"Ghost Ranch Icon" - Oil - 11" x 14"
NOTE TO ARTISTS: This piece evolved into a more experimental application of paint as I worked. If you see something good happening in a work, go with it!
Showing posts with label western art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label western art. Show all posts
Monday, June 10, 2013
"Ghost Ranch Icon"
NOTE TO ARTISTS: This piece evolved into a more experimental application of paint as I worked. If you see something good happening in a work, go with it!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Making Your Art Collection Your Own
I hope all of you have the opportunity to visit the Prix de West Show at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. If not, go to http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/pdw/2009catalog/available.aspx The stop was part of my multi-city trip and was well worth it.
An added bonus was the McCloy Collection. (Go to http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/event.aspx?ID=189) This is a private art collection of Bob and Curtice McCloy of Oklahoma. It features the works of such notable artists as Bob Kuhn, Ken Carlson, Tucker Smith, William Acheff and more. The show, “Patrons Without Peer”, coincides with the release of a book by the same title in which Tom Davis documents the substantial collection.
What struck me while enjoying the virtuosity of these masters, was that the work shown told me as much about the collectors as the artists, perhaps more. Their vision and ability to foresee the artistic value of these works was surely based on their own preferences, but excellence was the underlying determinant. To have linked top-ranking painters into one group ties them together as long as the collection is united. What a boon for artist and collector alike. The whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts and is the creation of the collector.
Anyone who collects art has the opportunity to create a strong collection. The McCloys bought, traded, and sold works over the years, refining their stable of artists and pieces and, ultimately, produced a very noteworthy representation of themselves and of art itself.
Now, seize the day! Work on your collection with all the joy and promise that an artist feels as he steps before the easel.
An added bonus was the McCloy Collection. (Go to http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/event.aspx?ID=189) This is a private art collection of Bob and Curtice McCloy of Oklahoma. It features the works of such notable artists as Bob Kuhn, Ken Carlson, Tucker Smith, William Acheff and more. The show, “Patrons Without Peer”, coincides with the release of a book by the same title in which Tom Davis documents the substantial collection.
What struck me while enjoying the virtuosity of these masters, was that the work shown told me as much about the collectors as the artists, perhaps more. Their vision and ability to foresee the artistic value of these works was surely based on their own preferences, but excellence was the underlying determinant. To have linked top-ranking painters into one group ties them together as long as the collection is united. What a boon for artist and collector alike. The whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts and is the creation of the collector.
Anyone who collects art has the opportunity to create a strong collection. The McCloys bought, traded, and sold works over the years, refining their stable of artists and pieces and, ultimately, produced a very noteworthy representation of themselves and of art itself.
Now, seize the day! Work on your collection with all the joy and promise that an artist feels as he steps before the easel.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
"Appy in Waiting"
"Appy in Waiting" - Oil - 6" x 8" - $150
"This Appaloosa was in the upcoming halter class and the handler had her ready and waiting near the horse show photographer's background drape. While sunlight warmed her back, the shadow side of her became a lovely aqua." --- SFG
"This Appaloosa was in the upcoming halter class and the handler had her ready and waiting near the horse show photographer's background drape. While sunlight warmed her back, the shadow side of her became a lovely aqua." --- SFG
NOTE FOR ARTISTS:
I used the strong contrast of color and value to compose this small piece and it became a bigger statement. It would have been static and boring if I had not given the human figure an unexpected pose. The darks of her pants and the head of the darker horse on the left balanced the scene. Watch for such opportunities while you are painting and put them in quickly with assurance. If you don't get it right the first time, wipe it out and lay it in again. Temerity always shows.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
"Bridge at Arroyo Hondo"
"Bridge at Arroyo Hondo" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD
"Popular with outdoorsmen and artists, Arroyo Hondo is wonderfully picturesque. As the light changes during the day, there are countless subjects for the outdoor artist."." --- SFG
ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Work in progress...
This painting of will be of Arroyo Hondo showing the water in the foreground and the bridge I crossed to get there. The background slope will be to to right and the orange bluff in shadow falls to the left.
