Sunday morning hardcopy - Singular Focus Two

Canvas 1012 was meant to replace a recent vacancy at the gallery however it morphed into my next series. At least thats my intention.

The energy to paint in a series feeds off the last painting to the next. One might call it "Binge painting". I suppose it works the same way for a "Binge drinker" only its painting until you drop! Paint-alcoholic or art-alcoholic........not sure how I got here - anyway I like doing it.

I know from experience binge painting is a very effective tool if used with uninterrupted focus. My last collection, "Singular Focus One" covered a 3 month period earlier this year. My original intent unexpectedly evolved into refined 3D effects using light and shadow. The process produced enough energy for 21 paintings before the lights went out!  

This time I want to explore and perhaps "exploit" the use of gold-leaf and oil on canvas. Currently there are 4 or 5 previous works that represent the "development phase" and will become part of the collection. Two are already in print and available as enhanced limited editions through "The Private Collection Giclee" 

 CANVAS 1012
56x48 linen gallery wrap

UNTITLED  56x48 oil on linen (12-24-15 canvas 1012)

The step photos, if viewed in sideshow, formulate an interesting way to review the process of a painting like this. I always laugh at what I take out and put back in the next day.....very easy to do on a painting this size. Steps that perhaps could have been avoided. Some of this happens following light and shadow drifting across the canvas surface....in truth made up as I go. It has to feel right otherwise the whole effect is unconvincing. A few brush strokes can change any of that in a heart beat......up close it might be clear -  at 30 feet is another matter. So, 30 feet puts it in proper perspective and a sideshow loop helps improve the process along with reminders of lost passages........ Helpful tools leading into the next canvas. 

Sometimes right after a windstorm, if I'm lucky to catch it, the Koi pond can be littered with tree debris like here. The debris can be useful fill connecting up areas, adding a bit of balance including surface interest and it can also take over as gold leaf can!

As my painting progressed it clearly developed into a very complex composition......not less is more as I hoped. Neither is the gold very discreet! When is enough, enough? Not sure, because it really is a balancing act from start to finish. It also occurred to me this would be a wonderful expanded composition by simply adding a right and left side panel. Not something I have to act on now, but something to think about as the series unfolds.

Refining gaudy.......laughing out loud when I say this too!

CHRISTMAS JESTER

 

The art gods are shining a bit

Well, I'll be......Gold Oak Leaves got another nod, this time from the Boldbrush judge! Top 15% Green Frame transformed into "pretty" blue as a finalist. In my humble opinion the illusive Blue Frame goes much better with the paintings complexion anyway..... Makes me wonder if I should become a proud stage dad and enter it in some more competitions and perhaps get a travel passport too.....lol

NOVEMBER FINALIST

Gold Oak Leaves 30x30 oil on linen (11-10-15 canvas 998)

 

Gold Oak Leaves was also chosen to be a limited edition Private Collection Giclee  - the first proofs coincidently arrived with the good news.

It's kinda fun seeing a painting acquire history, a bit of longevity if you will - especially one of your own.

A NEW HOME

Morning Promise 20x20 oil on linen (2-8-14 canvas 888)

December is proving a nice finish to my year as a painter. Congrats!! go to The Richard Stravitz Gallery staff in Virginia Beach for helping me find a new home and wall for Morning Promise to reside on..:=) 

Sometimes it takes more time to workout what you want on a canvas than it takes to do the actual deed of making it. I'm always fussing here about needing walls to paint for but a concept, a collection or series of related paintings is another valid reason to paint. Often more effective than thinking about a single canvas and what goes on it. A concept can produce a few paintings or 20 or 30 depending on the momentum and energy the collection/series produces during the process of making it.

Hard to beat motivation

Sometimes a bit of hard copy puts thinkings back into perspective again. Plus a good quarter doesn't hurt either....thanks to the "The Chuck Larivey Affordable Act of 2015". 

Some good news! Gold Oak Leaves (canvas 998), "something new", made it to the Boldbrush November Green Frame page and "something old" didn't. Both still has a chance with the November Judge tho! Gold Oak Leaves was also invited to hang on another gallery wall so it's future is looking bright.

Gold Oak Leaves 30x30 oil on linen

Other good news; "Jitters" (canvas 995) found a new owner and wall to hang on. Always nice to see them off to a good start....:=)

"Jitters" 40x44 oil on linen

So, yesterday I wasn't interested in the small blank canvas on my easel. Today I have a good reason to set it aside in favor of a larger one to replace "Jitters" vacant wall. Until I do, a sold sign can proudly take center stage..:=)

NEXT PROJECT

30x24 Standard verses a 56x48 Custom Linen Wrap
(about the same size as Jitters framed).

