Sketchbook Page-1

sketchbook page, 2013
ballpoint pen
page 8.25" x 5.5" (20.955cm x 13.97cm)
NFS

I hope you had a good Easter. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to post this earlier... I must have been asleep too... oh well, here you go. Don't be mad... 215

Sketchbook Doodles 3

Ballpoint pen in pocket sketchbook, 2012

5.5" x 4" (13.97cm x 10.16cm)
NFS

And another...
214

Sketchbook Doodles 2

Ballpoint pen in pocket sketchbook, 2012

5.5" x 4" (13.97cm x 10.16cm)
NFS

Here's another page of sketchbook fun. Nothing serious, just letting it flow.213

Sketchbook Doodles 1

pencil in pocket sketchbook, 2012
5.5" x 4" (13.97cm x 10.16cm)
NFS

I do these when I need to warm up, am stuck waiting somewhere or need a break from the tighter more intense paintings.
This sort of sketching is really about nothing specific. Instead, just letting my mind wander and see what emerges. It is a good way to re-enjoy the creative process when struggling with more serious work and I feel the fun draining away from it. Then when I return I am refreshed.
It's all about the fun.212

Avid Art Store

I am currently designing a new blog site for sales of artwork and will eventually link all work for sale to that site even when shown here.
This will take some time as I must learn a whole new system. It will be open during construction.

The new format will feature a grid page, making it far easier for me to manage as well as easier for a buyer to see what is available all on one page. My initial plan was to keep it all here on this blog but Google does not offer any kind of grid layout so I had no choice but to find another source.
When all my art is loaded to the Store I will remove the Available art pages from the right column.


UPDATE 7/01/13: ALL AVAILABLE ART IS NOW ON DAILY PAINTWORKS

Click link below or at the top of right hand column.
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/david-j--teter-3960

Shiny and New

"BNSF 7620"
oil on panel, 2007
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)
private collection

Here is an earlier painting of a BNSF train moving through the port all shiny and new.
I remember fighting the 'mud' battle on this one, one of the first I did of these BNSF locomotives. Orange and yellow are tough colors due to their transparency and that they dirty easy when mixed with other colors.
In the shadows it is difficult to get to those darks and maintain a certain high chroma to depict the shiny and new.
Ironically the two most prominent railroad companies here in Southern California are BNSF (orange) and Union Pacific (yellow), two of the most temperamental colors. Thanks a lot.211

Urban River 5

 "LA River #3"
oil on panel, 2013
2" x 2⅜" (5.08cm x 6.01cm)
private collection

Here's another for my Urban River series, although on a small scale at only 2" x 2⅜". Not really sellable but I do have my reasons for painting these mini's.
This is the LA River in Long Beach California looking north at the Willow Street Bridge. Viewed laying down on the sloping concrete bank makes for a strong angular composition and a nice sweeping line from corner to corner. With landscapes typically being in a horizontal format I am always looking for verticals, and especially angles to either counter or compliment the side to side landscape.

I used a similar compositional device in this locomotive painting, making the subject, here the bridge and the BNSF engine in the other, smaller within the design yet still the primary subject.

The sloping wall takes up more than half of the picture frame but due to its architecture the bridge gets the attention. This also lends a good variation to the blue sky shapes in the arches so each is different and is not so repetitive.210

Stifling Air

"PHL 67 at 47 Underpass"
watercolor on illus. board, 2012
5" x 8" (12.7cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

My Pacific Harbor Line Series:
The Pacific Harbor Line, the workhorse of the LA Harbor. These black/white engines are part of the low emission line of locomotives for the move towards a greener port. Black and Shiny as tar with striking graphics, they don’t blend in, they stand out. Not graceful looking, they look like they mean business. The back end diagonals point down, the front point up to distinguish front from rear when seen head on. Its side panel graphics angling forward. So a nod of beautiful work to the designers of these burly beasts of burden.

The PHL 67 about to pass under the 47 bridge approach, which in this case is the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge, too long for the title. The 47 includes two bridges, the other is the Vincent Thomas Bridge.

