CHANGE IS GOOD - CONTINUED & FINISHED

GOOD MORNING BLOG BUDDIES!

Well --- the hot water heater is on the way to being fixed - it was the circulating pump as I suspected so soon that problem will be fixed!   I loved it when things get fixed!!

OK --- back to yesterday and my first CHIAROSCURO painting.  This is 8 x 10 and the title of it is "TWO PEARS - CHIAROSCURO EXPRESSED"

I named it that as it is done in my expressionistic style using my stubby (AKA stiffy)brush as a palette knife.  It is also done in the flavour of the French definition:

"Prominent contrast of light & dark"

(did you notice the spelling of FLAVOUR!!!!  :>)  That's because I'm French!!!

OK--------- enough of ME!!!!  This is where we left off yesterday!

I worked very fast this morning as I'm really tired!!  All this drama and stress over the sale of the house is mentally tiring!!!  With my small brain it exhausts me!!  Additionally I have not been doing my yoga stretches for quite a while now and it has caught up with me ---- I was up every hour last night with very painful cramps in the back of my left leg and in the arch of my left foot!!!!  I'm talking serious pain - the kind that makes your eyes water!

HEY LADY - I WAS NOT CRYING!!!!!

Yaaaaa I know who cares :>(

OK - onward and forward - I quickly start to  work on the 2nd pear - develop some color and form.  I'm going to show some detail now so you can see the effect and the style that my "stubby" (AKA stiffy) brush affords me.  Also as I say I'm tired and it's 11:30 AM here and I really need a NAP and I hope the cramps do not return!!

FINI 

OK we are done here - As I say this is what I call

"CHIAROSCURO EXPRESSED"

This is my interpretation of a particular style converted to my style of expressionistic painting with emotion and spontaneity of color and form - giving life to the subject with passages of movement and excitement.  I really like the light blue on top of the black - a very clear statement of "prominent contrast of light & dark," we French are so friggin smart.  :>) 

LATER MY FRIENDS!!!

CHANGE IS GOOD

Good Morning Blog Buddies!

Well, my DW, Melissa and her DH (that's me) will be going through a lot of changes under the assumption that our house will in fact be sold - based on the outcome of the home inspection and the appraisal.  I used to be against CHANGE - it knocked my whole system off - being the creature of habit that I am - a certain day for me to do certain things - week after week after friggin week!!!!!.  House cleaning always on Monday - food shopping always on Tuesday, laundry always on Wednesday.  Over our 30+ years together I've loosened up a tad - but no where near enough.  Over the past few years I've improved somewhat more but certainly have further to go!  I have to say that I find myself BORING!!!!!

Well ----- being of sound mind (I think), I'm going to try and go through a change in my painting habits and somewhat of a change in my technique.  How long this will last is another story as I say - I get bored with myself!!!!  :>)

There is a style of painting that has piqued my interest over the past few months and that style is called CHIAROSCURO.  AH-HA a new word for the day - please try to use it in a sentence as most of you out there could use some IMPROVING as well!!!

The lady over in the corner wants to know what it means - normally I would say "go look it up and write it 25 times!"  However I'm not going to do that today as I just had to go look it up for myself!!!!!

In Italian it refers to the LIGHT/DARK relationship within a painting.

In French it refers to "the prominent contrast of light & shade"

Same meaning - however WE French like to sex it up a bit!!!!

This is a work in process as it is the very first one I've done and me being me I just jump in a do it so I'm sure it will be MY INTERPRETATION of CHIAROSCURO as I feel it within my emotional - expressive style.  Soooooo I guess at best it will be
"INTERPRETATIVE CHIAROSCURO" A-LA JR

No-one can ever accuse my of fitting the MOLD!!

Since this is a WIP, I will explain my beginning and then show the progression photos.

First I paint an 8 x 10 canvas panel with a good even coat of black (this being the dark)

Then with brush in hand I quickly draw in the shape of my subject which in this case will be one of my favorite - PEARS.

I then with my special self-designed stubby (AKA stiffy) brushes apply paint with my normal emotion and expression with the freedom of free-flowing arm movement.

