Art Blog - What Makes A Painting Work

Two challenges presented themselves from the outset in painting this view from under the wharf at Santa Cruz, California. Light comes from multiple points, coming round in all directions to pierce the darkness under the wharf. The far side of the wharf admits an almost blinding light as the sun sparkles on the water. Shadows from the supports are cast at many points and from many directions in varying intensity. The second challenge is created by the large number of straight lines which could carry the eye beyond the picture plane and away from the focal points… Continue reading… 0 comments

Celebrating What You Value via Your Art Ideas are everywhere. You can't begin to paint all of the paintings that are lined up_no, they are pushing and shoving one another-- for your attention. Except, sometimes... Some days the inspiration center wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. You are caught in doom and gloom and a drab landscape of the mind, the creative side of your is just grousing around. In other aspects of life when caught in such a mood, it helps to act like a happy energetic person. Behavioral scientists tell us that when we act happy we are more likely to become happy. When we behave with energy we create energy. The brisk walk, the run, the dance session, energize instead of exhausting us. Uninspired? Act inspired… Continue reading… 2 comments

"Nothing but blue skies from now on," is marvelous as a song lyric or as a description of perfect vacation weather, but rather risky as a painting strategy. Solid blue skies shout. They make statements. They take over. Avoid them as you would avoid a pushy but boring guest at a social gathering. Skies can add to the harmony of a composition. Color and pattern are both important. When you look at sky in a photograph taken on a clear day, it presents a rather solid even blue. The real skies overhead send all matter of colors bouncing back at your eyes. Thus skies can benefit from touches of other colors in the palette that you use for that particular painting… Continue reading… 2 comments

A scant few oak leaves had just begun to color. The oaks grew along the edge of a Sierra trail in a place that would have been awkward to set up to paint. I photographed them for later work in the studio, framing the scene with the camera as I intended to paint it. It was horizontal with a great deal of the dusty greens of late summer/early fall and the yellow leave in the lower left hand area, in a text book example of one of the perfect focal point locations. However, I did not like the first painting effort following that plan. There were large amounts of dark areas, with the eye drawn to the bright leaves and staying there. In the next effort I went to a vertical composition, using only one third of the leafy area I had originally painted… Continue reading… 2 comments