Left Behind

"Oil Plant #3"   SOLD
oil on panel, 2010
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

From my Oil Plant Series. While the plant is fascinating enough to simply present as is, I still find myself searching for a bit more... wanting the image to have meaning beyond the surface. This painting is about the idea of what's left behind, what was. So goodbye blue sky.

The plant sits in the sun. Two contrails, traces of jets passed, sweep overhead. The facility, a vestige of it's former self. Both are about to be lost to the marine layer which reaches up from behind to engulf the aging structure. The salt air urging rust once more. It also replays the theme of man vs nature, no matter what we do nature is always stronger.73
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5 Paintings in Jackson Hole

Horizon Fine Art Gallery- I have 5 more paintings at the gallery in Jackson Hole Wyoming. One watercolor and 4 small oils.
Click titles below to see original posts, click 'here' to see all paintings at the gallery, or click 'Horizon Fine Art Gallery' in LABELS column at right.

"Lone Mojave Home"
"Power Pole #3 (Twin Transformers)"  &  "Power Pole #5 (2 Buttons)"
"Power Pole #2 (Deep Blue)"  &  "Power Pole #7 (Rain)"

Contact Barbara Nowak at Horizon Fine Art Gallery for purchase: horizonfineartgallery.com, email: HORIZONFINEART@WYOMING.COM

Broken Glass

top       "Broken Windows #1 (Cream)"
middle "Broken Windows #2 (Pale Blue)"
bottom "Broken Windows #3 (Avid Art)
each oil on panel, 2010
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)


I like the patterns of broken glass, they can take on virtually any shape and are a lot of fun to design. The jagged edges made up of straights and curves, the breaks rigid yet fluid.

These all have the same basic design, allowing me to play with the shapes of the missing glass against the reflections. I chose a flatter, more graphic approach than most of my paintings to really showcase the abstract shapes, with the surrounding steel serving much like a picture frame.

To give them an animated quality I varied the black voids enough in their size, shape, and orientation as well as using brighter complimentary colors, blue and orange, for the reflections.70,71,72
Click on images for larger view

Night Eyes

"Tree Nocturne (Rooftops)"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010
5" x 4" (12.7cm x 10.16cm)

This painting is loosely based on the view from my balcony. So it is painted from memory, the cousin of imagination.

Having seen the view many times I resisted the temptation to run back and forth while painting. I allowed myself to take liberties in the interest of composition etc., and that freed me up to work on the image without the restraints of the actual view.

I shaped the tree mass to lean left, framing it within the power lines and the collective curve of the rooftops climbing the hill. A lower light than many of my other nocturnes so the lights from the windows show brighter and appear as eyes peaking over the rooftops.69
Click on image for larger view 

Crushed By The Sun

"Warehouse Rooftop (w/ Palm)"

oil on panel, 2010

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

A sky so bright it hurts your eyes. A blazing hot day, a hazy horizon. Looking towards the sun, the vertical planes are nearly all silhouette. Only the horizontal planes show.

Even the industrial, the subject itself, as hardy as it is... may very well be subordinate sometimes. Our associations with dark tones may represent strength, power, weight, but here they're crushed by the sun, the warehouse pressed below the horizon, into the earth by the heat of the summer, that unforgiving heat.

It's the bright, nearly white sky that dominates, despite the anchored darks.68

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New Gallery

NEW GALLERY-I have two paintings at Horizon Fine Art Gallery in Jackson Hole Wyoming.

"Retired Power Plant" and "Storage Yard Nocturne" Click on titles to see original posts.

For purchase contact Barbara Nowak at horizonfineartgallery.com , email : HORIZONFINEART@WYOMING.COM

Liquid Shadow

"Tree Nocturne (Leaning Wall)"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

5" x 4" (12.7cm x 10.16cm)

This nocturne is based on several locations, so composed from memory. I always enjoy working this way for it's own unique challenges.

First, I was struck by something, some quality, when I initially saw it (or them, when more than one location). And that serves as my primary inspiration.

Second, I must decide what to include and what to leave out from each.

Third, I have to decide a view point since I may have seen the original location(s) from a completely different one.

There are other considerations like value scale, color palette, edge control etc., but without the first three, I can't begin.

In this painting my primary inspiration was the overhanging, overbearing tree and it's shadow pouring down the wall and into the street like a high viscosity ink. I went back to re-view that location later and the tree had been cut down, but that image was still etched in my brain.