As most of you can remember I'm sure as I know you pay attention and hang on my every word --------- YA RIGHT!!!!  I designed some brushes that I use in a very similar manner as palette knives - with the exception they do not cause my arthritis to flare up and I achieve some texture with visible brush marks - which can actually identify a specific painter.

So the next few photos will depict what I have explained above and this WIP will be developed over the next day or so.

Our Broker just called and he is stopping by for us to sign some piece of paper ------ I'm too old to have children so it can't be a document signing over our first born to him!!!

Now we have "the prominent contrast of light & dark ----- as WE French like to say!!

Damn I'm getting pretty good at this painting crap -

GOOD JOB JR!!!!!!!

Stay tuned for further progression and completion.

STRESS

Well, today was sort of a stressful day in that we had both the home inspection and the appraisal done at the same time.  Of course you know the home inspector will FIND some problems as the buyer will feel as tho they did not get their moneys worth if all is OK!!!

The appraiser is another story. - IMHO all appraisers should be women!!  A guy could give a Rat's A-- about the wonderful upgrades to a house - as long as it has a "REAL COOL" SHOP area ---- all is GREAT!  Whereas a woman would appreciate beautiful views, beautiful gardens - Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors, hand made saltillo tile floors, flagstone etc etc.  All the things she would like her DEAR HUBBY to put in but he is too busy in the SHOP!! :>)

All kidding aside - I suppose it will be several days before we hear back on the results - so we once again sit taking our turn at waiting - which seems like half ones life is spent waiting - but hey we are retired so waiting is something we are good at.

I'll keep ya posted my friends and if all is good we'll have a closing date assigned and our waiting will be over - OH WAIT-------then we will be waiting to move!!!!  :>) 

Later my friends------------ JR

WOW!!!!!

Well, my DW Melissa has a saying that she quotes which is:

NOTHING HAPPENS - NOTHING HAPPENS -
THEN EVERYTHING HAPPENS!!!

I was just notified by our Broker that the appraisal will also take place this Monday at the very same time as the home inspection!!!  HOLY CRAP - I guess instead of one step at a time we are now taking TWO STEPS AT A TIME!!!

This is good - it gets all the stress over with at once!!

So we will be quite busy the next couple of days coupled with the hot water heater repair - I won't have much time for a blog tomorrow - SOOOOOOO BUSY!!!!
YIKES!!!!  Got to squeeze a couple more hours into the next few days!!!!

Wish us good reviews on both the home inspections and the appraisal!!!  :>)

Later my friends.

DON'T IT JUST FIGGER!!!!!

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well, here it is Sunday and my DW has gone off to the Yoga Studio to work - filling in for someone else.  We have the home inspector coming Monday afternoon for what I'm told is a 3 - 4 hour inspection.  They do not like the owners to be present during the inspection so my DW and I shall go to our favorite coffee shoppe in the area of the Santa Fe Plaza - called ECCO and get a Mocha and a treat.  They make the best Mocha in all of Santa Fe!!!

Today I will clean the house and on Monday before the inspector comes I shall spot clean - although the home inspector really does not care about my pristine housework - but alas it does make for a better overall appearance!!!  :>)

Of course Murphy's Law is starting to kick in as we woke up this morning to NO HOT WATER!!!!!!  I'm hoping it is just the circulation pump and not the water heater itself!!!!  I will not be able to get a service call until Tuesday or Wednesday so our home inspection starts with one noted problem right at the git/go!!

When we moved from Arizona to Santa Fe 4 years ago, the dishwasher in our 7 year old Arizona home DIED - DEAD AS A DOOR-NAIL!!!  We of course had to go buy a new on and of course the BUYER was very pleased!!!!!

 US???? NOT SO MUCH!!!  :>(

Alas this is the way of the world - so we smile and say OK - let's get whatever is wrong fixed and move another step forward to the completion of the sale of our home!  Smile on faces - step by step in a forward direction!  :>)  :>)

So a busy day cleaning the adobe and if time permits I may just may play with a painting or do some sketching for another day.

Smiles on faces - step by step in a forward direction.....................................
Smiles on faces - step by step in a forward direction.....................................

:>)              :>) 
JR                         MELISSA (DW)

PACKING & WAITING

Well - not doing much painting - just sort of packing and waiting!!!  Did you ever notice that we spend a large portion of our life WAITING???  There are times in our live that we become "LINE EXTENDERS"  Just standing in line waiting our turn for whatever!!!

