I thought it would be a good thing to look ahead for the second half of 2021 now that the excitement of Independence Day has subsided. What does the future hold in store for my art over the next few months?
Summer
As the temperatures and humidity begin to rise painting en plein air will happen early in the mornings and on clearer days. We’ve had a bunch of rain in the Hill Country over the past week but looking ahead it’s time to get out and take advantage of the nice weather. Last week Ilene and I took a walk around the train at Lady Bird Johnson Park and I scouted some landscape areas I’d like to sketch and paint. Continue reading “Looking Ahead for the Second Half of 2021”
It seems atmospherics have been quite a hit at the Fredericksburg Art Guild for me. In the past, I’ve used the technique I learned from Danielle Lanslots to make almost exclusively 5″ x 7″ paintings. Getting just the right “feel” on a larger scale seemed to elude me.
This technique uses a wet-on-wet technique to add layers of color on wet paper. I use my favorite brand, Arches, and in this case, it’s a Cold Pressed 140 lb paper. Instead of my standard 5 x 7, this painting is done on a 9″ x 12″ sheet.
Most of my pigments are by Daniel Smith and the two primary colors for “Sienna Cabin” are Quinacridone Sienna and Moonglow. Like my hero Bob Ross, I paint mostly from the memory of places I’ve visited in my short sojourn on mother Earth. This could easily be a cabin at Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico; Brian Head, Utah; or McCall, Idaho.
I really enjoy how the Sienna and Moonglow work together to create browns and the Sienna seems to add light to any painting.
These paintings are truly a joy to paint and will usually take me a couple or more days to add the first layer or two, then wait until the watercolor does its “thing”. It’s at that point that I begin to make out what the painting is telling me to bring out. That’s right, rather than fight the Mind of Watercolor, I’ve learned to go with its flow…pun intended.
I’ve done many of these with just the landscape, mountains, trees, perhaps a bird here and there, but this is my first go at a man-made structure.
I hope you enjoy “Sienna Cabin”. Please comment below and share on your favorite social media site.
What’s your inspiration they ask. Where do you get your ideas? I don’t think there’s an artist who has lived who hasn’t been asked those questions. In fact, even artists ask each other where they get their inspiration; why?
Let’s face it, coming up with ideas day after day can be a bit of a challenge for some. As artists, we take what we see around us, process that information in our brainpans based upon our life experience then try to pass along our interpretation based on our abilities and experience. Continue reading “Inspiration”
If you’ve noticed my body of work over the past year or so, you’ll notice that much of my work is of the same subject or subjects. Perhaps you ask yourself why Keith concentrates on one or another subject rather than trying new things…well, that’s what this article is about.
They say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and in some ways we artists are, in fact, trying to imitate what we see made either by the hand of God or the hand of man. Artists take what we see, process that image through the filter of our lifetime experience, then attempt to imitate what we see in our mind’s eye. Continue reading “Painting and Drawing the Same Subject”
Well, it finally happened. I’m about to enter into my first Art Show. Yes that’s right, I’m entering the 10th Annual Student Art Show sponsored by the Fredericksburg Art Guild. The show runs from 6 February 2020 to 1 March 2020 and will be held at the Art Guild located at 308 E. Austin in Fredericksburg, TX.
OK, so now that I’ve gotten that out of the way let’s look at what I’ve been up to over the past month. As you can see my last post was in early December of 2019 and like all of you we had a busy holiday season and things are finally starting to slow down a bit. Continue reading “Student Art Show”
I’ve spent the past week or so experimenting with
brush and color.
A Bit of Fall a Bit of Sky
By brush experiments I mean brush strokes, brush sizes, and brush shapes.
I worked with color by experimenting with using one primary color then adding one to two other colors to add value to my paintings.
I also went BIG with some of the techniques I’ve worked with in the past.
In the painting A Bit of Fall a Bit of Sky I used wet-on-wet technique I’ve been practicing taught by Danielle Lanslots to make the sky then used a tissue to add highlights in the blue sky. I then flipped the paper over and using the wet-on-wet technique again, I then added the ground colors to give bit of a misty feel. Continue reading “Experimenting with Brush and Color”
I thought I’d show some bookmarks I’ve been working on. Sorry for the late post but it’s been a busy week as we get ready to travel from Texas to Tennessee to pickup our new Oliver Travel Trailer.
I did, however, manage to paint a couple of bookmarks that I’m considering laminating and selling.
Hope you enjoy. Next week we’ll be on the road so I hope to have time to post a longer piece. I’ll be taking my travel kit so hopefully I’ll get some nice paintings and sketches done.
When I say I’m awash in wash it means I’m concentrating on washes this past week. Inspired by a young lady I stumbled across on Instagram, Danielle Lanslots, I’ve been experimenting with some new colors and wash techniques.
Danielle pretty much works in landscapes and I LOVE her simple but striking style. I’m seeing the paintings she’s done and asking myself, “How can I adapt this type of wash to my paintings and sketches?” After watching her video about washes I made my first attempt and you can see the results on Foggy Sunrise. Continue reading “I’m Awash in Wash”
This week I spent some time working on sky studies. Clouds and sunsets, colors and techniques to improve my landscapes.
Prompted by World Watercolor Month for clouds last week, I decided to spend more time getting to know skies a bit more. After all, I’ve spent a lot of time up there and I certainly have seen some beautiful skies.
Two of two Wet-on-Dry
Steve Mitchell, The Mind of Watercolor, had a good tutorial on clouds the other day working in both wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques. As you can see in these to photographs each has its own merits depending upon the affect I’m trying to achieve. Naturally I didn’t want to waste the paint and time so what do we to with two cloud/sky studies? We add a landscape of course!
Well I’m sitting here waiting for the paint to dry on a commission I’m doing for a dear friend of the family so I thought I’d take a moment and update my blog.
This has been a busy week for us. On Monday Ilene worked at the local Food Pantry while I worked on preliminary sketches and colors for Barbara’s painting. That’s after we dropped Bella off at the kennel and picked up a rental car. Continue reading “Waiting for the Paint to Dry”
