Good Morning

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well, the sky is a beautiful blue and the sun is out in full force.  The weather man is forecasting a winter storm - rain - snow - wind. Also the long range forecast for the Southwest is a possible repeat of the 1930's "Dust Bowl Storms!"  It never ceases to amaze me that on average the weather forecasters of today even with all of their fancy computers and NOAA and satellites and balloons and...and...and...  They can't seem to forecast the weather accurately for TOMORROW let alone months and months out.  I think someone sat there and said "Well, the Southwest has been in a serious drought for 10 years now - some parts worse than other soooo I think I will predict dust storms equal to or worse then those of the 30's!!!"

They probably got a government grant of $4 million dollars to make this prediction!

OK enough of them and onto US!!!

I played around this morning with a small painting 8 x 16 on heavy linen paper.

I used my TVH brush - I love that brush  ---  and I used a hog hair Fan brush.  Hog hair is some what stiff and here is a photo of the two brushes I used for this painting.

My TVH big brush was used to put in the "winter" sky wet into wet with a blending on the wet surface of blue and grey paint, done very quickly and the painting surface had been pre - wet with lots of water to make a hazy winter sky.  You know how the sky in winter has color but sort of looks hazy - of course you do!

The rest of the painting was done using only the fan brush mostly in a "dry brush" technique - which I'm sure most of you can remember means the bristles on the brush are only slightly damp - NOT WET.

I find this technique to be very useful for creating "ground clutter & cover" as well as the sense of a "Dusting of Snow."

To accomplish this, I use very short upward staccato motions with the tips of the bristles - in a sense just tickleing the surface of the paper.

OK this is a small 8 x 16 painting so I won't go into the blah-blah and just do my thang - which is creating.

My main thrust from this point on is to develop ground clutter/cover that looks real but (NOT DETAILED, YOU ALL KNOW MY POSITION ON DETAIL - LESS IS MORE!!) as well as a look that it has been dusted with snow.

BY JOVE --- I THINK WE ( I'VE ) GOT IT!!! 

Have a great day my friends - enjoy life.

JR  :>)

TRYING TO PAIR UP

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Welllllllll - they predicted it and it happened.  The prediction was for upwards to 1 inch of snow and by golly it snowed - but only a dusting and now most of it is melted - the sunshine is so intense here in NM that snow melts very quickly.

This is the view from out the slider in the living room - most of the dusting has since melted

OK - I did another quickie this morning - using medium size brushes with lots of spontaneity.  The canvas panel  is 8 x 10

I started with my typical sketch not really caring about accuracy - other than these are pears and I make sure I don't sketch apples!!!!  :>)

When applying paint, I become a tad more accurate and as I say I go outside the lines to make the shape more realistic - actually visibly recognizable would be more correct.  Whatever you do, don't make your kids stay inside the lines when coloring - they will grow up to be very anal!!!  Then they will get on your nerves and it will be all your fault!!!

I now throw some paint at the sketch as well as generate some lights and darks and texture using "rapid fire" short staccato brush strokes.

OK the rest of the painting will go very quickly as it's only 8x10 so I won't drag out the blah-blah-blah as youse guys know my drill!!!  :>)

I will tweak more of the color on the pears as well as generate a BG and a FG - the light is coming from the left so - YEP you guessed it the shadows need to be on the right.

Youse guys have picked up a lot of the info I've passed on and I would expect some of you to already be creating some of your own paintings!

OK - HOLD ON - HERE WE (I) GO!!!

Now for some final tweaking and "window dressing" and we  ( I ) will be done!!

TA-DAAAAAAAAA DONE

Have a good day my friends and what ever you are doing - where ever you are doing it

ENJOY!!!!

JR  :>)

WAITING FOR A PHONE CALL

Hi again Blog Buddies,

I've been waiting for a phone call from a fellow who owes me some money.  He said he would be in the area today and would call me by 10am.  So while I was waiting, I did a small painting very,very,very quickly on canvas panel.

"OLD POT"
10 X 8

This was done sooooooo quickly that there was no time to pick up the camera and take photos of the various stages.

I started out with a quick sketch of the pot.  Not a lot of accuracy as I always go outside the lines to determine the exact shape of an object.  I've often said that staying inside the lines is the signs of a sick mind!!!  :>)

Then as if my magic I was done!!!

This is a rather old pot that some how made it through its travels without getting all chipped up. 

