Mid Tide (revision) 18x24

 

Mid Tide-18x24

oil on panel

email me for price and availability

 

 

This is the original painting. painted several years ago. it never sold. Surprise, right? NOT!

 

oh sooo ugly. here are the changes i made.

 

simplified the grass and made it much brighter. 

changed the color scheme warming it up, brightening and lightening it up.

simplified the water strip in the back and made it connect to the tidal pool

punched up the sky.

 

that's better!

 

Marsh III- 30x40

 

Marsh III- 30x40

on gallery wrapped canvas (no frame needed)

email me for price and availability

 

another marsh scene from the series. this ones a larger version of a painting I did last week. in the past I've never been into series. but having done several of each of these marsh motifs I see the value. the more you do it you begin to see things that work for each component of the painting. you keep doing the things that seem to work and you you ditch things that aren't in search of things that do. that way they seem to evolve.

Flowing In- 36x48

Flowing In

36x48 on gallery wrapped canvas

email me for price and availability at rooneystudios@Hotmail.com

so many things about the way i paint have changed in the last year. one area is the size. i never used to enjoy painting big. now i love it. i'm using a part acrylic, part oil underpainting process that gives me the peeks of pure color i love poking out in just the right spots. and I learned a thing or two from my buddy Dan Nelson about transparent glazes. I don't do it a lot but it looks great on certain areas.

also, my color sense went more Wolf Kahn and less Kevin Mcpherson with much looser brushwork.

 

But probably the biggest change is that i'm painting almost everything in the studio since last december. i'm using studies and photo references from years and years painting outside almost exclusively. i think it taught me how to "correct" a photo if I have to.  But I'm doing my own interpretation of the them tho'. i'm not so literal anymore, and don't try to exactly reproduce the scene and light key like i used to. Trying to introduce some "wow" factor into the painting.

 

painting is a fluid thing and the bar is always changing. what i thought i was doing ok on a few years ago, look laughable and amateurish to me now. as the ones i'm doing now will look in several years.

 

that is....i hope!

On the Hill Side- 30x40

On the Hillside- 30x40

on gallery wrapped canvas

email me for price and availability

 

 a different version of Hill Top Cottages.

 

wanted to play with different light and composition. The big ones are fun because you can play in the shapes with subtle temperature differences and broken color (that the computer image doesn't show) that you wouldn't have room for on a small one.

 

And the size of the canvas is a big statement as well.

Hill Top Cottages-30x40

 

Hill Top Cottages-30x40

email me for price and availability

 

this one's from Bald Head Island. I love the elevation on this side of the island. its very desolate feeling out there. sorta reminds me of my travels to Cape Cod and Maine.

Workshop News
there are seats left in next Monday July 13-Wednesday July 15th workshop in West Jefferson, NC. it's a "Loosen Up and Paint Colorfully" plein air class. The weather is much cooler in the mountains and Kathleen says its gorgeous painting weather with amazing mountain vistas. I cant wait! if you'd like a seat email me and i'll arrange it. 

Marsh Land- 36x48

 

Marsh Land- 36x48 on gallery wrapped canvas

email for price and availability

 

still trying to playing with color, paint handling and underpainting techniques. I'm having a lot of fun on these big canvases. easier to be loose on a monster canvas than it is on an 8x10, that's for sure.

I think of 16x20's as mini canvases now. big change since a year ago. changing from cooking oil to Gamsol thinner made this possible. it was just too hard to get all the paint out of a huge brush using cooking oil. now a swish or two in some Gamsol and poof. clean! 

Sundowner- 30x40

 

Sundowner- 30x40 on gallery wrapped canvas

email for price and availability

wanted some razzle-dazzle on this one. used giant brushes on much of this until later in the painting and that kept it loose for quite a while. Gotta know when to stop tightening it up.

Cuba Workshop dates will be January 16-23, 2016. I'll be taking a handful of people with me to Havana, so if you'd like to go, email me and i'll get you the details.

In progress- Charleston street scene

Been  a while since Ive posted, so I thought I'd post this 'in progress' shot of day three on a large street scene from a photo shot in Charleston SC. trying to keep it loose but accurate at this stage.

 

Since my last post I packed up and left Key West and taught two workshops heading north. One in St. Augustine Fl. and the other in Hilton Head SC. Then I got caught up in unpacking and settling back in at home in NC, not feeling too much like painting. that's not unusual after leaving florida for the winter. It usually takes about a week before I can concentrate on painting again so yesterday I grabbed this painting that I started back in Elizabeth City during Splash week (November) and started working on it. then more painting on it today.

 

 I had done just the underpainting back in November, so it was fun to pick up the painting and start top coating it. more to go.... but a good third day on it!

Noticias de la Manana 30x40

 

available at Gallery on Greene in Key West

contact them for price and availability

liked this old Cuban reading the morning rag in the early light.

 

anybody know why that blue keeps coming out so light and overly vivid? i just started having this problem. I'm using the same camera, and doing everything exactly as always. ive noticed it on all the paintings I take pics of, for the last couple of months.

Florida Keys TV Interview

The Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale- 8x10

commission piece-SOLD

click this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrKEJFvtldI

to see the TV interview for my recent show at Gallery on Greene. mine is after Jimmy Wrays interview.

 They say the TV puts on 20 pounds. try thirty. gotta start eating some salads  :D

El Cruce (the Crossing) 8x10

 

El Cruce (the Crossing) 8x10

inquire about price and availability

I like the action, and warm into cool, cool into warm shape play here.

 

Hustle and bustle in Havana.

