Sedona Blues

Sedona Blues - Sedona AZ is a place where your will find the sky to be a perfect blend of cobalt & cerulean blues - better know as “A Sedona Sky”

12 x 18 on heavy linen paper - Chroma Interactive acrylics - alla prima - wet into wet with spontaneity and love for the southwest landscape.

As mentioned in previous posts, I am not a detail painter - if I wanted all the detail and every nitty gritty of a scene - I’d become a photographer.  I am a firm believer in “less is more”  I think a painter has to edit the scene as well as reconfigure and recreate the scene as he sees it - to what he wants it to be.  I try to depict movement in my landscapes as well as emotion - emotion being the biggest factor.  I do this with the manner in which I apply my paint and in the directional “swoops” of my brush or palette knife.

Walt Gonske is one of the artists I admire - he lives in Taos NM and paints all over the countryside.  Following is a quote from Walt.

"Painting is not about reproducing nature. I like the notion that art should have more to do with the communication of the artist’s emotions to the viewer through the paint itself."

~Walt Gonske

DETAIL

Hope you enjoyed this

JR        :>)

Taos - Land Of Magic

I consider Taos NM to be the land of magic.  From its beautiful sunsets to the stunning high desert to the awesome mountains.

This painting comes from my mind and my heart and of course a love for the Southwest.  I stood in front of my easel and was not quite sure of what I was going to paint - my inner self went to Taos.

16 x 20 on heavy linen paper - alla prima - wet into wet - Chroma Interactive acrylics - spontaneity in color and form.

This painting was done with a 1 1/2 and a 2 inch brush - I am not a detail painter and big brush keep me loose and happy :>)  I love thick juicy paint which is why I use Chroma Interactive acrylics

Llano de San Juan NM - Abandoned & Forgotten

Llano de San Juan NM "Abandoned & Forgotten"

18 x 24 done with 1 1/2 inch & 2 1/2 inch brush - heavy linen paper - Chroma Interactive acrylics with spontaneity in form - color and brush strokes - done in a painterly style with a love for the southwest.

I normally paint my southwest scenes to Native American flute music - this time since I also love steel drum music I decided to work with steel drum music - I met a fellow who plays a mean steal drum - very jazzy!!!! So this was done in a match of his steel drum strokes to my painting strokes - when he improvised - so did I - when he got real jazzy - so did I --------------------------------------

What fun!!! 

2nd steel drum posting

This is the 2nd painting I've done using the music of Steel Drum musician Joe Florentino.  Joe IMHO is a Master steel drum musician - I love the steel drum.  I have one of his CD's and since I always paint to music - I thought I would try to couple my painting with his music.  The CD I have has 15 songs on it and I would assume the total play time is the best part of one hour.

I had a foggy vision of what I wanted to paint - I started the CD playing and I started throwing paint!!!  When Joe improvised with his music - I improvised with my painting - when Joe went a little jazzy - I went a little jazzy.  When his music stopped - I stopped painting!

Swayin' with the Steelin'
12 x 18 - acrylic on heavy linen paper in a painterly style 

Some Detail

My Good Fortune

A very short time ago - like maybe 2 weeks ago my wife and I went to our favorite beach Boca Grande which is on the island of Gasparilla about 45 minutes from our home.  We spent a couple of hours on the beach and then went to our favorite restaurant - Miller's Dockside - great place and great food!!!!  My good fortune was they had a steel drum musician during the lunch hours - Joe Fiorentino.  I love steel drum music and I applauded the talents of Joe - a very fine steel drum player with lots of improvising and a wide range of music.  Wellllllllll he came over and gave me a free CD!!!!  Long story short I've been listening to that CD almost non stop and am now starting to paint Florida scenes to this fantastic music.  I always paint to music and to be honest with the exception of my Native America flute music the rest of it has been sounding stale!!!!  I have gotten a new vigor and vitality back and I'm looking forward to many more lively paintings in conjunction with Joe's music.

This is the first piece I did.

Sanibel Outcropping
18 x 24 

Check Joe out on the web or google him - I'm not sure if his CD's are for sale on the internet - I hope so because I want more of them!!!!!!

JR     :>)

Sanibel Outcropping

Sanibel Island has some beautiful beaches and some wonderful outcroppings of land into the ocean.

This was done on a semi-windy day with some surf coming u onto the sand and some blowing sand - which helped give the painting some texture!!!  :>)

With a brush I throw in a rough sketch of the scene.

Next I throw in the sky indicating the type of day it is

Working quickly - I throw in the trees and some of the sandy beach area

I start building the ocean and indications of the waves coming into shore with some foliage adjustments a tweaks here and there

This was painted with a 1 1/2 inch brush that I picked up this morning at Home Depot for $2.48.  Wash it out good with dish detergent and comb it out to dry and it will mostly likely last me 6 - 8 months to a year.  The brush on the right is a #18 filbert brush which I used to sketch the scene and for some tweaks here & there.

Cochiti Pueblo Land NM

The Cochiti Pueblo is some 50 miles north of Albuquerque NM and is some of the most beautiful rugged high desert land I've seen.

I use my 2 inch paint brush for this piece and I paint quickly with spontaneity of shape - form and color.  In this type of a  "painterly painting" I have no pre - conceived notion of plan as to the scene.  I basically let my brush and my emotions for the Southwest lead the way.  I get a general concept in my head and I do not stop to readjust or reconsider my direction - I put paint on the brush - the brush leads and I follow.

I throw in a sky and some indications of the beautiful mountains seen from the Pueblo land

Next I throw in some BG indication of "ground clutter" using my 2" brush in an upward motion, loaded with paint

Next I start blocking in color and some ups & downs in the terrain - again the brush moves and I follow - I also bring in some complimentary color

Some refinements here and there and some minor color adjustments

Cochiti Pueblo Land - NM

12 x 18

I have a small container of green paint that I keep adding color to and use for my greens - it starts out with black and yellow mixed and I add to it as needed.  This batch I've had for about 4 months.  I keep it covered and in a zip-lock baggie and it stays fresh and usable for about 6 months.

I use a piece of tin foil for my palette as I blend color directly on the painting surface not on a palette.  In this way the viewer gets to see a multitude of color rather than a mixing of colors into a single mixed color which most often ends up being dull mud!!! 

http://www.pueblodecochiti.org/