Haystack Rock PA

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6″ x 8″ oil on panel

I’m spending the week at the Oregon Coast while my wife recovers from her treatment.

The weather has been pretty much socked in like this everyday. Even though this is not necessarily the prettiest scene to paint, I didn’t have to hurry since the light isn’t changing much. It did brighten slightly toward the end. This resulted in the kind of weird colorization that occured in the closer parts. I thoght it might give it a sense of space if the color intensified in the foreground but the almost complete absence of color in the middle and backgrounds make it seem odd to me.

I continue to not see the color on the panel that well while painting outside. Only when I get it back inside can I see what I’ve done.

Another try at Ronell’s portrait

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10″ x 7″ ink and watercolor

I had to take another crack at capturing Ronell’s likeness. I think this comes a bit closer.

Casey and Laura will know.

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Airport Sketches

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photo from window of airliner somewhere between TN and TX

I had to make an unexpected trip to Tennessee last week and spent a lot of time waiting in airports. These three sketches were done in the Portland, OR, Knoxville, TN and Dallas/Fort Worth airports. It’s much easier to find a comfortable place to draw what’s happening on the tarmac in the smaller airports but the larger ones are more exciting visually. Their organization is more complex and difficult to grasp.

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The sketches are all ink and watercolor in a 5″ x 8″ handmade sketchbook. The paper is Twinrocker handmade paper that I’ve been a little disappointed in but it may be my tools and techniques that are not that compatible with the paper.

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Les and Cuca in the Connemara

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10″ x 8″ oil on canvas panel

Recently this blog was visited by an artist from Ireland who commented on some of the paintings I have in the ‘Older Paintings’ section. It turned out that he lives near where we visited and knows not only the sites I painted but our good friend who hosted us there. I started reminiscing about that trip and the beautiful landscapes we saw near Omey Island and found a photo of my wife and our friend standing on the rocks looking out at the stormy ocean.

I’ve dreamed of going back to that incredible place on a painting trip for 12 years.

Check out Cathal O Malleys beautiful Irish landscapes here.

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I’ve been listening to Solas “The Words That Remain” and reading “The Asian Journals of Thomas Merton.”

Portrait exchange with Ronell

My friend Ronell invited me to do a portrait exchange. We exchanged photos of each other and I did terrible things to her on paper and canvas. – Sorry, Ronell

I’m afraid I was not able to do her justice it’s tough working from a photo.

Take a look at Ronell’s attempt at capturing me at her blog, African Tapestry.

Mountaindale Vinyard PA

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6″ x 8″ oil on linen panel

This is a second sketch I did while on my weekend excursion. It turned out a little odd compositionally but I like the paint.

Mountaindale Plein Air

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6″ x 8″ oil on linen panel.

I’m starting to get a little more comfortable with the plein air thing, although still struggling with some of the logistics.

Head Study 2

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14″ x 11″ oil on paper

Practice sketch using the megilp medium and palette I described in my last post. I did add a bit of red toward the end. othewise the skin tones end up pretty much yellow. Apologies for the glare.

It’s kind of cheating using this extreme lighting, but I’m not above that.

Lemon Megilp

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6″ x 8″ oil on paper

I attended the first of a 4 session ‘Head Studies’ painting class last Saturday. I’ve accepted that I shouldn’t expect to make good paintings at a workshop, where you’re trying to paint using unfamiliar materials and techniques (although I have to really resist the urge to try).

This lemon study is an attempt to get more comfortable with the materials and palette we’ll be using in the class. The instructor, Gage Mace, has asked everyone to use a palette of White, Burnt Sienna, Ult Blue, Cad Yellow and Terre Verte and to use a Gamblin medium called Neo Megilp.

Neo Megilp is a safer alterative to maroger medium. It’s very different to work with than what I’m used to. I usually use only a little Gamsol for most of that painting and maybe little thinned down Galkyd Lite toward the end.

This painting was constructed by first toning the support with Terre Verte mixed liberally with medium. This creates a kind of waxy, buttery surface to paint into rather than onto. Eventually you end up with a surface of paint that you can really move around. I could almost move that entire lemon a quarter inch to the right by pushing the paint. It’s interesting but a little hard to get used to, as is the palette.

Another thing that is different for me is that, I’m used to putting in my darkest values first. Gage is encouraging us to put in the mid-tone darks and mid-tone lights first and work out from there. It actually makes a lot of sense in that, since the value range of a painting is compressed from life, you’re less likely to get outside your boundaries by working from the middle out to the lights and darks.

One more thing that he stressed, and I’m guilty of this, is that you’ll make a richer color harmony if you depend less on white to raise values.

Anyway, there’s a bit of shared insight for what it’s worth. Gage Mace is the instructor at Hipbone Studios in Portland.

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