"South Of The Border"

($60.00......6" x 6".....Water Soluble Oils on a 2" Depth Gessobord)

No quote today, but the title surely fits the colors in this piece. It is an abstract created with oils and palette knife. You can see hints of lettering that were also deconstructed by swiping out portions of the letters.

Most of the colors that were laid down first were the very intense ones. What brought it all together was going over portions of those colors with a swipe of black (mixed, not out of a tube). Depending on the pressure exerted with the palette knife determines the "skipping" over some of the first layer to create very interesting shapes.

This might be a good time to talk about canvas vs. gessobords. I do not use canvases at all for palette knife. My preferred surface is something very smooth. The palette knife seems to work better on all of the Ampersand Gessobord Panels and Cradled Boards. I also like working on Hot Press Watercolor Paper for the same reasons. Paper is nice since you don't need to commit to mounting or framing it. Gessobords are more expensive than paper. The difference is that the paper tends to absorb a lot of the paint. I haven't tried to use gesso first on the paper, but that might be a great option.

Besides experimenting with new materials and techniques, the skill that needs to be honed to perfection is the art of noticing what is happening while you work. Ask lots of questions, pray, take a walk, call a friend, and then go back in with fresh eyes. It's all part of the process. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Underbrush"

($60.00.....6" x 6"......Mixed Media on a 2" Depth Cradled Board)

This piece may or may not have a quote. It is acrylic paint so I could take that option tomorrow.....but probably not. Sometimes words are not needed. After taking a walk this morning and noticing a lot of underbrush around the fence line, I decided to come back to the studio and do a small abstract. Unbeknown to my conscious mind, the piece which was created very intuitively, ended up looking like the tangled "stuff" that was very impassable....just a different color. The solid yellow green that has no texture is a direct contrast to the underbrush. In case you want to go deeper in your thinking, this piece also represents the way our thoughts get tangled until we walk into a clearing where there is nothing to obstruct our path. Just chalk this soliloquy up to the meanderings of my mind today.

I began this piece by brushing on some gel matte medium over a 6" x 6" cradled gessobord, followed by the laying down of silver leaf. After I brayered over the leaf and dried it with a hair dryer, I mixed up my paint. Because it is acrylic I liberally added some retarder to the paint with a palette knife to have an open window of time before the paint dried.

After doing my first pass with all three colors of paint, I decided to start over, so swiped through the entire arrangement, knowing I wanted the yellow green to touch four sides of the design space to create a cruciform format. So I laid down the dark green first, follow by the yellow green and white. (only one pass of the knife with that untextured color.)    I then started laying in some line work with a bamboo pen to reveal the silver...swiping it out a few times before I was satisfied.

What is interesting is that I changed the orientation of the piece which revealed what looked like an open wire fence and the brush behind. It proves that we often end up with a piece that directly reflects what we are grappling with internally. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Bird of Paradise"

($60.00......6" x 6".....Water Soluble Oils on a 2" Depth Cradled Board)

Leftover paint is put to good use by creating small abstracts. It offers more practice with how to lay down paint with gestural marks, doing some writing with a bamboo pen, and then deconstructing part of the lettering by swiping through it.

So as you might guess, this piece was created with leftover paint from "Autumn Red". It has the colors of a "Bird of Paradise" without the bird. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I am beginning work on a 30" x 40" canvas.....a 12" x 12" canvas....and finishing up a 24" x 30" canvas. I will be showing the process on the 12 x 12 beginning tomorrow, and cropped areas of the larger ones will come in November.

Those of you who are lettering artists know that the process always slows down when you get to the lettering. And that's the case with the 24 x 30. To make the best use of my time, I have decided to begin the other two pieces so that the heavy gesso and fluid acrylic paint can be drying while I letter. Trying to dry these types of applications with a hair dryer is like watching water boil. It drives me crazy!

Some of the other recent decisions I've made are to eliminate quotes on all of the abstracts created with a palette knife. But I'm stepping up the lettering quite a bit on all of the canvas pieces. There will be 2" versals, gestural writing, and script on all of these with some of the lettering readable from across the room. It's all very exciting and I will share bits and pieces of those works as I go along.

