Summer Shore, 12 x 18

I just wrapped up this painting last night and wanted to post a few progress photos. When painting in plein air or working on studio landscapes, I usually incorporate some buildings or man-made objects. It helps me focus my attention on something strong and hard-edged and affords me the freedom of leaving the grass and foliage very loose. Not having that support in this painting was a big difference for me and makes me respect those landscape artists that do it so well.

Douglas Fryer

I love the outdoors, and painting in plein air is probably my favorite thing to do. I have always wanted to focus more time on painting landscapes, but have always felt that humanity, emotion and storytelling always speak louder through figurative pieces (plus, if you can paint an awesome portrait, chances are, you'll be able to paint a great landscape or still life too). That being said, I want to spend some time this summer and do a few landscapes, something more than just the little study that I usually do.

I have a couple favorite landscape artists, and Douglas Fryer is somewhere near the top of my list. I just saw this video produced by Marshall-LeKae Gallery in Scottsdale, and thought it was worth mentioning (the intro is weird and 1 minute long . . . just bear with it, it gets better).

You can check out more of his paintings on his blog/archive here

Some of my other favorite landscape artists are:
Scott Christensen
Dennis Sheehan
John Taft
Michael Godfrey
and many others

Who are some of your favorites?

New Painting with progress photos

I just wrapped up this painting for entry into the Salmagundi Clubs Annual Non-Member show. The source is from a Putney Painter session a couple months back, and my studies from that day were extremely helpful in keeping as much "from life" flare to this painting as possible. 

Above is my initial sketch done in pencil. Just a 15 minute placement of all the important features, making sure I had everything fitting in the canvas.

 I then went right into splashing some paint around for a loose background, and then started blocking in the head. I painted the head first in the two main values, the dark and then light side of the head, then slowly went into the details, trying to only paint what I thought was necessary.

 This is the end of the first evening of painting, probably 2:30 hours at this point

From here, I just worked my way out from the head. The photo source was very different from what I witnessed from life (you never notice this when just doing things from photos . . . when you paint something from life, and then paint the same thing from a photo, that's when you start realizing what photography robs you of). Some examples of the differences was the washed out highlights on the guitar and sofa, the varying texture of the scarf, and the color of the shirt (which in the photo was very grey, but in my studies, very purple/blue)

Here I moved into the details of the guitar and the hand (the hand is painted with only three colors/values -- the light side, the dark side, and then the middle value that can be seen in the angle shift of the fingers)

And here is the final painting

Song for Putney, 12 x 18 oil on linen mounted to board

Painting Winner

Through random selection (random.org), the winner of a free painting is Wesley Ryan Clapp. Congratulations to Wesley and thank you all for coming back again and again to read what's new in my life and journey.

I hope to keep posting more and more relevant content and hopefully do another give away in the near future.

Free Painting!

In recognition of reaching 100 followers, I have decided to clean out my shelves and give away a painting to one of my followers.

I will randomly select the winner on Wed the 25th from whoever is following my blog through the blogger widget on the right side of the page. The current 101 followers will get double the chance, while any new followers will get a single chance.

The winner will get to choose from one of the two paintings below. Both are fairly recent, roughly 12 x 16" and painted with oil on linen mounted to either birch or gatorboard. Unframed, but with free shipping.

Thank you all for the interest you have shown in me and my painting adventures. Feel free to tell your friends about the give away!

Also, when I reach 500 followers, I'll do the same thing again . . . so even if you don't win this time, hopefully we will be doing this again soon. Good Luck.

American Masters at SCNY

I was in NYC today for some business and had the opportunity to stop at the Salmagundi Club and see the American Masters show. To my surprise, Nancy Guzik's finished painting of me playing my guitar was in the show.

To see where she had previously left the painting, check out this old post.

Some of the highlights of the show was a portrait by David Leffel, some paintings by Quang Ho, and a few Schmid paintings.

Since I just had a post on Rose Frantzen, I also took some photos of her painting from the show. . . that reflection is pretty cool!

