Teaching Class

Alright. After hours and hours of deliberation I have finally decided to give teaching a whirl. I have been approached by a few people wanting to know when I would start and after talking with Lisa Fox, owner of Leiper's Creek Gallery this morning, I am making plans to teach from the gallery starting at some point in January after the holidays have worn off a bit. It is still very sketchy at this point but I am planning on teaching from the gallery on Tuesday and Thursday nights from , say, 6-9 in the evenings for 6 weeks. I had thought about a workshop outside but the weather this time of year is very unpredictable so we will save the workshop for better weather. And it will be an entirely landscape based class, how I paint landscapes and everything I know about it.
So, tell everyone you know and if you are interested or if anyone you know is interested, get in touch with me or Lisa Fox at Leiper's Creek Gallery and we will sign you up.
The images above are a few from last week. I am not sure how much posting I will get done this next week with the Brentwood Academy Show on Friday. Can't believe it's here.

11x14's

In the previous post I mentioned some 11x14 paintings I did over the past week. Here's one. I will post the other when I get a better photo. I painted this one at Cheatham Wildlife Management area with Jim Frazier and when I finished he said,"you used that same brush for that whole painting, didn't you?" I did. A number one round hog bristle. I take a lot of heat for the size of my brushes. But right now, that's where I'm at. If it ever stops working or I don't enjoy it anymore I am sure I will move on to something else.

Brentwood Academy Show

If you have noticed lately I have not posted as often as usual due to the fact I am participating in the Brentwood Academy Show on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of December and I have been in a painting frenzy with little time for anything else. I also have two small shows at two other galleries which will require another 10 paintings. It has however, forced me to paint 11x14's in the field which is a bit large for me. When I loaded one into my Open Box M it looked like I was hanging drywall. It was huge. But once I started and got lost in it I didn't notice the size difference. And it took about the same amount of time as smaller sizes. Explain that. I honestly thought it would take hours and hours. I think both took around two and a half hours. I will post both when I get the time.
Meanwhile, back to the painting frenzy.

Demo (kinda')

I meant to take more photos but when you are painting it's hard to remember to do it. I started well but as my concentration level goes up, the number of photos goes down.
I painted at Cheatham Wildlife Management Area in the Dyson Ditch area which is managed for duck hunting. During the fall the gates are left open for the duck hunters to come in and work on their blinds but are then closed before the season begins. Today was the day they locked the gates. I noticed some of the areas across the river had already been closed so I guess I was lucky getting this one more painting done. It's some absolutely gorgeous country that will now have to wait until late winter for me.
I painted this painting in a slow on and off drizzle. If it is slow enough I enjoy painting like that. The colors are a bit more saturated and the light a little bit slower.

"Don't Quit Your Day Job"

Someone asked me over the weekend what kind of work I did before my fine art career and I tried to explain that I was and still am an illustrator and they asked what kind and I said it would be better for me to show you than to try to explain a style that when I do explain it, most people have a very confused look trying to somehow tie it to what I do now. You can't. It is a totally different frame of mind. It has very little in common with what I have been doing with my fine art but I will say I developed an ability to draw that I think transfers well. When I started I may have been a bit ahead because of all the drawing I had done over the years but like I said,"everyone starts at zero in plein air painting."
Anyway, here are a few sketches I have done for a couple of my clients over the past week. If I remember to scan them I'll post finishes when I am done. I still try to squeeze a few in here and there.

Eye Candy

If you would like to take your eyeballs out for a little treat for all they have done for you, Anne Blair Brown has a show hanging in the gallery space at Harpeth Hall school in Nashville. The school is surrounded by Hobbs Rd, Estes Rd.and Esteswood. The gallery is located off the Esteswood Drive entrance. It's always nice to find a show like this in the Nashville area and within driving distance.
Anne's work is beautiful, full of color, nice and loose and has this wonderful buttery quality to the paint application. It's an impressive show in a very nice gallery space.
Go take a look. Your rods and cones will love you for it.

Aaahhhhh......

.....green turp.

Red Turp

If you ever walk by me and see that I have red turp or any shade there of in my turp container, know that I am in over my head. I am a landscape painter so typically the turpentine in my container will be this wonderful earthy green or brown. When it is red or pink or peach I have crossed into uncharted territory for me. Such was the case this Wednesday.
I am part of a group of painters called the "Yonder Painters" and we meet once a month to paint figures in the landscape. I haven't painted figures since art school 30 yrs ago and this is my second attempt in that 30 yrs.
My turp was red.
I found everything about it difficult. There was so much there to paint I just can't get everything in the 3 hrs. we paint. They had tables, flowers, umbrellas, draperies, chairs, and, oh yeah, the model. I wanted to get into painting the figure again so that is what I concentrated on. And you can tell it is very unfinished. To have done it all at the speed I paint something I have little experience with would have required a week. And the worst part is as soon as you get that groove going or you get "in the zone" the alarm goes off to let the model know it's "break!" Mother nature doesn't need a break. She models as long as I need her. But she will throw ticks or lightning at you from time to time. Everything's a trade off.
When I peruse some of my art mags I tend to glimpse at some of the figure work and move on to the landscapes. I have said it before but if you want to develop an appreciation for something, try it. The figure work in these magazines now gets my undivided attention.

