Minnehaha Creek Nocturne

As February winds to a close I thought I would add another painting and talk about painting in general. I waited six years before attempting this painting. I did not think I was ready to try painting in the dark. I am glad I waited! I was comfortable with my equipment and surroundings and felt pretty much at ease. I am not afraid of cold weather {it was zero} and have a great light that I use for ice fishing as well as painting.I have great winter clothes and can tolerate it well. The light I use is a strap on headlamp for campers and hikers. The one I have has 3 led lights with a flip down red lens cover that preserves your night vision. I highly recommend  these for painters as they are light weight and leave your hands free. I used a fairly limited pallete on this painting,aliziron red, Paynes grey, yellow ohcre ,Indotherene blue,pthalo green,english red,and cerealian blue.oh and a manganese purple.

    I did not tone the canvas but started right in with the sky and then the background and foreward from there. I also laid in my darks thicker than in a daylight painting.Kinda reversed painting darks light  and lights heavy. i spent 2 hours in the field and 1 hour at home finishing it up. I am very happy with the results although it is not a F.T.Johnson or a Remington it has a nice feel to it. I cant wait to do another! I believe that if you want to try something try it.If it doesnt go well find out why and try again. This is how I taught myself how to paint,one brush stroke at a time.If you have a good feel for nature and sense of how things look than it will help in painting from life. I think that age helps in landscape painting to a certain degree. If you are familiar  with your subject it is easier to paint. Since the beginning of February I have painted 12 of Minnehaha Creek From Minneapolis to Edina and that prepared me for the nocturne. I will share a few of these in my next entry. Until then Happy painting! Bob

Bridge Paintings

Greetings! We have had yet another taste of winter here,several new inches of snow. This winter reminds me of the old fashioned ones from years ago! Have been getting out to paint on the nicer days and have been concentrating on the bridges that span Minnehaha Creek which is at the end of the block I live on. I cant really explain why I started painting them but find them interesting and good subject matter. Plus they are so close and easy to get to with out a long walk... I am finding that if one dresses for the weather it is really a lot of fun to paint snow. It is a interesting subject to paint as the light plays subtle effects on the snow.
   It requires a lot of white paint although I never ever use it out of the tube always mixing it with warms and cools.  I have gone through 4 large tubes of white and am waiting for my new batch to arrive. I am trying out Lefranc white as I understand it is very white and is also easy to manage in cold weather. I have also started to include some cobalts in my pallete, Violet and Turquoise which add soft but very pleasing color to snow.

  When painting a bridge I want it to be the focal point but not overpower the painting. I  like to lead you to the bridge with a lot of foreground and keep the bridge in the background.  The object of this is to give you the impression of being out on a walk and seeing the bridge in the background and deciding whether or not to cross or turn around. When painting in the winter it is possible to get at the water level if you know the current flow beneath the ice. It is Not advisable to wander out on any creek without knowing this beforehand!! A long walk back to your car with a wet leg is not on the list of fun things you want to experience!

Just some random Thoughts and a New Work

I have been laid up for almost a month due to foot surgery,Have not been out painting since the second week of Jan. I had no idea how much I would miss it. Sure I have been painting in the studio but it is not the same as being out grabbing the essence of the scene and slapping paint on canvas.I love the smell of turp in the morning!    
Above is the last plein aire that I did before my hiatus. 24x30  finished the snow back in the studio.I am very happy with this painting, I think it came out well and it looks nice in a frame. This was done on a warmer day late morning to early afternoon. I would like to know how to take better photos or have them look better on the net but this will have to do.

2010

This is the start of the next decade in my life. Could be my last but keeping fingers crossed I make it through.As a painter this will be an important one for me as I should fully develop and improve on my way of painting. I feel I am close but not there yet as I am sure most painters feel. The landscapes I paint will no doubt look different over the years both in style and brushwork and most importantly to me values.this is my passion,to get the right value in the right spot. Painting snow is one of my favorite things and I wish it was not going to be below zero for the weekend as i would love to get out in it.Will see how the wind is. Hope all who read this have a safe and fun New Years Eve. See you next year

About Me

Well on with the story. After school I got married and had a little girl and proceeded to spend the next 18 years working to support said wife and child. never mind work history,it is boring and not relevant to my art although it provided me with incentive to change,I started wood carving back in the late 80's and enjoyed it. I was an fanatical fisherman and carved fish. I taught myself how to carve and paint fish over the course of a few years and got pretty good at the carving aspect. Maybe I will post a image of one of my carvings, First have to take pic.. Any way my wife is allergic to wood dust so there ended my carving unless I did not want the wife. Cheaper and easier to give up on carving! I then started painting Fish on masonite using acrylics in their underwater environment.Trust me We are getting to the end of this tale!!My neighbor happened to be Brian Stewart who is a member of Plein Aire Painters Of America. See we are getting to the end! Anyways he looked at my work and suggested I switch to oils and start painting from life. After giving me a demo in my backyard and commenting on how easy it was I took the bait and have been hopelessly hooked from that point on. Basically self taught took a Atelier workshop with Ciceile Hartleib a student of Allan Banks that taught me quite a bit. Another one with Brian Stewart which taught me a little more and the rest is pure me with all the other influences that one can find on the net or museum. have been very fortunate to have the friendship Of Bob Bonawitz who is a great landscape painter who more so than anyone else helped turn me into a painter. I owe him allot of thanks for showing me the way. There now you know. the secret is out I am an Untrained Artist. I manage my addiction with out group support and use home remedies to treat my affliction. I will now on focus more on the painting side after this long winded tale. It takes awhile when you are 54 to fill in the blanks. So onward and upward to the new blog!

First Post A hopefully brief history of me

Never thought that someday I would be sitting at a keyboard writting about myself and art. I took typing in 9th grade  almost 40 years ago! I find all this tech stuff fascinating and a little strange for a guy who grew up in the late 50's and 60's. I remember Dick Tracy talking into his watch and now people walk around with bluetooths plugged in their ears. Used to be when you saw someone walkng down the street talking to themselves you avoided them cause you know they just might be a touch off? So anyway here I sit. I am almost 54 and learning all these new things so I guess there is hope for us old dogs. I always wanted to be an artist just took a long time. I was the typical kid drawing his way through school not concentrating on anything in particular, just bumping along. Did a brief tour in the Army and decided that being an artist would be way better than a deisel mechanic..Upon getting out I enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and took a year of fine art education until my money ran out. So ended my formal education as an artist. Will continue on next post.