Representing a hot, humid, sticky day I painted in a warm overtone, yes, an overtone, not undertone as in oil painting. My palette tends to lean to the cool side and this was going that way too so as I approached the finish I consciously began overlaying warm washes and mixing warm versions of each color. Previously the sky was blue, the foreground concrete a cool gray, the bridge a cool green... and I was starting to get bored. I spared the locomotive and the underside of the bridge, leaving them a cool black and uniting them in a single dark value shape.

This is part of experimenting and in watercolor usually leads to muddied up paintings if not done thoughtfully and carefully. However this is one of my 'non-traditional' watercolors, which means the surface and technique are non-traditional giving me a lot of freedom to work the medium in unusual (for watercolor) ways. The paint sits on the surface initially and can be pushed and moved around, lifted out back to lighter values, shaped, carved, sculpted etc. Changes, even major changes, can be made at almost any stage of the painting. That is a fun way to work and is much more akin to oil painting.

It was crucial to saving this one. On a traditional watercolor paper I would not have been able to paint out the overall cool cast and would have scrapped the work. On paper the pigment stains or absorbs into the surface and unless you go darker you are stuck with it. In addition it is almost impossible to change the warm/cool cast.

I also had some shape design problems in the foreground, the bottom half of the composition, that needed to be worked out. What we see in our minds eye, before we start, does not always pan out. This puts the work in artwork. It's the challenge of problem solving. And I wouldn't want it any other way. I redesigned the shapes into more angular ones and 'troughed' them towards the center. This loosely echoed the upper half triangle arrangement and put the attention back on the locomotive.

As I said in the beginning, I was getting bored with the painting and boredom is a sure sign you need make some serious changes. That was when I decided it needed something else. Not other added elements or objects but something else. Other than fixing the foreground shapes I still wanted something additional to focus on.

Choosing a weather phenomenon or condition seemed like a good solution. But one that is invisible and is felt or sensed so rain, fog or stormy weather was out. I decided to challenge myself and try to depict the temperature or more specifically the air, hot sticky air. The kind that you can't escape, that offers no relief... the dreaded humidity!
When it is cold you at least stand a chance to get warm somehow. When it is hot there are ways to keep cool but humidity you can't do much about. You can't see it but its everywhere. You feel it, it's stifling and permeates everything.
Finishing with a warm overtone seemed to accomplish that.209

Others in this non-traditional approach can be seen here, here and here as well as all the recent "Past Work" posts

Ricky the Cat

"Ricky"
oil on panel, 2010
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)
private collection

I painted a cat.
That looks oh so fat.
But really is just a fluffy black cat.
A cat that really is black like a bat.
A simple painting of Ricky the cat.

Attentive to something that must be a gnat.
Surely he'd get up if it were a rat.
So tell me, just what do you think of that?

Stretched out on the floor til it's time to chore.
Cats catch all the varmints till there are no more.
This is their story, from all days yore.
Or maybe it is just feline folklore.

Task is all done, catnap on the table.
This is the end of my little fable.208

Long Beach Landmark-Breakers

"Breakers"
watercolor on paper, 2012
8" x 6" (20.32cm x 15.24cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here's a simple watercolor of a notable building in nearby Long Beach California that has had a roller coaster history. It's 14 stories, was built as a luxury oceanfront hotel in 1926 and designated as a Historic Landmark in 1989. Its seen more than its share of ups and downs over the years and never quite maintained its luxury hotel status for very long. It now operates as a retirement home.

This time of day the sun reflects from nearby glass buildings creating interesting patterns across the side and illuminating the bottom half while leaving the top in shadow.

It is these kinds of atmospheric effects I look for, and quite often add to a painting myself, for turning what would otherwise be an ordinary image of a city building, into one with some life and vigor.207

Trackside Watercolor Landscape

"Trackside"
watercolor on paper, 2012
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here's another done in a looser approach. I only do the barest line drawing of the big shapes, then find the image in paint. A landscape in Oceanside California, trackside on the scenic Amtrak route.
For me this is a departure from the usual industrial railroads I do. It is more landscape than railroad, the only hint is the shed at the edge of the tracks, which are represented by the only straight line in the composition.
This is similar to the approach I used on this cityscape.206

Interior Blight

"Interior Blight"
watercolor on paper, 2012
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This was done from a visit to the Cajon pass to chase trains, one of those accidental discoveries. It's an old barn which looked like it had functioned as different kinds of business's over the years. It was boarded up, broken into, and now is a dumping ground for the people too lazy to haul their discards to the dump. Eventually the roof will collapse, swallowing up the interior and all its illicit cast offs.