Another good bit of process information is to have smaller canvases and gessobords on hand for prototypes for the larger ones. Working on a range of sizes stretches the creative process and gives yourself more versatility as an artist. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Surf"

($60.00......6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on a 2" Depth Cradled Gesso Board)

Today began with a warm up with palette knife and oil paint. Hopefully, I will have the larger one over the finish line very soon. The inspiration for this image came from a color magazine of interior rooms. No quote.

For those who like to have fun with your palette knife, this approach is a good warm up and an excellent way to practice mixing colors from a limited palette. Of course, the palette is set up with a warm and cool of each primary plus white. That makes (7) colors on the palette. At least one of each of the three primaries plus white created the tan color. The mint green was created with Pthalo Blue (just a touch), lemon yellow, a touch of cad red light (to gray it down) and then lots of white.

Having a thorough knowledge of the color wheel and all of the direct complementary colors is essential to changing the intensity of any of the primary colors. Beginning with a small abstract such as this keeps it simple enough to focus on just (2 or 3) colors at a time rather than the full range of values typical in a still life, landscape, or figurative work.

So my double palette consists of lemon yellow, cad. yellow med, alizarin crimson, cad red med, ultramarine blue, pthalo blue, and titanium white. From this you can mix all of the other colors in all their tints and shades. I am writing about this again only because I know that some of you who follow my blog are still struggling with color. The reason I know that is because you've told me. And to quote another teacher who had a profound affect on me...."Always go back to the basics."

It's quite like a professional golfer who changed swing coaches to improve his game. The new coach started out the instruction with...."This is a golf club." And he had already won a lot of titles! So never feel bad about reviewing the basics to improve as an artist. It's the smart thing to do.

The technique I used on this small abstract was to cover the entire space with the tan color. The bottom layer was darker than what you see on top. I then swiped on a few strokes of the mint green, white, and a small bit of orange. The next step was to take a knife and make several gestural movements which mixed all of the colors a bit. I didn't like that so I kept going over it with my palette knife and then applied the mint green and white alternately with a single aggressive stroke. The word "aggressive" is important because the movement of that stroke is what gives the piece energy.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Gestural Painting"

(Abstract Study with Palette Knife and Water Soluble Oils on Cradled Gessobord)

There is no quote for this piece, but I do have several recognizable words such as dynamic...serendipity...and energy. They all describe where I am trying to go now with my palette knife work. This is just the starting point and will end up looking more like an abstract landscape in much larger sizes.

I began this piece with the light blue covering the entire surface of a 16" x 20" cradled gessobord. Working in water soluble oils, I painted in some rectangular shapes of the different colors you see in the painting. After those were in place, I wrote into the paint with a pointed shaper tool since the paint was very thick.

The next part is exciting. I took a palette knife that looks very much like a spatula for spreading icing on a cake and swiped horizontally through all of the layers of paint. There was more writing created with an extremely sharp pointed palette knife followed by more swipes with the larger knife.

In addition to removing paint, I also added some of the same colors back in to make sure the light blue was dominant and the orange created some alternating effects. This type of painting is a rather chaotic process, but there are several things that make it work.

The most important is the use of a limited palette. All of these colors are appearing in various tints, shades, and intensities. If colors are used in all of their intensity throughout the painting, a "garish" look is the result.

The other important factor is the design principle of dominance. One color must dominate a piece in order to have unity. There is also a wide range of values as seen on the gray scale. That too is important. If the darks are not dark enough or the lights are not light enough, the piece lacks the contrast of value that is so critical in creating depth. And values are the most subtle of the design elements and can sneak up on any artist.

This piece may or may not ever be exhibited, but it does take me back into palette knife painting with a renewed energy. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Atmosphere of Quiet"

(unavailable....6" x 6".....Watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb. CP....mounted on a flat panel)

"Neutrals create an atmosphere of quiet." Eliminating a lot of detail and using neutrals is just one way of creating visual quietness. Rainy days and gray skies do the same thing. I think it's time to curl up with a good book. (Dream on!)