Process Alterations

Recently I did a painting with what is referred to as the "Zorn palette". By doing it I added black to my cache of paint colors. This morning before painting I squeezed a little on my palette and used it to make some of my greens. Maannn it makes beautiful greens. I loved it. It was a bit overcast so the greens out there were real warm and rich, full of color. With the black I could get those rich, warm greens. I had to be careful though with the blue greens. They would seem to get too blue at times and I would have to warm them a bit.
I have found painting to be one of the most fluid, organic things I have attempted. As soon as I get settled on something, I find something I like better. I think I referred to myself as fickle in one of the previous posts. I have changed brushes, panels, paint colors. And now I have black in my arsenal. I am also trying some different paint brands. I tried the Sennelier brand paints recently and I haven't come to a definitive opinion on them yet but you will be the first to know when I do.
I don't know if I will ever find just one way to do this. There are some I enjoy more than others but there are just so many ways to get from point A to point B in this that it's always experimentation and changing. It also dosen't help that my head is like Play-Doh.
The paintings posted are from the past two days. The beanfield is from Cheatham Wildlife Managemant Area at Hudgin's Slough and the other is a private farm in Totty's Bend. It's the one I added the black to.

Intruders!

I apologize for the quality of the photos but our good camera was STOLEN! In a robbery. They kicked our back door open then up the stairs in the garage to kick the door there that leads into the kitchen. They really didn't take that much, a big screen TV, the camera, and a bit of jewelry. The most unfortunate was a piece of jewelry that my wife's mother had given her before she died that was not worth too much monetarily but meant a great deal to her personally. Insurance can't replace that. I think the worst part for me was the intrusion into the house that I raise my kids, wrestle with my dog, spend evenings with my wife. That intrusion into MY space is disturbing. And to know these guys would put their life on the line for a big screen. Sooner or later their luck will run out and they will break in on a home owner who happens to be home. Then what? Just glad it wasn't me.
Anyhoo, got a couple of poorly photoed pieces that I got done over the last couple of weeks. The little still life was done at one of Jason Saunders studio painting nights and before I left he popped it in a 22 kt gold leafed frame from AU Frames Inc. MMAAAnnn it made that painting look good. It was like putting a diamond necklace on a goat. It really dresses up the goat. I would suggest to everyone out there to buy just one to keep around and right before you put the piece in the frame you will have to sell it in pop it in the gold one and take a look. It's soooo much fun.

OPA Eastern Regional Show

The piece above was accepted into the Oil Painters of America's 2009 Eastern Regional Show at Corse Gallery in Jacksonville, Florida from November 20, through December 23 and I couldn't be happier. It is really fun to see your name on a list with other artists you have admired for years. I also noticed a few other Tennessee artists made the cut. Congrats.

Along the Cumberland

I have been painting along the Cumberland River at Cheatham lake and wildlife management area. The paintings above were done in an area near the dam that is a huge river bottom surrounded by bluffs on all sides. It's gorgeous the way the land lays in between the ridges. As I was painting the fourth generation owner of part of it pulled up to chat and see what I had going and told me that during the Civil War, yankee gunboats would come up the river headed to Nashville and his ancestors lived right on the river in a nice home they had built there. When the boats started coming and going they moved back up in the back of the farm in between the ridges to hide because they thought being on the river with the Union army up and down was too dangerous. When you're standing there painting with all the modern trappings of the lives we lead around you, you forget what has actually transpired on the land you're occupying for that moment and how much it has changed in those few generations. Maybe a hundred and fifty years from now they will tell stories of this "great plein air painter who stood on these acient river banks and cranked off 8x10 masterpieces...."

The Painting Panel Polka

Well, I have switched painting panels again. Sorta.
I used to use the Pintura Panels. From there I went to the Source-Tek Claussen Linen panels and then discovered the Ampersand Gessoboard which I liked quite a bit. For some reason I really enjoyed working with the smooth surface of the Gessoboard. I could lay down a thin coat which would dry rapidly as an undercoat and I could work on that which gave me a real nice look. I started to sell off my Source-Tek stuff and then got caught short this past week and used one. I loved it. I'm so fickle.
I have found that life is all give and take. There are some things about the Gessoboard I can't get with the Source-tek and visa versa. I guess there are no rules to this and in the future will be using a combination of both. That experimentation and variety is what keeps this so interesting anyway. I just hope I don't find another panel I like or I will loose my mind.

