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!

No Complaining

Trying to paint hard to get enough pieces for three seperate shows coming up. Radnor Lake show starts this Thursday with a show at Leiper's Creek on the 25th followed then by the Harding Show, a show I will try to have at least 30 paintings for. I am in pretty good shape for the shows but had two galleries contact me and want work.
I remember Julia Roberts told a story on Dolly Parton in an interview once. She said they were filming a movie together and it was in the middle of the summer and some extraodinarily long, hot days and she had been grousing and complaining and she asked Dolly why she seemed so content and wasn't complaining and Dolly said," I prayed my whole life to be here doing what I'm doing. This is a dream come true for me and I'm not about to complain."
3 shows and 4 galleries. I'm not about to complain.

Bus-ted

This old Williamson County bus sits in a field in Leiper's Fork and I have always driven by and said I would paint it someday. Sunday was that day. Apparently it has become a storage shed.
When I look at it abandoned in this field I have to ask who would aquire a school bus and how did they aquire it to just drive it home and park it in a field to store junk in it? How do you get a school bus? Do they give them away or sell them? Ya' know, if you tore out the seats and added a bunk and a fridge and a giant easel, you would have a great mobile studio. Just back it up to your favorite local scene, fling open the back door and voila, instant studio, rain or shine.

"We're Not In Kansas Anymore..."

Plein Air Nashville painted in Centennial Park again on Saturday. We delayed the start because our weathermen in town said we were going to have some pretty severe weather right at sun up on Saturday and then clearing by afternoon so we opted to paint at two o'clock. Most looked like they were going for the flower garden but I chose the Parthenon again, doing the opposite side from the one I painted last time. Apparently I set up on "gawkers row." I have never had so many spectators. At one point I had a semi-circle of about 10-15 people standing around me. I couldn't backup one step. The best was a group of 6, 8-10 year old African American girls who were dying to see what I was doing without coming over to ask. I could tell they were playing closer and closer until one finally leaned over and peaked. "Ooohh ya'll he's painting! Come check it out! He's good! You got a website?! Mom, can we go to his website when we get home?!He's good! How long you been doin' this?! He's good! You're good!" I have never had such an enthusiastic crowd. I gave them one of my mailers with my website on it and told them to send an e-mail but haven't heard from them yet. It was pretty cool watching kids that age go that nutty over painting. But then again, they could be like that about everything.
As I was cleaning up getting ready to leave, the tornado warning sirens in town went off. Apparently one of the most strategic and effective locations for a tornado siren in Davidson County was about 50 yards to my right. When it went off everybody in the park kind of looked at each other. When they figured it out people started running for their vehicles and shelters. It was a bit frightening. I headed straight for home having called my family and telling them to take cover. Little did I know at the time I was driving west on highway 100 and the tornado was heading east on highway 100. As I was looking at the most awesome looking sky I have ever seen my artistic brain did not comprehend the danger of it. No. It immediately started comparing the values in the clouds."I wonder if I could mix that and pull it off. Man, those values are close. Oooh those are nice grays." I guess when I got to St. Peter at the gate I'd have asked for 2 more hours and loaded palette.

Re-thinking Studio Painting

Painted in the studio today. Weather is a bit foul so I stayed in and painted a 14x18 of cows. I bought a big pack of 14x18's and 16x20's to try and motivate myself to paint a tad larger but so far they have just sat in my storage closet mocking me.
This afternoon I took a break and had a massive bowl of ice cream and went through the John Singer Sargent book "Sargent Abroad." Ya'know, sometimes I get lazer focused on what's being done out there in the market, right now, by the artists who I admire and would someday love to emulate and I forget to "go back" and look. It was the first time I had picked up a Sargent book in a while and just looked. And yes, it floored me.
Most artists you can watch paint and figure out what they are doing, how they do it. Even if you can't yet, you can see the way they paint and work at it until you can do it. I think watching Sargent paint would have been like watching magic. Even after you had seen him do it, you would stand there scratching your head in amazement not having a clue as to how it started with blank canvas and now looks like that. There is a description in the book by a lady who describes how he painted a plate of flowers. She said the watercolor was just one big pool of pigment and when it dried it was this wonderful little painting of flowers on a plate. Sounds like magic to me.
I don't know if it was the Sargent book or the ice cream this afternoon but this studio painting thing is starting to grow on me.