Can't pack too much as when the appraisal is done we want the house to look nice and not look empty!!!  The home inspection will be this Monday - 3-4 hours in duration and they request the owner not be present!

In anticipation of the move around the end of September, we rented a one bedroom "UNIT" in Santa Fe. My DW, Melissa likes to accuse me of being a "princess!"  Well I will admit that I like my comfort and a moderate degree of elegance in my surroundings!  What we rented as I say is a one bedroom "UNIT" on top of a hill AKA THE UNIT ON TOP OF THE HILL!!!!  It will only be for 6 months and then it will be onto full time RV-ing (more on that later.)

When we left the rental office I said to my DW - "This is not where a princess lives!!!"

However that said - it is clean, comfortable - enough space for two - some space for me to paint and it's only for 6 months!!!!

Monday we are going to check on a storage unit 10x15 or 15x20 as we plan on keeping most of our furnishings (although we would like to sell many of them) however time is not on our side!  Once the appraisal is done (no date yet) we will only have a week or so to get moved out so obtaining a storage unit NOW is necessary.

Exciting times but also stressful times as neither of us deal well with the uncertain or unknown.  Once the home inspection and appraisal are completed with favorable success, we will be more at ease - although the QUICK moving out will not be enjoyable.

We keep our eye on our upcoming RV adventure which keeps us in very good spirits.

As I say more on the RV business in future posting.

For now my friends - I wish you all well and I'LL BE BACK!!!!

JR...................   :>) 

GOOD MORNING

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well-------today is a very special day!!!  It's laundry day but that is not what is special about today!!!  Today I have some potentially very, very good news and some potentially temporary bad news.

First the good news because this is about my DW and her DH (that would be me - the Darling Husband!)

We received an offer on our house which has been for sale during the past almost 7 months.  We did not accept the offer - but did counter the offer with our offer.  The PB (potential buyer) accepted our counter offer ------ so our home is under contract!!!! :>)

We still have the home inspection and the appraisal to go thru so we are still sort of on the real estate roller coaster as nothing is over until the fat lady sings!

The PB from Washington state has asked for an end of September closing - which is good with us as well.  Very exciting times for us.

Now the potentially bad news!!!  :>(

We have a lot of packing to do and really can't start the bulk of it until we kinow the home inspection and the appraisal have been completed and with favorable results and the sale is going forward.

However that said - I've been packing our "EXTRA STUFF" for a while now and will continue to do so.  You know - all the STUFF one has hiding in the closets - in the cabinets - in the garage - in the back of the car - under the bed ----- that may have been used once in the past year or so!!!!!

Sooooooo my painting frequency will be downgraded somewhat and when the OK TO PACK FULL FORCE order is issued - my painting frequency will STOP for at least 2 months, as we move and get settled once again!!!  Have no fear MY PAINTING WILL START AGAIN WITH FULL FORCE - AND THE VIM AND VIGOR OF A YOUNG MAN!!!

As I've mentioned in the past painting is a way of life for me and I can not even imagine not painting!!!

I will keep you folks updated on the sale process.  Once the sale goes thru, I will continue to update you on our plans as to the purchase of our RV!!!!

HOW EXCITING!!!!!!

:>)                    :>)

JR   &    DW - MELISSA

Later my friends..............  :>)

PASTORAL SKY - ABOVE THE GROUND No. II ---WIP

Good Day Blog Buddies!

Well, today was food shopping day and Sam's Club and a few other errands.  All done with a smile on my face!  I woke up this morning feeling cheerful and to be honest if I were any better today I'd have to be triplets - that is how much joy I have flowing through these old decrepit arteries!!

A follower wrote to me and said words to the effect:  I've been in New Mexico and I love the beautiful skies that you have out there.  While I enjoy the palette knife presentation of your first "Above The Ground"painting and the bellowing formations of clouds, I would like to see a painting of what I consider to be beautiful pastoral skies that I have witnessed in NM.

Weeelllllllll - you are in luck as I am in a very pastoral mood today and normally I would have said "Well Buck-o I'd like to be 6'9'', play in the NBA and have my own talk show - however that is not going to happen - which does not discount the happy-happy mood I'm in today!