My schedule is wide open and 56x48 in a floater frame is a bit more tasty than the smaller standard in a frame and would not hold the wall as effectively. This painting also has to draw from 150 to 200 hundred feet (gallery main entrance & reception counter) back to my pocket gallery.

Staring at blank linen

This morning I find myself staring at a blank 30x24 canvas and I know I have no desire whatsoever of painting on it. Lots of things I could paint on it but nothing that interests me, at least at this size. I also have several larger gallery wraps I could easily dive into......however for those I need a real reason like a new collection, something that makes a bigger statement as a group than a simple 30x24 canvas will on it's own. I'm actually more inclined to hard copy my thoughts than paint. It's been that way for the last few weeks.

Getting comfortable painting quick candids gave me some time to concentrate on "what am I really doing here" When I started originally, I started with a simple plan that worked quite well and I knew what I was doing........up to a point. 

Currently I'm in limbo - not using social media, tracking my collectors, doing the "news letter", or for that matter anything on any the social front including National ads, paint-outs or any regional or national juried events. I also dropped all memberships that had anything to do with art.....all in limbo. In the beginning I understood why many of these things were important...today I don't; or at least how it pertains to me now!

I see the "potential" of doing a lot of things and how it relates to me personally in this business of making art. So much, it almost becomes overwhelming, and in my book "clutter". Wading through the clutter last year and perhaps part of this year I tossed a number of "potential" things out the back door. Some were left in limbo or in my "deal with it later" pile. I even deleted this blog 3 times...oddly, I  always reinstated it.  A blog, as I found, can be a very effective tool as a second voice or hard copy while talking to yourself.... easily deleted or published.

So lately the candids played a very important part in this process by "keeping my hand in". I think to make art you need a reason to do it, walls to paint for, juried shows, selling or learning. Long "potential" list if you want to take the time with it. Because I don't and don't have a clear reason at the moment, learning is a good fall back position while in "self imposed limbo".

I've been circling this thing for almost 2 years now and I don't think for a minute this is about being discouraged, although at times it might seem that way. This is really about shedding an "Old Plan" for a "New Plan". Redefining goals for better ones if you will. Until I firm up "what am I really doing here" with a workable plan....limbo works well!

For me, I am making progress.  The good news is that The Chuck Larivey "Affordable Act" is in place and working well with the addition of the recent "Giclee Solution". Originally thought by me as passive income using copyright laws as it pertains to the working artist. 

The "Affordable Act" was really a solution to a major stumbling block; keeping myself and my work affordable to a broader audience. Artists have a choice of moving forward, building value or staying within the standard gallery fare. However sometimes, the artist doesn't have a choice how that works out. Our galleries and collectors play a major part in the "Affordable Act" and can make us "UN-affordable" as well.

If that happens, we all solve it in different ways, but we do have to solve it sooner than later....or retreat! I chose "self imposed limbo" until I figured out what worked best for me and I did not retreat.... a move that would certainly hurt the investment my patrons and collectors made in me and my art. 

Art is an investment by a collector and in a "career artist" with the anticipation they will grow in stature and of course, over time, in value. Collectors or patrons as I prefer to call them, make an important contribution on a daily basis supporting the arts, and buying my work.  By doing so, they also encourage me to stay in the game. Remarkable when you think about it, a patron who often has no artistic talent falls in love with something second nature to me as an artist... enough to take it home, hang it on the wall and cherish it on a daily basis....... I know because they tell me at chance meetings. It’s what makes them remember us and want to engage.  Because in some small way, my art made their day just that much better.  Art is a feel good thing we are engaged in and art is also an investment class understood by many patrons who collect art.

Our patron/collector is perhaps the most important cog in the artist’s wheel of fortune.

It also seems galleries would want that too, because after all, they helped establish the value in the first place. And, more importantly, recognize how any retreat affects all previous sales and future ones too......retreat might help bargain hunter sales, but is not necessarily a good long term solution and most certainly hurts collector value.

Familar Faces 2

The second "batch" is in the making. So far Abey, Candid Five (below) is my favorite and was completed in a very smooth morning session.

