The Outdoor Studio

Short time lapse video my friend Dave made

2017-09-07T15:06:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to film more videos as I paint so I am putting this one up to motivate me. My friend Dave shot it on his IPhone during a visit last year. This was the finished painting which has sold.

New Patreon Page please help support if you can spare a coffee a month? Not even a latte just a coffee!

2016-12-03T18:11:00.002-05:00

Very excited to finally have a page on Patreon. Hoping that other artists and art lovers will show some support and be like the patrons of the past. This is your modern chance to be like the Medici Family of the Renaissance, Churches, Kings, Queens and many other groups that supported the arts throughout history. Thanks to the internet bringing so many of us together we can pool our resources and for just a few dollars a month I can keep growing as an artist by:
-Attending workshops.
I really want to go to Michelle Dunaway's next one in the spring in Putney VT. workshops
Then if I get good enough at painting portraits the goal has always been to paint them to be auctioned off for charity. Makes for a more interesting fundraising than just cutting a check.
I wanted to paint some vets for the https://www.fisherhouse.org/
Paint some of the artist survivors for http://www.madebysurvivors.com/
And more.
-Replacing supplies to paint more boldly.
If I worried less about whether a certain painting was going to fail I would take more chances artistically.
I have been wanting to paint larger but run into the same concerns of wasting materials. Oil painting can be very expensive.
So please head over to my Patreon page and think about giving it a try. If you are not satisfied at the end of the year I will refund your money! There will be free giveaways of paintings and prints. Huge discounts on my new paintings and you will be the first one to see them!
Here is my favorite still life so far. A new old silver pitcher with some great pumpkin models. Listed on Etsy now but it is $100 off! For Patreon supporters.

To everyone who got an old card at ArtWalk Liberty Station

2016-08-13T22:09:00.003-04:00

Thanks for stopping by our booth at ArtWalk 2016. It was a lot of fun meeting you all. I ran out of new cards and realized the old ones only have this address on them. Please visit and bookmark my regular page at
www.dalanwells.com
Or follow and Like on Facebook
Dalan Wells Original Oil Paintings
Thank you very much!

Still not sure how to get caught up on here? Please Like and follow on Facebook for all the new works I post!

2016-07-29T21:49:00.001-04:00

Awhile back I somehow deleted all my old photos from the posts on here and ever since this blog has been in limbo. I still want to keep it around for my really long Bio, the Donate Page (tip jar!), and for longer posts with video links about my process. Facebook is limited to smaller posts and multiple photos get cropped away.
We are settled in and loving San Diego! I got out to a new neighborhood, Sunset Cliffs and painted this 12x16 of a sea cave entirely plein air. Popular spot I met a fellow painter out there and some great neighbors who had cheery smiles and inspiring words of encouragement.

New Commission plus side projects

2015-03-11T08:45:00.000-04:00

Have not been posting much lately but I have been working! Here is a new commission of one of my favorite subjects the Giant White Bird Of Paradise flower for Brett in NYC. The second pic shows how I start a painting. You can see the earthy block in for the centerpiece while I finished up the background branches. The third pic shows one of my other projects that ate up some time. I made a new smaller lighter palette box for traveling with. At the last Putney VT workshop I attended with Michelle Dunaway I realized my old one took up most of the suitcase and most of the 50 lb weight limit! In the second pic you can also see the colored squares in the background. Those are my color charts for identifying what your main colors look like when mixed together in all the various combinations. It is a huge time consuming project but well worth it. I am so glad it is finally over now I can get back to painting and practicing portraits again before the next workshop in April.

Copper Pot, Roses, Hydrangea Leaves 8x10

2014-12-16T18:52:00.001-05:00

New California still-life

I see I accidentally deleted all my photos from the blog! Oh well not sure what I will do about that yet.

Off to California to paint along the beautiful Valley Of The Moon Road in Sonoma/Santa Rosa

2014-11-13T17:46:00.000-05:00

Before I go here is a catch up of the weeks new works. Two out of three sold before I had a chance to post them on here! Love when that happens. I will be doing some still-life and plein air paintings in CA and will post them as I get the time. Just a reminder if you want to see all my new paintings as soon as they go up follow me at DalanWells.com

Weeks later...

2014-10-23T18:48:00.001-04:00

So my postings have fallen off since it seems that everyone just uses Facebook and I get fewer and fewer visits to this blog. So please visit me over there https://www.facebook.com/DalanWells or keep with the new paintings at dalanwells.com I will keep posting on here weekly as more of a newsletter format or for when I want to explore a topic more in-depth. Here are some new ones from Vermont and back here in New Orleans.

The two photos show My setup spot for the Sugar Maple And Hemlocks Painting.

New This Week!

2014-09-14T11:28:00.001-04:00

As always head on over to my Daily PaintWorks Gallery to check them out.

Vermont Maple Sugar Shack 11x14

2014-09-01T16:46:00.001-04:00

I am so in love with Vermont and thrilled I get to go back there next month! This is from my friends old blueberry farm between Rockingham and Bellows Falls. Several of the small farms on the road share this one building and equipment in the spring to make the maple syrup. It was the perfect subject for the recent DPW "Sky Holes" Challenge. I will be in Putney VT for a figure drawing workshop with the legendary Michelle Dunaway.