Another Week

These are some of the paintings I got done over the course of the week starting with a Chestnut Group/Plein Air Nashville paint out at the Butka farm in Bells Bend on Sunday. The rest were done from Leiper's Fork to Williamsport. I also had the opporutunity to paint with Jim Frazier, Roger D. Brown and Beverly Evans on Tuesday. Since the Door County trip she is officially one of the guys.
Also, the Cumberland Society is starting a blog. We will be posting the things we are involved in and what work we are working on from time to time. We hope it will be a format for a little artistic give and take and to stay in touch with the art community. I know I am looking forward to seeing what the other members post.

The Zorn Palette

I just got in from trying something I have been wanting to do for a while but never made the effort.
The Zorn Palette.
For those of you who may not know, the painter Anders Zorn apparently used a palette that consisted of Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black, and Red, I chose a Cad Red. I am sure for some of his paintings he had many colors involved but I assume a lot of his landscape work was with this palette. If there is anyone out there who knows how to tell a painting with only these colors, let me know. I have looked and I am not able to discern by looking. That statement alone is an indication of how good he was.
When you see a painter's work who is truly a master painter there is an appreciation for their abilities as a painter. But when you actually try to do some of these things, your admiration is magnified a thousand times over. By struggling with the palette of his, my admiration was magnified. A lot. It seems the more I paint, the more I appreciate what these master painters did and are doing. When I say master painters I am not sure how you acquire the designation. I am not talking about the artist who attaches it to their name to pad a resume or make a long impressive bio and can't paint their way out of a wet paper sack. I am talking about the guys who were and are truly masters. You know em' when you see em'.
Before I painted I was a big fan of Sargent. Then I started plein air painting and it took on a whole new level of genius. I can remember standing at the Frist Center here in Nashville in front of a Sargent that had been painted of a figure in the landscape that had been painted outdoors. The technical precision of every value and color and brushstroke may have been lost on me before I became a plein air painter. On this day, it wasn't. The mental capacity necessary to do what I had just seen, to me, made the moon landing look like a trip to the grocery store.
As far as the Zorn Palette, if there is anyone out there who has tips, secrets, or a little history on it, share. It has a very moody, fall-ish/winter look to it that I am sure I will use again. I just don't know how to produce anything that resembles the greens that I am used to here in Middle Tennessee.

Home Again, Home Again.....

I know I have said it before but it bears repeating.......nothing beats a road trip.
Got back from Door County Sunday evening. For the past three days I have felt jet lagged. I know, I drove, but still, there is an exhaustion there that I can't shake. It may be the fact that I am not used to painting that hard for that many days. I averaged four a day for a week and some of the others did better than that.
We found out that Door County is a big onion that you have to peel the layers off. When we came in we had just passed through Sheboygan. Sheboygan was awesome. Big, giant dairy farms everywhere with these huge gorgeous barns about every 100 acres. It is a painters dream so we knew Door County had to really step it up. At first it didn't.
With help from Dawn Whitelaw, who had been before, we started finding these little tucked away places and these century old barns and farms. If you peel the onion and get back in the cracks and crevices of Door County it is beautiful. As you can tell we spent a large portion of time in the interior painting the barns and farms. Met some fantastic people who gave us a bit of history on it all. Had one lady come out to talk to us and she had been born and lived in the same house for 72 years. She is what you would picture Mother Nature looking like at 72. She insisted we take some beets and onions with us so we relented and said yes. Apparently she walked around the house, pulled them out of the dirt and just handed them to us. There was still dirt falling off them when she threw them in the truck. Later that evening we met two couples in Peninsula Park and were able to barter those beets for Mike's Hard Lemonade. Not a bad swap.
The folks in Door County have done a very good job of restricting unchecked development and have kept the area "quaint". It's small little fishing villages and parks along the coast and rural in the interior. For a painting trip there is plenty to keep someone very busy. Also the area around Algoma and Keewaunee is beautiful. We spent a little time down there and we could have spent the whole week and not run out of things to paint from barns and farms to bays and docks and fishing boats and little towns. If you ever get to the area I would suggest going down there at least a day or two. It would be worth it.The art school they have in the top floor of Barnsite gallery would be worth the trip. If you're anywhere near it ask Dick Bell to give you the guided tour. It's impressive.
I guess now, for the next few days, I have to get out of "post trip funk". After a trip like that it's hard to get motivated around here. I usually remind myself I have a mortgage to pay and that generally snaps me right out of it.

ROAD TRIP!

