Adding Drama to a Scene

Broad Shoulders, 10 x 20, oil on canvas.

This piece was based on reference photos from a painting trip to the Sawatch Mountains of Central Colorado. It was right after sunrise and I believe the peak is 14'er Mt Shavano but am not certain. I include my reference photo below. In composing and painting this piece, I wanted to go way beyond my reference and instead capture the feeling I had looking at this colossal mountain with the ragged clouds rolling by. I've exaggerated both the height of the mountain and the intensity of color to that effect. I also played with how to handle the tree line until I arrived at a composition that pleased me. Finally, I added the dirt road for perspective, scale and to really emphasize the summit.

Reference photo

 I'm proud to share that this painting has been accepted in the Oil Painters of Americas Salon in Petosky, Michigan this month. It's my first piece to get in an OPA show and hopefully the first of many.

Painting a Nocturne from Daytime Photos

"Konza Prairie by Moonlight" 14 x 18, oil on canvas.

   I recently spent a cold afternoon photographing the Flint Hills for painting reference. The most dramatic region I've found is along I-70 between Topeka and Manhattan, Kansas. There are some big vistas and surprisingly few trees. My search took me down gravel roads with names like "Deep Creek" and "Old K-18." In the dead of winter and without snow, all the color seems drained out of the landscape. Everything is warm gray in the foreground and cool gray in the distance. I was hoping the golden hour before sunset would saturate things a bit and it helped but only a little.

My photo reference. Note how I have also changed the composition.

   When I got home and went over my photos, there really wasn't anything that inspired me. Then I imagined what that barren world would look like under a full moon. I have painted a lot of nocturnes both from life and in the studio and have also heard of artists painting nocturnes from daytime scenes. It seemed like a worthy challenge. 

Nocturne by Frank Tenney Johnson

 There is a long tradition of nocturnes in western art, going back to masters Frederick Remington, C. M. Russell and Frank Tenney Johnson. Carrying on the tradition are contemporary artists  Bill Anton, Phil Starke, Michael Untiedt and others. I poured over their work for tips on how to get the effect of moonlight. I also went to a remote location and let my eyes adjust for about 15 minutes. I made a serious effort to note what color temperatures and values I was seeing. The truth is there is very little color but I was able to discern that the sky was cooler and the midtones in the foreground were warmer. Still all highlights registered as cool. With my photo, art reference and observation notes, I felt ready to start painting. The biggest challenge was that I had never done a painting with such a narrow value and spectrum range. It's amazing what you can do even with such constraints and the amount of mood that is created. Also I'm convinced there is no absolute right way to paint a nocturne. It's up to each artist to interpret their impression of a scene. I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

Taking One to the Next Level

FALL COLOR • BIG CEDAR • DOGWOOD CANYON

"Autumn Portal" 18 x 18, oil on canvas

When I was painting this scene from life at the Big Cedar Paint Out, I knew it was one I would want to do larger when I got back to the studio. The original sold at the event so I was left to work with a couple of photos of the plein air piece and the scene, neither of which did it justice. The rest would be up to memory and imagination. It's one of my most ambitious paintings to date. After the block in of the shadow areas I finished it in sections so that I could work wet in wet throughout. Besides the natural harmony of the scene, I tried to use the fall leaves to connect it all together. I also reserved the lightest lights, darkest shadows and most intense color for inside the archway and upstream.

Getting Even Looser

SUNSET •  IMPRESSIONIST • AUGUSTA • MISSOURI

Transformation, 8 x 10, oil on canvas.

This is part of a series of paintings that I'm doing to force myself out of old habits. This time I did most of the painting with a palette knife but also added soft sable flats for modelling the paint. I photographed this spectacular sunset back in April and when I looked at my photos thought that it was too dramatic to paint. It took six months for me to even consider trying, which I guess makes it the perfect candidate for taking chances. First I toned the canvas with burnt sienna and wiped that down. I then painted the shadows in the lower portion with thin paint. Time to get crazy with the palette knife and all the brightest colors in the sky. After all that it was a push/pull of finding/losing edges and the play of cool vs. warm. I'm pleased with the moody, impressionistic results.

