"Unexpected"

($50.00......6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Unexpected places and events yield gold." Gold seems to have the highest rank in precious metals. And so it is with places and events that happen and often without much fanfare. The value is often realized after the place or event has come and gone.

This photo reference for this piece was taken in Santa Fe as I turned the corner to visit Sage Gallery. It was very unexpected and a soothing and pleasing setting. That must be why adobe and sage looking plants pair up so well together. I feel like talking about color once again since I am often asked how to go about mixing colors. And again, the best way I know to learn color is to work with a limited palette (a warm and a cool of each primary and white) If you have those colors in place, you will be able to mix any other color you see.

The other important thing is to know the three attributes of color which are hue, value, and intensity. So the very first thing is to identify the root color. It will be one of the (12) colors on the color wheel. After identifying the root color and mixing that color...determine its intensity. If it less intense than what you mixed, then knock down the intensity by adding a bit of the complementary color. After that, determine the value and add white to lighten or more of the root color with a lot more of the complementary to darken the color depending on the value. 

The only thing left to do is to paint and practice identifying the root color and then mixing it and adjusting the value and intensity. Mixing up endless color charts can be laborious and may help initially, but eventually, it is best to just paint and practice. In this piece the root color of the adobe wall is orange, but not an intense orange. I knocked down the intensity with ultramarine blue (the complement of orange) and then added a lot of white. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Sitting Pretty"

($50.00......6" x 6".....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"Sitting pretty is all about placement." This painting was inspired by a reference photo I took in Silverado, Co. This beautiful piece of pottery was on the street sitting on a rock post with aspen leaves hanging down. It was a moment of noticing something beautiful in an unexpected place. It is true in life and in art.  It's all about placing someone or some thing in the right environment.

If anyone is not convinced that working from a limited palette is the best way to paint, I am here to try to convince you. You will never need to worry about your paintings being harmonious if you learn to do this and if you leave your tubes of Raw Umber, Black, Dioxazine Purple, Green Gold, etc. in the drawer. All of these colors can be mixed by using a double palette of primaries plus white.

I am also becoming more and more convinced that even abstract and mixed media artists should also set up a palette just as though you were painting an impressionistic or extremely realistic scene. You will learn more about color by doing this than any other way. And if you practice painting something everyday, you will learn this much more rapidly and soon you will be able to mix and match color in your sleep. 

Just to take it one step further, try painting a piece of fruit, a flower, or basically any single object and count your palette knife or brush strokes, changing the color slightly with each stroke. This is a great exercise in learning how to change values gradually, knock down the intensity by adding white or a bit of the complementary color, as well as noticing the subtle value shifts in any reference photo or real life set up. 

This is a skill that requires constant practice, but the reward is the ability to see values like you've never seen them before. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Branching Out"

($125.00.......6" x 6"....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord.....floated on a linen mat in a custom frame)

"Branching out conquers fear." It is so true that many persons do not branch out and try new things because of fear. However, the secret is...that branching out will conquer fear.

It is very tempting when painting these oils to simply swipe across one larger area and lay down enough color for an entire branch of leaves. However, that eliminates the complexity that keeps the viewer engaged and also creates depth. So I go through the often painstaking process of slightly varying each stroke with a tint of my main color or graying it down with a premixed gray. One of my first colors to mix now is a light gray. It seems to not only lighten a color, but knock out some of the "chalkiness" that often results from just adding white. And it is these kind of subtle nuances that emerge when repeating this act of mixing with all of the slight variations over and over again. 

I was pleased with the yellow leaves in this piece because there is a wide range of slightly different tints, tones, and shades. I literally used every color on the palette to paint those leaves represented by small dabs of paint.

It also takes the life out of me because I have focused so intensely for at least (2) hours that I heave a big sigh, go photograph the piece, and then post it as I am doing now. It's exhausting and exhilarating....all in the same breath. But after all is said and done, I am always ready to do it again and again. And I hope you will try it as well because it is very gratifying and you learn everything you need to know about color if you make color corrections on the way. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Close Harmony"

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

"Close harmony is always pleasing."  And it applies to so many things. Close harmony in music, in relationships, and in art is soothing to the soul.

