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.
Just in time for our 50th Anniversary, the Fredericksburg Art Guild has updated its webpage as it starts its next 50 years, God willing, of serving the artists and community in Fredericksburg, Texas and the Texas Hill Country.
The Guild was founded in 1971 by world-famous artist John McClusky. What started as art lessons above a local store became a place for local artists to not only learn to paint but also a place to display and sell their art.
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”
I’m not sure how many of my readers have thought about scratching that itch to draw or paint…I hope it’s all of you because I KNOW everyone can if they’re willing to put in some practice. So I thought this month I’d spend a bit of time talking about some of the tools of the trade when it comes to drawing and painting with watercolor.
Most of us have taken a ballpoint pen or a #2 pencil and doodled on a piece of paper. In fact I can probably safely assume that most of us doodled in the margins of our books and papers in school. That’s how it begins. Seeing the magic we can make with a pencil and a Bic pen gives us the encouragement to go a little deeper. Continue reading “The Tools of the Trade”
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”
This past week I spent putzing with portraits. If you’ve followed along on my posts you’ve seen a couple of my previous posts where I’ve attempted to draw or paint a portrait.
One of the first I did was back in 2017 from a selfie Ilene and I took while attending a Tacoma Rainier’s game. The photo really doesn’t do it justice as the skin tones are a bit off here but on the actual painting they look just fine.
Fr Methodios & His Hat
I’ve also done some pen & ink sketches over the past couple years and been OK with them. Either way, painting or pen & ink you’ll see a trend and that’s where they are pretty much caricatures rather than more realistic renditions.
That all changed this past week when I discovered a workshop on Skillshare about portraits by Sade J. So I rolled up my sleeves, pulled out a couple of shades of watercolor and gouache and below are the results.
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”
November is almost gone and I haven’t posted in over two months…what’s up? Well…let me tell you. In mid September we drove up to Hohenwald, Tennessee to pick up our brand new Oliver Elite II travel trailer. We knew when we “landed” last year in Fredericksburg we’d be selling our 40′ motorhome and downsizing to a travel trailer and it FINALLY happened.
Along the way Ilene and I took plenty of photographs so I could come back and sketch/paint some of our experiences but I haven’t gotten around to them yet. Why you ask? Well…let me tell you. Continue reading “November Is Almost Gone!”
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.