Pastoral as it relates to the arts to me means - a scene idealized as peaceful - simple - natural with wisps of clouds - delicate & frail.  The (high) desert can also be pastoral in vision - so with this as my guide I'll see what I can do!  This will be a RENDERING with lots of brush activity done in a very soft manner to give the finished piece a sort of pastel appearance.  Now doesn't that sound nice --- "A Pastel Pastoral Scene."

First I will create some color in the sky using 3 shades of blue applied with a big brush with soft light strokes.

I want the horizon line to be low in the sky as this painting is about SKY - although the pastoral presentation will also include the land of the high desert.

Next, I very gently with softness of brush stroke work in some white (wet into wet) in order to begin the pastoral appearance.  When I say softness of brush stroke I mean just barely touching the canvas surface so softly in fact that some of the paint just lifts up rather than spreading.

I now also in a very gentle touch lay in some ground color - carrying a bit of it up into the lower sky as ground reflecting upward.  This scene when done will perhaps depict (to some viewers) the beginning of the last glimmer of the light for the day.

That's all I've done so far as it is close to my lunch time and I actually feel like a nap.  I could get used to this pastoral stuff - it feels kind of good!  Makes me feel very peaceful.

Later today or tomorrow I will show you the steps leading up to the finished painting and I hope the viewer who wrote will be pleased.

Later folks--------------------------------------JR    

POTTERY & FRUIT

Hello Blog Buddies,

Well I cleaned the house this morning and then I jump into my studio - turned up the music and finished the painting I started the other day.

The is 11 x 14 on canvas panel and is done partly with palette knife but mostly with my "STUBBY" brush AKA --- STIFFY.  You might remember, this is a brush I created which will allow me to use it in a palette knife fashion - yet -  leave brush marks which I think adds to the texture of the painting as well as the identification of the artist.

So I'm just going to get right to it, without any fan fare - announcements - or general irritating BLAH-BLAH-BLAH.

Well maybe just a tad - you will notice that I've once again gone to the complimentary color concept to make things POP - of course the complimentary colors are red & green.  HEY-------- YOU IN THE BACK ------- if you don't like my at least giving just a little explanation - feel FREE TO LEAVE THE ROOM!!!!!

OK now that HE is GONE -- I shall proceed forward in an uninterrupted atmosphere!!

As you can see, I've given the pot, bowl and the fruit more definition, and depth via the use of darkness in the shadows and texture to the fruit.  

I throw a bit of color into the FG as well as some reflected color back onto the bowl and the beginning of reflected color from the orange back onto the pot.  It is very important to tie all the components together - with the light coming from the right, the orange would have to reflect onto the pot - without that little touch, this section of the painting would be flat and YES b o r i n g!

The rest of this will go quickly now - I add some BG and also some highlights to the fruit and the bowl and the pot.  You will also notice that I added some DOWNWARD reflected color onto the bowl from the apple as again the light from the right would cascade some to this color to the reflective surface of the bowl.  Plus it gives the illusion that the apples are somewhat slightly over the edge of the bowl.  Cascade is the word for today - please try to use it in a sentence.  :>)

From this point on, it will be what I call

 "TWEAKING ON THE FLY"

This means I make adjustments in color - depth - movement without a real preplanned notion - it happens very quickly as I see an area to my eye needing a PUNCH - a POP!!

We are pretty much done now - I'll put it in my "viewing corner" for a couple of days to see if anything jumps out at me.

Detail for those who just have to see the detail!!!  :>)

Later my friends JR.......................................

RESTFUL DAY

Yo Blog Buddies,

Well, today being Sunday was a day of rest!  We had a showing of the house this morning so we went down to the Plaza and I treated my DW to a breakfast burrito at one of our favorite restaurants.  We wandered thru the Indian Market once again and I said goodbye to my people for another year.

The people who came to see our house we are told liked it very much and after seeing 5 houses thus far - ours in #1.  They plan on looking at 15 more houses so as you can see this will be a very detailed search so TWT (Time Will Tell)  We no longer get excited about people who express interest - as they say "it's not over until the fat lady sings."
Who out there knows who the fat lady was???????????????