Leaving in the morning for Door County, Wisconsin. Traveling with the rest of the Cumberland Society and a few guests to paint for a week on the little peninsula that is Door County. I have been told by other artists that have been there that it is fabulous with a wide diversity of things to paint.
I will post when I get back in a week.

Frantic Plein Air

I left last night around 5:00 to go painting and rode for two hours looking without getting "motivated" by anything. It was hot and the light seemed flat and blown out so I kept riding. I finally got frustrated and at 7:00 just hit the brakes and jumped out where I happened to be and forced myself to paint.
Not half bad!
I am pleased with this because of the fact I made a painting where I didn't really see one and I did it in about 30 minutes which for me is unbelievable. It's always frantic painting for me at that time of the day due to the speed of the changing light. You can tell by looking at the edges and some of the passages are a bit rough. I started around 7:10 and was cleaned up and back in the truck by 10 till eight so I am guessing around 30-40 minutes paint time and by the time I got back in the truck it was almost dark. It's also a 9x12. Typically because of the speed of the sun at that time of the day I usually paint 8x10 or less because I know I can get it done quicker.
Now I just have to pick out the knats and find a good frame.

Riding Backroads

Painted with Plein Air Nashville on Saturday and with Jason Saunders Sunday. We took a road trip to places I had never been in Tennessee. I really didn't know there were many left but he found a few, mostly west along the TN AL line. There is nothing better than riding backroads and killing a day looking.
We stopped in God knows where and painted the barn with the faded red sides and the yellow flowers in the field you see above. That barn is actually sided with pieces of tin. Old faded tin. To try and make that read as tin, old faded tin, about made me quit painting altogether. What a struggle. All I kept thinking about was,"how would Richard Schmid do this, how would Richard Schmid do this?" Well, I don't know how Richard Schmid would do this. That's why it looks like it does. I think I have mentioned it before but if Richard Schmid would have painted this tin it would not only have looked like it but you would know what it feels like. I think he is the absolute best at taking paint pigment and applying it to a two dimensional surface and visually describing something so well you actually know what that object would feel like or weigh if you could touch it or hold it. I always have a great appreciation for an artist who takes the the time, makes the effort and has the ability to do that.

Grassbed Green

Friday, I spent all day painting and this is all I have to show. I started one that I tried to save over, and over, and never got anything out of it that I was happy with. It had this early morning backlight to it that was gorgeous but I just couldn't get it luminous enough. The trouble areas were grassbeds. When light hits a grassbed it turns this wonderful bright green that I have had trouble with in the past. It's a very bright translucent green that I can't translate to the canvas. Next time I'll take my slingblade and cut the grassbeds out before I paint. There, problem solved.
This painting is on Swan Creek again, about 10 yrds. upstream from the previous post.

The Cutbank on Swan

I have art that I have done in the past that is so bad, to look at it would detach your retina. And I am not afraid to post it.
The watercolor painting is one I did back in '99. I used to carry a watercolor pad and equipment in my turkey vest when I would turkey hunt and if the hunting got slow I would watercolor paint. Or so I thought. I was plein air painting and I had never heard the term at that point. Who knew it would become what it has.
Yesterday afternoon I painted with Jason Saunders and we painted at Swan Creek on the Derryberry property that I have leased to hunt. When I got home with my painting I started trying to remember how many years and how many times I have painted in the creek at this cutbank. Then I remembered I had this painting somewhere, I just had to find it. Ouch, and I did.
That is the same cutbank in both paintings. It is also the same one you will see posted on my website. It has changed quite a bit over the years (so has my skill level) and has moved into the farm maybe 10-20 yrds. but is still my favorite place to paint. It always has some interesting shapes, colors, values, etc., etc. so you can always get a painting there. Plus, no gawkers. I don't mind gawkers because my philosophy is,"gawker today, customer tomorrow." But man, that peace and quiet sure helps the creative process.

Punkins'?

Yep, punkins'.
I went in to Totty's Bend looking for these big dramatic, sweeping landscapes of farm scenes or overlooks and found....punkins'.
As I was driving around a friends farm I passed his garden and the sun bounced off a pumpkin so I pulled over to check it out and found out I really enjoy painting gardens. There is a lot of drawing to get all the different shapes but it was cool weather so I had the time today. He has beans, tomatoes, squash, and pumpkins so I am sure I will have more garden paintings in the future.
Just goes to show you there are paintings everywhere.

Back on the Cumberland

First off, a quick shout out to the new Plein Air Nashville "coffee girl". Thanks for the coffee.
It's amazing how much better you are with a cup of coffee in your hand. If the Indians would have had coffee we would all be sleeping in teepees.
Plein Air Nashville painted on the greenway bridge again this morning and I think the biggest challenge there is going to be getting a different view or different composition each time. It's river upstream and it's the same river downstream. We've been 3 times and I have made it work so far by painting the bridge the first time but I think the next trip will require a bit more creativity to get something unique, especially of the river from the bridge.
Love a good challenge.