This piece was inspired by a reference photo taken in North Carolina. We simply do not have too many of these type of brilliant yellow/green trees in Central Texas. I was drawn to it because of the close harmony and so, of course, it is an analogous color scheme (two to four colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel).

I've always loved yellow/green with a deep blue/green. And it is not as visible on your computer screen, but it is a stunning combination. My encouragement today is to make full use of your color wheel and increase in your knowledge of color. There is a lot of information packed onto that wheel which is extremely helpful in identifying the root color of any color you see, remembering that all colors originate from the twelve colors on the color wheel.

You will notice that I did not call the blue/green by its common name which would be turquoise. It is important to begin calling colors by the name that appears on the color wheel because it is a more accurate description of where to start mixing. It also gives you the basic color schemes and the tints and shades of all of the root colors.

There are slight variations in color from brand to brand so it is also useful to mix the colors from the brand you particularly like and use that as a reference for yourself. Nothing will help you more than creating a painting and mixing all of the colors you need from a limited palette. 

The first painting class I ever took, we were required to mix all of our colors from Cad. Yellow Light....Ultramarine Blue, Cad. Red. Medium....and White. There are artists who still work that way. It's a great discipline to get under your belt which is another reason you are seeing so many oil paintings on this blog. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"A Foundation"

($40.00....6" x 6"....water soluble oils on gessobord)

"A rock in art or in life provides a foundation." Rocks have long been symbolic of stability and strength. They have a spiritual significance and that is often symbolized in the visual arts.

The palette knife is one of the most expressive tools I've had in my hands. After completing approximately (3) weeks of these paintings, I now have my favorites. One palette knife is never enough since there are many sizes and configurations. In this piece, I felt a bit "looser" and freely threw in some gestural marks in various places. Actually, each swipe of the knife feels like a gestural stroke and that pleases me very much. 

Two of the major points in pulling these paintings off is to make sure the dards are dark enough and lights are light enough. The other point is to work with a limited palette. Identify the colors in the reference photo or in plein air by identifying the root color by one of the (12) colors on the color wheel. I still slip up from time to time and call yellow-green....."green gold" (A golden acrylic color). The reason this is important is because the components in some of those color hues rather than the pure color can give you some unexpected results when mixing them.

Simply avoid that by learning how to work with either one set of primaries plus white or set up a double palette which includes a warm and cool  of each primary plus white. You can then "gray down" a color much easier and the entire painting will be more harmonious. It is sometimes hard to realize that all colors come from yellow, blue, and red. It's the percentage of each and the intensity that makes the difference. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Abbreviated Orange"

(unavailable)

"Orange is the color of fall." Orange is beginning to permeate yards and landscapes with pumpkins, but very soon (hopefully), we will see leaves begin to turn and many of them will cycle through yellow, orange, and red, and then brown. The title and inspiration for this quote came from the fact that this piece is entirely created with the color "orange" in all of its tints and shades.

I attended an oil workshop this year and when any student in the class asked how to mix a particular color, the instructor would always say...red, yellow, and blue. And she was right! Of course, white is also needed, but that's what this piece is all about. The very dark brown in the background is the color orange with a less yellow and a lot more red and blue. The light foreground color that is the color of hay is a small bit of "grayed down" orange with lots of white. And of course, the pumpkin is what we would normally identify as orange. 

When looking up the word abstract...some of the other words that describe it are words like abbreviate and summary. I like those words because they perfectly describe what happens when an image is abstracted. In this case, I am giving the viewer an abbreviated image or a summary with many details left out. For instance, the orange in this piece is definitely a pumpkin, but the "ribbing" and minute shadings in the pumpkin are absent. The stem helps to differentiate it from an orange, but even there, the details are left out. 

The foreground color represents hay by its color and value changes, but every straw in the hay bale is absent. This is an exciting approach and hope you will try it sometime. The palette knife is the perfect tool for this because it creates the erratic edges that happen, especially when painting "wet into wet". This piece was done in acrylics with retarder added to the paint. I love oils, but it is very difficult to include lettering in oils. I also have plans to make an extended return to "Open Acrylics" which stay wet for a long time, but will also enable me to write on it with water soluble media. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Work of Art"

($40.00......6" x 6"....mounted on a 1/8" depth clayboard panel)


"Our lives are a work of art...painted by our choices." If any of us stopped to consider how many choices we make in a day, we would be stunned. Life is truly just one choice after another. Let's make sure they're good ones.