Since it is raining (praise God!), I thought I would slosh around in mono printing today. And if the first mono print isn't enough color and texture...let it dry slightly and do another print on the part you need more color. In fact, you can do this a few times and push it to the limit. I also wrote into the wet paint with a bamboo pen and a few erratic lines to create some movement.

And that is it for today. Kiln formed glass is on my agenda today. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Untitled" (final)

(image 1)

(image 2)

This morning's studio session has been interesting indeed. I have now decided that this is the end of this piece and will share what I learned from this particular layering process.

My idea from the very beginning was to introduce some gesso at the end and integrate it with the watercolor. And the beauty of taking photos after each layer is that I can now see where I wish I had stopped. So instead of feeling sad, I am elated because now I know that it is not necessary to even use the gesso since the white of the paper and the interplay with the watercolor and mark making is quite enough to carry the piece.

Now I have visuals to guide my next process. And this is often the case. It is absolutely crucial to take pictures as you work, if you want to take your artwork to the next level. Artists from time immortal have made the mistake of going too far and wished they could go back. With technology at our fingertips, it is totally possible and advisable to document the whole process digitally. I am now quite excited to begin a new piece and stopping before I ruin the whole thing.

So what you see in the first image today is where I wished I had stopped. What I do like is the interplay between the watercolor, the white of the paper, and the gestural mark making. Even though this piece is totally abstract and non representational, it is entirely possible to have created a soft realistic image tucked away in one of those shapes created by the watercolor. That would give the dynamic of having a strong contrast between the abstract and realism.

So the big "take away" today is......document your process with a digital camera! Process is everything....and just to quote myself from another posting....."Process is the breath of creativity." And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"The Creative Spirit"

(unavailable.....4" x 6".....on 300 lb. HP......mounted on masonite)

The windows of time open for the creative spirit." So many times there is a misconception that creativity is only for artists. Actually, anyone can be creative in any endeavor, especially if there is a willingness to embrace the unknown.

This is a totally experimental piece created with heavy body acrylics. Yellow Titanate was applied first with a palette knife, followed quickly by Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Turquoise plus Titan Buff. Most of the "smudgy" effect was created by moving the paint around with my fingers (wearing gloves)and making some gestural marks.

The sgraffito effect was very much in play. The erratic lines and lettering were scratched into the wet paint with the corner of a credit card and a Speedball C5 nib. At this point there were a lot of stark edges so I brayered over most of the piece while spraying alcohol. That technique will soften some edges and tone down any areas that are too bright.

My goal was to play around with low intensity color and pops of more intense color. It was fun and gave me a feel for the type of abstract work I am leaning towards. Shapes and edges were still a priority as they should be whether it's abstract or realistic work. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Emerging Spring"

(unavailable.....6" x 6".....experimental piece)

"Spring emerges from the thaw." Of course this quote is not applicable to Austin in terms of having snow and ice. I took some liberties because of the background I was experimenting with. It is true, though, in other parts of the country. Thank you God for planting me in Texas!

This is a pouring medium piece deconstructed with a sander and gesso. If you have some pouring medium pieces you are not particularly fond of, this is a way to change it into something else. First, you must adhere your piece to a gessobord or clayboard or masonite. It needs to be on a hard surface and dried over night. (Do not try to sand it immediately after adhering to the board or you will have a "hot mess" on your hands.)

The following morning you can sand the piece with an electric sander and rough sand paper. It will take a lot of sanding to take off some of the detail in the pour because the color is all the way through and not just on top of the paper. You will not be able to get it to the lightness you see in this posting just by sanding. 

The next stage is to apply gesso in thin layers with a sponge brush and then dip the brush in water and keep brushing the piece. The gesso will be dilute and very "sloppy". Hold it up and let it drip onto a paper plate or other surface and then dry with a hair dryer. You will repeat this process several times until you are satisfied with amount of pouring medium being revealed. 

In the last gesso application, I kept it undiluted and pushed it around with a credit card to get the more solid areas of white. Dry completely and spray with Acrylic Coating and then prepare for lettering or leave as is. Part of my experimentation was with the values of the lettering. I wrote in several places with pencil...followed by gray gouache...and then the actual quote was written with Moon Palace Sumi Ink. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.