Trespassers

I painted in "the bend" this morning and the area I painted used to be notorious for wild camping and partying and fishing and mass numbers of hoodlums. It sits on the Duck River so I assume people thought it was public access. The guy who owns it decided enough was enough after having called the police for the last time and gated it and locked it and made very sure no one was allowed on it. This morning as I was painting he didn't recognize my truck and pulled up along side me with a very determined look and a loaded shotgun. After he realized who it was both he and the shotgun were downgraded to DEFCON 1. We haven't seen each other in a while so it was nice catching up and trying to remember the last time we were all together for something and you just don't realize how fast time is flying until you sit down and do the math. I couldn't remember the last time I saw his kids who are both in college. From this point on I am just going to quit doing the math.

Still Life!

I painted a still life. The first one in about 5 years. It's great! No bugs, rattlesnakes, poison ivy, rednecks, blazing heat, chiggers.....nothing.
We have a group that Jason Saunders rounded up to paint in his studio every Wednesday night. He has this wonderful studio space that he sets up maybe 6-7 different still lifes in the center and you can rotate around the room and paint as many as you want. We had around 12 people there and it was an experience of painting out of my comfort zone. But I can learn to love this still life stuff. Jason has his studio climate controlled by this wonderful invention called Air Conditioning. I didn't have to apply any chemicals to ward off the effects of vermin or deadly UV rays. Nobody approached me in a beat up pickup truck and walked up and said,"Hey, you ever seen that Bob Ross guy on T.V.? Man, he's good." And the best part? THE LIGHT DIDN'T MOVE. Not an inch. The light was the same when I finished as when I started. I could have painted all night and it would have been the same. No ducking behind clouds, no setting, no haze. No moving or changing at all! Sweet!
Yeah, that plein air painting is for chumps. The only issue I will have to deal with is after painting the rugged wild back country of Tennessee for so long I found painting little pink flowers a bit emasculating. But if they sell, I'll paint 'em in a dress and make-up if I have to.

First of July

These are two more from last week. The top one is Duck River where we fished at the camp and the bottom one is the Cumberland River at the greenway bridge at Wave Country off Briley Parkway that I painted with Plein Air Nashville on Saturday. We had a good group show up and the only misfortune was when I dropped my paper towels and they rolled off the bridge and unrolled about 30 ft. to the river. I happened to be able to put my foot on them as they went over the edge so I reeled them back up but I did lose the last two and the cardboard core. I had no idea a roll of paper towels could roll out that far.

Christmas in July

In the new Art of the West magazine there is an article on Matt Smith. Anytime I find a magazine on the newstand of someone I admire I get as excited as if it were Christmas eve. I sat in the parking lot at Davis Kidd with the motor running until I could memorize every stroke, color, value, etc., etc. I bet I used a half a tank of gas sitting there. I know, it wasn't a very "green" thing to do but it was Matt Smith. I mean, come on, Matt Smith. The Polar bears are just gonna have to suck it up a little.
The piece I posted is from last week while my family was away. I have determined I am better with a family than without. I got very little done last two weeks and seemed to have been a bit scattered and unfocused. However, I did find time to do a little fishing so it wasn't a complete bust.
I will post more from last week as soon as I get good photos.

Two A Day?

When my family left for a two week sojourn I thought I would make an attempt to do two paintings a day for two weeks. For the first 4 days I have a grand total of......2. That's right, 2. I did both of those on Tuesday. Since then I have had a bit of transmission trouble, had to have the stitches from my amateur mixed martial arts cagefight victory (see post below) removed, had dinner plans and drove to Shelbyville to see my mom. The heat has also been a factor. In the fall, spring, and winter you can paint at anytime of the day so to get two paintings a day you can take them out anywhere. To get two paintings in this heat you have the window of 7-9:30ish and again at 6-8ish in the evening. If anything comes up in the morning or the evening you have lost that painting for the day. So needless to say everything I have had this week has been morning or evening. But that is typically how I paint anyway, around life.
We'll try again tomorrow.

One More Demo

I am posting another demo because I just happen to have the photos. The other day when I painted the Fog in the Field painting in the post below, Bill Brison was there and Bill took photos. He e-mailed them and I thought since I had them I would post them.
Also, I have the opportunity to have unfettered time to paint over the next two weeks. My family is taking an extended vacation and I will have time to get work done. I have thought about doing something like Marc Hanson did by committing to a number of paintings per day to see if I could get it done. Maybe 2 a day which over a two week period would be good for me. The only thing that I hesitate for right now is the heat. We are expected to have some very hot days over the next few and I become a delicate little flower in the heat. The heat and the fact I have 10 stitches in my forehead right now. Huh, funny, I walked into a door frame in my darkened house about 12:00 last night. I also wish it was a better story but there it is. However, if anybody asks I'm going with a cagefight or a bear attack. Haven't made up my mind yet.