I had to resist any natural inclination to tighten-up the painting, allowing the looser less controlled approach to hint at the litter without really defining anything. It is about its blighted condition.
I made sure to indicate enough of the interior structure, the ceiling joists, to make it recognizable.205

I did a drawing of the outside seen here.

REALLY Private Collection

One of my paintings was recently added to someone's private collection, although in an unauthorized manner.
They offered themselve's a huge discount you might say, surreptitiously collecting the work from the venue it was being offered.

I should say this puts my work in good company. Other more famous artists' work have been acquired in the same manner, and all you have to do is a web search and you'll know what I mean.

I can only take this as a compliment of course since no one would bother if it had no value to them.
I would actually like to hear from the uh... 'really private collector'... so feel free to leave a comment, I would enjoy your thoughts on the piece, what attracted you to it, why did you have to have it?
Any thoughts you might have...

Thanks

Original post here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Rock and Roll"
oil on panel, 2009
5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)
private collection

"Stump"
oil on panel, 2009
5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)
private collection

Hello...                         2013?

Thank you to all who helped in 2012 Avid Art successes and to all of you who checked into my blog to view my art and have conversations via comments.
I always enjoy our little art talks throughout the year and enjoy visiting your blogs as well!

Hopefully we won't end up at the bottom of the fiscal cliff and can jump for joy in 2013!203,204

iPad Landscape Study

"Landscape Shape Study"
Digital, Brushes App

I am still working on various pieces so without much (traditional medium) work ready to post I figured I had better get something up on the blog.

This is practice, exercising my design muscles, done on my iPad with the Brushes App. Drawn relatively quick focusing on the design of the big shapes and simple composition as well as the distribution of soft edges.

I also managed to get some quality of light into it by adding some texture of the vegetation.
I like it when simple drawings 'spill out' easily. Enough said.202

6x6 Machinery

"Machinery 2"
oil on panel, 2012

6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

Here are two of my seven paintings I submitted to the recent 6x6 show that weren't accepted. I had four in the show.

I bring this up because I did all seven as a group with an overall theme of light. Not a new idea, artists have been doing it for centuries, but in each of the seven I really made a point to capture different qualities of light. I worked on the group simultaneously, working up each without really finishing any one until I was about 75% done.  Other than these two, the seven (actually ten) were not officially a series together so the simarlarities end there. No attempt was made to using the same palette, design etc. So they do not look like a series other than a common theme of light.

I like machinery and sometimes its function preempts design. Its look or design born out of its function instead of a design based on aesthetics.
In this one, a really bright day, the sun bouncing off the ground or any light surface is blinding, without sun glasses you end up squinting all day. The colors are true to the site, industry subjects like this often lack color beyond silvers, rusty and metal grays, the small blue color note of sky serves as reminder of that.

I loved the composition of this the moment I saw it... the variety of shapes and their arrangement. It's that variety I see in industrial subjects, their size and texture differences, the scale of them that I respond to initially, that's what first gets my attention... here there are the ellipse', cylinders, flat and angled planes, linear pipes and wire conduit... all neatly arranged within the picture plane. After that I look for what it says to me, what is present beyond the artistic and design observations. That is part of seeing. Seeing really is observing and asking yourself questions and it's not always obvious.

I saw industrial might or brawn, this is industry flexing its muscle but on a small scale, a microcosm of industry. All the rust and dust seemed to add to its tough physique instead of conveying degradation. It is a weight lifter sweating in a gym or a cowboy roping doggies on a ranch.

I love the work of precisionist artists, like Charles Sheeler, and while that influence crept into the treatment of this painting I still remained faithful to my own artistic vision. I don't want my work to look like it belongs to a particular school of painting. Instead I am constantly striving to allow these influences without simply rehashing them.