A Palette Knife Study

PALETTE KNIFE • HAY BALES • AGRICULTURE • HARVEST

Hay Bales, 6 x 8, oils

This little study is part of a series I'm starting to shake myself out of my comfort zone. I still tend to fall back on my illustration skills when a painting gets tough so I needed some exercises that make that harder to do. That's where the palette knife comes in. I've used one before to help lay extra paint down but I would always do the initial block in and then finish with brushes. This time I used the knife as my primary tool. I also made it an emphasis to not over mix paint on the palette. With paint this thick I found myself editing by scraping paint down or picking it up in one area to put it somewhere else. Try doing that with thin paint!

Painting an Urban Canyon

DOWNTOWN • KANSAS CITY • SUNSET • 12TH AND MAIN

Equinox, 12" x 16", oil on canvas

I've had this idea in floating around for over a couple of years to paint the sunset streaming through the streets of downtown Kansas City. I quickly realized that this only happens around the Spring and Fall equinox when the sun sets due west and not too far north or south. I've been there on a couple of occasions and still haven't caught what I'm looking for but at least it was close enough to work from. I did everything I could to make the warm distance the center of interest but the couple in the foreground is giving it some serious competition. I underestimated the power of the human figure.

Six Inches by Six Inches

RANDY HIGBEE SIX BY SIX • MINIATURES • ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK • SQUARE

Windows Made of Sky, 6" x 6",  oils

   I had so much fun painting for last years Randy Higbee Six Squared show last year that I got a head start on it this time. I spent six weeks in Rocky Mountain National Park in the last year and all four paintings are based on that experience. The first is from near an old logging road in the foothills. What attracted me to the scene was the sense of air between the trees and the ridge across the valley. Pallette knife was used extensively to really lay some paint down. I kept thinking of Monet's poplar series while working on it and even looked them up for pointers on getting the value and color temperature of the trunks right.

Storm Over Chapin Pass, 6" x 6", oils

   The second piece was supposed to be a plein air painting at Horseshoe Park but as soon as I got set up and ready to paint the storm hit. Then I was breaking it down and racing to the car as fast as I could. I did manage to snap a couple of pictures though. On this one I wanted to tell the story with colorful grays of similar value.

Reflections, 6" x 6", oils

   The third painting is from the trail to Mill's Lake but it could be so many places. The highest contrast and brightest color would place the center of interest where the water flows past the footbridge. But it's not what excited me about the scene. For me the "holy grail" was the reflection of the sky on the water in the foreground. I've seen a few painters capture this and I wanted to try it for myself.
   For my fourth submission I revisited that '55 Chevy from Estes Park. Update: Three of the four were accepted in the show. Only "Reflections" missed the cut.

'55 Chevy, 6" x 6", oils

Summer Studio Work

Heading for the Light, 12 x 16, oils.

After four back-to-back plein air events I retreated to the studio and it's beckoning climate control. Just like last year, I found that months of painting from life had improved my eye for color, values and brushwork when applied to studio work. I started by going over photos and studies from the last six months. I might spend a whole day playing with photos, re-cropping them and making notes to simplify or move elements. I was also eager to try a new canvas size: 12 x16. It is now my favorite. It's strengths are that it is large enough to take ambitious subjects and have impact on a wall but small enough to finish while the entire painting is still wet. This gorgeous effect is so prized that it has a couple of fancy names: Alla Prima (Italian) and Premier Cru (French.)

The two pieces I completed could not be more different. "Heading for the Light" was based on photos taken on a cold, January hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was one of the most spectacular scenes I have witnessed with my own eyes. I love how Hallett Peak is casting such a defined shadow on Flattop Mountain. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is from Van Buren, Arkansas at the end of the hottest day of the year. It had hit 114˚F that afternoon and was still in the nineties when I did a plein air study of the side street. The two different colored street lights are the obvious center of interest but what drew me to the scene was the train overpass in the shadows. The final piece is based on the study and photos taken at the time.

