So now we're starting to get somewhere! Here I'm starting to flesh out the rest of the painting. I'm still underpainting this image, trying to build it up layer by layer while constantly pushing the values where they need to go. This kind of image with all its linear structure is very intriguing to me; I like to lay down lines then make them disappear then find ...
Read MoreOkay, here's the second major step in the art piece. The initial layout has a lot going on: lots of lines and grid marks. I decided to lay in the sky first to give me a sense of atmosphere and help define my negative space. Sometimes the best way to begin a work is by painting the spaces you are not trying to define; "painting what isn't" as someone once ...
Read MoreYea! School is out, which means I finally have some uninterrupted studio time. I had an interesting semester teaching 2D design, which is a basic pre-req for all art majors plus a gen ed course for other majors. It comprises a bunch of little projects designed to teach basic composition, color theory, that kind of thing. It was fun but exhausting, and it's a really good thing to be back ...
Read MoreSo here's a new piece from the studio. This piece is 30x40" in size on stretched canvas, and I was trying to capture a certain effect of light we notice along this stretch of I70 pretty much every time we come back home from the Front Range of Colorado. We usually hit this area, no matter the season, at the peak of sun glare, yet it is beautiful. This piece ...
Read MoreHere are some images from "Elemental," my current show at Planet Earth & the 4 Directions Gallery located at 524 Colorado Avenue here in Grand Junction CO. The show looks great; please stop by and check it out. We're having a huge Earth Day Dance Party on April 22nd; art show opens at 7pm and the music starts at 8pm. Charles King, who also teaches at Mesa State College, and ...
Read MoreWow--so there is a series of work that has been floating around in the back of my mind for at least a year now but has never made it to the studio because I haven't found the right execution for it yet. It stems from wanting to take my drawings to another level and not being proficient enough in printmaking to make that happen yet. It also has something to ...
Read MoreSo here's a classic de-construction of an image, starting with the finished piece and working backwards through the underpaintings to the initial outline. This piece is titled "Unaweep Ranchers," it is an oil on canvas and is 36x48" in size. I laid this one out a little differently than I usually do. Since I wanted the final image to be very low-key in color, I rendered the underpainting monochromatically using ...
Read MoreYes, the next piece in the ongoing series is a watercolor (gasp!) It has been awhile since I completed a serious watercolor, or at least one I took seriously. This felt really good--this piece is 20x30 on 300# Canson 100 paper. (If you have never worked a watercolor on this paper you have to try it: it is not terribly expensive. This paper has two distinct surfaces on either side, ...
Read MoreHere are two pieces of a triptych I finished up before the holidays--oil on Claybord (archival panel,) the long narrow piece is 10x30 inches and the other two (one not pictured) are 16x20 inches in size. These are part of the running water series I've been working on; the third panel is finished but is not being photogenic enough to post at this time! I also have a series of ...
Read MoreHere's a piece from my latest series, which is all about moving water. This is the first presentable piece, titled "Living Waters," an oil on Claybord, a type of archival panel I'm very fond of. This piece is 18"x36" in size, and comes from a car trip we took up the Unaweep canyon on the Uncompaghre Plateau. Unaweep is Ute for "canyon with two mouths;" it is a very unique ...
Read More