The Pensive Palette: Your Eyes

“Beheld”, 9”x12” acrylic on board     

“All art is at once surface and symbol.” (Oscar Wilde)

Art offers itself as both decorative and meaningful. Sometimes the meaning is minimal or self-evident. At its best, art is layered and mysterious. It can be a powerful tool for us to see inside ourselves and learn about the world. Art is a personal endeavor because our interactions are based on what we bring to the process. Our experiences, knowledge, preferences, and hearts help us hear when art is speaking directly to us. It is the difference between “that’s pretty” and “I gotta have that!”. 

Inspiring Image: South African Police Station

 South African Police Station, 12" x 17", oil; 1891 Sir Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956)

I quite like this quiet, understated painting of a South African police station from 1891 by Sir Frank Brangwyn. The field in particular is handled beautifully without being overly detailed.

From Behind the Easel: Descending Shadows

“Descending Shadows”, 24”x18”” oil on board

As some of you may know, our family has recently decided to make some shifts in our perspective and attempt to follow our own path.  What that means is we sold our house, took the kids out of school, and started accepting what the world was offering us.  Our plan is loosely structured and we make our decisions together.  The kids are all homeschooling (or as I like to say “lifeschooling”) and we are finding truly wonderful learning experiences outside of the traditional model.  This is something we have contemplated for many years and have finally had the courage to attempt.  We feel blessed to be in a position to take hold of this opportunity.

Our most recent excursion was moving ourselves eastward for nearly three weeks to house/kitty-sit for dear friends who were away in Europe.  We had the fabulous chance to experience living in the Okanagan valley, affectionately known as Napa North for the many world-class wineries.  The valley is the northern tip of the Sonora Desert and is a richly bio-diverse environment.  We were treated to amazing views of clouds rolling into the valley below while mule deer and bighorn sheep grazed the property.  Needless to say the inspiration for painting was prevalent and I look forward to what will come from our stay there.

Here is a painting I did based on previous trips to the area.  You can see the beautiful rock outcrop as a backdrop to the understated beauty of the sagebrush, all backlit by the beautiful Okanagan light.  You can see another painting I did from the area in my post from May 17, 2014.

Inspiring Image: A Wild Life

“Resting Cat”, 22”x42”, acrylic on board, Bob Kuhn (1920-2007)

Bob Kuhn was a master of modern wildlife painting and a true original.  He began his career in art as an illustrator for magazine covers and calendars.  His early work feels a bit stiff in its execution, which was likely required by the graphic nature of the commercial world he worked within.  Once he moved into fine art painting full-time, his work began to take on a more organic quality with special attention paid to paint application and texture.  With his keen eye developed from years of drawing from life, Kuhn’s subjects are expertly rendered and often in wholly unique poses.

Kuhn is known for his deceivingly simple compositions with their signature horizontal formats and flat fields of color.  These large areas of color are often beautifully designed shapes with complex textures achieved by many layers paint applied with brush, palette knife, and finger.  Kuhn’s work is all the more impressive because he worked with acrylics, a medium that can be tricky to use in a painterly fashion.  His main subject matter was North American big game, although he beautifully captured African and Asian species as well.

From Behind the Easel: Colour Me Glad

“Autumn’s Embrace”, 24”x18”” acrylic on canvas

Autumn is here and my heart leaps.  The shortened days and crisper temperatures remind us that the year is quickly sliding into the darker half.  We collect our bounty as we brace against the barren time ahead.  Our thoughts turn inward while personal journeys of recollection take hold.  But before we shutter ourselves away for the winter, we are treated to nature’s triumph of color.  The artist in autumn is offered the most freedom to explore a vivid palette while remaining true to the source.

My painting “Autumn’s Embrace” features a pair of cedar waxwings against the turning leaves of an aspen.  I love to walk among stands of aspen as they filter the light and gently quake in the breeze.  Their turning leaves have almost a pointillist quality and I decided to frame the tree in my painting quite closely so it has a slightly abstract feel to it.

From Behind the Easel: Music To My Eyes

"Interlude", 16"x28", acrylic on board

Aside from nature, music is my biggest inspiration.  I am pretty sure I was a bass player in a previous life, and often dream of life as a musician.  In some ways, music is more important to me than art for the simple fact that music is always on in our home.  Even when art has to take a back seat to daily life, music is a constant.  Music lifts my spirit and helps me reach inside for creative energy. 

Although I can only imagine what it must feel like to create musical magic, I can use music and musical ideas for my own purposes.  My painting “Interlude” features a cougar drinking at a pool under moonlight.  An interlude in music is a short piece inserted between the longer parts of a composition.  It is a small rest from the larger themes and allows us to reflect upon what we are experiencing.  I have shown the cougar taking a short break from his nighttime activities.  We, in turn, are allowed to pause for a moment as we enjoy this intimate scene.

