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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Moonlit Surf, Goleta Beach. Feb. 19, 2010



I had just finished painting a 14"x20" oil painting of the Moonrise, See Jan 8, 2010 Blog. (BTW, this is now in the collection of a famous local mystery writer). I was on location with five other Moonlight Painters who were working diligently to capture the moon in it's ascent. It was another warm, and balmy Fall evening

Sometimes after completing one painting I feel like calling it a night, as I am fatigued. However, If I stick it out for just one more sketch, it sometimes can be considered one of my better paintings! By the time I start painting I forget my fatigue, and soldier on through the process to produce just one more work of art.

This second painting can be considered the one which moves me deeper into my art, and depth as an artist. It isn't necessarily a pretty picture, but, "feels" like night; and for me the painting represents it as a memorable one.

Moonlit Surf, Goleta Beach
6"x9" oil/canvas 2009
Painting subject to prior sale

Moonlight, Cabrillo Blvd. Feb. 18, 2010



I painted this small sketch merely to capture the affect of moonlight in the sky in contrast with the ambient light emanating from Cabrillo Blvd in Santa Barbara. It was during a balmy Moonlight Painting Workshop I taught in September 2009.

I consider it art for art sake.

Overall it was a blue harmony, in contrast with the warm sodium vapor street lights; that gave a warm and cozy feeling to the cityscape. The Palm Trees lined the Boulevard in silhouette

Moonlight, Cabrillo Blvd
6x9, oil, 2009
Painting subject to prior sale

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Mission from a Roseless Garden Feb. 17, 2010



I started this 16"x20" oil painting in the Fall of 2009, at the Santa Barbara Rose Garden. Last Wednesday, (unlike last Fall), there were no flowers or clouds. Instead used the opportunity to demonstrate how to finish a painting borrowing from local color, imagination, and memory to bring it together.

I approached the painting asking, "What's wrong with this painting?". I look at my painting, then my subject, try to remember what it was looking like when I painted it months ago, then strive to make adjustments for contrast and "punch" it up a bit.

Just like in the beginning of the painting (when I lay in the masses), I work dark to light. Since this was a loose, impressionist beginning, I worked to stay expressive with my brush strokes, and thin with my glazing so the painting's surface would show very little overworking, or dry brush strokes. My intention is to keep the painting immediate and lively with just the right amount of variety from the configuration to the finishing highlights.

In this photo, the painting is still not finished, but it is far enough along that I can work on it for an hour or so in the studio; sign it, frame it, and hopefully sell it.

An Artist job is to produce. I paint and hope to sell, not paint to sell.

Monday, February 15, 2010

The Day After; February 15, 2010



Mid Winter, after painting all night: the following day is slightly surreal. My favorite thing to do is put my feet up and take a snooze in my studio. (Time to make a deposit in the 'ol sleep bank). This is important cause I've dosed off while driving once or twice, as a result of a lack of sleep (from night painting).

The painting visible in the back ground, was a commissioned painting; done of the Proctor and Gamble Paper Plant in Oxnard California, under a full moon.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentines Day February 14, 2010



I painted an imagination painting for a benefit show at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum. Being it was a Valentines Day fund raiser I imagined the full moon rising over the Rincon Point, from the vantage point of the Carpinteria Bluffs.

Well, It was one of the first to go to a lucky person in the lottery. I decided to paint another version for my wife and boys and give it to them for Valentines Day. This was back in 2002.