Thursday, January 31, 2013

"Above Big Sur" 
A step by step from study to studio painting
 
Step 3

I decided to give you a wider view of what I'm working
on.  In this step, about 3/4 of the way through,  I have started
to add more paint and slowly build up areas working all
over the canvas.  Working this way for me breaths life into
the whole, all at once,  not a section at time which tends to
make a painting look stiff as if you were copying directly 
from a photo.  Of course,  areas in the distance don't need 
that much detail compared to the middle ground and fore-
ground areas.  Color and value aren't much of a concern 
since I established that during my block in,  but minor 
adjustments are made during this step.  Also,  edges at 
this step are well thought out keeping most of my crisp 
edges in the foreground.
 
Hint:  I do not soften any distant edges,  they are 
left alone since painted rather loosley early on 
in my block in.


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

"Above Big Sur" 
A step by step from study to studio painting
 
Step 2
 
In this step you can see the canvas has been completely 
covered with paint,  approximately one hour into painting.
It is only at this point, when I can see everything as a 
whole, that I can start to compare and adjust all 
my values and color to my liking.  You can see I've
kept all my shapes strong and haven't done too much 
detail work yet.  It is very important  not to lose 
yourself in detail,  remember what you are trying to 
convey and put down only the necessary brush marks.
 

Monday, January 28, 2013

"Above Big Sur" 
A step by step from study to studio painting

 Step 1

The first step is the block in with transparent washes 
of similar colors to the finished painting,  keeping in
mind the values that must be established.  The white 
of the linen will serve as my lightest value and the 
darkest value will be the forground bush on the left.

Hint: completely covering the canvas with paint 
during this stage will give you a better chance
 at nailing down your value.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Happy New Year everyone!  It's been a bit 
since my last post.  The holidays were busy 
and I was wrapping up last minute sales,  no
pun intended!  

I plan on posting demos soon,  but the 
weather was a bit tough,  lots of wet rainy
days and very cold.  It's now starting to 
warm up and hopefully in a week or so I 
have the first step by step demo posted.

Also,  If any of you are on Facebook and
would like to see more work go ahead 
and send me a friend request.  It's a great 
way to see what many artists are doing 
these days.