Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Morning in Charleston-SOLD


Got homesick for Charleston SC last night and decided i hadnt painted enough yesterday (only three small ones) so i jumped up and painted it.
Its funny how painting from a photograph of a place brings back all the sights, smell, sounds and atmosphere you were experiencing that day.
the photo reference was taken in march, on my way back from Key West, and is the second trip i've taken to paint Charleston. i'm hoping to get in a really great gallery in hilton head (Morris Whiteside) and they want plein air pieces of there and charleston as well as savannah. i hope i get the gig! he's supposed to let me know this spring.
maybe i'll be going there on a regular 'paid' basis!
its a very charming city and i'll never run out of things to paint there.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike- I think you're living proof that the more you paint the better you get and the better you get the more you want to paint.

These last few are so terrific and fluid and, well, just essence of good painting and good " seeing ".

Nice going, all of it.

Wishing you more for 09.

mike rooney studios said...

bonnie
thanks so much. i needed that. more problems at the shelter are making me have to concentrate very hard on the painting when i do get away to the studio.
i know that the important first step is -- the 'more you want to paint', the more you paint, the more you paint, the better you get, and around and around it goes. for me right now, the battle is keeping that strong desire to paint when i'm so distracted with this other thing going on. but you are very sweet to say it looks ok.
congrats on your recent write-up. i went to her site and liked it. thats quite an honor. you deserve it!

Jeff Mahorney said...

Mike this is great man. :)
I love how you kept some much warmth in the sunlit sections. The suggestion of the horsedrawn is just right. Love what you're doin lately!

mike rooney studios said...

jeff
thanks man. i kinda liked a "BIG" painting in such a small format. i pushed the sunlit palms a bit to counter balance all the cool shadow shapes that dominated the painting.
saw where you were having a big sale! that'll clear out the 08 stuff. what was funny was seeing the picasa thumbnails and i guess you had your first paintings at the top. i could scroll down and see the phenomenal progress you've made all in one mouse click. that was cool! WTG man, keep it up!

Frank Gardner said...

Happy New Year Mike.
That would be sweet if you got into M&W. Jack is a nice guy. I met him once here in SMA at my gallery.
"Only three, so I had to get up and paint this one." LOL

mike rooney studios said...

frank
yeah morris whiteside gallery would be an awesome place to sell work. hope it comes to pass.
you mean youre not painting four a day? oh yeah, you do 18x24s and i do 6x6's, but that shouldnt matter should it? LOL

Leora Platte said...

Mike, I've watched all of your free art lessons on Jerry's Artarama. I love the way you paint and the results you get. I'd like to know how you clean up your brushes.

mike rooney studios said...

leo
thanks. glad you liked the lessons on-line. i have instructional dvd's too if youre interested.
i just clean my brushes in odorless mineral spirits and then wipe them off really well trying to groom them back into shape to dry. i always buy new brushes every month or so anyway. the cost of using a raggedy brush is much higher than what it costs to replace them often. nothing worse than painting with a brush that splays! thanks for commenting on the blog! please do it often!

Leora Platte said...

I am interested in your teaching dvds. I only saw the one teaching how to use paint knives. I was more interested in the brush work. I liked how you told about your pallet, and about things like the view finder, and looking for five values in an image. I liked that you use magenta to draw and also cover the canvas with that color first.
You are working wet on wet, then, aren't you?
Do you add wet paint on top of dry paint around your pallet?
How do you deal with excess paint on your brush and when you wash it off in your container you have on your pallet what do you do with the sludge build-up..or do you wipe most of the paint off on the paper towel before rinsing the brush? What is that container you have to clean your brushes? Do you travel with it empty? Does is have a screen in the bottom to keep the sludge away from your brushes?
Do you use a different container with clean mineral spirits when you're done painting for final clean-up?

mike rooney studios said...

leo
glad to see you getting back into the painting swing. i paint alla prima style (all at once)and that can he confusing. you had a lot of questions and i really think if you get one of my brush painting instructional dvd's alot of those questions will be answered on there. also you might take a plein air workshop and you can find out alot of this stuff too.
if you want a dvd, let me know.