Sooooo tomorrow is house cleaning day and then perhaps I will finish the painting I started the other day.  TWT

Later my friends - :>)

POTTERY & FRUIT - WIP

HELLO BLOG BUDDIES!

It's HAPPY-HAPPY JR BACK AGAIN!!!!  As I mentioned in the previouse post, I was going into my studio - turn up the music and create!  One thing most artists will tell you is:

#1 you need to like the subject you are painting to do it justice
#2 if you are happy and carefree the paint will flow in a happy & carefree manner

I think you will be able to see free flowing happiness in the following WIP as it is what I felt during this work in process  (WIP)  Liberation from evil forces is a wonderful thing!

OK onward and forward.  11 x 14 on canvas panel done with my "stubby" large brush and a abundance of happiness - emotion - expression and spontaneity of color and form.

First a quick sketch although I'm a firm believer in going outside the lines!!!  Those of you with kids if you teach them nothing else, teach them it is OK to going outside the lines - lines restrict creativity and impose rules that stifle the joy of doing.

Red-----because red is a power color!!

Now I will add some color into the fruit and some shadow color - light is coming from the right - which of course is my favorite side - my brain thinks right to left although I most always start the painting from the left - that is so I won't get my hand in the wet paint!  :>)

See how smart I am!  (It took me a while to learn this!!!)

I rarely if ever use Magenta - however I love the word Maaaa Geeen Taaaa

This is even better because it is Quinacridone Maaa Geeen Taaaa!!

It is a very sexy word!!!

Now I will do some deepening of color - shadows and a general tweaking of various parts of the painting.

I hope to finish this today but perhaps not.  Tomorrow will be dedicated to the Indian Market festivities and walking amongst my people.

This is the extent of my effort thus far and when I finish this up I will post it for you guys.

DETAIL FOR THOSE DETAIL ORIENTATED :>)

( YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!!!!)

I would love to know if any of you folks can see the free flowing happiness (which I call FULUDITITY.  This is a JR word - try to use it in a sentence today :>)
Later my friends---------------------------------------

TRIPLETS - CONTROL OF LIFE - HAPPINESS

GOOD MORNING BLOG BUDDIES :>)

Well JR is one very, very happy person this morning - so much in fact that if I were any happier I would have to be TRIPLETS as this much HAPPINESS is almost too much for one person.

We ( DW and her DH - which is me ) took back CONTROL of our lives and it was a very liberating feeling of personal freedom!  We have been plagued with LOW BALL offers on our home from less than good intentioned people.  When you couple this with people of this class who also seem to have a less than good intentioned RE broker, it just becomes too much.  We totally refused the LOW BALL offer and in fact did not even respond with a counter offer.  Our counter offer was NO & GO AWAY!

We do not have to sell our home - we WANT to so we can buy our RV and begin a new phase of our life.  We have accepted the fact that this may not happen this year and we are fine with that.  There is no rush and we can sit in our beautiful home - enjoy our beautiful mountain views and wait until the time is right.  In the meantime WE have taken back CONTROL OF LIFE and these folks and no other folks will be allowed to try and control our future ever again.

That said - this weekend there is a wonderful happening in Santa Fe.  The ANNUAL INDIAN MARKET.  Most of you know that I'm part Native American and for those of you who do not know this - I Am AND DAM PROUD OF IT!  Indian market is comprised of 100's of Native American artists - very well known and collected artists, exhibiting jewelry, paintings, pottery and almost every other form of art we know.  These people are so very talented and I think one of the nicest things is they are very humble - polite and just plain nice.

It will be just wonderful to walk amongst my people again.

They come from all over the USA as well as Canada.  They belong to many different NA Nations. 

One of my dreams is to go up onto the 2nd MESA in Arizona and live for 1 year with the Hopi Nation.  I would paint every day and would love to learn pottery as I have this inner feeling that I would create beautiful pottery.  We visited the 2nd MESA for 2 days and it is an experience that I have and never will forget.

I think my biggest reason for wanting our RV adventure is to be out there in the world with the freedom to travel and see and experience all the wonderful sites - sounds and to be one with the earth.

Well, this very, very happy - liberated person is going into his studio - turn on some very loud music and CREATE!!!!