The Pensive Palette: You Light Up My Life

“Water Dance”, 12”x16”, oil on board

Most realist painting includes an element of what we see.  The majority of people think we see stuff.  The reality is we see light reflecting off of stuff.  How we see the stuff depends on the quality, intensity, and color of the light source that allows us to see the object.  As a painter, it is important to remember we are capturing the effects of light on objects.  Developing a keen eye and ability to really see light is paramount.  We need to be able to distinguish subtle changes and shifts in light quality.  The more we understand the world around us, the more we can dissect and reconstruct it in our art.

My painting “Water Dance” is all about the gorgeous, fleeting time of day before sunset known as the magic hour.  The sun’s light is nearing the horizon and traveling at a more severe angle, needing to pass through more air molecules.  Short blue and violet light waves are scattered by the atmosphere and longer orange-red light waves pass through unaffected.  This produces the warm glow we see on objects near sunset.  

The observant artist can study all the light around them and make use of quality, direction, and color of light to convey time of day as well as mood and emotion.

Inspiring Image: Duck Dynasty

“Goldeneye”, 7”x10” acrylic on board (2013), Robert Steiner

  

When I began my professional art career I worked within the confines of the established world of wildlife art.  I love portraying the beauty of the natural world and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.  My introduction into this genre came from exposure to duck stamp art that was popular where I grew up.  Paintings were chosen each year to be turned into stamps purchased by duck hunters as proof of registration.  The proceeds in turn helped purchase and protect wetland habitat.  I am proud that a number of my paintings have been used for land conservation over the years.

My biggest inspiration in the duck stamp world is Robert Steiner.  I first met Bob at an art show in Michigan and he was very encouraging to the dreams of a then 13 year-old aspiring artist.  We met again years later at another art show as fellow exhibitors and have remained friends since.  Over the years he has continued to push the boundaries of realist painting and redefine duck stamp art.  He is the most decorated artist in stamp art history with 82 winning designs including two federal wins.  To see more of Bob’s work please visit www.steinerprints.com.

From Behind the Easel: Restful Rising

Restful Rising,   9”x12”, oil on board

We have safely returned from our family vacation to witness my youngest brother happily wedded.  After a wonderful week of travel and celebration it is now time to get back to our routines...  

To honor the beginning of my brother’s marriage and my return to blogging, I offer a small token of a painting.  “Restful Rising” depicts a pair of American Avocets greeting the sun as it crests the horizon to begin the new day.  Every event we encounter in our lives, monumental or miniscule, is an opportunity to renew our celebration of life.  

Inspiring Image: Elevating History to Mythology

“Bocklin’s Tomb” (1901) by Ferdinand Keller (1842-1922)

Ferdinand Keller was a German painter classically trained in landscape and portraiture with an interest in historical subject matter.  In his later years, he was heavily influenced by the Swiss Symbolist painter Arnold Bocklin. Keller was drawn to Bocklin’s love of the Romantic era and his portrayal of fantastical worlds.  After seeing the work of Bocklin, Keller made the shift from historical themes to those of mythology and magic.

Upon Bocklin’s death in 1901, Keller honored his memory with the beautiful painting “Bocklin’s Tomb”.  Here he references Bocklin’s own painting “The Isle of the Dead”, and creates his vision of how Bocklin might wish to be visually eulogized.  The painting wonderfully combines a sense of the real with a feeling of fantasy, and somehow we know this place only exists on canvas even though it looks real.  In doing so, Keller has fittingly elevated Bocklin from art history to mythology.

From Behind the Easel: Pacific Rhythm

 Pacific Rhythm | 18”x36” | acrylic on board

This coming week we will be in the San Francisco Bay Area to help celebrate my youngest brother’s wedding.  As we return to our home of seven years, I am reminded of many wonderful times.  We loved to hike along the coast where the primordial elements come together in sometimes harsh, but always fascinating and beautiful ways.  Storms rolling in across the ocean inspire both awe and respect for the power you can literally feel as waves crash against the shore.

My painting “Pacific Rhythm” is from reference gathered near Halfmoon Bay just south of San Francisco along Highway 1.  Our planned hike originally had us continuing along this stretch of beach for a while, but as the storm rolled in and the tide rose quickly, we didn’t go beyond the rocky point seen here in the painting.  We were warned by some local folks that we would likely get stranded until the tide receded after midnight if we did.  Worse yet, we could easily get swept out to sea by the rising swells and crashing waves.  We opted for a hot chocolate at a cozy café instead, and I lived to paint the picture you see here.

The Pensive Palette: The Value of Art

The most important component of creating anything visual is value and value relationships.  Value is the how light or dark something appears and is based on a grey scale with black and white at the ends of the scale.  Although we describe them as colors, black, white, and the neutral greys in between are not technically colors, but values of light and dark.  Every color, however, has a value that is used to describe its lightness or darkness.  This is particularly helpful when trying to see the relative differences in values between multiple colors.