Workshops

Painted with Plein Air Nashville yesterday at the entrance to Cheekwood and I did the big magnolia at the entrance gate you see above. We had three painters and one was actually from Memphis who happened to be in town and came out to paint with us.
This morning, got up and met Bill Brison at the gallery and went down to Watervalley to paint. I wasn't sure if I could get one due to the fog. It was terribly thick and never did burn off very well. On the trip back to the gallery Bill and I discussed workshops and the things we liked and didn't like about some. Teaching a workshop is something I have been contemplating for quite sometime but have never felt I was skilled enough to teach one yet. I don't think it is fair to paying clients who take the workshop if you haven't got a pretty good grasp of the painting fundamentals and an understanding of what you do and are trying to accomplish. But I also feel a sense of responsibility to everyone who helped me in the past, to take what knowledge I have aquired from them and to pass it on to someone who hopefully will also help another fledgling artist in the future. I remember how much it meant to me to have Jason Saunders and some in the Cumberland Society help me along the way and made a mental note then to do the same when I had the opportunity. I have also heard that by teaching a workshop you learn a tremendous amount about yourself and your own work and I am always looking for another way to take it up a notch.

Tweaking Values

Another roundbale painting off Highway 7. The road I was actually on was a dead end in the middle of nowhere and the traffic going in and out was non-stop. I knew in this part of the country that meant one of three things:
1. Cockfight
2. Meth Lab
3. Yard Sale
Curiosity got the best of me so I crossed my fingers it was the third and sure enough, a yard sale. And it was a dandy. Yard was covered with stuff. There was so much there I couldn't figure out how it all fit in the house. Honestly though, if I pulled all the junk out of my house it would probably cover half the county.
This painting took a lot of value adjustment. I know I have mentioned it before but I don't seem to get my values perfect when I first put them on. Once I start with some of the others I have to tweak it here and there to get them right. This one was a real "tweaker".

Challenges of Painting

Just got in from painting more roundbales in the Watervalley area. Got to paint with a young lady who is getting started with the plein air painting and is going through all of the same frustrations we have all gone through. I told her the frustrations never really go away they just become challenges. If you are not getting frustrated or challenged with this from time to time you're just not going to get any better. Every frustration is a lesson and you just have to clear you head long enough to figure out what it is.
It was always clearing my head that was the challenge for me.

Roundbales

If you like painting roundbales, now's the time. They are on the ground everywhere. Lately though they have started wrapping the roundbales in this plastic wrap of some kind that makes them look like shiney plastic fake ones. It's getting harder to find the big shaggy ones that are so much more fun to paint.
Painted in Watervalley off Hwy. 7 this afternoon. I saw this field getting raked Saturday afternoon and made a mental note that it should be rolled by Tuesday. Bingo.

Compositional Retardation

I have tried now for two days to get a roundbale painting out of a little field in Maury County. It is the perfect little hayfield. Small with treelines behind and access. But for whatever reason I have not been able to get a nice composition with these haybales. They were crooked, too big, too small, too many, etc., etc. They were nice renderings, just not nice paintings. The painting in the post took three hours because I would start then change the layout. Start again, then change again. And I still don't like the size of them. Not sure why, just bugs me. Too small maybe. There were also two little phone poles in the back of the field that I liked and tried to put in and couldn't do anything with them that I was happy with. And have you ever painted on a pretty busy road and become so involved in your painting you couldn't even hear the traffic anymore? The sound goes away because you're so focused on your painting? Until some redneck jackass has to blow his horn. Sheesh, it took 30 minutes to get calmed back down. I know he saw me jump and I know he is at home tonight swillin' beer and telling his buds about how he made this "painter guy" on the side of the road jump out of his skin. I would have guessed by looking at his car, the horn wouldn't even have worked.
Another hazard of plein air painting. Still beats a real job.

Another Class C Demo

Had another request for a demo, this time with photos of the reference. Did it this morning in some wonderfully cool weather.
I remember when I started painting if I saw a demo in a magazine or DVD I would study it until my eyes hurt. I couldn't get enough. I love seeing other artist's thought process and the method they get from point A to point B. It seems that no two are quite alike. I also enjoy seeing my process on the computer, away from the field. It sheds a whole new light on it.
So here's another and a painting I did yesterday in the blazing heat. I got started a little late yesterday and didn't finish until lunch. Rode around looking for something to paint longer than it actually took me to do the painting.

