HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Goodbye 2010...   Hello 2011!
Hope everyone has a great New Year!


Thank you to all who have given me support in 2010! None of us can do it without the help of others and I am fortunate to have so many people involved in my successes. 


Here's to an even bigger and brighter 2011!


David-

Subdued Energy

"Tree Nocturne (19th St.)"
oil on panel, 2010
3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

The nocturne... it's origin, mid 19th century French from Latin, nocturnus, meaning 'of the night'.

My Tree Nocturne Series. I've kept the series compositionally simple, focusing on the tree and usually an unseen light source. This small painting breaks from that slightly.

Here I show the foreground and middle ground source of the street lights with light emanating from the distant LA Harbor. All, the orange sodium lights. This also is a more zoomed back view than previous tree nocturne's, including more of the surrounding landscape. The color saturation is pushed a bit to give the scene more life, the subdued energy of the suburb and urban setting. In contrast to the previous post.95


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*Update - previous post original value thumbnail here.

Sleeping Giant

"Industrial Plant Nocturne"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
"3.5 x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

Gilded a bronze tone by the orange sodium lights from the harbor, light speckled, a cool night.
Although most industry goes 24 hrs a day, this looked to me like a sleeping giant when I saw it.
That impression was all that I needed for this painting. A simple grid composition, horizontal format for rest, very little color. Dark and still.94

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Phantom Cloud

"Oil plant #5 (Phantom Cloud)"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
8" x 10" (20.32cm x 25.4cm)

I love this view from below the tangle of pipes. Seen late in the day the shadows stretch out and colors deepen.

As I was working on the sky nothing seemed to fit, I then laid in some quick gestural strokes and this phantom shape began to emerge. Recognizing the drama it added and the nice contrast of loosely applied paint to the straight, harder lines, a bit of refining was all that was needed.93

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6" Squared Show Award Announcements

The recent 6" Squared Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery was a sight to see, as I mentioned previously. Click here to see that post.

A lot of hard work went into the show and competition by all involved, from the judges to the staff at both Randy Higbee Gallery and Art and Frame Co. I can't imagine preparing and framing over 300 works in such a short time.

The results were announced on the New Randy Higbee Gallery Blog. Link here... Gallery Awards

As you will see, there was/is (show runs till Dec 23rd) so many great paintings, I'm glad I did not have to decide because the quality was superb. Many of my favorites were chosen as award winners, and deservedly so.

Solar Eclipse

"House in Tree's (Eclipse)"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
4" x 5" (10.16cm x 17.78cm)

I like the way the house tucks back into the dark mass at this time of day. However, the actual lighting wasn't really going to do much else for the image so a conscious decision was made to alter it in some way without losing that shape of tree's and shadow wrapping around the house.

Other than rain, most other atmospheric conditions like haze, fog, clouds etc., meant using a middle or high key value scale, which I did not want, so I stayed with the deep tones.

The lighting now is very similar to the conditions of a solar eclipse... full sun veiled, giving the painting a slightly eerie cast and supporting the visual of the overshadowed house.92


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Crossroads

"Harbor Line #50 Crossing"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
5"x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

The older #50 from my "Pacific Harbor Line " series. Shown here at a crossroads. Though outdated by technology and being replaced by the newer low emission models, it's still operating.

Placed in the center of the composition, a potentially boring design, but made to work by the dark tree at left and the line of power poles.
The other reason is to place it at the center of a subtle compositional X, formed by tracks, road and cloud shapes, marking it's eventual work stoppage, the sweeping lines of the wires leading the way.

Nostalgic maybe, but not sentimental. A reason I like industrial subjects. They represent hard work, without regret, then step aside for the next generation.91

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A Show of Color

"Oil Plant #6 (Two Stacks)"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

This is the fourth of my paintings from the 6" Squared Show, December 4th-23rd, Randy Higbee Gallery.

My Oil Plant series. Here a close-up. The sense of scale in industrial images is not always evident. The two stacks are huge, prominently standing at least 7 or 8 feet tall. Years of service, then years of weather have left them multicolored, glazed in rusty orange and dark chocolate, iced in white, heat tempered in blue, in stark contrast to the more somber wooden structure.

I'm not sure if they were originally painted white or if it is oxidation, but either way all the process' metal goes through, producing bursts of color upon color, is spectacular. The roof too is alive... it's amazing the range of hues found on old metal.

It is usually mother nature who gets credit for such splendor... sometimes we forget to look elsewhere. Dormant while still putting on a show in color.90

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RE: 6" Squared Show and Sale

The 6" Squared show at the Randy Higbee Gallery was spectacular. There was so much great art to see, representing a wide, diverse range in styles.

There were artists from all over the country whose work I have long admired but never had the opportunity to see in person until this show. So that was quite exciting. Met several of them too.
There were plenty new discoveries as well.

The show will last until December 23rd, so if you get a chance, go see it. All the artworks are for sale so you might see something you like.

To preview some of the art included in the show go to the gallery's Facebook page. Link here  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Costa-Mesa-CA/Randy-Higbee-Gallery/308898025253

"Dark Rain"

"Dark Rain"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

This is the sister painting from the previous post "Light Rain". Both are the same site and location, different views and included in the 6" Squared Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa California.

These buildings are on the same site as my Oil Plant series.

I like this area for it's hodgepodge of cement slabs laid over the years at various angles. By showing a lot of foreground the emphasis is less on the buildings and more on the weather as a subject for the painting.

The dark cloud allows for a more limited, almost monochromatic palette, and with the sun still breaking through, higher contrast values. The rain rolls in with an unrelenting fury, about to pound the landscape. A cold brooding day with only hints of color, the orange cone and yellow poles.89


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"Light Rain"

"Light Rain"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

This painting will be in the 6" Squared show this weekend at the Randy Higbee Gallery. It is the sister painting of one titled "Dark Rain" which I will post soon.

These buildings are on the same site as my Oil Plant series.

I like this area for it's hodgepodge of cement slabs laid over the years at various angles. By showing a lot of foreground the emphasis is less on the buildings and more on the weather as a subject for painting.

A light rain kind of day where the clouds streak swiftly across the sky, scattering their rain. The sun breaks, bringing hard shadows, rain washed air and that great mineral smell.88


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