Color combinations are a key component of creating a really good pouring medium piece. All moving color is not beautiful. By limiting your choices to (3) colors and a metallic, you can have a very interesting piece. I typically choose one dark value color, one medium value color, and one light color. Golden's Iridescent Bronze also goes well with the Raw Umber, but silver would offer a nice contrast as well.

Remember, too, that you can gray down a color, add some white, and have a softer effect with your lightest value as I did here with the blue. It is a "grayed" down turquoise with lots of white. (Add just a bit of the complimentary color to gray it down). When all is said and done, these color contrasts have created an ethereal and rich look.

Another important consideration is how the colors are poured. If I had placed the raw umber between the Transparent Burnt Orange and the blue, much of the ethereal quality would have been lost. Notice how the blue and orange blend and fade out at the edges. Just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Aspens (2)"

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


"Aspens and evergreens live together in perfect harmony." This is another photo from Hyde Park in Santa Fe. Before Christmas overtakes us all, it is refreshing to the soul to linger a bit in the company of Aspens dressed in yellow. Enjoy.


If you have a desire to learn this "encaustic like" effect over a favorite photograph, refer to "Aspens (1)" for details. There is a tip regarding the lettering that might be useful before you get carried away. This is not like writing on paper. You will not be able to attack this surface with the same energy you do on unprimed paper. It requires an extremely light touch, barely skimming the surface. The energy and form of your lettering must be practiced on paper first with a pencil to get the movement down before writing on your piece. The good news is that the surface preparation allows you to dip a stiff brush in water and remove any mistakes. (I have taken out whole lines of lettering before.)

As for all of you color enthusiasts....it's time to analyze what is going on with the colors in this photo and why we are captivated by this particular arrangement. First of all, yellow and blue are split complements, so by including a portion of the sky, you automatically have a combination that satisfies that need for the eye to find the complement. Second of all, even though you may not see any red, I can assure you that if you tried to mix a "rich" deep green as you see in the evergreens, you would need to use some red. And red and green are the two most powerful direct complements. The conclusion is that a close study of nature will actually help to understand what colors to use together and why. So get out your "trusty" color wheel and mix away! Just something to try or think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Deep Thinking" ($40.00)

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

"Deep thinking simmers in an atmosphere of peace and quiet." A state of peace and quiet needs to be pursued with intentionality in an age of continuous audio input. It is worth the effort and actually enables the deep thinker to make wiser decisions.

This kind of quote is best illustrated with colors that are less intense and "in your face". The Cobalt Turquoise (Golden) was diluted or grayed down with a bit of Raw Umber and White. The yellow is Raw Sienna plus White. (Raw Sienna is already a grayed down yellow.)  The dark, black looking color is both Turquoise and Raw Sienna plus Raw Umber mixed together with no white added. This is a Pouring Medium technique which gives a dense application of the paint with no brush strokes or interference of any other tools in the paint. That's why it's called a Pouring Medium.  (It is added to the paint in a paper plate.)

I added no water to the medium and color, but did soak the paper by submerging in a pan of water. If the pouring medium is not moving enough when you do the pour, spray with water. Manipulate the pour by picking up the paper in the corners and letting the color run. When you are satisfied, lay the paper flat on wax paper and allow to dry overnight. The only time you will be able to use a hair dryer is at the very end of the process if there are wet areas.  I have experimented with placing the medium + color into plastic bottles with a tip.  Paper plates (foam type) are still the best method in my opinion.

The reason I am recounting this process again is the teacher in me. None of us retains all of the details of a process without repetition. You will also notice that I left part of the paper untouched by the pouring medium. There was of course, a little "bleed" from the dark color, but that not only provides contrast, but gives an easier surface to letter on. Just something to try or think about.


