The Art of Keith E Johnson

20 minute painting

2011-09-28T11:53:00.000-04:00

This painting was done during a 20 minute pose. A quick sketch and then slap the paint on with little time for fussing. I like it because it says what I have to say without over describing.

Open drawing sessions usually start with a series of 1 minute poses, then 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes or more. The more time I have doesn't always make my drawing better because I start dinking around with details and shading making it worse rather than better.

I really enjoy these drawing sessions with a model because for those 2 hours I'm in another world of seeing and drawing. It is a great way to improve your skills. However, most of what I draw isn't good but occasionally things flow and I end up with something decent.

2011-09-20T16:25:00.001-04:00

Fort Myers Artwalk

The reference photos I used for this painting came from my cell phone. I'm pleased with this painting. It is representational but still not overly defined. I like that some parts are still vague.

Finished Teardrop

2009-11-25T14:58:00.004-05:00

I finished my teardrop back in September. Karen and I took it out for a weekend to Flandreau State Park in New Ulm (Karen's home town). Was that fun or what?

The weather was cold so we have a little ceramic heater to take the chill off. Since it gets dark earlier we would curl up in front of the DVD player and watch a movie. It was very cozy.

We had campers with huge RV's parked next to us that were enamored with it. We had fun giving tours and showing off. In fact on the way home when we stopped to buy gas someone pulled in behind us and asked about it. Of course I had to open it up and give a tour.

Now that it's done I'm ready to sell it and build a new one this winter. Maybe a different style.

Almost Done

2009-09-03T15:06:00.004-04:00

Just about done. As you can see the aluminum is on and the hatch is done.
A little more finishing and it will be ready to camp.

Getting Closer to th Finish

2009-08-11T10:11:00.006-04:00

As you can see I'm gettting closer to the finish. Cabinets are done and look pretty good. One of the things I was most nervous about was the electricity, but that went pretty well. I was concerned that I'd get everything covered then find out I didn't have lights so I checked that alot. What I have left is to finish the cabin doors, build a tongue box, and cover the roof and hatch with aluminum. Anyone know of some place close to Duluth to get 5' x 10' sheet aluminum?

Teardrop Camper Update

2009-07-24T17:44:00.001-04:00

I'm making progress.

Teardrop Camper Update

2009-06-26T09:26:00.008-04:00

I've made some progress on my construction.

Photography, golfing, building my camper, and now we finally have some summer weather. Does it get any better than this?

Keith

Teardrop Camper

2009-05-30T10:57:00.005-04:00

About a two months ago I stumbled upon a segment on a TV show about teardrop campers. I'd never heard of such things but they've been around since the 30's. They are small campers that any car can pull and they have a teardrop shape. In the 40's and 50's they were quite popular and plans to build your own were featured in Popular Mechanics magazine. I quess there has been a resurgence in the popularity.

I became obsessed with these campers and researched them online. I decided I had to build one. However, I thought maybe I should actually see one before I get too carried away.

I found Big Woody Campers in Chippewa Falls, WI that make wood sided teardrop campers, check out their website. So Karen and I went to Wisconsin and met Dave at Big Woody (great guy BTW). We bought his plans and I started to build my own teardrop.

I stained the outside a cabernet color that we saw at Big Woody. It's real purdy.

So far it has been alot of fun. Who doesn't like buying new tools?

I will post more photos as I go along.

Keith