse than what I normally look for, with less shadow pattern to hold them together. Still, I think they have a nice feel. I must not be the only one; this painting sold this week. I also heard that another couple returned to buy the painting only to learn it had sold.

So what have you been working on lately...? : Heritage

Okay, total confession here. This painting took over 8 years to complete, possibly 10 (I've lost track of when it was started). Not 8-10 years of continuous painting, mind you, just that long passed from inception to completion.

I like to get most canvases done in a matter of weeks, at the most, but this one got started just before a very tumultous time, and subsequent multiple upheavals, moves, etc. Just the life in general thing. It even survived a flood, in just its first-wash state. I had always been attracted to the idea and the composition, though, (I loved those little yellow pear tomatoes that I grew in my own tiny raised bed garden back at the old place) and I had spent good hours making a very detailed underpainting.

Over all those years, I kept it in a back room, pulling it out now and then, trying to find the guts to complete this painting it or throw it out. At some point recently (with a show looming) I decided it was time to finish this for once and all. It took a couple weeks, maybe three, of pretty concentrated effort. So; Ta, da, here 'tis..


"Heritage" 20" x 32"

Painting for the day: Golden Triad

Golden Triad, 48" x 24" SOLD

This image is from a rose in our garden aptly named Golden Wings. I'm working on another version of this flower, hoping to have it complete this week. Also a couple of orchid paintings.....stayed tuned.

Picture for the day

Coffee/Crosswords 10"x10"

Painting for the day: Two View of an Orange

This is an experiment in subdued hue vs. vivid hue; if one were to view a color wheel, the tangerine on the left would mostly be composed of colors from the innner circles of the wheel, that is, those that had been subdued with their complement color; the tangerine on the right is more from the outer ring of the color wheel, and thus more pure in hue.


"Two Views of an Orange", 10"x20" oil on canvas.

The idea here was create the same image twice, one using the pure, high key tones of the outside of the color wheel, and the other using the more subdued tones of the inner rings of the color wheel. In case this isn't clear, I'll try and scan and post my color wheel in the next day or two.

Although in most of my work I lean to the bright tones, I was surprised at how interesting I found the grayed down, moody shades of the left side. I am very happy with both sides of this composition.