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"Surroundings" ($40.00)

(adjusted price....$40.00)


"Color and people are both affected by their surroundings." Placing intense color next to a gray color or next to its complement (or split complement) can vastly affect the way it looks. Likewise, the way people respond to their environment can make them feel peaceful or agitated. Hopefully, you have surrounded yourself with colors and items that make you peaceful.

Orange and Ultramarine Blue were used to achieve this "grayish purple" color. But then I decided not to use the Ultramarine Blue by itself but selected Viridian Green which is a split complement of orange. The darker green color blended with a very dark mixture of the Orange and Ultramarine Blue which caused it to look illuminated where the green was more diluted by water.

So the color moral of this story is to use those complementary colors to produce some wonderful grays that will provide the perfect setting for the more intense color. What is remarkable about the Cadmium Orange is that I really did add some Blue to knock down the intensity, but it still seems quite intense.

Observing color effects in different surroundings is a life time pursuit. Have fun as you try out more combinations. Just something to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Technique" (unavailable)

(unavailable)

"Technique determines the outcome in art and in life." Technique is defined as a manner of artistic execution in music, painting, etc...skillfulness or adeptness. It can also be a means of achieving one's purpose skillfully. It all ties in with wisdom and discipline in both areas. What a great thought for Friday!

Color has literally exploded in my studio. This piece was inspired by the colors of a well designed living space. The warm neutrals throughout the room felt very cozy and then there was the brilliant violet accent. Wow! If you truly want a color to be showcased well, just place it in a setting of neutral (diluted) color and "voila"...the piece settles the viewer down into a cozy atmosphere and enjoyment of the vibrant color.

There has long been a tendency to refer to neutrals as white, black, and brown with tints, shades, and tones of those three. Actually, a neutral is any color that has been neutralized by dilution. A color can be diluted with black, white, gray, or its complement. Viridian green is actually the darkest color in this piece, but it was diluted by its complement...Napthol Red + a bit of Raw Umber. I also enjoy Titan Buff which is the cream color. It is a color that could be mixed, but when time is of the essence, I do like to have that color on hand.

The movement of color in this piece was created once again by Liquitex Pouring Medium. Moving color is very exciting and mesmerizing. Those in the color workshop are in for a treat. The is one of the most addictive and therapeutic things I've done in a while. I highly recommend it for stress relief. Just something to think about.

"Pairings" ($30.00)

($30.00)

"Lemons and limes are cheerful pairings of fruit and color." Colors can evoke an emotion or reference an object without the realistic representation of the object. This goes to the core of abstract painting. Lemons and limes are referenced by the color in this piece.

This is basically a monochromatic piece with yellow / green being the root color. That root color is most obvious in the center of interest where the color has very little dilution.

Color can be diluted several ways. It can be diluted by adding water...by glazing with white gesso...by graying down with the complement. Dilution affects the intensity of a color by knocking it down. All of these types of dilution are present in this piece.

The first step in really knowing a particular color is being able to identify a color's hue (root color)...its value compared to the gray scale, and its intensity. Having the right information and steps to accessing this skill is a preliminary step to mixing any color you see. Just something to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Tolling of the Bell" ($40.00)

(adjusted price...$40.00 )

"The tolling of the bell marks the reflection of memories past." This day of National reflection reminded me of all the times I've heard bells tolling to mark significant events. Let us all be diligent in prayer for our country as we reflect on the most devastating event against our Homeland.

Grays and black work well with any color combination. I returned to my favorite mixture for gray...Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. With these two colors plus white, a whole range of grays can be mixed. Of course, the first layer is dilute acrylic painted over a randomly applied gesso.

Those of you who are or have taken Spencerian Script can appreciate how just one or two lines gives a historical look to a piece and has a "quieting" effect. As much as I love Copperplate, it has a heavier visual weight and will not accomplish what Spencerian does. Hopefully this kind of look will give you even more motivation to include it in some of your work. I seem to have fallen in love with it as soon as Pat Blair hit our city limits with her pen! Also notice the division of space and what's going on in all four corners. As always, these are just a few things to think about.

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"Caliente" (unavailable)

(unavailable......in the permanent collection of dee day)






This particular color combination is fresh and exciting because it's a new twist on an old favorite. Red and green are the two most recognized complementaries on the color wheel. What you see here is a derivative of this classic favorite. Enjoy this "colorist" piece and these "hot" (caliente) colors!

