A Subtle Shift

 Here are a few of my newest paintings. i dont know if its just me but i see a slight change in my work lately. more form being described but that doesnt mean more detail. i desperately try to keep my paintings like a dream, void of all detail. just the essential shapes!

you can contact me for location, availability and pricing on these

 Blueman Group-12x16 on gallery wrapped canvas. painted around the edges.  no frame needed

 Dreamy Swan Point-9x12- this one has subtle colors that arent showing online like the real thing. look at the road and you'll get an idea!

Darden and Ocean-18x24-this ones all knife, thick and luscious!

$100-Soundside Demo-6x6

email me to purchase

this was a demonstration for a recent lesson. SB wanted to see how to paint a believable tree. i explained that a tree is grouping of clumps and to render them like roundish organic shapes with the lightest leaves being on the side facing the light source (usually the sun). technique-wise, i first lay in the shadow side in darker green and then lay in the light side with a warmer lighter green. link as many of the dark shapes as you can. in other words dont have them (or the lights) look like polka dots. you want a chunky 'graphic' look. then add two more colors of darks and two more colors in the light. then it should look something like the one above. then i added some subtle temperature changes in the grass, water, and sky. i think this painting took about an hour. i love the cottage on this one! SB did a great painting during her lesson. way to go SB!

She also purchased my new Pochade Box fashioned after the one ive been using for years. it costs $160 without a tripod, and comes with a gray painted glass bottom which is a dream to paint/scrape on. it also comes with a painting panel holder. if you want a tripod, the total cost is only $199 complete. its the only paint box you'll ever need. email me for yours!

Workshop and Lesson News

i'll be on cape cod for the month of august and september. i'll be available for private lessons on cape cod during that time. the fee is $35 for the first hour of the day and $25 for every hour after that. i can do one-on-one lessons or teach your small group of friends or at your arts council/league. email me if youre interested in taking your painting to the next level.

SOLD-Brother and Sister-6x8

The Acadia Maine Workshop in Bar Harbor the week of Labor Day, is now officially a go! Yeah! There are a few spots left if you want to paint maine, eat lobster, and improve your painting! email me to register

$OLD

this was a demo for a private lesson i was teaching last week. one of the lessons was that you dont have to paint everything thats in the scene before you plein air (or in a photo for that matter) you can add, subtract, modify, move stuff around! its all about the painting. the scene in front of you is nothing more than the take-off point for the painting.

its like in music. you make a little three or four note sequence of notes called a "riff". around that riff you improvise and make stuff that enhances the way that riff or little sequence sounds. its the "homebase" that you always come back to. you can go wherever the music takes you long as you enhance that riff.

the scene is then the riff. you do everything you can to enhance the riff. the painting is the "music" created or the end product.

in this one i took out about six houses and gave the homeowners instant waterfront property, tho the actual houses are on what we call "second row". second row is across the street from the beach front cottages. tho' they were much cheaper to buy because they arent ocean front, if they stay around long enough, and the hurricanes keep eating the dunes (and the beach)  they will surely be ocean front at some point!

note: i even changed the direction of the ocean had these houses been waterfront. the ocean would have been running down the left side of these houses!

SOLD-Atlantic Cottage-7x9

SOLD

this ones from a few months ago on a painting trip to atlantic. i think.the only thing they do in this very remote downeast coastal town is fish, oyster, fix boats, and raise misquitos.  when i saw that old grill on the side of the house i knew i had to paint  this watery vignette.

note: i could use some help. i 'm trying to get back into my hotmail account and i have to prove who i am. theyre asking for some recent emails as proof. here's what i need. if you emailed me anytime around the end of june or the first two weeks of july could you give me your email address and the subject line of that email? you would be helping me get back into my account that has my 800 favorite email addresses in it. thanks so much!

SOLD-Misty M sideview-6x6

SOLD

i had to paint this, just had to. something about the composition and color notes drew be back to this scene of the misty m. she used to be docked around the corner but i love her new home. its great when there are some trees behind a boat. gives a sense of scale and who doesnt love some red/violet on green action? its called a split complement and works great.

Please note that my new email address is mikerooneystudios@hotmail.com and all mail to the old address is NOT being forwarded to this new address. if you'd like to be added back to my mailing list please send me a message to the new email address above.

here's my large painting setup. its a gloucester easel and my custom paintbox. i use it for anything over 9x12 and works great. i've got some of the paintboxes in production as we speak. if youve ever been to one of my workshops or seen me do a demo, you saw it.its the only one i use anymore and ive had em all from soltek to french easels, and this one is the bomb. almost 12x16 mixing area and wings like a french mistress on the sides to hold stuff. this is the only paintbox you'll ever need. if you'd like one email me. the cost will be roughly $150. the box is extremely versatile, lite and has glass already in it. can be rigged like above or you can use a tripod.

BOO HOO!

Well you always think it'll be the other guy but in this case it was me. my email address was hijacked and ive been locked out of my primary email account and it doesnt look like there's any remedy for me and about a thousand irate hotmail users. i got a whole new hotmail account/address, so if you sent me an email from july 4th till today i didnt receive it. please send again. lost all my contacts too OUCH! got the computer screened and thankfully it doesnt have any viruses.
so if you got an email from me suggesting you try some diet pills it wasnt me trying to tell you something LOL.
computer was in the shop for a while so now that ive got it back i'll start posting new paintings ive been working on for the past couple of weeks.

p.s. i'm doing alot of private lessons in the mornings here on topsail island and can schedule them till i leave for the cape in a few weeks. if you'd like a few hours of personal instruction, contact me at my new email address: mikerooneystudios@hotmail.com.

I washed my guitar and it shrunk

"oh what the heck, lets play!"