"Machinery 1"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2012

6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

This painting is in direct opposition to Machinery 2 as far as its anthropomorphic character. The configuration of these two is not as muscular. That was my impression so as an artist it is my job to communicate that idea. In Machinery 1 I chose a broader view while in Machinery 2 a zoomed-in one. Those compositional choices helped support each impression.

It is also part of the old retired Sunkist packing plant in Orange County California, so it is no longer operational.

It is rich winter light when the sun is low, closer to the horizon, in the afternoon, softer light diffused by the glass, a rich cool shadow with warmer edges. It is not the showy light of Machinery 2. It is the end of an era. It is the final flicker of a candles flame.200,201

See previous four posts for the other 6x6's

6x6 Show Opening Night

It was another great showing at the 6x6 Show Randy Higbee Gallery this past weekend.

I was quite happy my painting "11th St. Rain" sold on the opening night.
The turnout was huge, a lot of people showed up and it was a very festive atmosphere.

I always enjoy meeting new people and especially seeing all my artist friends.
We usually end up going to a restaurant afterwards and have a good time talking art and getting caught up on what we all have been doing.
Among the group this year were artist Susan Hogan Girard and artist Wendy Wirth, both of whom had their work hanging in the show.

If I can get any pics from the show I'll post them here.

Night Rain at 6x6 Show

"18th St. Rain Nocturne"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2012

6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)

My fourth painting accepted into the 6 Inch Squared Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa California.
Another rain painting in the show here.

A simple enough idea, more challenging to paint than I thought.
Warm light on a cold night. Yellow green from the house, orange from the sodium street lights meant the two had to be interspersed in some places.
In reality the light is actually blueish white but made for a cold uninviting image. This is when artistic decisions must be made.
I initially had more yellow from the house light but the painting lacked depth so I added green as the light spread out from its source, even further under the shine of rainy conditions. I finished it off by adding some color accents of blue in the sky and red of the taillights.199

Another "18th St. Rain" here, a view slightly up the same street.
Click rain 'RAIN' LABEL to see others.

Pacific Harbor Line at 6x6 Show

"PHL 64"
oil on panel, 2012
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)


My third painting featured in the up-coming 6 Inch Squared show at the Randy Higbee Gallery. See two previous posts below for more.
You can also see and purchase them online here before the show opens on December 8th 2012.

Although many train artists might shy away from overlapping the train with objects I don't see it as a painting of a locomotive with stuff thrown around it as a second thought, but instead a painting in all its totality first, then one of a locomotive.

A sunny day with the marine layer hugging the ground and thin wispy clouds yielding soft undefined shadows.
I pushed the limits of this kind of light from the front to the back of the locomotive, highlighting the front then severely dropping the back into (soft) shadow.

That gave it some extra depth and enabled me to nearly bump the front of the locomotive up against the edge of the picture plane and break the compositional rule of 'avoiding tangents'. Using the bright sun and atmospheric effect for value control also puts the emphasis on the back end of the engine.

One final touch was throwing a reflected light on the far side of the back of the engine.198

Click on image to larger view

Industrial Landscape at 6x6 Show

"Industrial Landscape"
oil on panel, 2012

6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm) SOLD


The second of my four paintings accepted into the 6 Inch Squared show at Randy Higbee Gallery

Since most landscapes are composed of strong horizontals, square formats are a challenge.

So this is loaded with the verticals of poles and the angles of steam, tree line and road, to compositionally offset the horizontal band across the middle and make for a stronger stacked composition within the square format.

This is one of those views typical of industrial vista's in and around the harbor. I compressed the refinery into the middle ground, but allowed the foreground and background to breath.

The drifting steam coming from the refinery, the softer shadows, and perhaps the light too, all help to relieve the densely packed industrial forest of the middle ground.197

Click on image for larger view

Rain at 6x6 Show

"11th St. Rain"    SOLD
oil on panel, 2012
6" x 6" (15.24cm x 15.24cm)
Randy Higbee Gallery

Here is one of my four paintings accepted into the 6 Inch Squared show at Randy Higbee Gallery.

If you are like me you never tire of rain and weather images. I love shiny glistening streets under these conditions. The landscape under a canopy of clouds with the golden sun breaking through.
I've always thought of rainy days as slow days. Here I've painted the late afternoon with a lone figure returning home from work in no particular hurry.196

Click 'Rain' or 'Weather' LABELS to see others.