DETAIL for the DETAIL ORIENTED BLOG BUDDIES

PS:  The guy never called so no money for me today!!! :>(



RV INFO

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well, for the past few days I've been ordering equipment for our RV based on research I've been doing for the last several - several months.  The average motor home has quite an array of sophisticated electronics in it.  There is the 120 Volt electrical system - there is the 12 Volt battery system - the WiFi connections - the TV connections - some have a satellite connections - etc etc.  The electrical connections at RV parks are not to be trusted as SOOOOO many people use them problems can occur.  Some times people are not careful how they treat the property of others.

I just bought a 30 AMP Energy Management/Surge Suppression system which will verify that the electrical connection I'm about to use is clear and clean and grounded properly.  It will not allow the electrical connection to be activated until the equipment verifies the connection as proper.  It also monitors the range of power coming in and if the range goes too high or too low, it will shut off the electrical flow before any spikes up or down can damage any of the electrical components in the RV!!!  The electrical components in an RV can add up to many thousands of dollars should they get FRIED!!!!  Example a refrigerator in an RV costs upwards of $2,000!!!

I saved $50 on this system as I managed to find a "HOLIDAY" sale!!!!

I also just ordered a TPS - Tire Pressure Monitoring System.  This system will monitor the tire pressure on all 6 tires on the RV and the spare -  as well as the 4 tires on the (TOAD) which is the name for a car being towed behind an RV.  It could also be the nick name for a couple of people I know!!!!!  :>)

If the pressure on any of these 11 tires rises too high or decreases too low, an alarm will sound on the monitor in the drivers cab and show which tire is having a problem.  Our RV will weigh in excess of 14,000 pounds and the last thing one wants is a blow out going down the highway.  This system (all things being equal) will give advanced audible notice to the drive so action can be taken before (we hope) a blow out occurs.  A safety feature that one hopes never gets activated but with all that 14,000+ pounds going down the hy-way, one cannot ignore such a safety feature.

I was able to get a discount on this product as well - a $130 HOLIDAY savings.

I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!!  Thus far a $180 savings mostly because I researched the needs and was ready to jump on a sale.  Hmmmmmmm $180 savings - think I'll take my DW Melissa out for lunch!!!!  :>)

These systems are not cheap even with the savings, but the potential damage by not having them could be thousands and thousands of times more costly!!

I stilll have WiFi equipment to buy and many other small extras but necessities - and those purchases will take place over the next 3-4 months.

Time permitting, today I will do a "QUICKIE" painting, giving my WOO HOO floral pieces a rest for a while.

Have a great day - let some sunshine into your life and smile.  Did you know that it takes more facial muscles to frown than smile???  :>(   :>)

Trust me - this is medical fact!!!!  Have I ever let you down???

HEY - YOU - BOZO in the front row --- That was one time and one time only -- and it was more of a mis-quote than letting anyone down.  Have some compassion and understanding DUDE!!

Enjoy the day my friends.

JR  :>)

NICE DAY

Hello Blog Buddies,

Well today has been a very nice day!  A tad chilly this morning at 5:30 - 29 degrees but the sun is out the sly for the most part is blue and it has warmed up to 43 degrees.  Not a bad day at all.  My DW and I went out to lunch today and just got back and a nap will happen soon!

I just want to remind you folks NEVER-NEVER-NEVER by an ACER Aspire One Netbook computer!!!  In very simplistic terns - THEY ARE CRAP!!!!  Half my battery time is spent waiting for this piece of junk to respond to an entered command.  On top of that we have Qwest (Century Link) HI-SPEED Internet.  This is the most unreliable Internet service that exists and since Century Link came onto the scene the Internet service is pure CRAP!!!  We lose it a lot and they blame it on the Electric Company.  Clearly Qwest/ Century Link cannot support their customer base -

ACER & CENTURY LINK = DOUBLE CRAP!!!

OK - this morning I did #3 in the series of WOO HOO paintings.  This one is bigger than #2 and #2 was bigger than #1.  Sooooo I guess you could say that these pieces have been getting progressively BIGGER  :>)

I would love to do one that would be 48 x 30 on 1.5 inch gallery wrapped canvas as I love to work with larger canvas.  However room in the UNIT ON THE HILL will not allow for such a big canvas.  I think when we get out on the road, I will do some 48 x 30 paintings off and on - they of course will not fit in the RV so I'll  after finishing I would donate it some how.

Excuse me - it seems the gentleman in the front row last seat on my right has a question.
OH I see your wife has a question but is too shy to ask it.  We'll get up off your seat lady and SPEAK UP!!!!  OK - now that was not hard was it!!!!  She asked how long it would take me to paint a floral such as this one but on a 48 x 30 canvas.  Good question!!!