As my second painting of the day, I'm taking a broader, faster approach to it. I won't be so deliberate, letting my subconscious work more than I did in the morning painting, "Morning Magic." Awareness is important as you learn to work. For me, there is a distinction between paintings that work best because I've been more deliberate and careful, as you saw in the painting described in the previous post, and the ones that I let my subconscious take over. They are usually the second or third alla prima painting of the day and often it is the best one. The subconsious is most capable of juggling all the elements necessary in painting. Call it muscle memory, if you could call the brain a muscle.
When you premix colors, as I did earlier today, it sometimes feels like using pastels, because you simply dip right into the correct color with a fresh or freshly wiped brush. All of the colors are better related to each other...especially if you use a bit of the previously mixed pile to start the next one.
By the time I get to this point, I'm to the stage of adjusting the painting, often by simplifying. I changed the direction of the brushstrokes following the contours of the background hill.
"Morning Magic"
"Morning Magic" - Oil - 8" x 10" - SOLD
"Color in shadow can be surprising and delightful. Here, at Arroyo Hondo near Taos, New Mexico, I enjoyed the shadow color as much as the light." --- SFG
"Color in shadow can be surprising and delightful. Here, at Arroyo Hondo near Taos, New Mexico, I enjoyed the shadow color as much as the light." --- SFG
ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
Work in progress...
This morning's painting will be a small 8" x 10" of cliffs at Arroyo Hondo, near Toas, New Mexico. My reference photo offers a lot of possibilities.
I've cooled the slope on the left a good deal to make it recede, but kept it darker than the foreground surface. The warmth of the foreground color sets the areas further apart, as well. I'm still using that #12 brush.
Finally, I've switched to a #8 brush. I've returned to each area, especially the shadow area to work the warms and cools of its surface. I've adjusted the intensity of the slope on the left and added some green of the vegitation there. Softening the top edge, helps it roll back rather than looking cut and pasted to the sky. I added the cloud, carefully assessing its value in relation to the other lights in the painting.
I'm nearly there. I've better described the foreground rocks and added interest to the ground plane.
This morning's painting will be a small 8" x 10" of cliffs at Arroyo Hondo, near Toas, New Mexico. My reference photo offers a lot of possibilities.
I have pre-mixed my colors to get some of those wonderfully vibrant warm and cool colors in the shadows of the rock. I will start with the #12 brush shown (even on an 8" x 10" ).
I've drawn in my composition and at this point I've become pretty excited about this subject. It will be a lot of fun distributing those colors I've mixed across the work, putting them in the right place. I fairly well defined the shapes in the bluff, even though I'll be painting beyond the shapes, generalizing and redrawing throughout the work.
I started with the darks in the shadows of the bluff and the foreground shapes. Every shape you put down is a process of drawing. I consider the drawing stage, since I'm going to cover up all those lines, to be training the artist's memory. Because I will be painting beyond the edges of the shapes, I will be concentrating on where those shapes join, how soft the edges are and how detail will fit in at the end.
I've cooled the slope on the left a good deal to make it recede, but kept it darker than the foreground surface. The warmth of the foreground color sets the areas further apart, as well. I'm still using that #12 brush.
Now, I've added the curlean sky typical of the area and started the mid-tones in light of the bluff that catch the grazing light of morning. I've still left enough value range to add those spectacular areas that glow. The blue notes in the foreground are to remind me that some of the sky's color is naturally present in the ground color. From the thickness of the paint, you can tell that I'm applying it directly and paying attention to paint quality.
Finally, I've switched to a #8 brush. I've returned to each area, especially the shadow area to work the warms and cools of its surface. I've adjusted the intensity of the slope on the left and added some green of the vegitation there. Softening the top edge, helps it roll back rather than looking cut and pasted to the sky. I added the cloud, carefully assessing its value in relation to the other lights in the painting.
When working on the lit areas of the bluff, I painted more temperature changes in the midtones. After I had these value relationships established, I used the darker darks in the shadows to define the contours of the fractured stone. Note that they are still warm in color because the light bounces around within those areas and the redder wave lengths survive. If I had used a cooler color, the temperature key would be off and the whole area deadened. For some of the finer lines, I picked up a #4 brush. By making choices of which darker areas and lines to draw, I'm creating rhythm, design and interest.
I'm nearly there. I've better described the foreground rocks and added interest to the ground plane.
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