  

THE BLUES

Hello Blog Buddies,


Today being Wednesday, it is laundry day and I got that out of the way nice and early. While the clothes are in the dryer and the second load in the washer, I brought that vim & vigor into my studio and started throwing paint around with wild abandonment - sort of like throwing caution to the wind but this is much more on the messy side!!!  :>)

However, that said - since I was in a BLUE mood yesterday I decided I needed to do a BLUE ( 4 different colors of BLUE used) painting and include the last of the oranges before the fruit flies carry them and ME away!!

This painting is done on 8x10 canvas panel with of course Chroma Interactive Acrylics - using palette knife and my "stubby" brush - ( I used to call it a stiffy - but the rating committee suggested I change it ) wet into wet with gusto and lots of emotion - expression - spontaneity)  in color and form.  This is a fun painting with sassy splashes of color!!

OK let's (me) begin!

Before we (I) begin, I'll digress for a moment - AHA------ GOT YA!!!!  I'm only kidding so just come back into the room lady and sit down!!!!!

First I throw some paint onto the canvas as is normal in doing a painting :>)  I'm merely establishing a "road map" - which we should all be familiar with by now and I'm also establishing color and shape.

Of course using my palette knife and my "stubby" brush this painting is going to go quickly - HEY - GET BACK HERE AND SIT DOWN I'M NOT DONE YET!!!!!  GEEEZZZZZ I'M NOT THAT FAST!!!

Detail for the detailed hungry buddies.  - Now I shall start building is some shadows, which of course as a result develops some of the light areas.

See how that happens - put in some dark and the light will come!

I continue on with shadow areas.  With the light coming from the right, the left sides will be in shadow and objects adjacent to each other will cast shadows onto their neighbor.

The rest of this painting will go quickly as I can't stop as often to take progression photos when using a palette knife - one has to go quickly and softly.

Time to throw in an apple and generate the little "thingies" where the oranges attached to the tree.  I don't know what they are called, however, that said we hope to go to Florida for a visit the winter (visit some very nice friends) and I'll make sure I find out the answer to the (THINGIES)

I add some reflection of the oranges and apple onto the side of the vase - if I may be permitted to say so I think that is one hell of a touch that livens up this still life.  Lots of folks forget about reflected color - NOT ME!!!

OK - time to start adding BG - FG - with movement (we all know I like movement in my FG's - it reduces the boredom of a still life and makes it a moving life!!

Hang on as this painting will be wrapped up in a few more photos - besides which it's getting time for my lunch!!! :>)

We're getting there - well actually youse guys are just watching - I'll DOING ALL THE WORK!!!

OK - we ( I ) have completion!!!! 

MONDAY

Hi Blog Buddies,

Not too much going on today - I cleaned the house because it's Monday - GOD I'm BORING!!!!!!!

We may get an offer on the house today - I hope it is not another LOW BALL offer!!  These folks seem serious and according to our broker the broker for the buyer is a knowledgeable broker and understands the market in our community or Ranch Viejo.

The RE market in Santa Fe is still pretty much in the toilet so we are lucky to have someone who is interested and MAY perhaps submit a bid.  Of course it cold take all day to have the bid submitted to OUR broker.  Brokers love to play cat & mouse - they wait until 5pm to submit bids and then insist on a reply NLT 5pm 24 hours later.  I think buying/selling RE could be so much easier if the brokers just did away with the EGO trips and got off the "I'm smarter than you" train - which IMHO is a dumb way to do business.  If the brokers would let the seller and buyer talk things out, I'm sure things would go much smoother and there would be more sales and less people walking away from the table.

Sooooooo TWT - time will tell

No painting today as my mind is someplace else so we'll have to see how today goes and if we get an offer and we can reach an agreeable price - shortly thereafter we will be packing 24/7 OR as we like to say 31.  :>)  

This being the case, it will most likely be close to 2 months before I paint again!  :>(

Sooooo my Blog Buddies I will report in tomorrow and let you know if we received an offer and where it stands.

Later Dudes  :>)

SANGRE de CHRISTO SENTINALS

Friday, August 12, 2011

SANGRE de CHRISTO SENTINALS

Hello Blog Buddies,

Well today is a beautiful day - blue sky and sunshine and it was nice and cool out early this morning 63 degrees.  So up to the Sangre de Christo mountains I went -they are about 20 minutes from our house.

