Work in progress

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8″ x 10″ oil on panel

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Again this is Kelly Point Park.  There is a bridge that goes across the river bank to a barge which is tied to the dolphins I’ve been fascinated with. The study above and the one before are two sections of this same small bridge.

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18″ x 26″oil on linen

The second painting is larger than I’ve worked in quite a while. I’m still worrying it. – slowly.

I’ve found myself looking at the work of Ilya Repin and William Merrit Chase, as I work on this. They both commonly included figures in their landscapes. I think, for me, the dolphins fill that role.

Barges off Hayden Island

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6″ x 8″ oil on panel

This is the view from Kelley Point Park, looking across the Columbia River toward Washington. It was a cold foggy morning and there was a layer of mist rising off the river that I was trying to capture, with, I think,  limited success.

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Return to Kelley Point Park

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I returned to Kelley Point Park last week for some Plein Air painting but could not get near the vantage point I drew from before because the River is running so high. In fact, there was hardly any beach area at all.

8″ x 10″ oil on panel

The painting above was done mostly plein air at the park. Even though it’s almost July, we’ve had very few sunny days here and this was no exception. This park is a bit depressing anyway and the lack of sun had me feeling pretty low, as I painted this.

9″ x 20″ oil on mounted linen

The second and third paintings were done from studies I’ve been working from, some done on site a couple of years ago.

9″ x 15″ oil on mounted linen

I still feel like I’m struggling to decide on a direction style-wise, torn between pushing the work farther toward or away from my observations.

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More studies

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10″ x 12″ oil on linen panel

This painting above is the same one from my last post, but taken a bit further.

6″ x 6″ oil on linen panel

These others are efforts to leave the reference behind a bit and lose myself in what it is I’m drawn to in the scene. They seem a bit self conscious to me, like I’m pushing them for no good reason. Like I’m faking it. Of course, I am faking it, at this point.

6″ x 5.5″ watercolor, ink and water soluble crayon on paper

Kelly Point Park oil studies

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5″ x 10″ oil on linen panel

10″ x 12″ oil on linen panel

I’ve always liked the sketches I did at this park back in 2009 and posted  HERE and HERE and have intended to get back here to paint more.

According Wikipedia, the site of this park, at the confluence of the Wilamette River and Columbia Slough, was named for New Englander Hall Jackson Kelley, who tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a city at the site in 1834.  The surrounding area is pretty industrial, with a Port of Portland Marine Terminal right next door.

Crack Press

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11″ x 14″ oil on panel

 

 

In the comments section, the owner of Crack Press, Pete McCracken, left a nice message and let me know that he’s still in business at a new location. Check his comment, below, for a link to his site.

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Deserted Parking Lot at Night

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8" x 10" Oil on Panel

This tree stands alone in a parking lot in NW Portland and looks somewhat surreal in the artificial light from surrounding signs. The old Montgomery Ward building, now Montgomery Park, behind the tree is a NW Portland landmark.

This was painted on a masonite panel prepared with Gamblin Oil ground that I sanded lightly before beginning the painting. It’s a very slippery surface to paint on and the sanding only helped a little.

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Urban Landscapes

 

 

8″ x 14″ oil on panel

6″ x 10″ oil on canvas panel

Two new oil paintings. I’ve been posting more work on my sketching blog recently, you can see that work here.

These two paintings started out as sketches.  The top one is from a favorite sketching area of mine, North Portland near the Widmer Brewery, looking toward the Union Pacific Rail yard.

The lower painting is the view from the new OHSU campus on the South Waterfront. At the time of the sketch, Cirque du Soleil was encamped along the river for their summer show. Downtown Portland is in the background. I was interested in this scene because the bright tents of the circus stood out from the mostly grey scene.

After a mostly beautiful October, the rains have returned here in Portland so I should have a lot more opportunity to paint clouds over the coming months.

 

Urban Sketchers announce Sketching Symposium in Portland

Participants are encouraged to register early due to limited availability. To register, check PNCA’s website.

Contacts:

Gabriel Campanario
Urban Sketchers
Executive Director
gabicampanario at gmail dot com
or 425.686.2398

Patrick Forster
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Director of Continuing Education
pforster at pnca edu
or 503.821.7864



Red Dumpster (NW 14th and Quimby)

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14″ x 16″ oil on paper

Another dumpster. I don’t know why I’m drawn to them in general but in this case it was the bright red.
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Red Industrial

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6″x8″ oil on panel

This is, again, a theme I’ve visited before in my sketchbook. This one reminds me a bit of master urban landscape painter, Stephen Magsig, author of one of my favorite painting blogs – Postcards From Detroit.

Stephen has started a beautiful new blog showing his more developed urban landscapes – Stephen Magsig Urban Landscape Paintings. There are some really inspiring paintings there.

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Steele Bridge revisited

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10″ x 8″ oil on canvas

My how time slips away.

This is a redo of a painting I did last summer. Although the photo is not great, the painting is dark.

Hopefully more to come soon.

Centennial Mills

Centennial Mills from NW 13th and Raleigh

This is the closest I’ve gotten to painting recently. I’ve been doing a lot of drawing though, some of which can be seen on my other blog.