Although there was a wall at that location this one was taken more or less from another for it's pilasters. The rest, a compilation of memories... the narrow single slab sidewalk from an older neighborhood, before easements... the street sign, newer but oddly placed... the leaning, rough textured, poured concrete wall.

The challenge from memory isn't as much what to leave out (like photo reference), it's what to include. I like sparse, but as I have said before, that can be a shaky line to walk. With view point worked out the 'make or break' now lies with the other considerations; value, color, edges etc.

With the shadow being the main feature, I scrubbed the lighter values in around it, which also provides texture and softer edges for a deep core, the blue giving life to the darks.

The 'No Parking' sign, although central to the composition, really is second reading. You see first the shadow, then follow the diagonals to the sign, where the lightest values lie.67

Click on image for larger view

*Update - previous post original value thumbnail here.

Melancholy

"Harbor Line #50 (Catalina Pacific Concrete)"  SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

3½" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

Two posts ago I featured one of the newer locomotives that works the LA Harbor. Here I painted one of the older ones, being replaced as it has become outdated, but currently still running the tracks.

You can see the primary difference between the two generations... this one has solid red ends which don't identify front from rear like the dramatic angled stripes of it's successor. It's also longer, the new being shorter, stouter and probably more powerful even as a low emission model. I'm sure a matter of technological efficiency.

However, it's length gives it the grace of a limousine, elongated without looking gangly. But still powerful looking with it's boxy square front end. Always the workhorse, just a different breed.

It's seen here against part of the old shut down Catalina Pacific Concrete plant from my post 'The Dying Day', a hint of melancholy as it moves away from the sun and into the plants shadow for eventual retirement.

It is well used. No longer shiny, missing vents at the rear, scratches like well earned scars from years of service. But surprisingly, it did not look run down, it seemed to have a lot of life left in it, if not outmoded for greener technology.66

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Harbor Colors

"Sunken Dock, Cranes (w/Bird)"   SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

I was lamenting awhile back that mother nature was holding back spring in favor of an extended winter. Now she still has spring or at least spring like weather on the table. Our 4th of July was only warm, not hot, with a rather cool evening. We have not seen any real hot, blistering summer days and nights yet. So, with that, here is another spring painting.

The harbor, looking east, a bank of rain clouds. This is a common site in Los Angeles this time of year (early spring). The weather will move off shore and along the mountains, leaving the LA basin to the sun, a sort of hole with no weather, much like the eye of a hurricane. This does lead to some dramatic backdrops and here it provided a deep cool gray for the brightly lit red cranes.

These are the colors of the harbor. The equipment... whites, reds, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, some bright, some pale. Docks and piers... earthy siennas, oxidized gray browns, dark wet chocolate browns. The organic... green waters, ochre dirt, various shades of gray and tan in jetties and rocks.

This is another palette I like. Saturated color, but deep, still weighty, with bright accents. A good mix of artificial and natural earthy color. Man made and nature together.

Bright days don't necessarily have to be depicted in high key (lighter) values. If done right, middle and even low key values will represent a bright day.

The only light values here lie in a thin horizontal strip at the base of the cranes... sunlit whites, blues and yellow. The color saturation too, aids in depicting a sunny day and distant atmospheric conditions... wet air.65

Click on image for larger view

Beast of Burden

"Harbor Line #61 (Dusk w/ Engineer)"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

Back to a favorite subject, the locomotive. This one part of the Pacific Harbor Line, the workhorses of the LA Harbor. They give the Union Pacific, BNSF and others a rest as they move and stage the trains throughout the harbor, receiving and preparing them for departure. I'm sure they perform all kinds of other tasks as well.

Here is a newer one, 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. It's side panel graphics angling forward. So a nod of beautiful work to the designers of these burly beasts of burden.

I caught the #61 heading into the port at dusk, one of the engineer's pausing to reflect their day perhaps... or maybe just beginning their night shift, who knows.

Contrast. It's the dark bluish blacks against the yellow twilight sky that so perfectly spoke of the subject and it's 24 hr calling. As the day ends the locomotive is still going strong, never tired, a reflected light illuminating it's shadow side. The marine layer creeping in to settle over the port.

Finally, I eliminated all the extraneous foreground and background clutter in favor of a rather banal setting, putting further emphasis on the 'horse' itself.64

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Ghostly Structure

"Oil Plant Backside (w/ Storage Tanks)"   SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

Featured in Crussell Fine Art 2011 International Survey Periodical

Here again the oil plant, (previous images under post headings 'Aging Relic' and 'Bleached White Sky' ).

