I am honing my skills, Bill Boelson tells me.
june 3rd
start painting large tree by porch
action: Get arms reaching, eyes and hands mix specific leaf greens and place those colors on large panel, to get focus going.
june 4th
painted tree same at dawn
18 1/2 x 36 inches, cradled panel
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june 7th
12 noon - 5:00 pm painted beside our neighbourhood pond.
action: See far far up (clouds above my head) and wide wide wide (from left to right) and down down down (to where my feet are standing). To accomplish this, the close tall trees on the opposite side were scaled down. 24 x 24 inch wrap around canvas
painted wide wide pond span,
action: See wide wide wide left to right and include tree closest to me. 7 7/8 x 26 inches, cradled panel.
and painted above cloud pattern on existing cow scene.
the blue on the lower portion has created distance to horizon, which I like very much. 11.5 x 22 inches, cradled panel.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
june 11th
daybreak 6:00 - 8:00 am, painted cloud study along 13th street
action: Record daybreak, hillside, tree row. 16 7/8 x 30 7/8, cradled panel.
rain storm interrupted workout (see video, click http://youtu.be/1yZRPMp_HUQ)
10:30 a-3:30 p painted cloud studies on two square panels
9 x 12 inches, watercolor paper in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
9 x 12 inches, canvas panel in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
also painted study of south creek on thirteenth street
9 x 12 inches, watercolour paper in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
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june 12th
daybreak 6:00 - 8:00 am painted over the drips from yesterday
action: Record daybreak, hillside, tree row. By the time the right potion was finished the interesting middle had moved out of view. I smooshed in what I remembered. More cloud studies needed. 16 7/8 x 30 7/8, cradled panel.
8:30 am-12:02 started on north creek along 13th street, which at this point is out in the countryside on a gravel road.
north creek, 16 x 20 inches, cradled panel
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june 18th
up at dawn up, looked at neighbors cow pond,
drew quick 9 x 12 inch sketch of old 24 hwy pond, ABOVE
7:30 am - noon painted two tall trees
- Always wondered why John Constable works looked so MESSY (below). Guess what? I have MESSY works too.
(Study of Sky and Trees, courtesy of John Constable.org,
two trees sketch, 8 x 10 inch canvas panel in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
"When you work outdoors you fight with time and can find yourself in a panic, because the moving sunlight changes the colors you are looking at in nature. The clouds you were trying to get right have moved out of view. It is like mixing up a casserole using mislabeled ingredients and no measuring spoons, hoping it will taste alright when you pull it out of the oven." karl marxhausen
and painted water scene on large sketch pad (14 x 17 inch)
(when in doubt, paint on paper first)
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june 20th
1:00 pm - 4:15 pm painted sunlit creek near Griffin farm, north of Carrollton, MO.
on large 14 x 17 inch sketch pad. (By the time I finished the sun had moved and the shadows were all wrong. Still, painting the study downloads the mental information. Taking photographs with a camera CANNOT give me what I need. Field work, grunt work, swinging a sledge hammer at the rock pile, THIS SHARPENS my skills. Period.)
4:30 pm - 6:50 pm scouted late daylight scenes with truck:
drew quick 9 x 12 inch ink sketches of Schnare pond, moss creek on west side, and old 24 hwy pond.
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june 22nd
up at dawn, 6:15 am - 7:30 am started painting square panel of Schnare pond (sketch, below)
7:00 am - 8:00 am painted east view (sketches above)
action: See far far far left to right along the bottom portion and far far far up in the sky.