As I have mentioned numerous times on my blog, most of my pieces, after the first month of blogging, begin with paste paper. (Recipes of this paste can be found if you google "paste paper".) After making your paste, the next step is to mix some of the paste with a portion of acrylic paint or any other water media or powdered pigments. I use Golden Acrylics with an ocassional tube of Liquitex. The advantage of paste paper are the textures that can be created in the paste before it dries.

The "hot" red in this piece was created with Napthol Red, Cadmium Orange, and a bit of Raw Umber and White. The green was created with Green Gold plus a bit of Raw Umber and White. If you also want some of the olive green, just add more Raw Umber and leave the white out. Color is an exciting thing to experiment with and playing around with it by referring to a color wheel is a great first step.

The gestural writing was written with Perylene Violet Gouache (WN). It's an excellent choice rather than always going for black or brown, especially when using a "hot" combination like this. Just something to think about.

"A Signature" (unavailable)

(unavailable)

Most of the time a signature refers to the written name of a person. However, there is a broader definition that refers to a distinctive action or characteristic of a person's style. For instance, if you see enough of one artist's work, you can immediately tell that it was done by that artist. Each artist has their habitual marks or arrangement of elements, or techniques that visually describe who they are. None of us can run away from our signature. It is who we are!

I actually created this background some time ago, but never could write a quote that seemed to fit. The "aha" moment for me was realizing that the gestural marks in the background reminded me of someone's signature. Better yet, I had made a gestural mark with a brush, the corner of a credit card, and a pointed shaper tool. I also used a credit card to incise some lines in the paper while it was wet. This does add some energy, especially when they are inscribed at an angle or veer off in a different direction.

The inkwell is from my personal collection and I'm particularly fond of the shape. You might not be able to pick up the subtle nuance of the dark values in the pen, bottle, and shadows, but they are not black. I mixed up Ult. Blue, Winsor Violet, and a bit of Burnt Sienna (in gouache) to create a color that looks like black. It is a livelier color combination with the yellow green background because yellow and purple are complements. It is one of those details that can make a huge difference, especially in the original.

As always, these comments might spark your imagination to try a few new things or just give you something to think about.

"Lemons" (sold)

(sold)

To our surprise, the ornamental lemon tree by our back door produced these lemons last fall. So of course I wanted to paint them and that old familiar quote came to mind..."When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This is my version.

The lemons were painted with gouache. They seem to pop right off of the page because the red orange background is a direct complement to the green leaves. Many interesting effects can be achieved by realizing that every color transition creates an edge. By stopping the branch where the yellow in the background begins creates a feeling that the branch is behind the yellow and emerged out of nowhere.

So the color scheme is actually two for the price of one. Not only is there a direct complement...there is an analagous color scheme as well. (Three or four colors used that are next to each other on the color wheel.) In this case, they are red, orange, yellow, and green. All of the basic color information is on color wheels that can be purchased at any art store. Seeing a piece and having it explained is another way to see whether or not you might like to try a particular color arrangement yourself. Try it for yourself. You might come up with something totally surprising.

"Tunnel Vision" ($40.00)

(adjusted price.....($40.00)

There will always be excellent goals that can fill our time. When any goal consumes every single moment of our lives, tunnel vision has become operative. Everything always boils down to balance. The pots represent that one thing that becomes all consuming.

This piece is a good example of the power of repetition, especially a repeat with variation. It doesn't work as well if the repeated elements are exactly the same. Sameness equals boredom. Repetition, with variation, equals compelling and dramatic.

Perylene violet (WN) comes to my rescue everytime I paint pots. By mixing perylene violet, raw umber, and viridian, I was able to give more life to the darks in this piece, including the lettering. Raw umber by itself would have come across rather lifeless. And not all raw umbers are created equal.  M. Graham gouache has a far superior raw umber than Winsor Newton. It's richer and darker and very finely ground. It can be difficult to find in local art stores, but is available from Paper and Ink Arts. I will go so far as to say that I cannot function without Graham Raw Umber. Try it.....you'll like it!

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.