Note: I updated the image here with one that is more color correct.
Click on image for larger view

6 Inch Squared

I am happy to announce 4 of my 7 paintings entered into the 6 Inch Squared show at the Randy Higbee Gallery were accepted.

I'll start posting them soon.

Past Work 6

untitled portrait
watercolor and colored pencil on illus. board
13.5" x 12.25" (34.29cm x 31.115cm)
NSF

Here is another blast from the past... the same experimental stuff on slick illustration board.
This was when I began to get the hang of it, however it is still a tough surface to work on.
Often the surface takes over, dictating too much for me, how it looks. I prefer controlling it. I want decisions to be conscious ones.
That's not to say I don't like happy accidents but you can't start with too many uphill battles.
This is one reason I generally don't work on canvas in oils. You can't escape its texture, especially when photographing the art.

I was still having some problems controlling the spottiness in the shadows but overall I was happy with the results... the design of the shapes, the palette, etc.
I was experimenting with mixing-in the colored pencil with watercolor. Not knowing how well it would work and not wanting to risk ruining the head ,which I was feeling good about, I reserved it for the shirt. I liked the way it gave a velvety depth and texture to what would otherwise be a flat graphic shape. It is hard to see the subtlety of its application in this photo but there is green pencil underlying the blue watercolor.195

Click on image for larger view

Past Work 5

"Megan"
watercolor/gouache on illus. board
13.5" x 12" (34.29cm x 30.48cm)
NSF

My niece at around 5 or 6 six years old...
The color palette here is atrocious, at least to me, but is reflective of colors my niece loved back then, which was one of my intentions.
Remember, experimental work means leaving your comfort zone in part so here I wanted the palette to be tied into her instead of relying on the usual familiar palette (from then) without much thought.
That mauve in the background and lavender in the shirt makes me shudder. However, even now when I look at this I don't just see Megan at that time, instead I'm taken back to memories of who she was too, it radiates with her personality beyond just a likeness. So with that, I'm happy.

This one, like the other recently posted portraits, I simply reached a point and stopped. Although I saw some problems with drawing, form transitions and even design issues I did not want to lose or destroy that spontaneity associated with experimenting and lose the liveliness of her character... remembering that experimental for me means it is more about learning and discovering than about making a finished piece of art.

I can also see where I struggled with the medium leaving some areas unresolved.
The hair is a little too coarse and abrupt since I did not refine and soften it for its bright sunny light. Some areas like the shadow in her arm and shirt are too busy but again I did not want to refine at the expense of freshness.194

Portrait of Megan as an adult here.

Click on image for larger view

Past Work 4

"Miao"
watercolor on hot pressed illus. board
9.25" x 8.75" (23.495cm x 22.225cm)
NSF

A slight break from the previous celebrity portrait/caricature posts, this watercolor was done during the same period.

This was when I was experimenting heavily with watercolor on different substrates, exploring their various surface characteristics.
I tried watercolor boards, cold and hot press illustration board, kid finish (paper) fixed to board and some others, eventually arriving at a really slick surface, one that requires great patience in the early stages of building up the surface but gives the work the same kind of depth and richness of oil painting.

Although this painting has a traditional watercolor finish or look to it the surface and working methods used was not. This was after buying Burt Silverman's book "Breaking the Rules of Watercolor" which was both an epiphany and has had a lasting impact on my own work, especially in my less traditional watercolor technique like these here, here and here.

It is a way that invites working the medium back and forth, breaking down the surface then building it back up, a method that generally goes against the more traditional approach of additive (only) painting, applying washes from light to dark, building up the painting in a straight forward manner.
It is a more physical approach, scrubbing and wiping areas out then repainting, really taking advantage of the solubility of watercolor.
Lights and even whites can be brought back from dark passages, unlike traditional watercolor paper, which allows greater freedom to aggressively push paint around, never having to worry about holding back and preserving the white of the paper or the hassle of masking fluids.

While an art student I had instructors who taught the same kind of mentality, one that suits my temperament better. I no longer had to work in that kind of 'point A to point B' manner which is far too easy to screw up when you suddenly realize, half way through, you have gotten too dark, have the wrong color or temperature or want to completely remove some defeating element.