A fabulous view from the back with it's white storage tanks being gradually overrun by rust, taking on a patina of colors ranging from burnt sienna to deep copper to a rich chocolate, the whitewashed wood cladding showing itself in grays, blues and greens. A palette I love.

Seen in the late afternoon, the sun reveals the ghostly structure, the top wisped in shadow. It's age apparent by the holes, missing and leaning sections, rust, stained wood and foreground growth. All contrasted against the newer power pole, it's wires, bypassing the older oil plant.

Painted with precision while allowing hints of a 'shaky hand' here and there to remind of it's delicate state. Presented from a distance but tightly cropped. A subject still robust but unsentimental. It's purpose having been served.63

Click on image for larger view

Update-Previous Post

*I've posted a photo of the framed art "Study for 'Villa Riviera Wrapped for Restoration' " under the post heading ' Inky Black ' in the May archives.

Solidarity

"Pipe Bundles, Two Tanks"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78)

Heavy sky, weighty foreground... mass and solidity. It's the middle ground that gets the attention here. The pipe bundles shoot in from the left giving rise to the two tanks, sharp and glossy against the softly focused pale apartment building.

Standing in solidarity, rearing up against the horizontal elements. Pyramid composition, echoed by the triangular dormer. Bracketed by the white bundle ties and painted steel girders.

I've talked before of what I see in industrial subjects and of changes I make to further strengthen my view... what to include, what to leave out.

In this painting I darkened the bundles and softened the edges of the building. I scrubbed in a leaden sky in favor of the clear blue one and changed the bundle ties to white, all to give more importance to the tanks. I also deepened and textured the shiny tanks and edged the color towards orange.

The last two (changes) both, unite tanks and sky in appearance but separate them in complimentary color.

I often come across some scene that strikes me in some way and want to capture it... but realize what is before me is a little short of that, so I edit and fine tune the image until I achieve that end.62

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Peach Tree Mural

"Peach Tree" and drawings

acrylic on wall

mural

Here's a mural I did in a home. It's located in their kitchen, which is decorated in a mixture of country and italian tuscany.

I worked directly with the homeowner on this one and they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted before we met so it was relatively straightforward.

I only needed to do some drawings of tree and container variations before beginning the finish.

The bottom two drawings were for the client. Showing the different fruit trees and containers. This way they can choose any given container and any given tree, mix and match, to come up with a final image. This helps me streamline the process and avoid doing endless variations of tree/container drawings.

The top drawing (showing the ghost images of the page underneath) was done for the purpose of working out specifics of leaves, branches, peaches and the bee, once it was decided to go with a peach tree.58,59,60,61

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Framed in Mass

"House w/ Eucalyptus"

Watercolor on paper, 2007

15" x 11" (23.80cm x 17.145cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

I was generally happy with the way this watercolor turned out, going for the mass surrounding the house. The only problems I had with it was too much green, or at least not enough variance in the tones and colors of green. It would have benefitted from a mixture of warms and cools.

The foreground too could be a bit more interesting, even in it's simplicity.

Watercolor, at least painted in more traditional methods, is tough sometimes. You can not completely remove darker passages, making lightening or changing color temperature difficult.

Even with planning ahead, I still occasionally find the need to make changes to an image.

That said, I still consider this a successful painting.57

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Orangey Rust Sky

"Scarecrow"

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

private collection

Like my last post this is one done for fun, more of a sci-fi image. This allows me to stray from from my usual palette and use brighter colors. It also gives me an excuse to paint the sky an orangey rusty color without having to paint a typical sunset.

Mounted in a simple black frame to show how much better my art looks when framed.

I will try to post more art this way when I can. The challenge is photographing it when it is behind glass, usually the more delicate mediums like drawings and watercolors. It is difficult to get a decent shot without the glare.56

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Puffer

"Puffer Fish"

mixed media, 2006

9 ³ ⁄₈" x 6 ¾" (23.80cm x 17.145cm)

private collection

Only Mother Nature could come up with creatures that look so silly but are cool. This puffer looks at the viewer with an attitude of "What are you lookin' at?"

Most artists will break from their usual work from time to time to do something fun, something that has been in the back of their mind or sometimes totally random.

