Painting Diary

Hang On

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:16:00 +0000

11" x 14" Oil on Linen.
On auction at DPW.

After painting Orange on a Perch, I thought of this more anthropomorphic idea. So, I staged this somewhat unsettling still life of a banana holding on for dear life to a slightly sloping board.

Apple and Not Orange

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:18:00 +0000

10" x 8" Oil on Linen.

This painting is in response to a DPW Challenge from Carol Marine to paint using other colors from the original after establishing the correct values. The idea is that the result will still read as correct 3-dimensional objects. I think it works in this case except the green orange is a bit strange. Changing the Granny Smith to a red apple came out quite natural.

Here is a bigger look at the finished painting:

Orange on a Perch

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:21:00 +0000

8" x 8" Oil on Linen.

On auction at DPW.

I've enjoyed depictions of partially peeled fruit in other people's work. I wanted to try the same with a slightly unusual staging. Within this composition, I looked to keep the lines and focal point off of the center lines. Working through getting the right values to get good modeling is the fun part here and was a good warm up for my afternoon painting session.

Chris Horner Detail

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:50:00 +0000

This is an in progress detail from a larger painting on which I am working. This first pass is incomplete, but I wanted to share my current project. More detail is available on my other blog at http://shootinginthechute.blogspot.com.

Fan Dancer #4

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:31:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas.

On Auction at DPW.

This will be the last dancer, for now. I saved the most dynamic to finish the quartet. I think they would look great hanging together.

Fan Dancer #3

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:35:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

On auction at DPW.

For the third in this series I picked one of the most dynamic standing poses. The pronounced wrinkles and interesting line made this fun to paint. I worked at keeping some hard and lost edges in the figure. Finally, there is the hint of her form in the shadow in front of her.

The next in the series is going to go in a different direction.

Fan Dancer #2

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:51:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

On Auction at DPW.

This second fan dancer offered a solid pyramid to work with in the composition. I placed her slightly off center to avoid too much symmetry. I worked carefully with the narrow choices of color.

Fan Dancer #1

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:43:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

On auction at DPW.

This is the first in a series of "fan" dancers that performed at the Beijing Paralympic Games. My wife captured part of their performance in snapshots and I love their poses. I'm not sure how many I will do, but there is some good material from which to work.

Swan Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:17:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on gallery wrap canvas.
On auction at DPW.

This swan has been in my photo reference for a while. It has nice wild reflections and is romantically from near Chillon Castle in Switzerland, I believe. The swans I recently painted reminded me of this one, along with looking for a good reflection to paint.

I hope to be posting more regularly now that the holidays are over and I seem to be on the mend from a very persistent bug.

Swans

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:05:00 +0000

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas
On auction at DPW.

Over Thanksgiving, I visited the migratory bird sanctuary in the bluff country along the Mississippi in southern Minnesota. The day was cold but bright, giving the water nice blue tones. Most of the birds were fairly sedate or feeding, but sometimes there was some action I could catch. The white adults are just the color you would imagine for a swan.

Corked

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:31:00 +0000

7" x 5" Oil on panel.
Sold.

I actually have been saving this cork for a while so that I could paint it. It was the most wickedly split cork I have seen that was still able to come out of the bottle in close to one piece. It also had a contrasting pink interior color. Pairing it with a "shiny thing" made it fun to paint.

Nutcracker Impression

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:36:00 +0000

8" x 10" Oil on linen.
Available.

In the Christmas spirit, I decided to worth this my red nutcracker. The goal here was to work on edges to keep the result "loose". I started with blocking in masses of color and then added detail later. I want to continue in this direction to intentionally reduce tightness/detail. I like the lost edges which give the painting a changing character from different distances.

Espresso and Lipstick

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:20:00 +0000

7" x 5" Oil on panel.

Subdued color with that hint that she has taken some sips.

English Breakfast Tea

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:08:00 +0000

7" x 5" Oil on panel.

Twinning's English Breakfast tea has great classic packaging. This little painting gave me a chance to play with reflections including the slight red glow on the cloth. I also liked restraining the detail. It is easy to go too far.

Garlic and Cruet

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:35:00 +0000

10" x 8" Oil on panel
Available.

Bright highlights shine against a dim background. The papery garlic skin glows in the shadows.

Acorn Squash and Vase

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:51:00 +0000

7" x 5" Oil on panel.

This is a nicely mottled squash that sits with my new small vase.

Shoe Yin Yang

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:35:00 +0000

12" x 12" Oil on Canvas.

For my Shoe Challenge painting, I thought I would create a Yin Yang symbol representing the business/formal vs. pleasure/informal sides of life. It was fun to paint. After I was finished I looked around and realized the white side is more commonly on the left.

(Sorry for the glare, I may retake the picture later.)

Last Light, near Tumwater Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:23:00 +0000

14" x 11" Oil on Linen
Available.

The last light of the day sent a shadow across the lower half of this stand of trees. The light slants down from behind the mountain. This painting is from the valley between Tumwater Canyon and Stevens Pass.

Mist Rising, Sky Valley

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:27:00 +0000

10" x 8" Oil on Panel
On Auction at DPW

As the sun lit the new layer of snow, a mist rose up from the valley.

Blue Bird Day

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

10" x 8" Oil on pumice panel.
On Auction at DPW

Saturday was opening day for Stevens Pass. It must have been a great opening day with clear skies and un-tracked snow. Skiers call it "Blue Bird."

The sky was so nice that a sun dog came out to play. The tree had to duck!

(It is probably more rightly called a sun halo.)

Aspen Glory

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:43:00 +0000

11" x 14" Oil on linen.

Available.

Just past peak color, with the afternoon sun filtering through thin clouds, the aspen groves glow with golden glory.

Just above Tumwater Canyon on Highway 2...

Crooked Aspen

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:30:00 +0000

8" x 10" Oil on Linen.
On Auction at DPW.

The fall color in the Seattle area has been outstanding this year. On our nice drive over to Leavenworth, we spotted a beautiful grove of Aspen mixed with some evergreens. One of the younger trees had an amazing crooked shape alongside all of the straight ones.

Vincent's Christmas Tree

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 04:04:00 +0000

8" x 10" Oil on Linen.
On auction at DPW.

It feels almost too early to think about Christmas, but the Holiday Season is already starting. Scary Starry Night made me think of what a Van Gogh Christmas Tree would look like. The technique of leaving juicy strokes with varied color is fun.I think this will make a nice decoration for the coming season.

German Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

11" x 14" Oil on Linen

Even though I am no fan of smoking, I zeroed in on this couple when looking at the DPW Challenge for painting part of a busy scene. I tried to keep the background simple and wish I had held back from detail overall. Mid-sized figures like this are indeed a challenge.

Chris at the Finish #2

noreply@blogger.com (James) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:19:00 +0000

12" x 12" Oil on Canvas.

Here is a second complete study of Chris and Jono in the chute with Chris Horner. They really were this close and the crowd along both sides is "crowding in" more. Now comes the time to choose the final format and what combination of the studies is a good plan for a larger painting.