Photo Enhancement

Usually when I get my photos of my work to the computer I use a photo enhancement program of some sort to try to get the color and definition back in. I have not had a very good program for this up to this point. Adobe had a sale on Photoshop Elements 7 recently and I purchased it and downloaded it for around 60 bucks. I don't think you can beat that. I couldn't justify or afford the price of Photoshop nor did I need everything it does. This program is perfect for what I am doing with it and is so much better than anything I have had up to this point. The image above is the first thing I worked on with it and if you look at it you can see I added a little to the porch. Even though it was built like that, that big tall porch looked a little weird to me. I have a creative license to do those sorts of things.

Class C Demo

Here's the lesser of what I call a demo rating system. Class C is photos, Class B is video, and Class A is being there in person. I have been asked to post this kinda' thing from time to time and if I remember to photograph it it's easy to do. I just tend to get caught up in the painting and forget the photos. I just have to get better at photos. These look crooked and distorted for some reason I can't explain and a lot of the really nice fine textures and strokes are blown out and gone. I'll keep practicing. But this will give you an idea of how I start and proceed with my paintings regardless of the quality of the photos. This is a 9x12 and I finished in about an hour and a half. I paint on a real slick gessoboard made by Ampersand and I use tiny little round brushes, hog bristle.
Also, I talked to a couple of people over the weekend about approaching artists with trade secrets and questions. I have found most of the artist's in the art community will share about anything on how they do what they do. It is a very giving and generous group. So don't be afraid to ask what you would consider "stupid" questions because 90% of us asked the same question at some point in our career. If you get a jerk, move on. There are plenty of artist out there who will help.
As far as my trade secrets to a good painting here they are:
Solid drawing, values, values, values.
Repeat.
I am not much of a colorist. I am more concerned with sticking the values and then I see color as temperature more than color. I compare what I am trying to apply to the areas around it and decide if it is warmer or cooler or lighter or darker. I will then push the pile of paint in my palette in that direction. I don't see Sap Green per say. I see a pile of paint that needs to have more red in it and needs to be a bit darker so will probably get a bit of ultramarine until I get the relationship between it and the color or value next to it. For instance, in the little round bush in the middle, to get it, I compared what I wanted to the green in the big tree and decided it needed to be warmer and a bit lighter. Add red, yellow and white a little at a time until it is the green you want in relation to the green of the other tree. Oh, and by the way, I use Cadmium Scarlet, Cadmium Lemon, and Ultramarine with Titanium White. That's it. So again, I don't see them as designated colors, I see a mixture of these three paints pushed in the direction I need. Took me for ever to latch on to this but once I did it made it soooo much easier for me. But again, it took a lot of experimenting and painting and watching and asking other artists to get to this point. There are a lot of directions and methods to get to a good painting and you will have to take that journey yourself.

Safety First

I painted this morning in a blazing lightning storm. I know, I failed my plein air safety class. But it was just far enough away I felt safe. Just don't tell my wife, she will take my brushes away. There is something about having a good one going you just don't want to stop. However, I watched Kenn Bachaus try to run from a Grizzly bear on a video in which he and Matt Smith and Jean LaGassick painted in Denali. A bear meandered up and Matt and Jean booked. Kenn however tried to pick up and carry his French easel painting and all. My daughter said,"man, he must have had a good one on." I have never done a painting good enough that would slow, impede or hinder my retreat from a bear. I just don't paint that good. I bet if that bear would have charged him though he would have gotten a face full of French easel.
I also was going to do a little demo for the blog by taking pictures as I went. I got the first one and the last one. I have to say when the lightning got cracking I starting painting with a bit more speed and focus and forgot to take pictures. I also took a picture of the storm. It was beautiful. It started small in front of me and just exploded as it went by. I noticed as I went back to Leiper's Fork it had blown down quite a few trees as it passed through.
Also, don't forget the Harding Show is tomorrow night through Saturday afternoon. Come by and say hi!

Good ol' Summertime

Alright, here is a list of a few reasons I enjoy painting in the winter as opposed to summer. Bear in mind I encountered each and every one of these items within an nine hour time span on Friday:
1. Lightning
2. Pollen
3. Humidity
4.Pollen
5. Snakes
6. Knats
7.Pollen
8. Ticks
9. Oh yeah, and Pollen
The reason I mention pollen as I do is it was the only thing on the list that actually put me in the doctor's office the following morning. I spent two full days in and out of the bed with a fever and completely wrecked sinuses. It was the sickest I have been in years. When I paint in the winter I encounter nothing that can't be fixed with a hot cup of coffee. I am now in for over a hundred bucks in medical expenses for Friday's little painting adventure. Here's the kicker. As soon as the antibiotics got me back on my feet, ya' know the first thing I did Monday? I went out and painted. Hay.
Yeah, I know.