Candid Five 8x10 oil on linen (12-10-15 canvas 1008)

 Candid Six 8x10 oil on linen (12-12-15 canvas 1009)

Candid Seven 5x7 oil on linen (12-14-15 canvas 1011)

As much fun as I'm having here, I need to start working on a few real paintings......

Familiar faces

Occasionally, like now, I try my hand at portraiture, mostly keeping "my hand in" so to speak. Some time back I started a series entitled "People you know".....I'm not a commission painter so I only have a few in this series under my belt and a long way to travel yet. The "occasional" portrait or "selfie" is not enough to get comfortable with or be remotely accomplished as I would like to be. I also know the quality of painting I want and know I'm not ready.

Lately another idea is bouncing around more and more and one, at the moment, I like a bit better. If you go to enough local art openings you soon realize the crowd pretty much remains the same. Faces you know by name or are familiar with but mostly you have no idea who they are. They mingle, perhaps stop to chat with a friend or two.....then disappear into the crowd. Over time I've collected a nice body of candid shots of known and familiar faces. I've been tempted more than once to do quick candid studies principally as a learning tool... something more interesting beyond a straight mug shot.

 

I don't ever expect these to sell, just think it would be fun hanging my little orphaned candids amongst other paintings and see if they are found at the next opening.

A CANDID SAMPLING

Candid One 12x12 oil on linen (12/2/15 canvas 1003)

Candid Two 12x12 oil on linen (12/3/15 canvas 1005)

 Candid Three 7x5 oil on linen (12-3-15 canvas 1006)

Candid Four 12x12 oil on linen (12-4-15 canvas 1007)

Self Portrait - canvas 1000

The tasty turkey is gone, the weather is not all that inviting........I'm bored with nature video streaming and looking at a few David Leffel videos. I even went back into canvas 999, a serious stinker with improvements in mind to no avail, it's still a stinker! The only thing to do there is move on!

Boldbrush is a few days off and canvas 1000 to think about. 

CANVAS 1000

Seventy Four 16x16 oil on linen (11-27-15)

So the deed was done in under four hours, it was a fun project and very fast. What I like most about this canvas is how it works at 30 feet in diminished light.  

Watching Leffel Thanksgiving day I picked up something that worked remarkably well. He works top down, as I do. However it didn't occur to me if you do, proportions fall right into place and are easily adjusted as you go. I don't think he talks about it.  His "Master paints Master" video shows this very clearly. This video is different from his others because it is not an instructional video. He simply paints with his full attention on his subject....no explanations or silly questions from the peanut gallery. 

I forgot Boldbrush! Shut the computer down, turned off the lights, got in bed and then........ I can't believe I actually got up and did it!! Something new and something old made the first page lineup.

One Thousand what does that mean?

Pondering canvas 1000 is giving me a headache, like a commission might. I'm not in the mood for a grand canvas as I supposed it should be......but then I haven't really started yet. Right now, a good one session painting would make me happy enough. Yet, I know nothing is certain until the first piece of paint hits the canvas.

The next canvas could mark my last or the beginning of a new phase....perhaps a better way to think about it. Benchmarks are weighted towards reflection on the past than the future... I certainly don't want another 1000 like the last. It would be like tasting the same meal over and over again. Not to mention the storage requirements and more numbers.

I also think if this was not one of those special numbers the next painting would be just that, the next painting with a number. All this made me wonder what others thought about one thousand.

So I Googled it, and since I understand images better than words I found myself in images.

MONEY - Everyone gets this one

 IN A SIMPLE FORM

THOUSAND MILES + = POUNDING STIMULATION

AN ARCHITECT & 1000 MUSEUM MIAMI ADDRESS

A PICTURE = A 1000 WORDS

ON THE CHEAP PENNY STACKS

HUMOR

Might be fun to summarize these Google images down to a few meaningful words other than Websters lame definition only a bean counter would get off on. 

Art costs big money, project our aspirations, a certain simplicity with pounding force, good structure and design executed on the cheap with a bit of humor thrown in......works for me:=)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A CLEVER IDEA - SMALL AFFORDABLE WORKS

All my Crossroads Gallery chores are done.......  I'm just two canvases away from my first milestone of 1000 works. Red Reeds & Blue Air giclee is on the wall at the Crossroads Art Center to be picked up by its new owner.........to celebrate, it even has a red dot for fun.