I decided I wanted to do a landscape for a change of pace so off I went.

Did you know that we on average New Mexico gets sunshine 9 out of 10 days?  YEP - trust me that is truth!!!  You'd think there would be a lot - I mean a LOT OF FRIGGIN solar power here!  Nope - New Mexico sort of lives by the "TOMORROW" rule - but alas - tomorrow never comes!  Did you know that New Mexico has a very poor school system?  YEP that is truth!!!  I just read last week that New Mexico has had such a low rating the past many years that they decided to appoint a committee to determine what can be done!  Remember the "leave no kid behind" program that was going to save our country from producing dumb kids?  Well new Mexico misunderstood that program , cut the school budgets and adopted a program of "leave dumb kids behind!"  Did you know that New Mexico has the 2nd highest crime rate in the USA?  YEP - truth again!!!  Nevada is first!!  The Sangre de Christo mountains are soooooooo thick with tree growth - they really should be thinned out - but alas no money in the budget for that - we send it all overseas!!  New Mexico figures the wild fires will thin out the forests so why bother - it's easier that way!

Did you know our house is for sale????

OK -OK I'm getting to the painting!!!  You folks forget I CAN HEAR YOU!!!!

10 x 8 on canvas panel done plein air this very  morning.

I start out with the pines and also throw some white paint in to identify the aspens and their approximate location.  The pines need to be highly textured as they are in real life.

Following is a close up of the texture detail.

The rest will go fast - as I say I'm using a palette knife and to be honest it took longer to drive up to the mountain than it took to do the painting!!

When I say QUICK - I MEAN LIKE I'M DONE!!!!!!

TOO QUICK - OK - I'LL DO IT AGAIN!!!

Some detail for the detailed inclined

I'm grumpy today - so time for a NAP!!!!

COBALT GLASS WITH ORANGES AND APPLES

Hi Blog Buddies.

Well --- since I still have the apples and oranges I figured I'd best do one more painting as my DW has been hinting that she would like to eat an orange or apple some day before they ROT!!! 

I decided I would do a piece with two separate clusters of objects so those of you who follow me often would better understand what I was saying in my previous post.

Also important in a painting is what I call the "Path of Flow."  This is sequence of lights and darks that direct the eyes of the viewers through the painting and stops their eyes from going OFF the surface.  This is done in many ways and I most always choose a sequence of dark-light-dark-light and so forth.  Also the shape of things keep the eye moving - such as the shape of the oranges which flows into the shape of the apples.  The stems on the apples function as POINTERS to the cobalt glass so the eyes will go up to the cobalt glass and not off the canvas.  Additionally - I KNOW, HOLY CRAP - WHEN IS THIS GUY GOING TO SHUT UP!!!!  As I was saying B4 the fella over to the right started talking ----- additionally the cobalt glass is a vertical object and vertical objects give a painting strength.

I KNOW - 3 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE YOU'LL NEVER GET BACK!!!

I've started to do more sketching with a brush - Helen Van Wyk (used) to do this and in watching her, I feel it gives a wonderful sense of freedom and looseness.

OK - brush and palette knife application - which I'll buzz through as TWO of you folks have already pointed out I've taken too much of your time already!!!  (You folks forget I CAN HEAR YOU!!!!!)

Quick sketch with a brush

14 X 11 ON CANVAS PANEL

Now I quickly drop in some shadow color and darken the depth of color

Blue glass because the title is COBALT GLASS and blue and orange are-----------

Complimentary Colors --- BRAVO!!!!

I also add some depth of color for the bottle as well as deepening of color for the shadow side.

Most of my still life pieces are done with the source of light coming from the left - today I decided to challenge myself and have it come from the right - you have no idea how much that confuses the brain - at least my brain.  I'm not very big on concentration!!

OK - the rest will go quickly as I'm getting tired and running out of BS to throw around!!

Some Detail for the anal members of the group - they have a very strong need to see how the paint was applied and the thickness there of.  :>) 

Time to throw in a BG - a FG - some movement so we end up with some interest in what could otherwise be a very boring painting.

