"Green and Red"

($40.00....6" x 6".....Water soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Green and red are joyful expressions of Christmas." Red berries always remind me of Christmas. There is a reason they are so compelling. They are the most powerful of all of the direct complements...especially when the green is dominant.

In this piece, I was continuing to experiment with "jazz painting". It is a very loose blocking in of colors and many overlaps and gestural strokes with the palette knife. I did use a reference photo and placed the darks, midtones, and lights in the same places. After that, it was a "free for all". Over thinking the process can cause the whole process to look contrived.

One of the big surprises in this one was the exciting greens created with pthalo blue, cad. medium light, and alizarin crimson plus white. This combination was used in all of its tints, tones, and shades in several layers. The leaves were suggested rather than realistically interpreted which gives the piece its energy. In this way, all of those diagonals were created and overlapped.

What I typically do when I think the piece is almost finished is set it on an easel next to my computer so that I can see the photo and the painting side by side. After stepping back, I check to make sure the darks are dark enough and the lights are light enough. In most cases, I need to add more dark values which brings the whole image together.

So if you find yourself wondering why your piece (whether it's mixed media or a painting) is not reading well from a distance, it will almost always be the values. Squint your eyes, and you will see exactly where to make the values darker. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Small Beginnings"

($40.00.....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Small beginnings are infused with the power to change." It is easy to think that starting at "square one" is too difficult or that everyone else is much further ahead. But we should never despise small beginnings because everyone at some point in time had to start somewhere. Let your small beginnings infuse you with the power to change.

Yesterday I said that my aesthetic was to allow the image to cover a large percentage of the design space. Today that is definitely not the case. You can see that the eye gravitates right to the small image of berries. It helps to have direct complements in the image, but the larger issue was the negative space taking up most of the design space. There is a natural tendency when creating these small focal points to also feel the need to place elements in the negative space. I actually think it works best to focus on creating depth in this negative space with very subtle textural and value changes. The viewer then has some more interesting things to examine as they get closer to the piece.  (It is the equivalent to tonal range in music.  No one wants to hear music played at the same decibel level throughout.)

The division of space is also subtle with the pencil lettering moving from edge to edge horizontally and the focal point plus the addition of gray soft pastels going from edge to edge vertically. Paying attention to the division of space continues to be a primary consideration in every piece which is remarkable even with my 300th posting.  Just a few more important things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Ivy and Berries"

($40.00......mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Ivy and berries illustrate the visual power of small things repeated incessantly." Repetition not only creates visual power, but creates power or success in any area of life. Nothing is learned without repetition.

Slowly, but surely, I am contrasting realism (as in photography) with sketching and drawing. This is becoming part of my layering process and it will be exciting to see where it ends. Certainly a sketch or drawing can stand on its own, but the "mixed media" part of me always wants to combine techniques. For me this is what process is all about.

The "sketchiness" of the lettering is also a reflection of the ivy that was sketched.  Mark making, erratic, lines, and spontaneous processes of any kind are absolutely compelling because they reveal the impulse of the artist. The way you learn to draw is by drawing anything and everything. Process in any area is all about repeating it over and over again until the skill is learned. My encouragement to all fellow artists is to "stay calm and carry on". Don't be overwhelmed by the process. Just keep comparing, analyzing, and doing....repeatedly. This is something we should all think about and then do.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Red and Green"

($40.00....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)

"Red and green fuel the warm association of pleasant memories." Every year about this time, I have this urge to go buy a berry bush of some sort. Of course they promptly die when the Texas heat arrives, but they cause me to be in the Christmas spirit. You might want to try this experiment. Go anywhere where there are decorated Christmas trees, close your eyes, and then open them and see which color combination takes your breath away. It will most likely be red and green.

Direct complements deserve careful attention because they are so powerful. With red and green, it is important to pay attention to the percentage of each color used. Berry bushes are so eye catching because they have a hugh percentage of green sprinkled with bits of red. It is not as pleasing to have this reversed. And if the percentage is 50/50...it can be disturbing to view. It is fun to look through decorator magazines and pay attention to the percentages of the colors used and then try to duplicate those percentages in a piece of art.

Another thing I am trying to do in this piece is continue to practice with a Speedball C-4 nib. Yves Leterme thinks it is prudent to become proficient with this nib so I have been picking it up more frequently, but it is way out of my comfort zone. But to quote myself..."The learning curve is easier after realizing that all things are difficult before they are easy." My goal for next year is to include more expressive and gestural writing. (We'll see how that works out.) But for December, I would like to "kick it up a notch" with the pointed pen. It may be procrastination on my part, but what would Christmas be without all of that flourishing! Just something to think about.