I can go forward, backward, sideways... it does not matter, there is no fear so it is a much more liberating way to work and it is certainly much more fun.

Incidentally, it also helps when I do paint using traditional methods and surfaces which I still enjoy as well, like this one here and here and "Union Pacific 8381".193

Click on image for larger view

Past Work 3

"Billy Idol"
mixed media on illus. board
13" x 11.5" (33.02cm x 29.21cm)
NSF

Number 3 in these past work posts, another experimental piece.

There is a lot I don't like here besides its unfinished state. The whole right side never got resolved. That's OK though. Sometimes it serves as a record of some exploratory technique and quitting on it early is better than killing it with overworking. And maybe that rawness is what I want to remember ...other times it is one area of the work I want to preserve, something new I learned, if I got that out of it that is enough.

That having been said I may decide to 'finish' the right side, if I can do so without spoiling the rest.
The harsh cast and core shadows were intentional (experimental) and lend themselves well to his persona if you know anything about him. Normally a more refined shadow transition would be better but then again this is a stylized portrait.192

Click on image for larger view

Past Work 2

"Murphy's Law"
mixed media on illus. board
9.5" x 9.5" (24.13cm x 24.13cm)
NSF

Here is another past experimental piece done at the same time as the previous post.
This one is gouache, ink and acrylic paint.

The difference in this one from the previous is the acrylic paint. Part of the experimentation was beginning with the gouache and ink then finishing with another medium, just seeing what I could do.
My experimental work is often left in an unfinished state or is not refined so as to not lose the freshness of the process, allowing me to easily see the steps, and is more akin to drawing than painting.
Having fun, no pressure.191

Click on image for larger view

Past Work 1

"Pee Wee Herman"
mixed media on illus. board
9.5" x 9.5" (24.13cm x 24.13cm)
NSF

Since I am continuing on a new body of work I thought I would show some past art over the next couple of posts.
Here's an experimental piece I did a few years ago, a caricature of Pee Wee Herman. Done in gouache, ink and colored pencil. It's not a perfect likeness but I was more concerned with seeing what I could do with the medium instead of getting hung up on the portrayal.
I often don't sign and date experimental work since it is not meant for sale or publishing but something I will probably do in the future since I can't remember the exact year I did this one.

The fun part of doing experimental work is to let go of any methods, palettes, styles etc. that I usually use and just see what I can do. This always has the extra benefit of feeding my (usual) work, even if in small incremental ways.190

Click on image for larger view

Fire Pit

"Fire Pit #1"
oil on panel, 2012
3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Fire is always mezmerizing. It is organic. You can see it but not touch it. It is alive.
I like the idea of it being contained within an unseen pit, the clean edge of the ellipse. Flaming against the blackness but controlled.

This painting needed a lot of inventing of the fire itself, designing the flames to read like fire as we think of it from so many illustrations and graphics. The classic flame design more than a photographic depiction.
This made it fun to play the soft organic lines and shapes of fire against the harder edges of pit and burning wood.189

Click on image for larger view

NWS Show pics

Here are some pics from the NWS show this past weekend.

NWS Award

SOLD  National Watercolor Society

I am pleased to announce that my painting "PHL Sulfur Pile" won an award, "Kanuga Watermedia Workshops Award", this past weekend during the opening at the National Watercolor Society 92nd Annual Exhibition here in San Pedro California.

The painting will also be part of the traveling show, touring the country for 12 months following the exhibition.
I was also accepted for NWS Signature status after submitting 3 additional paintings for review.
The show will hang September 29th - December 2 2012. Check previous post (below) for gallery hours and map.

Previous post on this painting here.
Previous posts on this show here and here.

NWS website link
NWS facebook link

Click on image for larger view

Endeavours Final Flight

I rarely break from showing anything other than my art or related pics on my blog. Exceptions include New Years pics and studio shots.

But yesterdays event, Friday, September 21st 2012, I had to share. The Space Shuttle Endeavour making its final piggy-back flight atop a Boing 747,  doing a fly-over tour of Los Angeles and surrounding areas at only 1500 feet, which is only the height of a 15 story building. So close you could almost touch it.
Perfectly apropos since it was largely built here in Southern California.

