Yup, same wip!

Finally getting to the point where it's just the main characters involved.  Brought the mid and foreground grasses to a just-short-of-finished state.  Once the major players are built up, I'll need to go back and address everything else again to get it all to the same finished look.  Color, values, edges, and drawing will all get another round of scrutinizing once I 'think' I'm done.

WIP again

Finished off the tree group to the right today. Started in on the mid/foreground grass.  I cut the top of the pic off by accident.  I missed a lot of what got done today!

Still the same WIP

I'm almost done messing with the middle ground now.  I always have a hard time switching from background to middle ground for some reason. It's where I usually end up experimenting so much the thing gets overworked.  But I'm getting wiser to my own forms of sabotage.  Still need to finish off the upper right hand side but that won't take long at all. Then I can finally get into the foreground, tweak the color and bring out the composition's high points.

Didn't get much done today. I woke up to find out someone was busy with my credit card # over the weekend. So I only had a chance to start in on dividing the grass masses and defining them, mixing a couple more colors and a little experimentation.

I reclaimed my values today and basically overhauled the values and color in the whole painting. Once values are corrected in one place it's typically necessary to adjust the values in the whole painting. The last two days should count as my two steps backward. Tomorrow or monday will be my one step forward again. I always have a hiccup somewhere in my pictures that I need to address. I don't want it as such but I'm afraid it's become part of my painting process. Dead color and weak values first, then go back in with the real colors and values.

You know that part in Jurassic Park 1 where the boy and the adult scientist guy are stuck in a car in a tree? While they're climbing down the tree, the car starts to break the branches and threatens to fall on them all the way down until they're on the ground and the car has fallen over the top of them and the boy says, "Well, we're back in the car." That's how I feel today. I was too frustrated yesterday to post anything because I ended up wiping the entire right side of the picture. Today it's been redone and now I'm exactly where I was before I started yesterday. Such is life.

Only worked on the right tree group today.

wip

     It's almost time to start breaking out the small brushes and get busy with details, edges,.final values and color. Today I flew around the canvas to whatever looked like it wasn't brought along with the rest of the picture. Defined the shape of the calla lily pond, all but finished the trees to the right, shaped the dead tree in front and offered possible finishing options.

wip wip

     When I get close to finishing a painting I'm pretty much moving all over the canvas as I find areas that need to be addressed.  Today I put in the main characters, and filled in the background trees a touch more.  Improved the meeting line for the background woods and the background field.  The closer to done I get the easier it is to see what's wrong.  Until I finish the second 'block-in" I'm not certain its correct and usually end up futzing a bit.  When starting out, a painter is on their own because there is nothing to relate your colors, values, shapes, proportions etc....  From here its all finishing work.

Pic # whatever...8th in this WIP or so...

Short day today just tweaking values and adjusting the shapes of the grass colonies and allowing for a touch more definition there later if need be.

Another wip pic

     The warp or weft, can't remember which is which(the sunken ones), on this linen is making some serious valleys. First time using this brand. If I don't compensate it will look like there are long vertical and horizontal lines. Good for checkers. Not so good for a picture.
     I've got a decent framework from which to make a painting now. A couple of touches tomorrow and then I'll start making a picture.

WIP me

     And this goes here and that goes like that then this can be like this and then here I do liiiike thattt....the inner dialogue.

     Taking some colors for a test drive today and making a quick foray into the foreground.

Current WIP - Posted on October 10, 2017 at 12:30 PM

Posted on October 10, 2017 at 12:30 PM

     I'm still in blocking in mode but at this stage in the painting I'm doing more looking than painting. Checking proportions, base colors, adjusting values and trying to put the whole thing together in my head before moving on to the next stage. The only thing on the canvas right now that I'm sure of is the dark value I added today to the tree group on the right. It's the only thing that's done :)

WIP - Posted on October 2, 2017 at 8:05 PM

Posted on October 2, 2017 at 8:05 PM

A palette full of fun for my current WIP.

The Great Indoors! - Posted on July 30, 2017 at 3:35 PM

Posted on July 30, 2017 at 3:35 PM

     I've been getting burnt out on framing, making linen panels, mounting old work, submitting work, and working on studio stuff so I got out and did a couple studies this week. It felt great to get out of the studio and feel like a human again.

A Query Into Relevance - Posted on July 28, 2017 at 10:15 AM

Posted on July 28, 2017 at 10:15 AM

A good read from the mind of the late Robert Genn:

jean-jacques-rousseau

In sympathy with the tone of this article, is landscape painting more relevant today than it was in the early 18th century? Is it relevant at all? Does it even matter if it's relevant or not?

Just sharing - Posted on July 27, 2017 at 9:20 AM

 Posted on July 27, 2017 at 9:20 AM

A couple of pics from last fall outside Hewitt, MN. It was about 4pm and the sun just lit up the flags on the Bluejoint prairie grass.

Upcoming Show - Posted on July 17, 2017 at 11:20 AM

Posted on July 17, 2017 at 11:20 AM

Collective Visions

     I am happy to announce that I have two paintings that have been selected for this show. If you're in the area drop in and say hi and see some of the best paintings from the region.

Thursday at 6 PM - 8 PM
3 days from now · 63–88° Sun

Great River Arts
122 1st St SE, Little Falls, Minnesota 56345
For details copy and paste this url:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1444690965611436/?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card%5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D

Viewing Announcement - Posted on June 15, 2017 at 9:35 AM

Posted on June 15, 2017 at 9:35 AM

     Hey there,
I wanted to let everyone know that MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids, MN will be carrying 4-6 of my paintings beginning June 21, 2017. If you're in the area, check them out. Very laid back but also very professional and fun.

MacRostie Art Center
http://macrostieartcenter.org/
405 1st Avenue NW
Grand Rapids, MN 55744

Carbon and Calla Lillies - Posted on June 11, 2017 at 9:00 AM

Posted on June 11, 2017 at 9:00 AM

     Was it summer breathing a sigh of relief? The chaos of spring has waned and a restful quiet has settled in. The marsh proffers its stage for the evening to please anyone who listens. Above and to the right we have a pileated woodpecker caws as the frog section below begins to join in with their peculiarly percussive rhythm. A heron not far off adds a solo piece for all to fear with its eerily jurassic sound. The air is so still you could send a smoke ring 100 yards and it would perfectly hold it’s form. A kingfisher broadcasted its declarations in its hasty rush to its position. The crickets had assembled and the owls were conducting a chilling inquiry of the night.
     Such beauty comes together as an ensemble born from real chaos. How can so much uncoordinated noise cause such a breathtaking effect; a gravely arresting plea to listen a moment. Because these are the moments we keep. These very personal experiences. Weakly worded phrases and partially scrambled descriptions won’t translate persuasively. These brief moments when it’s just you and the mystery. Any attempt at description would fall flat. This moment, this one, isn’t something that was meant to be shared. The best you can do is say, “You had to be there.” You will take this one home and remember it the rest of your life.