"That Too Much"

Painted Saturday morning with Plein Air Nashville and we painted in Centennial Park. Centennial Park was designed and built for the Nashville Centennial celebration in 1897 and is a very unique park for Nashville to have in the heart of the west end of the city. It has gone through some good years and some years you stayed clear of it. Over the last couple of decades they have done a wonderful job of turning it in to a fantastic park with outdoor shows, festivals and every summer, "Shakespeare in the Park." But the main attraction is an exact replica of the Parthenon. Yes, the one in Greece, except ours is not all crumbly and broken! I think it is partly the reason we are referred to as the "Athens of the South".
I had never painted the Parthenon even though I have painted in the park in the past. It just has a lot of drawing and decoration and nice even spaces and measurements that if you miss them by a little it is very obvious, especially in the columns. But I tried it and thought it worked out. I like the view I did through the columns. It actually is a very striking building standing in the middle of the park.
As I was painting though I had tons of spectators. One was a little Asian lady, maybe Japanese(?) and maybe 60 years old or older. She came up in a very heavy accent and told me how good my painting was. She then asked how long it took and if I was going to sell it. I said,"yes" and she said,"how much?" I then told her 400 dollars. She actually grabbed her mouth like I had said the most disgusting and vulgar word you could think of. She then started repeating,"that too much." "That too much. That too much. That too much." I was not sure if she meant that was too much for her to afford or that was too much to ask for the painting. Never did figure that out. But as she was walking away I could hear her say ," it good , but that too much."

Springtime in Tennessee

It's springtime in Tennessee and the woods are starting to get that whispy light green look of spring. I am sure we will have a few more cold snaps but I think the winter look is over.
I painted on Art Lawson's farm in Bell Buckle yesterday. The first time I met him he drove me all over his farm and said for me to help myself. He also told me a story of how Confederates were camped on the hill to the right in this painting. The northern "aggressors" over ran the hill and chased our "god-fearing gentlemenly army of the south" from the hill. In their"calculated and fully co-ordinated" flight they threw quite a bit of their gear to help precipitate their manoeuvre from the hill. Art said people who have done their Civil War homework are asking to metal detect the area from time to time. His only request is for them to show him what they find and he said he has seen some incredible stuff.
To know Art you would think he had been a farmer all his life and had rarely left the county. As I was painting one day a neighbor stopped to watch and told me how Art was an Apache helicoter pilot in the Iraq War! It's like I said, everybody has got a story and I bet his is a doosie.

Another Backroad

Not sure what county I was in, I believe Bedford County, but I got this Friday before I picked up my "daughters" at Webb in an intermittent rain.
If anybody is interested, go to Trailside Galleries website and look up Bill Anton and then check out a painting he has on the site named Alaskan Fjord. Geeez what a painting. And I am looking at a 4x5 image on a computer terminal. I can't imagine what the original looks like.
I am constantly scanning the information superhighway for artists and paintings that I can glean a bit of information from that will help me in my artistic quest and every now and then I will come across a painting that will make me let out an audilble gasp or an "O myGod!" This one did it for me. I am afraid though if I could actually buy it and did I would wind up like Howard Hughes, just sitting in a chair and staring at my painting for months at a time until I died. If I had 15,000 dollars I would sure like to find out.

ROAD TRIP!