I went to the Queen Mary in Long Beach to see it fly over.
Fortunately it flew directly over us at the Queen Mary.
Unfortunately it flew DIRECTLY over us at the Queen Mary.
I was hoping to get a shot of the Endeavor with the Queen Mary in it, oh well.

That made it tough to see the Shuttle itself from below.
But it was still really exciting and everyone was extremely proud.

It happened really quick so I was only able to get these six shots, I don't have a good enough video camera. Other areas were treated to multiple passes but here we got just one, lasting less than 10 seconds.

Later it will make a 12-mile journey on city streets from LAX to the California Science Center at Exposition Park where it will be on permanent display at the museum.

Its 12-mile journey will be a feat itself since it will require the removal of trees and the logistics of maneuvering through city streets around power poles and stoplight signals.

This move is similar to the huge rock that was moved through 3 counties and the streets of LA from Riverside this past spring to its final levitated resting place at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Picture slideshow here.
I guess we like moving REALLY BIG THINGS through our neighborhoods!
I suppose its good rocks can't fly!

Click on images for larger view

Otherworldly Mountain

"Nocturne Sulfur Pile Detail"
oil on panel, 2012
2⅜" x 2" (6.01cm x 5.08cm)
For Sale at DAILY PAINTWORKS, CLICK HERE

Yeah, it's small but I really enjoyed painting it, It was tough to photograph it accurately so the original looks far better with a subtle depth and richness I could not get with the photo.

I have been doing a lot of experimental work along with a new body of work lately and this was one of those little excursions I decided to do on a whim. Small and quick is satisfying sometimes.

All my previous paintings of sulfur piles are generally of the whole pile, in the background as another element.
Zoomed in for a detail like this and the pile looked otherworldly, more like a mountain from another planet.188

Click on image for larger view

NWS 92nd Annual Exhibition

Here is the formal announcement for the National Watercolor Society 2012 Annual Exhibition.
I am thrilled to have been among those accepted since entries usually range over a thousand.
There are some really great artists in the show including some whose work I have followed for years.

Here is my painting "PHL Sulfur Pile" that will be part of the exhibition, and a previous post about this  NWS Show.

I am also happy to announce this same painting will be included in the traveling show which will tour the USA over the next 12 months following the exhibition.

And for more good news, I was accepted for NWS Signature status after submitting 3 additional paintings for review.

Link to NWS website and NWS facebook.

Huntington Beach Spring

"H.B. 24"
oil on panel, 2012
3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Named for the Huntington Beach lifeguard station this small painting really is a study in a palette similar to these two in that I dirty up the pinks and purples, which I rarely use. It's a palette I don't use very often but occasionally the time of day and atmospheric conditions dictate it.

Early spring... as the sun arcs higher new colors are in the light and beginning to show their eventual saturation... less deep like winter but not yet the bright hues of full spring.187

Click on image to enlarge

Value Thumbnails 4

"Seaside Rocks" value thumbnails
pencil on paper, 2012
page 11" x 8.5" (27.94cm x 21.59cm)
NSF

In addition to a study of values, the purpose of quick thumbnail drawings like these is to record the directional planes. The benefit is not having to reinterpret forms when further developing the thumbnails into mid-sized black and white or color comps then into a painting.

Any kind of visual shorthand is useful when recording information.... other notations like handwritten  notes can be added, indicating colors etc., working out potential problems before beginning a painting.186

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Recent Value Comps

"Roadside-Barn" value comps
pencil on paper, 2012
page 11" x 8.5" (27.94cm x 21.59cm)
NSF

Since I am currently busy on a new body of work I don't have a lot of new work to post.

Here are some recent value studies.
Doing value studies is about working out the arrangement of lights and darks so the subject itself does not have to be exciting or glorious or even beautiful. It's the shapes, how they relate and interlock.

Roadside is one of these. I simply liked the dark shape of the rising bushes against the interlocking wedges of drainage pipes and the roadside.

The barn was originally in daylight but I did not like the light and dark shapes so I morphed it into a nocturne, leaving it with an unseen bright light source.185

Click on image for larger view