Darkness on the Edge of Town, 12 x 16, oils.

Spring Trip to the Flint Hills

KANSAS • PRAIRIE • OLD BARN • NOSTALGIA

The Fixer Upper, 11 x 14, oil on canvas.

   My first trip to the Flint Hills was very hazy, possibly from people burning stuff. The vistas were just not happening. I found some interesting herds of cattle on the gentle slopes that might be paint worthy but what really got me excited was this...whatever it is. It looks like an old farmhouse that has been turned into a barn but it could be just a small barn with dormer windows. What jumped out at me was the crooked architecture and the intense contrast of that edge from the roof to the shadow side.
 

   Back in the studio, I challenged myself to really lay the paint on thick. The only way I know to do this is to mix up large piles of paint and trowel it on with a palette knife which I did throughout. I'm not that proficient with knife painting so I went back and did a lot of brushwork, adjusting as I went. I usually try to move around keeping everything at about the same level of finish but on this one finished each section so that I would always be working "wet in wet." The above animation shows the progression. There are many ways to execute a painting.

A Southwest Palette

ARIZONA • TUCSON • DESERT • ROCKS • MT GLENN

In the Dragoon Mountains, 6 x 12, oils

Landscape artist Phil Starke tipped me off to this scenic spot, a rest stop on Interstate 10 about 12 miles east of Benson, Arizona. There were bathrooms and picnic tables right behind me but the view to the south was unobstructed nature. I wished I had time to paint there but I'd already done one plein air piece that morning and had another 10 hours to drive that day and would have to settle for photos. I had to make mental notes of the colors I was seeing, knowing that the camera would lose a lot. Here's the photo that I used as my main reference.

In the studio, I chose a 1:2 ratio panorama format. Security fence? Gone. I shifted the summit (Mt Glenn) to the left to balance the rock pile just right of center. After that it was just trying to get those juicy colors I remembered.

Up Around the Bend

WINTER • COLORADO • SNOW • ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Up Around the Bend, 11 x 14, oils

 This is the fourth painting in my series of Colorado snow scenes. While hiking around Bear Lake I came across the scene below and knew it had potential. I loved the sweeping, dappled light and shadow on the snow and how it leads the viewers to the mountain in the distance. I also liked the split rail fence in the foreground. 

Reference Photo

 The scene was nice but it didn't yet work as a painting. It was time to do a small sketch and see how it could be improved. This drawing is 2.5 inches wide on grid paper. The fence was leading the eyes right out of the scene so I bent it back towards the center of interest. Next I exaggerated the pinnacle of the mountain in the background. I would make more changes on the finished piece when it came to making decisions about color and contrast but this was enough to get started.

Thumbnail Sketch

You can see by comparing the reference to the finished painting that I've pushed the colors to more reflect my memory of the scene. After adding more atmospheric distance, I lightened the sky a bit since clear skies at 10,000 feet elevation can look unusually dark. Trying to get the snow to 'lie down' on that slope was probably the biggest challenge. I think I'll call this one done.

Next Year's Christmas Card

COLORADO • WINTER • SNOW SCENE • ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

"In the Spotlight" 9 x 12, oil on double primed linen

Actually that's what I thought. I saw the sun hitting this little pine and thought "I will paint this and then make it into a card to send to family and friends next Christmas. I was still 'in the moment' and enjoying God's creation right in front of me but the thought did enter my head. In case you haven't noticed this is part of an ongoing series of Colorado winter scenes where I learn all the beautiful colors that make up the effect of light on snow. Advice for painting snow? I haven't used straight white yet and I don't intend to.

Looking for Unexpected Compositions

Winter at Bear Lake, 9 x 12, oils.