Orange Dumpster

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6″ x 6″ oil on board

I haven’t posted anything in a while but I have been painting. I’ve been experimenting with larger paintings but I haven’t produced anything I want to share, as yet. I seem to be trying to go in two directions at once. I need to pick one.

I’d planned on getting outside to paint more this year but summer is almost over and it’s just really hard to get outside when you work a full time job. Not to imply that I’m not extremely thankful to have a full time job.  Weekends are precious and I’ve been busy with family and friends and I just haven’t had time to paint out.

This little study was an experiment on a new surface. It’s a board primed with Gamblin oil ground. The surface is hard and smooth, similar to panels I’ve made before by priming with acrylic gesso on masonite or plywood. I think it may be a little stickier though. I was thinking of taking another shot at this scene but, dumpsters? really? Am I getting too squalid in my choices of subject matter?

Here is an artist I’ve been enjoying looking at lately. Great clean clear color.

Christine LaFuente

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Dome at Dusk

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6″ x 8″ oil on primed paper

Another study of this storage tank. I don’t know where this is going but I really enjoy painting this thing.

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Grain Silos on the Wilamette PA

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10″ x 8″ oil on canvas

This is the other painting I did on Sunday. This is from the same spot I painted the Dome painting.

This is painted from the N side of the Wilamette River looking back toward the downtown business district. The large building in the distance is Portland’s closest thing to a sky scraper at 30 floors. It’s the US Bank building, locally known as “Big Pink” for it’s copper colored reflective surface.

North Page and Albina

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6″ x 8″ oil on Raymar panel

I may be a little obsessed with this dome.

Sunday was a beautiful day and I found this great site with a panoramic view of Portland, from the “ugly ” side.  This is an iteresting part of town. Although it’s filled with freeway overpasses and concrete plants and railroad yards, there has been a bit of gentrification and there are some good restaurants and music venues in the neighborhood.

I did a couple of plein air sketches, then had nice IPA and burger at the Widmer Brewpub down the block. A satisfying day.

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2nd and Taylor

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11″ x 11″ oil on canvas

All three of the pieces I had in the Town and Country show have sold, which is nice. The gallery asked me to bring a couple more pieces down and I delivered them today. Since I hadn’t really been thinking about selling, I hadn’t signed any of the work I took to the gallery and since I hadn’t decided on how to present the work, when I took it to the framer, some of the work is now difficult to sign permanently in the frame. The gallery owner asked me to sign them on the back.

I have never gotten comfortable signing work on the image. I think it can be especially distracting with these really small works. Next time, I’ll have to plan better.

I recently did some scenic backdrop painting for a local theater company and I really enjoyed painting large. I’ve painted large in the past and there are several problems it brings that I’m not eager to deal with. One is storage, and another is the cost of framing.

The painting above is a bit larger than I’ve been painting but not much. I can deal with this.

Note that the figure on the sidewalk is knee deep in concrete or, perhaps is walking on his knees.

View from Broadway Bridge

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8″ x 10″ oil on canvas

Although the sun is shining today, it has been pretty stormy here lately. I’m looking forward to seeing the sun and getting outside to paint.

This scene is looking west across the Broadway Bridge to downtown Portland. The two prominent buildings are the US bank tower and the train station.

Along Highway 30

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6″ x 8″ oil on canvas

Here’s another dreary scene along a highway in the NW industrial area of Portland. In the background is the old Montgomer Ward that is now Montgomer Park, an office and event facility.

Studies

I’ve posted a few sketches on my other blog but I’ve been so busy trying to keep my job and take care of other personal things that I have not had time to paint.

I read a post by Armand Cabrera on his blog Art and Influence about the value of doing studies. Here are a couple of studies I’ve done recently trying to get the hang of gouache.

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Broadway Bridge – palette changes

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10″ x 8″ oil on canvas

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I was thinking a lot about using color or temperature changes to depict plane change rather than using white, in this painting.

I’ve added a few colors to my palette lately, partly out of boredom and partly because it seems wasteful to buy more paint before I used up what I have.

The bridge was painted with a color called perylene red. It’s described as a transparent, cool red with yellow undertones. I’m not sure how a red with yellow undertones can be considered cool but temperature is relative. I’ve also added cad orange for mixing greys. I’m using cobalt blue some, in addition to ultramarine and pthalo.  Mixing the cobalt blue with perylene red made some interesting shadow colors for the bridge. I’ve added indian yellow to my normal cad lemon and cad yellow medium for a change as well.

My current palette is Tit white, Cad Lemon, Cad Yellow Med, Indian Yellow, Cad Orange, Cad Red Med, Aliz Crimson, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, Ult Blue, Pthalo Blue, Sap Green and Ivory Black. I’ve been switching back and forth from titanium white to flake white replacement. The flake has more body and makes the paint stickier. I’d say that I used primarily perylene red, ult, pthalo and cobalt blues, cad lemon, and titanium white on this one. Adding colors to my palette doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll use them but I’m lazy and once  color runs out on the palette, I tend to grab another color that’s already out rather than squeeze fresh paint from the tube. Sometimes laziness pays off.