12 x 16 inch panel
9:00 - 11:00 am painted fish in pond corner. Lincoln Street lakes owned by Miles Conner
10 x 10 inch square panel
11:30 am - 2:25 pm painted tall tree, from straight up above my head down to ground level. Ignoring the out buildings and trees further back.
tree cluster, 12 x 16 inch panel
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june 24th
6:00 am - 7:30am painted east sky
east sky study on 9 x 12 sketch pad
7:30 am - 8:45 am finished Schnare pond
schnare pond, 10 x 10 inch panel
10:00 am - 11:45 am painted moss creek scene
action: Work on clouds first, then the trees. Use ink sketch of scene.
moss creek drawing on 9 x 12 inch sketch pad
moss creek scene, 12 x 16 inch panel
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june 25th
sore sluggish body from exercise laps at indoor pool yesterday afternoon
7:00 am - 7:30 am drew two pencil drawings of cows in water
drawing, 9 x 12 inch sketch pad
drawing, 9 x 12 in sketch pad
bathroom concerns took me home and afterwards decided to stay in our yard,
8:00 am - 9:00 am painted curved branch in side yard woods
branch study, 14 x 17 inch paper, sketch pad
rain interrupted, asked the K-6 CES art teacher (my wife) to critique my june work, OUCH.(red barn looks good, east view on paper would look good on a panel)
"Your picture is not communicating what you want it to convey! To make it work, paint out the orange area in front." Jan Marxhausen
- It is hard to sit still and listen to a critique of your own work. Hard not to interrupt.
- A piece I am working on may well be finished. And I can accept that.
- My wife and I were at a family gathering out in the Sugertree Township. Over the cornfield were beautiful orange last light clouds. Many were well formed. One thunderhead was all messed up. My wife pointed to it and said, "That is NOT FINISHED." And there was chuckles. (I for one cringe when I hear those words spoken of a piece I poured long hours into)
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june 26th
5:00 am woke up refreshed. A good exercise workout and plenty of rest makes for lots of energy and well being.
6:00 am - 8:00 am painted east view onto framed panel
9 x 12 inch, watercolour paper in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
8:00 am - 9:00 am started new barn on framed panel,
study, 9 x 12 inch on panel in frame,
blue painters tape over frame
drew 9 x 12 inch ink sketch under shade tree looking down at houses
10:00 am - 11:30 am painted cove 1 at Lincoln Street lake
action: Mix paints colors for sunlight hitting sandy bottom at pond edge.
sandy bottom, 14 x 17 inches on large sketch pad
11:30 am - 12:40 painted second cove
second cove, 17 x 14 inches on large sketch pad
After trying to make the sandy bottom read as such, later I looked at sandy bottoms by Hudson River Valley painters. IT IS HARD WORK. I can relate with the painted mixtures used by those who work I admire (ie. Alfred Bricher, Aaron Shattuck, Frederick Richard Lee, and John Constable)
and drew a 9 x12 inch sketch of tree tunnel
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june 27th
dawn, look at ridge on route E, no pond in sight, drive by cemetery tree cluster - too dark, eastern big impressive cloud cluster over the city of Carrolton,
6:30 am - 9:00 am paint water scene at old 24 hwy 16 x 20 panel, pushing the comfort zone, panic, take it easy, got branch in water
16 x 20 inches, cradled panel
looked at east tenth street location, spotted white cattle on hillside,
9:30 am - 11:00 am start painting storm scene
11 by 14 inch canvas
Chris Woodward pulled up on his four-wheeler, "Wow, you work fast. You just started that when I passed by the first time!!" The cowhand showed me how to open and close the gate, where to drive to reach the ridge by the winding lake, and permission to draw his cattle.
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june 28th
truck door won't close, repair shop has it today.
8:30 am -10:00 am organize computer photo files,
10:00 am seven mile pedal bike ride,
12:00 - 1:45 pm more organizing of files,
2:00 pm tetanus shot,
2:30 - 3:00 pm photograph paintings and upload those files.
- I once thought that an artist found a scene with "everything what they wanted" and then they painted what they saw. I think there is more to it now.
- Bill Maxwell told me artists did pencil sketches while outdoors and then did more finished work back at the studio space. According to Bill, Michelangelo once said: The difference between good art and great art was in the details. What that means, Bill explained, is that doing studies helps one understand how a plant looks or how light falls on an object. This understanding took work, work, and more work.
July begins today. See you at the art reception at the Burkholder Project in August.
Mark Friday night, August 2nd, from 7 to 9 pm. http://www.burkholderproject.com/msie.html
The truck works now. Gone paintin'.
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