Red Reeds was a big hit at the Crossroads bi-monthly Art Walk last night. Of course anyone from Richmond or whoever visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Art recognizes the Chullily "Red Reeds" installation in the Koi pond adjacent to the The Best Cafe.  Red Reeds new owner "T" was there and excited to get it hung. Lots of picture taking....and I have none to share. Perhaps our mugs will show up elsewhere.

An artist friend, Betsy Kellum did something rather clever with regards to presentation and I guess marketing too. Kellum started a new series called "PIECES". PIECES are well framed small 5x7 crop details of her larger paintings. She is doing these little jewels primarily as daily warm ups. Kellum as shown below placed them adjacent to the larger originals. The small paintings look very smart as a whole on the wall. Kellum's PIECES gives the two main paintings shown below welcome separation and presence while offering a taste of her main work. What I like most is the intelligent flow she mastered effortlessly for her audience here. PIECES are well priced for a budding collector and easily acquired separately or with her larger painting.

A FEW PHOTOS OF BETSY'S EXHIBIT

Monkey business 11 7x5 oil on linen by Betsy Kellum

TWO HAPPY ROSES

Dee Justin and Holly Markhoff  both are very talented artists

Photographer Bill Gilmore was giving the ladies a rose if they stopped to look at his work. He has a wonderful Paris shot I like and of course his Red Reeds from another view. I always enjoy chatting with Bill during Art Walk.

OTHER NEWS

BOLDBRUSH - October 2015 entry

 Garden Flowers 24x24 oil on linen (10-30-15)

Judge, Phil Couture slipped by this little jewel but Boldbrush jury managed a 15% green frame nod. Garden Flowers is hanging at Crossroads until the end of the month and then off to the Richard Stravitz Gallery. I'll have a limited edition Giclee available to replace it at Crossroads before it leaves.

Time to paint again.......need a new entry!

PS. Found a new favorite artist while sliding through Boldbrush 15%, Nancy Bass - the lady has a way with farm animals. Check her out:=)

GICLEE ENHANCEMENT TO ORIGINALS

One of the things I find myself doing lately between paintings is enhancing fine art canvas reproductions. The original Red Reeds and Blue air shown here was proportionately too large for the intended space so we made a 3/4 reproduction from a 106 mb digital capture created in Photoshop using the merge tool (post). The process required 16 individual high resolution shots merged together into a single seamless image. The custom Hughes wall easel, tripod and Nikon 5200 camera were necessary equipment in order to successfully merge so many photos.......and a lot of experimentation. However once you figure photo merge out its a remarkable asset for any artist.

SET UP

The original 964 60x48 canvas (left) and 50x40 canvas print (right) 

Oil paint used to enhance printed colour

Obviously the real key with embellishment is getting the surface treatment right when light hits the canvas from any source or direction. I found working on the canvas side-by-side along with some experimentation works well. I'm not sure there is a quick and easy approach to this. It's kind of like noodling with an almost finished canvas; it requires the same finesse as the original did.

Detail showing enhancement and overhead glare

If there is anything that will quickly throw water on a sale is size proportionate to space! It's kind of a shame because everything else was right - certainly another version could be made if you're into it. I suppose this was a common studio practice before printing. Today we have at our disposal state of the art high resolution digital capturing and printing capabilities that will reproduce results like mine above. Perhaps not the investment original art would be but a strong alternative for both the artist and a patron drawn to the original. Mine, when I do any enhancement beyond surface embellishment, are limited editions of 25 with 3 proofs.

Artists, like all other problem solvers, won't take long before messing with it as in artist enhancement like me!  I don't mind a day or so at the easel to make it happen either. I also selfishly get a chance to correct or add anything in the process and occasionally do. Which of course can lead quickly into experimental works using printed canvas as a baseline. Could be a fun project... after all. pure oil painting is not the only way to the finish line.

 SOME GALLERY SET UP PHOTOS OF THE NOVEMBER ART WALK 

Enhance Framed  Giclees

From a display standpoint, both originals and reproductions work well together and not only that there is a wide  price range able to accommodate any patron who walks in. 

Because things change, any framed Giclee purchased from this artist and gallery will be exchanged at full value and credited against an original of equal or greater value.  Perhaps helping a budding collector in the transition from just an art enthusiast to collector of original works.

I suppose these could also be classified as disposable art, and perhaps are, and perhaps only the limited editions add some collector value over time. Of course how well they were executed will determine even that out come. However for me it's a workable solution to lost sales due to size and budget requirements.... And more importantly seeing the delight of an art enthusiast acquiring a work otherwise out of reach........good enough reason for me:=)