NW 1st and Everett

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6″ x 8″ oil on canvas

The thing that drew me to this scene was the circular hole formed by the traffic ramps, and, of course the power lines. I like the patterns created in the sky by power lines.

I was also reminded of this painting by Laine Bennion on his blog Studies in Oil. I like how Laine simplifies a scene and, although I’m satisfied with this painting, I think it could stand more simplification.

I often think, as I finish a painting, that, for the next one, I’m just going to slam it out and not fuss with it at all. That’s how I started on this one, in fact, I taped a larger piece of canvas to a board and started into it. When I felt myself starting to bog down in the details, I started it again in another corner of the same piece of canvas. This is the result of the restart, but it’s still a lot more fussy than I wanted it to be. Of course the subject is kind of busy but all the more reason to simplify it further.

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Foggy Sunday Morning Sketchcrawl and Tagged

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The Steel Bridge

5″ x 8″ ink and watercolor in Sketchbook

Click here to visit this site on Google Maps

I went on another solo sketchcrawl today in foggy Old Town Portland. This is the top of the Steel Bridge, (the same bridge I painted from below, a couple of posts ago).

I started the morning with breakfast at one of my favorite spots, the Bijou Cafe, where I did the sketch below.

Inside the Bijou Cafe

3 1/2″ x 10″ ink and watercolor

Click here to see this site on Google Maps

I usually get down there pretty early in the morning and sketch as the vendors setup for Saturday Market for a while then head across the river to SE Main near Water Ave for one more sketch from my truck (it’s a little cold sitting outside).

I5, the Hawthorne Bridge and KOIN Tower

5″ x 8″ ink and watercolor

Click here to visit this site on Google maps

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Tagged

I was tagged recently by Celeste Bergin, check out her blog at Celeste Paints. Celeste is a founder and one of the primary organizers of the Portland Plein Air & Studio Painters. Unfortunately for me, their paint outs are on weekdays when I’m working.

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The rules are:

1. Link to person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules
3. List 6 or 7 unusual things about yourself or quirky but boring, unspectacular details about yourself
4. Tag 6 or 7 other bloggers at the end of your post and comment on their blogs to let them know they’ve been tagged

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The 7 unusual things I’ll list here are jobs I’ve had over the years:

1. For 2 summers, while in college, I worked as a drawbridge tender on 2 railroad bridges. It was pretty spooky leaving there at 11 PM at the end of my shift.

2. I completed the first year of a 2 year Machinist Apprenticeship.

3. I worked for several years as a cook in restaurants in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Eastern Long Island, NY

4. I apprenticed as a Handmade Papermaker with Douglass Morse Howell, who made paper for lots of famous artists.

5. I worked for oil paint manufacturer Robert Gamblin of Gamblin Artist Colors.

6. I had a landscape contracting business for 16 years.

7. I once worked for a day tuning waterfalls at a convent in the Columbia River Gorge.

OK, at Frank Gardner’s urging, I lied about one of the jobs I had. See if you can catch my lie.

I really don’t think anyone is left untagged at this point so I’ll just list 7 artist blogs that I find especially enjoyable and inspiring.

Juilan Merrow Smith

Steven Goodman

Frank Edwards

Eric Jacobsen

Donald Yatomi

Lli Wliburn

Nico Muhly (composer)

Scott Conary

OK, that’s eight, I can’t help myself. Here’re some more artists whose work I love:

Timothy Horn

Alex Kanevsky

Jennifer Balkan

Heather Horton

Marc Bohne

Kate Lehman

David Shelvino

Christine Lefuente

Connie Hayes

Under the Steele Bridge (oil)

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8″ x 6″ oil on paper

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Under the Steele Bridge

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8″ x 5″ ink and watercolor

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Centennial Mills Water Tower

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5″ x 8″ ink and watercolor

Inspired by the Urban Sketchers.

This is an old Landmark on Portland’s waterfront. It’s scheduled for redevelopment and, although I’ve been told that the developers are committed to preserving it’s character,  I’m afraid of what it might become. I really love it in it’s decrepitness (is that a word?)

The covered area in the right foreground is used by the horses of the Portland Mounted police.

Glacier Concrete Tank

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4″ x 8″ ink and watercolor

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do any artwork. The renovation project is nearing completion and I hope to be back at it on a regular basis within a week or two. Today I was able to do this sketch from the apartment of a friend who has a fantastic view of the Wilamette river.

I appreciate the encouragement I’ve received over the past couple of months, from comments and emails.

btw, I started another blogger blog as an experiment and have posted the occasional sketch there.

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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CLICK TO ENLARGE

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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Corner of NW Broadway and Lovejoy

This is another quick sketch, testing out papers. This is a piece of Arches Text Wove/Velin Arches that was sent to me by a fellow Sketch Journaler, Roz Stendahl to try out.

watercolor ink and gouache

It wets more readily than the handmade paper put it is quite a bit less substantial and buckles a lot when wet.

I also did a little more testing with Noodler’s ink and it does seem to run on the Twinrocker paper I just bound into a sketchbook. I checked their website and they say that it should be waterproof on cellulose paper. The paper is cotton rag so should be cellulose. I’ve written them for advice.