Shock and Awe

I was approached this morning by a member of the Cumberland Society and asked to join their group. This is an honor that I cannot describe with mere English language. I have a dictionary right here and there is not a word for how flattered I am by this.
Before I became a painter I was an illustrator who constantly said,"someday I will be a painter" and constantly put it on the back burner, always finding a reason to do it later in life. I went to a Cumberland Society show here in Nashville and I actually saw people who were doing this as a profession, right here in my community. They were doing what I wanted to be doing and they were doing it very well. That day they became the yardstick I used to measure my life in art, what I would strive to be. If I worked and committed myself with laser like focus I might be able to do this also. To have them consider me a peer and to know they think my work qualifies for this honor leaves me speechless.
I have also seen the work they do in the art community here and consider them to be a tremendous asset to anybody in the art field in this area. I know they have coached and prodded me along over the years and I have seen them do it with anyone who approaches them with questions. I hope I am able to give and help as much as they have.
So to Dawn Whitelaw, Jason Saunders, Pam Padgett, Roger Brown, Paula Frizbe, and Michael Shane Neal, thank you, thank you a thousand times over and I will do everything I can to uphold everything the group stands for for the next artist wanna be who stumbles into a Cumberland Society show and says,"that's what I want to do."

Better Living Through Chemistry

It's that time of year. Caffeine and Diphenhydramine. Starbucks and Benedryl.
Allergies kicked in last week and have been on my spring diet of chemicals. If these paintings start to get Van Goghish, I will need an intervention.
This was done in Wartrace this morning. We finally had a sunny day and it is supposed to rain again for the next two days. Sheez.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I like a good rainstorm as much as anybody but this is getting ridiculous. We have had storms and floods almost everyday for weeks now. The Duck River has flooded parts of Bedford and Maury and has just about washed away parts of Hickman County. Each time it settles a bit another storm has it everywhere again. I rode to Hickman County tuesday and the river was back up in the property we have leased and it looked like an ocean.
I was in Bell Buckle Friday and jumped out between rainstorms and got this painting done in about an hour. After I got everything up, the bottom fell out. This is the first plein air piece I have gotten done in a week due to the weather.

Harding Show Has Been Re-Scheduled

Yea, it's a go.
The chairs of the show have worked feverishly (If the CDC and the State Health Department read this I mean "frantically" when I say "feverishly". They do not literally have a fever. Please do not close the school again.) for the past few days and have decided to re-schedule the show for May 28th from 6-9, May 29th from 10-9 and May 30th from 10-3.
As somebody who has 30-40 paintings sitting in boxes in our playroom, I could not be happier.

Harding Artshow Has Been Cancelled

For anybody who reads this and was making plans to go to the Harding Artshow it has been cancelled due to a case of swine flu in the school. Apparently one of the students contracted the flu but is home and doing well and is expected to recover. However, the school and all activities have been shut down for a full week, that includes the show. At this point we haven't heard if they plan on rescheduling or not having it at all. We will keep everybody updated.
I have a daughter at Harding and this has created quite a bit of apprehension in our family and the Harding community. Hopefully, this will be an isolated event and will pass with the end of the week.
I have also worked in different capacities as a parent volunteer over the years with the Harding show and I know first hand how much work and manpower is involved in making it work.The time and energy that has been committed up to this point is astronomical. I think trying to stop the show like this would be the equivalent of stopping a runaway train without wrecking it at the bottom of the hill. Hopefully it will still happen.

That Time of the Year

First off I want to say the Chestnut Group artshow for The Friends of Radnor Lake was a success due to the people who volunteered on behalf of the Chestnuts and the Friends of Radnor. Thanks to all who worked to make it happen. While I was there on Saturday I went out to the park to paint and a family came up with a young 2 year old girl named Lucy. Lucy was mesmerized by the fact that I was standing there making a painting. She got wide eyed. So, I gave Lucy my brush and Lucy scooped up a little blue from my palette and applied it to the sky as well as any artist I have watched. Thanks, Lucy, for your help. It made the painting (the middle painting above) perfect.
I also want to mention some wet paint carriers I am using now. They are called Panel Roos and they are made by a friend of mine named Jason Jackson. These are great for carrying wet panels. They are extremely light, very flat and portable and durable. You can put two panels in face to face and then swing a metal arm down to hold them in place. If your interested send me an e-mail and I will hook you up. I have one in my photo of the cutbank above.
Also, this weekend is the Harding Artshow. It is a fundraiser that Harding Academy has each year and it has a tremendous amount of art and artists participating. This will be the 5th year I have participated and will carry around 30-40 paintings with me. That and the fact my computer has gone haywire is the reason for my lack of blogging. The show is at Harding Academy and they are at the intersection of Harding Road and Winsor Drive. The show is Thursday night, Friday all day and Saturday until 3:00. You can also find info on the show at artshow.Harding Academy.org Come by and say hi!