Recent Landscape Activity

7/27/19  

Rockin' it Pein-air 

A quick dash up the Turquoise Trail to some rocks I have been scouting.

I stood in full sunlight as was the pallet and art panel.

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7/21/19  

Dralorint: verb,  Dra-lor'-int. 

Pertaining to landscape painting: simultaneous action of drawing on a canvas with a close proximation of a desired color applied with a paint brush to canvas in the hope of not globing on gobs of muck that no sane person would recognize as the rendition intended.

Today's efforts. The silly wordplay above loosely describes the mindset I went out with today to paint. This go I was more focused on getting color on the brush and then drawing as opposed to a more blocking in approach where soft vague shapes are then refined. I feel as if I did not get as lost in the inevitable gobs of muck that would stop me from continuing in previous attempts. 

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7/19/19   

A Little Digital on the Side Please  

Studio work on a plein air painting from last year. Began some shadow work to background but when I got to the foreground trees I just could not see it from the forest so I thought to bring a pic of it into an iPad APP so as to define it without mucking up the painting surface.

Original plein air work

Same panel with work done to all areas except foreground trees and sky.  I simplified the composition by removing the mid-ground clump of trees that originally held my attention but created dule initial focus points (artist license 
PSA-1978-0369).

iPad file with original image layer lightened. I drew on another layer in red to define foreground tree structures and added some shadow definition to be added.  These additions will locate the foreground trees creating more depth.

(more to come)

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7/15/19   

Size did not matter 

Two recent plain'air pieces done nearby in the Cibola National Forest. I was concerned that working small would prove difficult but was so encouraged by these that I put together a field pack to use for outdoor work (see below). I'll have a go at revising these two so as to get my studio painting gear in order and post the progress.

8x10 on tinted gessoed panel.

8x10 on tinted gessoed panel.

The field pack packed and deployed.

progress

http://lad-studio.blogspot.com/2017/03/connecting-back-to-old-studies-to.html

Recent Ruminations

Culling and collating

While sifting through my back sketches, looking for candidates for a series of observed life paintings, I paused on these. They did not make the cut but do mark a time in my life, oh let's say, 20+ years ago.

Memory sketch, San Francisco

Small sketch from life

Small sketch from life

Small sketch from life

 

Large Sketch Test

Continuing the large sketch
material test

This time, working from a 5 min sketch from the previous post, I started with charcoal pencil drawing, staying in the 5-10min mentality, then rubbed a medium grey pastel over the entire page (no pic of that, dang-it). The Charcoal drawing worked as a ghosted image as I worked the contours, lite and shadow sides with Conte sticks.

Back and forth at the light and darks, smudge a bit, repeat.... STOPPPPP!

Select images for larger view

Nutmeg Ballet Session

Grateful to Five Points Gallery and the The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts for the opportunity to draw the dancers.

Used some different materials and worked on a larger scale. Still experimenting with the right combo of materials for working large. 

White and black conte crayons this time. Click on image for larger view.

Old Studies

Connecting back to old studies
to determine a new direction

There was a time, 1990 or so ago, that I attempted to gather enough observed moments and work them into paintings. Life intervened and the project shelved, fortunately I saved them. 

I'll be looking for new inspiration in the coming months to add to the possibilities. 

This one is a strong contender. Observed while waiting in a church for the deceased to arrive.

I think this one is too focused on the activity. A patron observing or showing prospective sale or purchase of some art to an antique dealer. 

This one works for me even tho is has a humorous side. Two active boys in hooded snorkel coats snagging some candy.

These two I worked up into larger pastels back in the day. I may have a color slide of the final work, may.

These two I like but are so focused on the individual.

This page was all imagined moments, they seem too narrative to me.

Early '90s sketches

To go forward sometimes you need to look back

Been inspired lately to get back into working from observed moments, however fleeting, then work them into paintings.

Was at it back in the 90's. Started out just sketching people often long after they had left, called them memory sketches.

Next I'll post some that I developed further into compositional studies for paintings. 

I think the guy on the right was in medical garb.

Brown ink with white on toned paper

Brown ink with white on toned paper

Black ball point pen with white on toned paper

Graphite

Degas' little bronze dancer. Brown ink on white paper

Recent Figure Work

Part of prepping for the new sessions of figure drawing involves cleaning out the old art and checking supplies.

Some of the 2016 effort here.


Click on image for larger view