There were more spectacular vistas to be seen on my visit to Bear Lake last month but sometimes it's not about the postcard or calendar image. This time I was looking for interesting shapes of light and shadow and found them with this snow covered hill and the group of dramatic trees jutting up. I ended up simplifying the scene by removing some scraggly brushes and small trees. They weren't what the painting was about. There's also a frozen waterfall on the lower left that might have competed for attention if I'd rendered it more. I might paint it by itself someday. Snow is fun to paint but I feel like I have a lot to learn.

Salinas Pueblo Missions

NEW MEXICO • SOUTHWEST • LANDSCAPE ART

Mission Ruins at Quarai, 8 x 8, oils

In late August, I took a road trip with a cousin from Bakersfield, California to Joplin, Missouri. We took a day off to visit another cousin in the mountains of New Mexico. He wanted to show me some scenery that I might be interested in painting. In the morning we visited the Salinas ruins of Quarai and Abo. These were churches built in the 1600's by the Pueblo people under the authority of Spanish missionaries. The architecture was a synthesis of European and Pueblo. For example the church was cruciform but the structure surrounding it included kivas, round rooms that were used for spiritual purposes.


I painted this scene from inside the Quarai site based on photos. It's not a traditional landscape composition but I loved the interesting shapes of the light and shadow. Imagine how simple the scene would be without the breach in the left wall. The photo reference was cloudless blue but with such a low horizon line I had to add drama to the sky. It was a dreary late November day in Missouri when I painted this but with the sunny scene and a Tony Hillerman novel in the CD player, I almost felt like I was in the southwest.

Harvest Time

VINEYARD AND WINE ART • GRAPES • MISSOURI LANDSCAPE ART

Liquid Sunlight, 11 x 14, oil on hardboard

 "Wine is sunlight, held together by water." - Galileo

For the last ten years I have wanted to participate in the harvesting of wine grapes. That dream came true last month as several local wineries not only let me paint or photograph their vineyards but also let me help with the picking of six tons of Cynthiana grapes and the crushing/destemming of a half ton of Cabernet Franc grapes. Many wineries have volunteer days during harvest and I highly recommend it for anyone interested.

Back in the studio I committed to making September "Vineyard Month" as well. The painting above is from Michael Amigoni's just after sunrise. It was completed in one long and inspired session. The big wedge shape, impressionistic color (light) and expressive brushwork bring drama to a scene that could easily be overlooked.

Ripe for Harvest, 16 x 20, oil on canvas                                                    Hidden Gold, 16 x 20, oil on canvas

After painting vineyards from just about every angle, I decided to move in close and study the clusters themselves. For these two pieces I broke away from tradition and painted them three or four times actual size. On the wall they have a more graphic/contemporary feel. Red and white grapes courtesy of Stonehaus Farms Winery.

Still Life with Personal Nostalgia

Childhood Artifacts, 9 x 12 oils

Nostalgia: A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past. - American Heritage Dictionary

This is the first still life that I've ever actually finished. I would always lose interest. So on this one I chose a personal theme to help me stick with it. I originally had no intention of showing it or putting it on the market. The objects chosen took me back to the age of innocence, that period between the age of 6 and 12 when it seemed my life was a state of constant wonder and simple pleasures (it was an era soon to be replaced with awkward puberty and the realization that my family had issues.) The regional soda bottle and 45 record meant something to me but I wasn't sure if it would resonate with anyone else. Then I posted it on facebook and had one of the biggest responses ever. I've been told that it dates me, so be it.

So who is the artist on the 45 record? It could be the BeeGees, Iron Butterfly, Cream, The Who or others. It's whoever it is to you. For me?

"It's getting near dawn, when lights close their tired eyes..."

Project Reclamation or Why Would I Paint a Landscape on Broken Furniture?

JOPLIN • TORNADO • CHARITY • OZARKS • SHOAL CREEK

The Leedy-Voulkos Gallery in KC is partnering with Spiva Art Center in Joplin to have an art auction raising funds for Joplin's art community. The twist is that the art is being made from tornado debris. Pictured above is the debris pile that the artists had to choose from for their projects. It smelled terrible. Photo courtesy of the Leedy-Voulkos Gallery.