I had a lot fun with this one.55

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Oddly Orb-like

"Nocturne-Tree (Park w/lights)

oil on panel, 2008

4¾" x 3¾" (12.065cm x 9.525cm)

For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

A small nocturne... a ball of a tree, a park and suburban lights in the background. All that was needed for this image.

The tree unkept and over grown, no trunk showing, oddly orb-like, lit by a orangey/yellow sodium light.

From my imagination after having seen so many trees like this one. A simple image kept interesting by placing the tree off center and especially, consciously controlling or designing the shapes of lights and darks. The background lights added to give the inky dark some depth.54

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Aging Relic

"L.B. Plant ( Arco Oil Plant)"  SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

Back to one of my favorite subjects, the time worn industrial. This one an old oil plant from the 1930's or 40's, maybe the early 1950's I'm not sure.

The sky is actually darker than the photograph shows, and is a bit blurry here, so the painting looks better.

I always try to get the most accurate photo I can for my own archives, but sometimes I get so busy I don't have the time to spend. Always with regret once it's gone. Oh well, when I have the time I will adjust it in photoshop from memory then update it as I've done with the post 'Chilly Biting Air '.

This is the same site, different building, of the watercolor "Oil Plant Roof Detail" under the post heading ' Bleached White Sky '. An endlessly fascinating relic from a bygone era.

Painted in the fading light as the shadows slowly wick over the plant, consuming it once more in darkness. It's nearly a nocturne.

Dusk is my favorite time of day, I love the transition from day into night, so many of my paintings are at dusk. The temperature of air and color gradually cooling, forms melting together into single masses, the constant noisy clamor of day giving way to the sporadic crisper sounds of night.53

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Last Light 2

"Lighthouse at Dusk"

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

private collection

This painting is very much like the previous post except that it is nature instead of manmade. Both show how the subject is sometimes secondary. They are more about the light or time of day than they are the scene itself.

This is worth noting because as I have said in other posts, seeing is very often a matter of interpreting, choosing what to focus on, picking out some facet of what is in front of you and putting that to the image. And it does not always need to be a deep concept. Whether a finished work or a study, it can be simplistic, one idea.52

Click on image for larger view

Update-Previous Post

*I found a better photo of the painting "Power Pole #10(w/ rooftop)" under the post heading ' Chilly Biting Air ' in the May archives.

Last Light

"1st and Long Beach Blvd."

oil on panel, 2009

5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 3.5cm)

private collection

A Long Beach cityscape at dusk, looking west down 1st Street. The last light flaming against the landscape, forcing the skyline into silhouette. The suns final rays, left clinging to edges only in the gaps between brick, steel and concrete, being replaced by the lights of the city.51

Click on image for larger view

Icy Blue

"Blue Skyscraper(w/crane)"

oil on panel, 2009

5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)

private collection

A building in downtown LA near the end of it's construction, rising into the icy blue. This image shows the crane still in place. The yellow band at the top is part of it's construction and doesn't show after the building is finished.

Although I don't know if one was used here, sometimes you will see what is called a 'peri wall', which serves as a safety barrier for both the workers on top and pedestrians below. The wall is actually a device that climbs the outside of the skyscraper as each floor is added.

Technology is pretty amazing, and this serves as a nod to the engineers who dream this stuff up.50

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Value Thumbnails 1

Sketchbook thumbnails

pencil, 2010

page 12" x 9" (30.48cm x 22.86cm)
NSF

Here's a page of thumbnail sketches for paintings.

As I said in my post 'Imagination' it's good to work from your minds eye. It requires a different set of skills, forcing you to think differently than observation.

The purpose here is simple value studies, the distribution of lights and darks. Working out the graphic pattern first allows for a stronger composition. A foundation to build upon.49

Click on image for larger view

*Based on a comment (below, Thank you Erin) from a follower (link here), here is an update to this posting of thumbnails.
Each link will take you to paintings posted on my blog showing the finished painting from these thumbnail sketches, something that did not occur to me at the finish of each painting.


In the case of these I went from thumbnail directly to the painting since the paintings are small and needed no further preliminary work.
Some minor adjustments were made during the painting process, like switching to a horizontal format for the lower left thumbnail, adding figures to the upper left thumbnail, leaning the wall in the top row middle thumbnail, but the basic graphic pattern of the thumbnail essentially remained the same.