(SOLD)

Red Daylily 6x8

2014-08-29T17:25:00.003-04:00

Found this beautiful super red daylily on our big Fourth Of July trip north to see family in Rochester. Our mom Alice took us to an amazing all daylily farm on Seneca Lake. I had no idea of the new varieties out there. The colors were insane and the new shapes and sizes were amazing.

Up For Bids At DPW Click Here:

Highland Sheep 8x10

2014-08-27T13:17:00.003-04:00

I keep a file of must paint reference photos and it overwhelms me sometimes with too many choices. When there is a new DPW Challenge that fits one of them perfectly, in this case "Intimate Landscape". It helps to narrow down the choices and one of them finally gets painted. This happy family was spotted along a stream leading away from the Falls Of Dochart in Scotland. This magical moment really summed up what an amazing timeless place it was.

Buy It Now

Pink And Blue 1422, 6x8 Plein Air Garden District New Orleans

2014-08-23T23:23:00.000-04:00

Braved the heat and managed to start a new 6x8 plein air landscape in the Garden District here in New Orleans. Met the very nice owners of this beautiful pink house with the working shutters. I loved the color scheme of the house and the great flowering tree right next to it. I had wanted to do a larger more detailed painting of this spot but only had my small box with me it turned out. Loved the lighting and may try and return again to this spot.

SOLD

End Of The Day On The Nuupia Ponds Trail MCBH Hawaii 6x12

2014-08-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

This was one of my favorite things to do back in Hawaii. There was a great 3.5 mile loop from the gym that took you through this amazing wetlands and bird sanctuary on Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii. This was the best view especially at the end of the day like this. On the right you can see some of the base buildings in the distance.

SOLD

A Perfect Day 9x12

2014-08-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

I once again got way behind on the DPW challenges. This one had me hooked from the great reference photo. I thought the orange umbrella would be a nightmare but it was a lot of fun to paint.

Up For Bids At DPW Click Here:

White Picket Fence And Palm 6x8 Plein Air

2014-08-14T18:25:00.000-04:00

Here is the second plein air painting from that great day painting in the summer heat. The palm tree caught my eye at first but then I got sucked into the great terra-cotta roof with dark green paint on the house.

Ebay Auction, 25% to Wounded Warriors

Garden District Gate 6x8 Plein Air

2014-08-08T21:02:00.000-04:00

Here in New Orleans the weather has been crazy hot but I had to get out of the studio and start some plein air paintings again. Found this great brick wall covered in flowers with an old wood gate. The house was painted an amazing bold blue/green color as well which probably got me to stop in the first place.

SOLD

Garden Steps 8x10

2014-08-05T18:12:00.000-04:00

The first new painting done on my new portable setup. Spent a few days finally building my dream gear for painting. That is the photo below with this painting at the halfway stage on day one. This scene is from the amazing garden at the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu Hawaii. It is at an old estate with great constructions like these stone stairs winding through the tropical gardens.

Up For Bids Starting At $80 Click Here:

Paddington Bear 11x14

2014-07-30T19:29:00.000-04:00

This is my actual favorite stuffed animal from my childhood. I was so excited to find him in a box in my dad's barn on a recent trip home. He has survived mostly even though his blue felt jacket is a tattered mess. Amazing how strong of a loving bond we can have with an inanimate object. We will see how the new feature film of his character turns out.

Squash Blossom 9x12

2014-07-27T12:20:00.001-04:00

Tried something new with this one. I worked on a larger taped down piece of linen and let the composition go where it wanted to go. Then after I finished I was able to crop it down to a 9x12 with the balance I liked best.

Two New Florals 5x7's

2014-07-22T19:55:00.000-04:00

A purple Iris with some little pink petal friends and a field of Black Eyed Susan's

The Old Fishing Dock New Orleans Plein Air 9x12

2014-07-18T22:02:00.004-04:00

Painted this Plein Air here in New Orleans on a beautiful sunny day this week. I love painting water. It's all about what you leave out that makes it pop. Speaking of pop the bright green floating on the top of the water was really this colorful.

Up For Bids At DPW, Click Here:

Avocado 5x7

2014-07-17T15:46:00.000-04:00

I wanted to try a more detailed simple subject with my new oil-primed linen. Also remembered to take some photos along the way so I assembled them into a quick video. Check it out and share on Facebook please!
Up For Bids At DPW Click Here:

Enchanted Clearing 8x10

2014-07-12T22:17:00.000-04:00

Okay picture this with a little less contrast and a little less crazy yellow. The photo was not exactly right once again. Did this one for the DPW summer challenge. Brightly lit scenes like this are hard to do but it really said summer to me. I love how it came out since I managed to have some restraint and keep things from getting muddy. I did as much as possible with the early stage drawing and gave it a day to dry before going over with the colorful details.

Up For Bids, Click Here:

White Birds Of Paradise 9x12

2014-06-30T13:33:00.000-04:00

Some more of my favorite tropical flower the "Giant White Bird of Paradise". The colors are similar to the regular blooms except for the white petals instead of orange and they are almost twice the size.

SOLD