There's nothing like a road trip.
Left last Monday for Richmond Virginia to stop in at Brazier's. The reason I had to stop there was to pick up my art. They're closing! Son of a.... My goal recently was to get three galleries and I did and now I am back to two. So much for goals. Anyway, was a great gallery to be in and I hope I can find another like it.
After picking up my art, drove on to Lewes Delaware for the Saturday night opening for new artists at The Peninsula Gallery, my new one. Between Brazier's and Peninsula I had four days to paint.
There are always tons of new things to paint when you are in a new area. You run around like a kid in a candy store the first day just trying to get your bearings. I had followed the snow storm of last week up the east coast so everything was covered in snow. Even the beaches! I had never seen that before. The weather also changed dramatically over four days. The first day I painted it was about 10 degrees and the last day I got sunburned in around 78 degrees.
Spent a half a day over in Easton Maryland gallery hopping. If you ever get to Easton the South Street Gallery has some wonderful work that is in the genre I prefer, the representational landscapes and plein air work. There was a guy named Tim Bell that had some stuff in there that was just incredible.
I also got to paint with another painter named Lisa Phillips. She is trying to get started as a plein air painter after years of painting murals. She accompanied me a couple of days and I got to do a demo! My first. If she stays with it there is no reason in the world she won't be a very competent plein air painter.
The landscapes there are beach scenes on one side with agriculture for miles in the interior. It's big flat farms that were covered up with geese. I spent most of my time in the Henlopen State Park and the Primehook Wildlife Refuge. Lots of wetlands at Primehook and beaches in Henlopen. About the second day the temps that morning were around 20 degrees. I painted along the Broadkill River which is actually in the tidal marsh. (See painting above) As I walked in the temp was low enough that the mud was nice and frozen and it was like zipping along on a sidewalk. While I painted apparently the temp crossed the freezing mark and what was this wonderful sidewalk become gumbo. Slickest thickest mud I have ever walked in. I had to get about 150 yds. back to the truck and it took forever.
Saturday night had the opening party at the gallery and met some fantastic artists and the gallery owner, Tony Boyd-Heron, and his wife. Right as I was leaving I found out that he retired from the British military after 26 yrs. in the service of HRH the Queen. Everybody's got a story.
After the Saturday night party at the gallery got up Sunday and made it back to Tennessee. Great trip with great people and great landscapes. Where to next?

Mix, Apply, Repeat

This is one of those paintings you do when the clock is running and you have to be somewhere so you just jump out and paint very intuitively. Not a lot of over thinking everything.
I was in Bell Buckle last week and had about an hour and a half before I had to pick up my daughter. I knew of this farm because I had painted there before so I drove like a maniac to get there and jumped out and started slinging paint. The faster I painted the more I enjoyed it. I think sometimes I tend to get caught up in the details and can belabor some of the areas of my paintings when I should just mix the value and color, apply, and move on. I catch myself going back and screwing with areas I probably should have left alone.
Anyway, everytime I paint here the guy that owns the farm shows up and we catch up with each other. It's kind of funny because when he pulls up it's almost like seeing an old friend when in reality I have no idea who he is.

Big Stars

Went to the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area yesterday and painted an area that I used to duck hunt in. The season is over so there is never anybody in there this time of year. The only person I saw was a crappie fisherman who wanted to know if I did portraits, don't ask me why. He put his boat in right by me and putted around the trees you see in the painting and disappeared.
Painted again this morning with Plein Air Nashville in Leiper's Fork. I tried my hand at the barn you see covered with these giant metal stars. Due to time constraints I had to weed out quite a few stars. They are all over it. I didn't have the patience or the time. When I started there was a nice horse trailer parked in front of it that I drew in and started to paint when out steps the owner with his horse in tow. He loads the horse, hooks up the trailer and leaves. So I erased the trailer and drew in the stars and the side of the barn. As soon as I had blocked in the painting Mr. Greenjeans showed back up with the trailer and parks it where it had been before. I didn't have the energy to draw it again. Enjoy the stars.