Not being a found object artist, I chose the side panels of a dresser drawer that had blown apart. Note the  dovetail joints. First I cleaned it with bleach water and a scrub brush. Then I took it to woodworker Roy Wall to join the two pieces together. 

We were told that the artwork did not need to be related to Joplin and should reflect what we normally do. In the summer you are most likely to find me painting Missouri streams. It just so happens the nearest clear streams are near Joplin. In this case Shoal Creek. I sealed the wood with medium (Galkyd Light) and tried to paint in such a way as to show as much wood grain as possible. Warm midtones like tree trunks, foreground water and some leaves were just left as exposed wood.

Morning in Montserrat

MISSOURI LANDSCAPE ART • VINEYARD • WINERY • WINE ART • GRAPES • BRISTLE RIDGE

Morning in Montserrat, 9" x 12", oils

This piece was painted from photos taken on a visit to some local vineyards while looking for painting inspiration. The most extreme heat wave in over decade has made painting outdoors very difficult. Instead of the studio, I decided to do this piece downstairs (coolest room in the house) with my outdoor painting setup and a large window for natural light. In the past I've had difficulty coming up with strong compositions in vineyards as well as painting those endless rows. This scene solved those problems with it's steep hill and architectural interest.

Third Time's a Charm

 MISSOURI LANDSCAPE ART • KANSAS CITY • SKYLINE • URBAN • SKYSCRAPER

Plein Air Study, 6 x 8, oils

This is the first painting I  have ever done three times. Many years ago I worked in North Kansas City and would sometimes take lunch breaks at Water Works Park. It was a cool combination of nature and city. This spring I was thinking about the place and thought it might be a good subject for a painting. I was glad to find the it still there although the trees had grown a bit, making the job of finding an expansive view difficult. Setting up on the edge of a frisbee golf course, I heard guys cry "Fore!" more than once. I told them that I did not mind being hit in the head with a frisbee. The study went well and I knew it  had the makings of a nice piece.

3 Hour Demo, 12 x 12, oils

A few days later I was scheduled to do a live demo at my local gallery, Leawood Fine Arts. Armed with my study and a photo I was ready to go. I decided on a 12 x 12 square format and the demo went well considering the time constraint and having people watch and ask questions. But after staring at it for a few days, I came to the conclusion that I could do better.

City on a Hill, 16 x 16, oils.

For the real deal I went even larger. It was a bit hard to get started but before long it felt like a new painting. This time I changed the composition slightly, emphasizing a path that I had edited from the first two and altering it's course to cut back to the left so that it would not take the viewer out of the picture. I went with even thicker paint and really tried to push the atmospheric distance between the foreground and background. I'm happy with the finished result but feel that I could have pushed it even further.

Revisiting Water Lilies

LILY PADS • MONET • POWELL GARDENS • MISSOURI LANDSCAPE ART

Water Lilies III, 18 x 24, oil on canvas

For my upcoming show at the french crepery Chez Elle, I had a lot of wall space to cover and thought that a large painting of water lilies would be appropriate. The place is a renovated old theatre from the early nineteen hundreds and being french made me think of the impressionists. A big Monet exhibition was in town so it seemed like a good fit.
Monet is one of my biggest influences and about every five years I find myself painting water lilies. I always go to Powell Gardens which has many types and is not far from where I live. The Monet painting that inspired me the most for this piece was "The Cloud." I loved the idea of using the reflections to show an inverted sky/landscape and was fortunate to have a partly cloudy day for my visit. I was shooting photos for a studio painting and with the sun almost directly overhead I was able to combine almost any photo into my composition since the lighting would be the same. I ended up using five different images. This is one of my larger paintings so I mentally broke it into smaller bites by painting each 'raft' of lily pads separately and then filling in between with the water. Making the pads look like they were going back in perspective was critical.

Water Lilies III, detail.