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.

Wellfleet Shapes-12x16

Wellfleet Shapes- 12x16

above is what I'm using for reference for this painting. it was a plein air study from last year on the cape.

 

today I started playing with an acrylic underpainting with cape cod underpainting colors, to speed up the painting process. I don't really like having to wait for two days to start putting down the topcoat so I'm using an acrylic underpainting like Dan Nelson uses. I was painting the sides of my gallery wrapped canvases with acrylic all week,  and liked it because it dried so fast, so I thought this might speed things up in the studio, production-wise. whats nice is I will go back in in a few minutes and darken and and/or add rich color on top of this without having to wait till tomorrow. one thing I see I need to darken is the tree to the left behind the buildings. right now its to light in value and too red (warm), Its the value of white in shadow like the buildings to the left. NOT good! Good thing is i'll be able to fix that and it'll be dry in minutes and I'll be able to paint green on it tonite with oil. 

 

I love slapping the acrylic around with huge, crappy brushes. it keeps the painting loose and I'm not "rendering" it but thinking this shape with this value and this temperature.

 

I use to paint acrylic underpaintings a few years back, but it dried too fast outside, so I abandoned it. now the question is will I underpaint one way big in the studio and another way small, plein air?

Hmmmmmm....

 

after much reading then and now I think the key is to paint the acrylic super thin, so its not shiny. then the oil can adhere to it fine.

Monhegan Paintings

these are headed to the small gallery located in the Monhegan House, but if you buy them before framing and shipping you'll save big! i'll even ship free

email me if youre interested in either one.

both were painted recently onsite on Monhegan Island.

 Monhegan Coastline-12x16
SOLD

we hiked for twenty minutes  thru small, craggy trails with all our painting gear to get to this majestic, unforgettable view!

Monhegan Morning-8x12
SOLD

 

this is the lightkeepers house in early morning light. you have to catch your breath after hiking up to this one too. oh, but sooo worth it!

Looking Down on Capt Charlies-12x16-0502B

email me for price and availability

 

this week i painted this colorful 12x16. its the second one this size i've done from a smaller study i did several years ago, when i was on a residency trip to bald head island. imagine getting a free place to stay and a golf cart to get around on, and all you have to do is paint all day long, wake up and do it all over again. just so they can say there's an artist on the island. what a gig!there is nothing else to do on this remote island resort, but paint beautiful scenes like this one all day. was over there almost a week. i think it takes at least that long to pick up  on the vibe of the place youre trying to capture. its great when people,who have been to the island before, say looking at my paintings take them back there!

Workshop News
want to take one of my workshops in Hot Lanta (atlanta) this may 17-19
check out this link for more info
http://pleinairartists.ning.com/events/loose-and-colorful-plein-air-loose-and-colorful-plein-air-with

SOLD Shady Elgin-12x16

 

 

one from the show. shady lanes abound in key west and i rarely get tired of trying to capture the feel of one on a late afternoon. notice how i made you go right into the scene by making you hop into the middle of the "donut" composition. edgar payne.the great california landscape painter that wrote a book on landscape painting describes this as an "o" composition. there is also an "L" composition the runs up one side of the canvas and across, either at the bottom or top (wont see that too much). there's also a diagonal composition that runs corner to corner

below is a pic of some of the 18 very studious conchs from key largo in my three day workshop sponsored by the Art Guild of the Purple Isles this week.

we were working on cape cod underpainting today and yesterday i drilled into them the importance of value. i know i know,,,,which comes first the chicken or the egg? LOL

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!