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Lust for Life

A Studio Photo

The first film on painters and painting I believe I ever saw, other than the Agony and the Ecstasy, was Lust for Life. Lust for Life was about the Dutch impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh and his journey to becoming an artist and starred the recently passed actor Kirk Douglas.

My biggest impression from the film was how once Van Gogh, played by Douglas, let loose his talent he was totally driven. Bob Ross is quoted as saying, “Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do.” I know many people argue with this and feel artists like Van Gogh were “born” with talent, but I disagree that we are either born with or without talent. Continue reading “Lust for Life”

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Award Winning Artist

As a student of Nan Henke here in Fredericksburg I qualified for entry into the Fredericksburg Art Guild’s 10th Annual Adult Student Art Contest. All of Nan’s watercolor students and Truby Hardin’s Oil Painting students were eligible to enter.

Judged by Jeannette MacDougall, who is co-owner of Studio Comfort TX and an instructor at the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, over 30 students exhibited their art. Awards were given for Best in Show, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places as well as the Oil Palette Knife Challenge, Most Promising Watercolor (Blue Winter), and two Best in Show Awards.

Blue Winter

All awards went to oil painters with the exception of Most Promising Watercolor, which I was honored to receive. Continue reading “Award Winning Artist”

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Student Art Show

2020 Art Guild Entries

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”

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Putzing with Portraits

We R Tacoma

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.

Continue reading “Putzing with Portraits”

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Experimenting with Brush and Color

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”

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November Is Almost Gone!

Oliver Legacy Elite II

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!”

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Bookmarks

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.

In the mean time, go make some art!

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A Bit Rusty

Blue-Green Door

This week I decided to get a bit rusty. As my friend and watercolor coach said, “Of course, every watercolor artist loves to paint rust and old wood.”

There’s just something about how rusty metal and old wood seem to inspire me to paint and sketch. Maybe it’s because I’m a history enthusiast and seeing old things rotting and rusting away makes me want to wish those old items could talk and tell their stories.

Take the Blue-Green Door here for example. This photograph was taken by a fellow I follow on FaceBook who goes by Finius the Skinniest on Quartzite Happenings. Continue reading “A Bit Rusty”

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In Between

Monastery Ruins

I’m in between World Watercolor Month and Inktober now so what to do, what to do? As those of you who follow me on a regular basis have seen, July was devoted to watercolor and I’ve pretty much kept up a routine working with watercolor this month as well.

What you haven’t seen, since I haven’t posted anything about it, is my pen & ink work with a new pen I recently purchased. The Koh-I-Noor Radiograph pen is actually technical pen used by draftsmen and artists. I wanted to try this little gem because October is also Inktober. That’s a challenge of 31 days of pen & ink, and watercolor.

Once again I’ll be shooting for quantity over quality…for the most part in this competition. Continue reading “In Between”

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I’m Awash in Wash

Foggy Sunrise

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”