After sketching in a vase, lining up various tubes of paint with colors that I thought I might include in the piece, the painting start to finish would take approximately 2 hours at most.

OK I'm just going to show the finished piece as my ACER CRAPUTER IS NOT WORKING VERY WELL --- it is either the craputer or the very, very slow wifi.  I guess it could be a combination of the two.

24 x 18 on heavy linen paper

"WOO HOO TO THE 3RD POWER"



Cleaning Day

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well - first thing this morning I will clean the UNIT ON THE HILL!  This place is sooooo small that a good healthy sneeze would accomplish the dusting chore!!!!
However small is just an exercise in mind over matter.  When we leave here and get into our RV, we will have HALF the space in the RV that we have here.

Soooooo we are learning to live in a small space and to not stock up on the BIG PACKAGES of STUFF that we use to get at Sam's Club.  NO ROOM TO STORE IT!!!!  This is real good practice us - in that everything has a place and everything in its place will be the RULE OF THE ROAD!!!!

The other thing with the smallness of the RV, since we will be "following the sun and looking for beaches,"  a lot of our awake time will be spent outside.  A lot of RV-ers say we may have a small house but WE HAVE A HUGE BACKYARD!!!!!

We'd rather be sitting on a beach than sitting around a 3,500 sq ft home!

"TIS WE OWN TING"

Well, in addition to house cleaning I have some RV paper work to do today regarding where we are going to be once we start our adventure come April so I have to research RV parks along our intended route.  I also have to calculate approx. mileage between intended stop overs to calculate the # of driving time needed.  Our intent as I've mentioned before is to drive perhaps 4 hours per day and then stay in an area for 2 - 3 weeks - drive perhaps 4 more hours and stay in that area for 2 - 3 weeks.  Seeing the country WIZ by from our windshield is not what we will be all about.

Well best be getting me skates on and get the cleaning done!!!

I also hope to start if not finish my next painting in the WOO-HOO series - this one being even bigger than the last one.

Take care my friends and enjoy the day.

Jr  :>)

WOO-HOO TO THE POWER OF 2

Good Morning Blog Buddies,

Well, it's a nice morning in the low 40's and the sun is out and the sky is blue - can't ask for more than that!

I did the laundry this morning - CORRECT - you two folks in the front row middle seats are very observant - I always did the laundry on Wednesday!!!!!  Well as I say I'm living on the edge now and mixing things all up!!!!  :>)

l decided to follow up with another WOO-HOO painting, making this one bigger thus the "POWER OF 2" or WOO-HOO SQUARED

This painting is 16 x 12 done on heavy duty linen paper, using a big brush!!  Yes, my TVH brush ( I love that brush!!)  What else did I use??  The fellow in the 3rd row outside seat on my left - you seem to think you know the answer!!!  CORRECT - BINGO - RIGHT ON DUDE!!!!!!  The gentleman correctly said:

EMOTION-EXPRESSION-SPONTANEITY!!!!!!!

The first thing I do is sketch a vase onto the linen paper - I really don't care about accuracy as the whole top portion will be covered with indications of leaves and flowers.  You noticed I said "INDICATION" - very important word as I do not like accuracy and straight lines.  I always say if I have a straight line in one of my paintings IT IS A MISTAKE!!!!!!!  To my eyes LESS IS MORE AND LOOSE IS BEST.

The next thing I do is throw on some color using my TVH Big Boy Brush!!!

(I love that brush!!!)  This gives me a road map for the creation process of this vase.

OK - the rest is going to go quickly as using a big brush is almost like using a palette knife - lots of paint applied in very little time and I'm painting wet into wet so I don't want to delay the process or the creative juices that are flowing.

OK - now I ask you what do I have left to do??  When I count to 3 I would like all of you guys to speak in unison - OK?  OK!!  1-2-3

CORRECT AGAIN - DAMN what a great audience!!!

TWEAK-CREATE BG & FG- TWEAK-TWEAK-TWEAK

OK HERE WE ( I ) GO!!

WOO - HOO

DONE!!!!

Some detail for those of you who like to check things out close up - God bless YA!!

Hope you guys enjoy this as I had a blast!!!!  Perhaps tomorrow will be

WOO - HOO TO THE THE POWER OF 3

24 X 18  (BIGGER THAN THE POWER OF 2!!!!)

Until next time - stay warm - happy & healthy

JR  :>)