Cupulas y Sombras (Domes and Shadows) - 24x18

 

Cupulas y Sombras (Domes and Shadows)- 24x18

contact me to purchase

 

in Cuba the mix of modern life, 1940's cars, and centuries old architecture is alluring to me and my paintbrush.

the underlying goal in this one was distinctive color, loosey goosey brushwork and a spark of crazy color (the cab and orange car in the distance). the more I paint the more I realize that brushwork is a way of transmitting a vibe to the viewer of the painting. It can signal repose, calmness, or action and vitality, or something in between.

 

in this painting (when I look at it anyway) I sorta feel the hustle and bustle of Havana, but at the same time, the centuries of its just 'being'.

 

like when you stand at the edge of the ocean. its as if in that one moment of looking at the waves lapping at the shore, that you can feel the eons that it's been happening.

 

my color changes happened a few months ago (and continue to morph). now the brushstrokes are evolving.

 

in painting as in life, the only constant is change. sit back and enjoy the ride!

Solo en la Calle (Alone in the Street) -24x30

 

Solo en la Calle (Alone in the Street)- 24x30

headed to Gallery on Greene- Key West

 

my focus on this painting was to play warms against cools colorfully in the shadows. and use the 2/3 shadow against 1/3 light value plan I loved in my sketch.

 

the chrome on the car glinting in the sunlight should draw your eye more than anything in the painting. the very definition on a focal point. the car is the star of the show and the buildings are the supporting actors in this one

Viejo Canon Habana (Old Havana Canyons) -18x24

Viejo Canon Habana (Old Havana Canyons)  18x24

First large one in the series done. doing all the sketching, prelim studies and careful planning made this come together pretty quickly. I'm happy with the cohesiveness of the image even tho' I want the street scene to reflect the somewhat chaotic, disorderly nature of old town Havana. looks like a lot without being a lot. Also playing with cools over warms and warms over cools and loose edges through out.

On the Docks-30x40

On the Docks- 30x40 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

email for price and availability

 

ive been painting big paintings here lately and loving it. my quest is for glowing saturated and bold color statements these days! think Wolf Kahn!

 

ever concerned with how underpainting affects the finished product. also more color notes in each shape. its and evolution of sorts. the shimmery water you see in the lower left hand side of the painting is the effect I'm after. the total percentage of this painting that has that "X factor" is way up there, so I'd say I'm happy with the direction my painting is going. still not there in a lot of ways tho'. guess i'll always be saying that huh? 

heres what the underpainting looked like. I know its right when it almost looks done in this "crazy color" stage

On the Docks-12x16

On the Docks- 12x16

email me for availability and price

 

playing with shapes continues. the dock here was the perfect lead in to the painting and sets up the feeling of depth I was after. seeing how abstract I can make things and it still look like a building, boats tied up, or distant trees.

love the light on the front of the house, in contrast to the shadowed side.

Key West Light-6x8

$75 plus $10 s/h

to purchase with PayPal or credit card click the "buy now" button below

Found this one hiding while cleaning up the studio this week. its a key west plein air I did last year. its just up from Duval Street.

 

to be honest when I can see my breath in the air like I did last night, I get the itch to get down there!. ive got a big season planned down in Key West this winter, with private lessons, a trip to cuba, teaching weekly at TSKW (the islands biggest art center) and last but certainly not last, painting for my show at Gallery on Greene.

 

I also found out where ive stayed for the last several years is not available to me (she's moving off island). if you know of anyone that would like to rent a room to me from December to late April. please email me. I'd be grateful!

Elizabeth City Splash event

Charleston Color-18x24

if you'd like to purchase email me for price and availability

 

this one was started outside and finished in the studio. when I set up on the street in Charleston I got the drawing done and then the clouds came and blocked out the sun. luckily, my friend (and awesome Charleston painter) hilarie lambert had a photo reference of something sorta close, so I finished it from that. like all the drawing and all the temperature shifts in this one.

 

Just agreed to be part of Elizabeth City NC's Splash Event the week of Nov. 2-9. i'll be one of the artists in residence and will be doing private lessons in the Elizabeth City area that week. so if you're from the Tidewater Virginia area, Outerbanks of NC, or close to E.C. and want to take some plein air lessons from me in this beautiful waterfront town, and hang out with an assortment of artists from all over the place, email me or call 919-920-9718 and let me get you on the calendar.

 take a few hours, half a day, or several half days. $35 per hour (less for half day).

i'll also have paintings for sale on display all thru the week. Looking forward to this event and seeing the whole EC crowd!

Ocracoke Shine 24x30

Ocracoke Shine- 24x30

 

Now available at Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke Island NC

 

This one really shows the new direction my painting has been evolving to in the last six or seven months. everybody is starting to say they see a big shift taking place. 

 

I'm becoming less and less enthralled with copying what I'm actually seeing. these days I seem to want to put my own twist on what I'm seeing and I love pushing around the more saturated color. That's what inspired me to paint this scene. the contrast between the flaming yellow orange fall grass and the deep blues of the water and sky, as well as the red roof of the building in the distance.

 

was able to stop painting when I needed to, to give me the raw energy in the strokes that I wish I had in all my big stuff.

 

Thanks to all my friends that showed up in Ocracoke to paint for the week. they were: Sue Morris, Dan Nelson, Joanne Geisel, Fen Rascoe, and Scott Boyle. You made me laugh, contemplate a lot of things, and really inspired me creatively. It was great fun hanging out with you all, making paintings!

Seal Cove (maine)-9x12

 

Seal Cove-9x12

 

this painting is headed to my new gallery in maine. email me if you'd like to get it first!

 

A plein air piece from my recent trip to Mount Desert Island, Maine.

this one was fun playing with all the rock shadow colors and trying to catch that glint that happens on the water really late in the afternoon. really like the distant land mass with the sailboat leaning into the wind too.