This is the benefit of doing quick value thumbnails. It gives me a quick visual without investing too much time, allowing me to see how strong the design is as well as decide what changes need to be made to improve the composition. As seen in the paintings, the changes made led to stronger images.


There are 3 others from the thumbnails not yet posted to blog. I will add them to this update as they are posted.


Links to paintings from thumbnails:
Bottom row left thumbnail
Top row left thumbnail
Top row middle thumbnail
Top row right thumbnail
Middle row middle thumbnail

Periscopes

"Approach to Gerald Desmond Bridge"

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

private collection

A bridge in the LA Harbor. I like this view, late in the day, for it's dark blue, almost black, approach. The bridge itself has an almost jewel-like appearance with it's perforated silhouette against the golden sky.

I also choose this over a more uninterrupted but typical view because the light poles punch into the sky like periscopes from a submarine. Their different orientations giving them an anthropomorphic manner, as though they are looking around. A common sight in industrial/machinery subjects if you're paying attention.

This is what I see and what I look for when searching for image subjects. Something slightly different. Now the painting is not solely about the bridge.48

Click on image for larger view

Short-lived

"Nocturne-Fireworks"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2009

8" x 10" (20.32cm x 25.4cm)

A quick study, broadly painted. In this case the only light is from the fireworks instead of the moon or a streetlight.

This stretches out the shadows and adds drama to the flickering, dancing light. Its harder edges and angular abstract light patterns give the image an artificiality appropriate to the short-lived subject.

It's only a matter of time before the pitch black closes in.47

Click on image for larger view

Duo Portraits

"Duane"

oil on panel, 2007

10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.32)

private collection

"Megan"

oil on panel, 2007

10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.32cm)

private collection

Here's two portraits I did as a wedding gift to the couple seen here.

Keeping in mind the intent of the portraits, that each was meant for the other, I made sure to choose reference where there was eye contact. And for a more personal image, using a tight cropping.

Megan was done from a photo taken by Duane, so it has a specific memory attached to it for him. After looking through several photos of Duane I selected this one for it's more emotional resonance.45,46

Click on images for larger view

Jarring

"Storage Yard Nocturne"   SOLD

oil on panel, 2010

5"x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

Horizon Fine Art Gallery

Industrial nocturne, just after a rain. Combining four of my favorite image elements or subjects; the nocturne, the industrial, rain, and a simple composition.

Much like I said in my post 'Of the Night' / "Nocturne-Lucy(Cat)", the simple image can be tricky. It needs to have something to hold your attention, some quality that stirs up memories, emotions, some drama... anything to prevent it from being boring.

Here a crisp cool night, a dark blue clearing sky, the scene soaked in the yellow sodium street light, the slick wet textured street, the harder lines of the foreground offset by the lingering fog.

Dangerously close to being too simple, the power pole, dissecting the composition just off center was needed to provide a jarring effect. Without it or the lit up electrical box at the far right the image isn't as compelling to me. Hopefully this painting is provocative to others in some way, so that the industrial motif is secondary.44

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Gritty

"Stack of Shipping Containers (w/ Sulfur Pile)"

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Painting small quick studies allows for experimenting without the time commitment should it not work out. Without regret, I have wiped away many failed attempts working at smaller sizes.

This oil shows a break from my usual palette. Using more black interspersed through-out gives it a more gritty look. Blurring the foreground to add some movement and indicating or suggesting forms rather than clearly delineating them for a more ambiguous effect.43

Click on image for larger view

Imagination

"Figure from Back-Reclining"    SOLD

oil on board, 2009

15" x 20" (38.1cm x 50.8cm)

Here's a figure study done recently, but without benefit of a model. Sometimes I will work from a previous drawing or do thumbnail sketches until I find something I want to work up in paint.

Even though it is better most of the time to have some kind of reference it's good to challenge yourself from time to time by working from your imagination. Many artist occupations require working this way since posing a model in true action poses, for instance, is almost impossible. Automotive designers are another example... there is no reference for what hasn't been done yet. And their designs must actually be built.

Either way, using your imagination uses a different set of skills than direct observation or working from a photo. I don't even want to lay any claims about which way is better, only that each is different and has it's own pros and cons. I will go so far as to say that working in one method helps improve the others. So that each time I work from direct observation it also strengthens my visualization skills or helps in 'deciphering' photo reference later. And though it may not seem so, working from imagination even helps improve working from a model, it teaches me to not always be so literal. They are just different disciplines.42

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Bleached White Sky

"Oil Plant Roof Detail"

watercolor on paper, 2010

9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)

For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Like my previous post, this subject is utility over beauty. Or at least inherent beauty.