To learn more about the club, go to their site

Close-up of Daniel Gerhartz

Rose Frantzen Video

I ran across the below video today and found myself watching it all the way through. The video is of artist Rose Frantzen speaking at her show in the National Portrait Gallery last year. The show consisted of 180 12x12 portraits of the people in her hometown,  Maquoketa (mah CO ket ah).

In the video she tells stories of the people, the materials and the processes that went into painting all of those portraits.



Rose studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and while there, painted at the Palette & Chisel where she met and studied under Richard Schmid. Later, she also attended the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, studying anatomy with the late Dean Keller.

Rose paints mainly figurative and allegorical paintings and has an ever evolving style -- painting thin and layered for one painting, and then loose and thick for these alla prima portraits.

She has a book about the portraits here. It has been on my book list for a while now, and after watching this video and seeing all the paintings, I think the book has moved up to the top of the list.

If you want to see more of her work, visit her site at Old City Hall Gallery
If you want to view some process videos of two portraits, visit her brothers site here

Dennis Miller Bunker

Portrait of Walter Griffin

I'll be turning 29 later this year, and a recent conversation with some other artists (about trying to "make it" as a young painter) reminded me of an artist that only lived till 29, yet had an amazing career.

Jessica - 1890

Dennis Miller Bunker (1861-1890) was born in New York City and studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League with William Merritt Chase. He attended the Ecole des Beaux Art in Paris, learning from Jean-Leon Gerome. After graduating in 1885, he returned to the United States and took a job in Boston teaching at the Cowles Art School. That same year Bunker had his first one-man exhibition at the Noyes & Blakeslee Gallery in Boston.

In 1887 Bunker met John Singer Sargent during Sargent's visit to Boston, and in 1888, spent the summer with Sargent at Calcot Mill in England painting in plein-air. That summer was a turning point for Bunker's painting style as he became greatly influenced by impressionism and turned to brighter colors and looser brushwork. He brought this style back with him to Boston and was praised for his new work.

John Singer Sargent - Dennis Miller Bunker Painting at Calcot

Bunker always felt like an outsider in Boston's society and in the Spring of 1889 resigned his teaching position at Cowles Art School, lived briefly that summer at Medfield, Massachusetts, and then moved back to New York City. Earlier that year he had met Eleanor Heady of Boston and they were married in October 1890. They moved into Sherwood Studios in New York City, but during a visit to Boston that Christmas Bunker fell ill and died at the age of 29.

Portrait Sketch of Eleanor Hardy Bunker

Within those 12 years from training to death, Bunker had accomplished more than most of us would ever achieve in a lifetime. It's quite a reality check! I guess I should get painting.

To view several letters written by Bunker, go to the smithsonian site here
To see a neat little overview of Bunker, check out the Qwiki

Portrait of Anne Page

Second Portrait of a Woman

Putney Painters - March 29

I had another good day painting with Richard Schmid, Nancy Guzik and the rest of the Putney Painters last Saturday. Our time was focused on the importance of a good block-in, and how it can either be a great painting all by itself, or set the path to a more polished work.

The day before, Richard and Nancy painted our model Jake at their studio, practicing the techniques we were trying to accomplish on Saturday. Below are two of Nancy's, which were each painted in under 2 hours! (Richards was equally impressive, I just didn't have a chance to photograph it)

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Because of this stress on block-ins, we divided the day into two, 2 1/2 hour poses. Our goal was to squint down, paint the largest shapes first, avoid detail, and nail down the important stuff -- like edges, relationships & drawing. The first pose had a light positioned low on the figure which was really fun and something new for me. (a photo of the actual setup is below the images)

 Richard's Study

 Nancy's Study

My Block-In

The second pose was a more traditional set up (see the opening photo). Nancy's painting below was the best of the session, and the light, composition, & technique were working so well together -- I'll be keeping my eye out for this finished painting. Another champion of the day was Dick McNeil who had two nice block-ins. The below photo is of Dick and Richard during the second session, along with his second painting.