When designing a image, it is paramount to think in times of value before color.  Experience allows an artist to see value and color at the same time, but it is still helpful to work in black and white (and grey) in the early stages of design.  Color rarely saves a bad value design and usually only furthers the issue.  In fact, when an artist begins with a strong eye for value , almost any color scheme can be used as long as the colors chosen match the values in the design.

In my painting, “Magnificat”, you can see how I’ve used many colors to enhance the visual interest of the lion, but in black and white the values of those colors are similar enough to not distract from the overall design. 

Inspiring Image: Story in Art

"The Blind Beggar" | Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

I love an image that can tell an entire story.  The greatest paintings give enough visually to allow us go into our imaginations without providing everything.  We are free to interpret and create our own version of what we see.  Great art offers itself wholly yet remains mysterious, open to reinterpretation as we grow with it.  Great art offers a window into our own hearts.

What story do you see when you look upon this boy and his faithful companion? 

The Pensive Palette: I Am Robert Genn

As an artist, I feel a part of a greater community, a brother and sisterhood of creative people searching for beauty, truth, and meaning.  While I work by myself, I know I’m not alone in these pursuits.  When I see art that touches me, or a song that moves me, I feel connected to that artist because we have shared a part of the journey together.  I take a little part of that person’s spirit and place it within me, hoping to pass it along to someone else.  This is the greatest gift of art.

I recently wrote about the passing of artist Robert Genn.  His love of painting, and especially his exploration of the why’s and how’s of making art, live on in everything he touched.  A little piece of his spirit is carried by all of us.   

Here is a small study I did a few years ago in Genn’s style.  It is not a copy of one of his paintings, but an exercise in taking my own reference and trying to think like he did.  In making choices that are different from my own tendencies, I learn how to see outside of myself. 

From Behind The Easel: 'Another Time'

"Another Time" | Medieval Town North of Paris | 12" x 8" | oil on board

We had the good fortune to be invited to a lovely wedding in a chalet about an hour north of Paris.  On the way back, we meandered through this lovely town and I felt I wanted to capture the intimacy and charm.

Inspiring Image: Celebrating Artist Robert Genn

by Robert Genn (1936-2014)

On Tuesday May 27th, the art world lost a friend and inspiration.  Robert Genn was a Canadian painter best known for capturing the landscape of his homeland and many travels around the world.

His personal style was heavily influenced by the Group of Seven painters, as well as the iconic Emily Carr, whom he met when he was a boy growing up in Victoria, BC.  His career began in illustration but evolved into full time fine art pursuits when his passion could no longer be held in check.  He went on to enjoy a long and commercially successful career garnering international acclaim.

Despite his successes, Genn never lost sight of his love of painting.  The physical act and ritual of starting from a blank canvas fuelled his desire.  His passion for travel and painting outdoors only grew over time, and his art is beloved by many.

Perhaps his greatest gift was the free website he started many years ago to act as a meeting place for artists.  He brought like-minded people together, gathered art/inspirational quotes from around the world, and provided a semi-weekly newsletter about his ideas for making and selling art.

Robert Genn was an inspirational pillar in our artist community.  His generous spirit will be missed and never forgotten.  His legacy lives on as his daughter Sara Genn, a highly successful artist herself, continues the tradition of the weekly newsletter.

To see more of Robert Genn's work and check out his free resource website for creative minds, please go to www.robertgenn.com and click on the Painters Keys Community.

The Pensive Palette: The Value of Mirror Image

‘Stillness’ (Study) | 16”x20” | oil on canvas

We all have a natural bias when creating a composition.  Our brains feel more comfortable leaning one way or the other when looking at the visual weight of a design. 

Usually, we aren’t aware that this is happening and will only see it when someone else’s “fresh” eye point it out.  How can we catch it before this happens?  The easiest way is to look at the image in reverse. 

If you are working digitally, simply flip the image over and you will immediately notice if the piece is unbalanced.  If you are working on something physical, look at the image in a mirror.  I like to get at least 10-15 feet away from the painting and use a hand mirror over my shoulder.  If your studio is small, take the work outside.  You can also take a digital photo and reverse it horizontally. 

In time you can start to notice your tendencies and address them while working, but old habits die amazingly hard!

Inspiring Image: Artist Frederick Mulhaupt

Frederick Mulhaupt (1871-1938) was an American painter specializing in East coast harbour scenes and landscapes in the early 20^th century.  He concentrated most of his efforts in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, and often depicted the fishing and working docks.   Mulhaupt, along with Winslow Homer, helped romanticize Gloucester with his beautiful paintings that showed the area in every season.

He was often seen working on studies directly from life which he then took back to his studio to help him create larger masterpieces.  These small works, often 8”x10”, are full of energy, and show his keen eye for color and value.  

In the selected painting, you can see his frenetic brushwork rushing to capture the fading light of the day as the shadows creep further into his frame.  He expertly implies detail with carefully layered paint that resembles a jigsaw puzzle.  What a gem!

From Behind the Easel: Gentle Reflection

‘Gentle Reflection | Canada Geese | 24”x36” oil (available on Etsy!)