So in this painting my concerns were about color and design.

A limited palette of mostly blue and brown with touches of grey and black.

Backlit and a bleached white sky helped give this image the contrast needed for a more abstract composition.

The cooler, darker blue and black provide a solidity for the heavy forms, but it's the accents of burnt sienna, the warmer blue in the vertical shadows and the light blue strip across the bottom that give the image some life.41

Click on image for larger view

Utilitarian

"Refinery, Power Poles, Saw Horse"    SOLD

watercolor on paper, 2009

9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)

This, in keeping with the last two posts, is to show some of my watercolors, another medium other than oil.

What drew me to this view was how it exemplified the utilitarian nature of the industrial subject. Nothing is there without serving or having served some purpose. Even in other images that may show the discarded, the forgotten, the untended, most everything in industry was created to execute a specific task or duty. No matter how mundane.

And while that may also be said about city, urban and nature subjects, these three more often are a blend of utility and aesthetics.

It is worth pointing out that there is plenty in industry that does have aesthetic concerns... automotive design, environmental design, architecture etc., but this painting is an example of function without aesthetics playing a direct role.

So aesthetics, if any, lies with how it is presented by the artist. A reflection of what the artist sees. Like so many still life artists that celebrate the common and the mundane, I felt this view was worthy of a look.

Not a glorious subject, not even a beautiful subject, but I am always struck by the similarities between refineries and cathedrals, their stacks and spires respectively, anchored in the heavy mass of their bases, piercing the skyline. Their ornate detail breaking up and sub-dividing their mass. That, for me, is compelling enough to show on it's own. That is what I see. Why not look at a subject out of context?

But as I said, I'm not looking to glorify the refinery here, so including the saw horse, power poles, and signs serve both as compositional devices to break up and fragment the picture plane and as reminders of their unsung status.40

Click on image to enlarge

Lone

"Lone Mojave Home"    SOLD

watercolor on paper, 2009

9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)

Here's a watercolor of a home out in the Mojave Desert. I always find dwellings like this rather strange because with the desert being so expansive, any lone building seems to be randomly dropped in place. There's no tree's to nestle in amongst, no rock formations, no stream, pond, lake... the house could just as easily be a few hundred yards in any direction and it would not matter.

And of course their one Christmas decoration, the string of lights tree, up year round (this from May) with it's lone star silhouetted against the desert sky further emphasizes it's singularity.39

Click on image for larger view

Corrugated 2-watercolor

"San Pedro Plant"                     SOLD

watercolor on paper, 2009

9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)

Horizon Fine Art Gallery

"Cole's Battery (w/ Oil Barrels)"    SOLD

watercolor on paper, 2009

9" x 12" (22.86cm 30.48cm)

As I said in my previous post 'Corrugated' I had done these watercolors of both of those groupings of corrugated buildings from different views.

Here, "Cole's Battery (w/ Oil Barrels)" was the actual name of the business that was formerly there and moved to another location before the site was razed. "Champion" , the title of the oil painting was named for the Champion Spark Plug logo painted on the wall. This view is of another smaller building on that site, looking east toward the LA Harbor. At the time this was painted the business had already left and a sort of reclamation was taking place with the weeds and vegetation springing up thru fractures in the asphalt. It had also apparently been serving as a home base for someone as evidenced by the hole in the chain link fence, the shopping cart and water hose dragged to the back.

"San Pedro Plant" is the same view as in "Shed Stack", but pulled back. It very much reminded me of the view of the house on the hill from the movie Psycho, so with that, I decided to paint it from this worms eye view, tilting the perspective to enhance that impression then adding the string of crows.

This was one of those paintings that about half way through was going downhill really fast. And with watercolor, painted in this more traditional method, fixing bad areas is usually out of the question. At this point I figured it was a loss anyway so I let go, threw down some unifying washes and was quite surprised it pulled together. It's true sometimes being too careful makes for bad paintings. Some of my better images are born out complete failure.37,38

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Saturated Hues 2

"Gorman Spring"

oil on panel, 2007

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

private collection

This was done after visiting Gorman California a few years back. Gorman is in the mountain pass north of Los Angeles and is known for it's spring wildflowers turning the hills into a patchwork of bright saturated hues.

You won't see this subject from me very often, as I'm not much of a floral artist. But in this case I really approached it from more of a landscape point of view.

My take on it includes the presence of man, a common motif in my work. The barbed wire fence in the foreground, road and power poles in the middle ground, and a favorite... contrails overhead. Contrails are fun because they allow me to carve up the sky, giving it some... substance, but without always having to rely on clouds.36

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Chilly Biting Air

*Updated image above

"Power Pole #10(w/ Rooftop)"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2009

5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)

From my Power Pole series, done at the end of 2009. The color here is a bit off, the painting has deeper tones, especially the blue background. With the deeper tones the image has that feel of the chilly, biting air of a cold December day, with only the slightest of warm tone/color to it.

Like others in the series, the wires zinging about provide that controlled chaos that draws me to this subject, but in this case what caught my eye was the pyramid shaped roofline and the sliver of building at the left that stabilized the chaos. And again, I love the simple, fundamental arrangement of shapes making up the composition.35

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*Update- I found a better photo of this painting since it was originally posted, although curiously enough I photographed it before I signed it, which I rarely do.

It is however more faithful to the painting itself. Generally, the colors are not as raw. Like I said in the text, this shows the deeper and richer tones as well as the more textural application of paint, giving me the 'heavy' skies I favor.

In Tune

"Seascape (w/ Lone Pelican)"

oil on panel, 2007

6" x 8" ( 15.24cm x 20.32cm)

private collection

Although small, this is one of those paintings I needed to spend a fair amount of time on in order to get the semi choppy texture of the water right. The pelican itself was not all that difficult to paint. In fact, my original intent was a texture study of the sea itself with nothing else, but having reached that point I decided to include the bird.

A lone pelican in this case so as not to stray too far from that original intent. I even like the fact that it sort of blends into the water instead of standing out. A statement to how wildlife must be more in tune to nature in order to abide her uncompromising ways.34

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'Of the Night ' 2

"Nocturne-Night Owl"

oil on panel, 2009

3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

private collection

Another perfect subject for the nocturne, the owl. Like the cat, made for the darkness. Night vision, stealthy, a silent predator.

Sitting high atop it's perch, a quick swoop, barely a whisper, an apparition out of the corner of your eye. Like so much wildlife, forced to adapt to urban environments.

As I said in my previous post 'Concrete Facades', this image could just as easily be a nature scene. Instead it's urban. Here I've substituted the power pole for a tree, the street light... a stand in for the moon. The only bit of nature, the tree top at the bottom, it's shape mirror's the owl.33

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'Of the Night'

"Nocturne-Lucy(Cat)"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2009

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

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

A perfect subject for the nocturne, the cat. Surreptitiously slipping through the hushed night without a sound. Low to the ground, quick light steps with a purpose. It's shadow the only thing to keep pace.

My sister's cat Lucy. I spent what seemed like forever trying to capture the night shot, no tripod, hand held, just clicking away... far more challenging than the daylight, especially a moving subject. I would get the shot but not the action, the action so familiar to us... fleeting, almost unseen.

I got it and put it to paint, a simple image in composition. The more simplistic an image the tougher it is to pull off. Without the shadow, without the hint of reflected light under her chin, and perhaps the three subtle flashes of light, the image would fall apart. I decided no real hard lines too, the softer edges of the long shadow, the dark mass above, the lost edges of tail and paws all add to the haunting effect.

The challenge with the simplistic is that the few elements that are included carry more weight. The graphic pattern of light and dark, texture, edges, whatever... it all has to work harder towards an end. This is true regardless of medium. Sculpture, design, photography, dance, music, etc., it's all the same.32

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Saturated Hues

"Spring Seascape"

oil on panel, 2010

6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

private collection

After the last entry I'm hoping this seascape will urge Mother Nature to finally deliver spring before it's time for summer. This painting is small but I have 5 or 6 medium sized ones in the works, I'll post them sometime soon, been working on these 'mini's' lately, recently sold 11 of them plus a slightly larger figure painting.

This is the So Cal spring I remember. As Mother Nature's temperament softens... the winter fades, the days lengthen and the sun arches higher... the colors in her palette get swept clean. The waters begin to calm and it warms up enough for water ballon fights. The horizon lays itself out once again... basking in the sun.

Although a horizon is not shown here, the pacific blue lightens as it moves towards it and as the sky reflects off it's surface. The deeper shades of winter replaced by the brighter, more saturated hues of spring.31

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