Do you Wish People Would Buy More of Your Art?

Sun Glow

Painting No. 3-E-13

8"x 8" oil on canvas panel

 

As some of you know I'm painting full time in Moab, Utah. The good news is that the paintings are selling and requests are coming for subject matter. So I headed up the Colorado River and painted in the shade of the Navajo stone walls during the mid-day sun. This little painting took about an hour and felt really good. This is the light quality that can be captured when a painter takes the time to go outside to paint in the field. The plein air technique of painting from direct observation is the only real way to become a better landscape painter. I've completed approximately 400 outdoor paintings and I'm looking forward to the next 1,000.

Castle Valley

Castle Valley Study

Painting No. 3-C-13

8" x 8" oil on canvas panel

 

Sunday afternoon I painted out on Hwy 128, along the Colorado River. This is Parriott Mesa, another wonderful example of the plein air painting opportunities that abound in this part of the world. This is a typical morning study.

Shadow Study

Shadow Study
Painting No. 6-B-13
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel

This afternoon I ventured outside for a few hours of painting on location. I settled on this shadow study of the Rabbit Brush and boulders along the Colorado River. It's a classic example of my head not being totally focused on the compositional qualities of the painting. Never-the-less, after repainting the Rabbit brush 3 times I finally got some shadow color that I liked. This painting will be used as a color reference for a larger studio painting, but wont be hung for sale.



Things to consider:
Only 1 in 30 plein air paintings are really the quality to be shown in a gallery.
Do you, as an artist, hold onto your studies for future reference?
How many plein air paintings to you produce each year?


Shadow Land

Shadow Land
Painting No. 4-B-13
8" x 10"
oil on canvas board

Early evening light plays across the talus slopes and cliff face of Mat Martin Point just north of Big Bend Campground on the Colorado River. This shadow land holds the heart and imagination of all travelers who come here seeking an escape from the city and a visual feast for the soul.

Where do you go to escape from the normal?
Where do you find yourself leaving the road and entering the wild?
What inspires you as a traveler or painter?
I'd like to hear from you.

Tarte Roja (Afternoon Red)

Tarde Roja
Painting No. 2-B-13
8"x 8", oil on canvas

Late afternoon light slips along the canyon walls and brings the red rock of the Canyonlands to a blazing finale as I quickly set up my plein air equipment and capture the moment. 
How beautiful the fading light is here along the Colorado River, finer that most places I believe. Perhaps it's because of the clean air, I'm not sure, but the unique quality of light is hard to describe in adequate terms.  
 

Frozen Colorado: Big Bend Campground

Frozen Colorado
Painting No.  6-A-13
8" x 8" oil on canvas

The weather finally broke today and I was able to sneak out of the gallery for a couple of hours and paint this scene.
Along the Colorado River, just northeast of Moab is Big Bend Campground and on the east side of the highway are these wonderful rock formations that reflect the warm glow of the sun, even if the temperature is close to freezing. I enjoy this stretch of river, the afternoon light is special and I'm thankful to be the only painter on the river.

Developing Large Paintings from Plein Air Sketches #2

Picking up from the last blog; this image shows the early block-in of color on a 16" x 20" canvas. Notice first that I chose a warm color for the initial wash. I don't like painting on a white canvas. It seems that when I have painted on white, I'm continuously fighting the surface to make sure that the white doesn't show through. When you lay down an initial wash, it eliminates that problem and creates a background color that can easily show through in several spots to tie the rest of the colors together; creating a color harmony. This image shows the block-in of colors in the shadow areas of the painting which includes the back rock wall with rocky tiers and snow piled on each tier. Also the willow bushes get their block-in of color. You can see that the base color for the willows is purple; not black, brown, green or yellow ochre. As I mentioned in the last blog, the color mixing for all studio paintings is subject to the color as seen in person and captured in plein air paintings...DO NOT TRUST PHOTOGRAPHS. One more thing; I took the willow block-in color and used it in the shadows of the rocks and bushes on the right side of the painting. This helps to create a color unity throughout the entire work.

This image is the finished painting with possibly a few minor tweaks to the stones in the shadows along the frozen river bank, (the 4 stones are too evenly spaced), I'll probably add some variation in the studio on Tuesday.  Notice the open water in the river; it's darker than the rear wall. Also notice the bush reflections are darker. The base color for the snow is a warmed-up reddish white (never use pure white....never). The sun lit bush closest to the river and the ice next to it are the brightest parts of the painting. This is intentional, it becomes the focal point. I designed this painting so that your eye leads in by following the open water, (left to right whenever possible). Then the eye travels up the background snow to the left, then right to the upper right corner, then follows the sunny rock wall down to the bushes in a clockwise fashion, then loops again.

Do you have comments, suggestions, questions? Let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. 

Frozen River

Frozen River
Painting No. 4-A-13
8" x 8" oil on canvas board

The winter light here in Moab is just as stunning as the rest of the year, you just don't stop to notice it as often. As I was outside working on this small painting I noticed Ravens flying along the cliff faces, catching the warm up draft of air as it rises off the brick colored walls. I watched Robins search for seeds among the bushes that line the Colorado River banks, and I listened to the sound of ice sheets as they rubbed against each other in the still frozen and crowded water surface. How long until Spring comes? No one can say for sure, but I'm thankful for peaceful days of painting in the sunshine.