And my number one resolution for 2012? I promise to be a better blogger!
The Artist's Life
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
"Call of the Triton" - Finally Finished!
And my number one resolution for 2012? I promise to be a better blogger!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Trevi Fountain - Step 8
Most of my attention at this point is on the rocks, waterfall, and water. Water is usually best rendered with soft edges and this is a key part of this piece. The softness of the water contrasts nicely with the harder edges of the figures and achitecture in the background.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Trevi Fountain - Step 7
It's time to start sculpting the rocks and figures by adding some dark areas to give them form. It's the shadows that define the rocks and make them seem three-dimensional. Notice how I've tried to make the shadows visually interesting by fluctuating from warm to cool. At this point, I also wanted to put in my darkest area so that I could balance everything else according to that value. This usually helps keep me from being too light in other areas.
I'm still not completely sure how I'm going to tackle the falling water, so I tread lightly. The first step is to paint around the white parts of the water with the lightest version of the underlying color.
Now, this doesn't look much like water yet, so you have to be patient. All I'm doing here is starting to define the shapes underneath the water. You don't want the rocks to be very clear since you are seeing them through a wall of water. It's too difficult to paint soft, wet-into-wet edges here since I'm trying to paint around the white water, so I have to rely on jagged outlines to make the rocks appear to have soft, blurry edges (picture an impressionistic painting).
All in all, I'm pleased with how things are turning out so far, but I realize the most important and difficult parts of the painting are still to come.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Trevi Fountain - Step 6
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Trevi Fountain - Step 5
Trevi Fountain - Step 4
I've started to add some shadows to the figure. Notice how he's starting to pop out from the background and look three-dimensional.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Trevi Fountain - Step 3
These first washes for the figures and fountain are all about establishing temperature. The shadows and water will be predominantly cool, so I want lots of warm reflected light instead of cool grays. That will help build an exciting contrast and will hopefully make the painting more visually interesting. Also, notice that there will be plenty of warm colors in the overall cool shadows and vice versa for balance and harmony. Do not be afraid to push your colors. Try to get away from the "Payne's Gray doldrums" that haunt most beginners' work.
At this point, I am defining the figure by surrounding the lightest areas with washes of Raw Sienna. This is merely the first layer of many that will eventually create a three-dimensional appearance, but you can begin to see the forms.
I decided to put in some of my darkest darks behind the fountain to establish my value range (this painting will run the full gamut, from white paper to almost black).
Monday, August 24, 2009
Trevi Fountain, Step 2
Ok, finally. Here's step two. Finally. (Sorry about the two month gap in steps - it's been a really busy summer!)
I've decided to establish the shadow area behind the two figures first. This initial wash is for the surfaces that are in shade but are receiving the most reflected light. I've chosen to use a loose, wet-into-wet blend of Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, and Burnt Siena. Notice how I varied the color of the wash by adding more or less of the colors as I moved around. This sets the stage for a vibrant and interesting dark area.
I'll probably have to darken this area a bit later, but it's a good start. I'm excited about the composition at this point, and it looks like my placement and overall drawing are going to work. Hopefully. (You can't see this, but my fingers are crossed right now.)
Friday, June 5, 2009
Trevi Fountain Step 1 - the drawing
Monday, June 1, 2009
Step-by-Step: Painting the Trevi Fountain
One of my favorite subjects from my travel to Italy was the plethora of incredible fountains that are found all over the country, especially around Rome. My past efforts to capture some of these have been alot of fun to paint and have been very well-received by my collectors. However, I haven't yet attempted to paint that most famous of fountains, the Trevi. Until now, that is.
One of my collector friends (you know who you are, Michael) has been hounding me to paint the Trevi for years now, but I've always been too busy with other series, commissions, etc. to attempt it. It's quite a challenging subject after all, mixing figurative elements and water, two of the most difficult subjects to paint.
Anyways, I'm throwing caution to the wind, and I'll be letting you watch as I tackle one of the most famous landmarks in all of Italy. I hope you enjoy it (and I sure hope it works out!)
Stay tuned...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Summer 2009 Schedule
That's why summer is the time for me to hit the road. No big Europe trips planned until at least next year, so my schedule looks about the same as it has the past couple years:
La Jolla Festival of the Arts
June 20 - 21
9 AM - 5 PM
Breckenridge Art Festival
July 24 - 26
10 AM - 6 PM
Park City Kimball Arts Festival
August 1 - 2
9 AM - 7 PM (6 PM Sunday)
Sausalito Art Festival
September 5 - 7
9 AM - 6 PM (5 PM Monday)
Hopefully, you can make it to one of these beautiful, high-caliber events to view my newest works. Please let me know if you need any further information as well.
And enjoy your beautiful summers, blah, blah, blah. You'll be shoveling snow again before you know it. :)
Monday, October 6, 2008
As If Watercolor Wasn't Already Hard Enough...
Well, say hello to my five year old son whose two favorite things in the world are smiling/laughing and climbing on EVERYTHING (especially Dad). Just wanted to throw this in here for you parents out there who may be able to relate to this just a little as well as anyone else who may be thinking about working out of the house. Be prepared to work through ANY and ALL types of distractions!
(Anyone know a good chiropractor?)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
New Original
Friday, May 2, 2008
Summer Schedule
Here's where you can see my newest works this summer:
La Jolla Festival of Fine Art
June 28 - 29
La Jolla, CA
Aspen Arts Festival
July 19 - 20
Aspen, CO
Breckenridge Main Street Art Festival
July 25 - 27
Breckenridge, CO
Sausalito Art Festival
August 30 - September 1
Sausalito, CA
So, there you have it. (And, no, it's not a coincidence that I'll be in a lot of beautiful places that are all cooler than Phoenix!) I hope you can make it to one of these fine events, and please let me know if you'd like any more information.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Night Scene - Step 10
Step 10 - Completion
For this final stage, I knew the sky needed to be stronger and darker to give the light areas the proper glow. Continuing to "push" a watercolor at this point can be a risky move, since it's not usually possible to go lighter again and you also never know when you're gonna have one of those "@%#*! water has a mind of its own" moments. That's just one of the thousand or so decisions you'll have to make during a painting, but, like I mentioned before, 9 times out of 10 I make the painting better by pushing it a little farther. The most important thing is to not be afraid to make that decision - it's not like it's your last painting ever and, no, your life does not depend on it, no matter how much time and paint you've already put into it.
Having made my decision to continue, I closed my eyes (just kidding), turned the piece upside down again and hit the upper part of the sky with a strong mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Pthalo Green. In this case, I'm really happy that I decided to go darker. Overall, the painting is very close to my initial plan, and I feel like everything is working (despite the fact that there are always little areas that only I notice where I could have handled things better).
So, there you have it, the Charles Bridge in Prague at night in watercolor. Hopefully, you're all ready now to go tackle that night scene that you've been putting off for the last three years!
Just remember, there's no such thing as the perfect painting, your next one's going to be your best, and it really is about the journey, not the destination.