BAM - DONE!!!!

 

DETAIL

  

A LESSON FOR TODAY

Hi Blog Buddies,

When I finish a painting, I stand it up in a corner and glance at it while walking by or while watching TV to see if I notice anything that I do not like about it.  When doing this with the painting I did yesterday, I noticed a TANGENT - YES - THE DREADED TANGENT. I should say it was ALMOST A TANGENT.  Enough so that it caught my eye and started to give me an eye ache!!!

Most "PURE PAINTERS" frown upon TANGENTS or ALMOST TANGENTS - it is considered to be a mortal sin in painting.  I really don't give a rat's butt about rules as they were made when Jesus was a little baby and for the most part have not been updated to reflect the "NEW WORLD!"  I'm feel a digression coming on!!! 

I watch Helen Van Wyk on PBS on Saturday afternoon.  About 25 years ago - (when I was a little baby) I could not watch her on TV as she was very GRUMPY!!!  Since I have aged - I find that I enjoy GRUMPY as I figure I'VE EARNED IT!!  Poor Helen is dead now - died rather young  - in her 60's and based on the programs being aired now, she lost some of her GRUMPINESS so I rather enjoy her now.   She (used) to break rules all the time - with her theory being if it looks better by breaking a rule - THEN BREAK IT!!!!!   So to all the purists out there - GET A LIFE!!!!!!

A tangent basically is where two objects form a vertical line ( the edge lines up one to the other in a vertical orientation.)

Look at the left side of the painting facing you and you can see where an ALMOST TANGENT occurs with the bottom side of the vase and the right side of an orange.  Close enough that I find it distracting.

Soooooooo I went into the painting and added another apple to cover the base of the vase on the left and to project the new apple past the outer edge of the vase - thereby creating a correction to the afore-mentioned ALMOST A TANGENT.

This now is a much more pleasant presentation to the viewer (me thinkith) and it interestingly enough brought about what is called (by me) a "clustered still life." 

Some still life painters like to "cluster" their objects so they can paint in some dark dramatic surface shadows as well as cast shadows.

My first choice is to leave some space between objects or between clusters of objects thereby giving me a greater opportunity to express color within the shadow areas.

That said - what else is there to say!!

Some closeups of the DETAIL in the revised piece.

I also deepened the shadow within the opening of the vase to give greater depth into the vase.  Want to know how I do that?

YA - RIGHT - LIKE I'M GOING TO TELL!!!!

COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES PART II

Yo Blog Buddies,

Well today is Wednesday and normally I do the laundry on Wednesday but this morning we had a showing of the house - so I'll do laundry tomorrow.  No report back on the showing so most likely that means the people were not interested.  Still a lot of bottom feeders out there - not as many - only because of the damage our (ALL) politicians have made out of the economy and our lives.  They really just don't give a CRAP who or how this affects.  Oh well - my favorite saying now TWT (Time Will Tell)

OK - We'll start where we left off yesterday - now - just a reminder, this is a palette knife painting so it will develop quickly as each swoosh of the knife lays down a lot of paint into a large area - so hang on to your seat!

This is where we left off yesterday - so today I'm going to lay in more color of varying shades as well as some indication of the shadow side of the objects

Now I'm going to darken up the vase and put some life (movement) into it as it is boring me to tears (boo-hoo-hoo)

I will also bring out the direction of the light shining on the fruit.

Would you like to know how I do that????

Well I'm not telling!!!!

There we are!  Good job JR!!!!

The next series of photos will be adding depth to the objects, intensifying the color and the cast shadows that are cast by the fruit onto its neighbor.

DEEPER COLOR - MORE TEXTURE AND DEEPENING OF THE CAST SHADOWS

MORE-MORE-MORE THICK JUICY PAINT

(ya gotta love it!!!!!)

OK - we are just abut done - what do we have left?

 

YES-YES-YES-YES

We are reaching the climax of this painting - whereby we slap in the BG - punch in the FG and trickle in some of that FG movement which gives the still life motion and interest and spunk - and - vibrancy - turning it into a  - a  -a  um--um--a -a -a-um -um

A MOVING LIFE!!!

NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!

DETAIL FOR YOUR VISUAL PLEASURE!!

NOW I REST!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz