CATCHING UP WITH ARTWORK

These three were painted for the 2019 Las Animas Art Show in conjunction with the annual Santa Fe Trail Day Celebration. The 2019 theme was TRAILBLAZERS AND STARGAZERS.

Titled 'Go West!' this depicts an early morning leave-taking by a small group of covered wagons. 

The piece is 2' x 2', acrylic on fabric.

I titled this one simply 'Grandad', used a photo of my grandfather riding a bronc, 

paired it with a background of an early spring morning,

and used acrylic and texturing on really rough canvas.

aka 'Trailblazer'

Here is the 'Stargazer' part of things. 

The 'ghostly silhouette' effect is because this is the back of the original.

I messed up the front sky & couldn't fix it, so flipped it.

Acrylic on fabric.

So those are the pieces for that art show.

Going back a bit further:

Someone from Denver commissioned two pieces, both fairly large.

Here's the mock-up for one of them:

Acrylic on rough canvas, this little piece is probably about a foot by a foot and a half.

Here's the finished piece sized 5' x 2':

It's resized her to 30% of the original photo size.

Here's the reverse of it, just because ... 

The 'because' is that we wanted this one to be able to be back-lit.

Used very lightweight fabric stretched very tight so the pigments would bleed through.

This back view of the piece has an abstract look to it. 

The foreground is Not overlaid onto the background.

The other commissioned piece turned out to be two back-to-back on the same piece of fabric (the same lightweight tightly stretched as the above piece, only with many layers of paint); one side textured, the other side not ... same essential scene but very different looks. The story behind that is that the front (textured) side had me so frustrated that I needed a break from it. So I flipped it and let the flip side relax me enough to re-tackle the front. 

When I get time I'll do a post in my artwork blog about the process of getting this 6' x 3' piece developed. For now, here's the front:

It's an early morning dawning from up on a mountain,

looking south toward another range.

Here's the 'other side':

Same view, different mood.

And again a bit further back - these next two are from 2018 December - about five feet by two-and-a-half or so.

ASPEN QUEEN (one of the variations) acrylic on cotton; designed to be back-lit.

Don't mind the shadows - these photos were taken hurriedly 

as they were being loaded into someone's vehicle.

This one has a tri-color base coat: 

cobalt blue top; off-white center; dark lower.

Then over-painted.

You want more?

Okay, we can do that.

Here's one I did just for the fun of it - on that rough canvas:

Texture with acrylic.

Coming back to the present, here's a set of hand-painted note cards. I painted a lot of them outside up in the mountains. Parked my vehicle on a pull-over along Phantom Canyon in the Colorado Rockies, pulled out my ancient little card table and newer camp-chair, unpacked my artwork 'go-kit', and ... just painted ... Others were done in my sister's cottage-studio, wood-fire keeping it toasty.

These next couple are waiting for over-lay.

There are a bunch more similar to these in various colors/combinations, so I've got some over-laying to get done! I may use paint; I may use ink ... we shall see what we shall see !! I'm just grateful to have this time up here to spend on this.

Does it feel a mite odd to be going from big paintings to little ones?

Yes.

You've already seen one of the texture/acrylic pieces on 100 year old cedar shake - there are more of them, and more plain acrylic on plain wooden plaques - but their photos aren't going to get added today!

artwork on 100 year old cedar shakes

One of my favorites:

It's acrylics and texturing on the cedar shake that came off the roof of my old house.

Yes Plein Air Painting Is An Adventure

And it all started years and years ago ...

For almost twenty years now a little town up in the high hills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains has hosted a great annual Labor Day Weekend event: a plein air painting competition.

Plein air means the artist paints on site in the outdoors.

For all this time I have wanted to participate in this event - not to win anything mind you, because the artists are professionals and I am not - but just to be there and get to see their work.

Every year I've tried to get together the money to be able to go, and tried to get the time off work so I could go.

Every year, something happened that kept me from going.

Until this year.

I still couldn't get the time off to attend the introductory weekend before the 'week of painting', but luckily for me my sister Bev lives up there and got me checked in.

Working the weekend night shifts that weekend before Labor Day left me comatose as always after being up working all night Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights (two twelves and a fourteen shift, getting off at eight on Monday morning). Then I stayed up all Monday night packing up everything except the kitchen sink as I wasn't sure what might be on my sister's agenda and wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.

I finagled the two foot by four foot box of the prototype mini-covered-wagon into the back seat and couldn't just leave that big empty box in there so filled it up and then added more stuff on top of that, including lots and lots of cans of stews and other ready-to-open-and-eat foods.

Then I overslept on Tuesday and had to wait until I wouldn't be driving straight into the westering sun-glare ... time to finish filling every nook and cranny of my vehicle with stuff, leaving only just enough space for me and Duke to sit.

And so up into the hills we went, driving in the moonlit night.

The moon was just coming off full and was spectacular, especially once we got up into the mountains.

Watching it was mesmerizing.

Clouds drifted and sometimes roiled up there in the sky, all lit up by the moon.

The landscape picked up the moonlight and shimmered with highlights on peaks, trees, rocks ...

It was truly magical, and at times a little creepy it must be admitted.

 


I told Duke to hush when he noticed an odd noise before I did.

Should have listened to him because it was a flat tire.

We were a mile at most from our destination and I had to get that vehicle off the road, which I did at the closest intersection, which happened to be a road that leads up behind the gold mining district of the area.

Yes I could have just walked, but was really quite very tired and would have had to hike uphill for a way before getting to go downhill. I wasn't going to make that trek in the middle of the night, nope. Even with Duke along.

Duke got tethered with enough lead to be able to circle the vehicle, and was having a fine time sniffing around in the moonlight to see where we were and who/what else was around or had been around recently.

Keeping an eye on the moon the whole time I proceeded to unload all the stuff I'd so heedlessly filled the trunk of the vehicle with - wooden box filled with fabrics and peaches (Colorado peaches from the Western Slope), and cantaloupe (world famous Rocky Ford cantaloupe, grown down right where I live in the Colorado Lower Arkansas River Valley), and sewing machine, and tools and other bits and pieces for putting together a covered wagon, and my medium-sized wheeled bag of clothes, and another bag just like it filled with paints, and what not all besides.

All that unpacking was because the emergency donut tire and jack were under all that stuff.

Most of it went into the already-stuffed back seat.

Got out the donut and jack.

Realized it was the middle of the night (almost midnight by then) and that I wasn't going to be able to see to change a tire by moonlight.

So ...

I set everything up where it would need to be when I could see.

Then I ate one of those incredible peaches, smiling at the moon as I wiped the juice from my chin.

Duke and I shared some pretty good beef stew.

Some folk stopped by to see if I was okay, which was reassuring. One woman asked if I wanted her to point her vehicle lights onto my rear tire so I could get the donut on. I was so tired by then that I don't think I could have done it anyway, so she smiled and drove off to let me sleep. Others came by, checked, and onward they went only after knowing I was fine (Duke's presence reassured them that I had a good strong companion).

Since his seat was reclined (so I could get the mini-covered-wagon box in the back seat) I pulled out my thick plaid heavy blanket and my old woolen trade blanket (the kind they make coats out of, with red and yellow and blue stripes on one end) and reclined myself across Duke's seat and mine - and went to sleep with Duke just outside where I slept.

As the sun started bringing some light, of course I woke up.

The sunrise on the mine tailings just across the road from me made my eyes go wide. The crushed stone was stunning - glowing golden in the early light.

Then the light changed and the heaps went back to their usual drab selves.

For the record, while I don't mind folks taking the gold from them thar hills I surely do wish they could do it without disturbing the topography ...

Stretching and yawning, I went to trying to get that tire changed.

More folks stopped by as by then it was shift change for the mining company and others were on their way to wherever they worked otherwise. I smiled and waved and told them I was fine and they'd best not be late to work on my account.

And along comes a young couple headed for a day of fishing up at Skagway Reservoir, which is kind of just up the hill and around a curve or two from where I was.

The young man, being a lot stronger than me, got that donut into place in practically no time flat (no pun intended).

Onward they went, with a couple of peaches and a cantaloupe - and words from me about driving Phantom if ever they wanted a beautiful day trip, and the recommendation that they stop for water at Gillette Flats on their way back the way they had come after their day of fishing.

People are truly amazing.

We have among us more Angels than we know.

Then I had to get everything back into the vehicle - had to take that wooden box apart as the actual tire takes up more space than the donut - and did I mention that vehicle was filled to the gills? There was flat no room for it in its 'box' form, but the boards fit nicely once I got it apart. I put it together in the first place and had a screwdriver handy so took it back apart. Had to warm my hands up a time or two or three as it gets COLD up there of a night and stays that way until the sun heats things back up.

The aspen were beginning to turn, a sure sign it was getting down below freezing at night, so ... anyway ... chilled hands and cold-stiff fingers had me a mite concerned about being able to actually paint anything outdoors up there. That early morning's temperature was giving me pause, no two ways about it. Having fingers functional enough to hold a brush was a vital part of the whole plein air event (or so I thought at the time). If I couldn't even keep a grip on a screwdriver, how in the world was I supposed to produce anything that looked even remotely like art?

All packed back up, I was on the road again, not that I had very far to go at that point to get to my initial destination.

Swapping the donut-wheeled vehicle for a big tough one that could take Phantom Canyon, on that Wednesday morning I loaded up what I figured I'd need to get started on what I was there to do: plein air artwork.

The moonlight already haunting me, what better place to look for a work-site than Phantom Canyon, right?

Right!

My sister had told me about a place that was toward the outer limit of the required ten mile radius from Victor's City Hall (she'd made the drive and counted the miles already) and it was there I headed, thinking to turn around there and make my way back up looking for possibilities and options for painting sites. Just so you're aware, Phantom Canyon is a narrow mountain road with not many places a large vehicle (or a small one for that matter) can turn around.

So I got turned around all right, sat for a moment contemplating, and then realized what I was looking at as I sat there in that conveniently large turn-around space.

In front of me was the inspiration for the main piece I was going to submit.

Being as it was mid-day on Wednesday by then my production-week was already more than half gone so seeing that picture-perfect layout setting right there in front of my eyes was a Gift from Above.

This was my spot.

Tethered Duke to the pickup on his long lead, gave him food and water, and set up my stuff.

I started to do a warm-up painting and realized it would be a waste of what precious little time I had.

Instead, realizing that I wasn't going to produce anything creative when I was utterly exhausted (my few hours of 'sleep' hadn't done me much good) and shaking with hunger, I set up my little tent, stretched out for a futile attempt at a power nap, and ate a big can of I can't remember what but I needed the calories.

Just as I was finishing up I got a hail from the road: 'Halloo the tent!'

'Hey!'

And out I came.

'Whatcha doin'?'

'Eatin' - want some?'

'Are you camping?'

Followed by a spiel about how this is private property you know and can't you see the sign - which was a blank board up above and over there, whatever it might have once said long since weathered away - and the who what when where why and how of this turn-around place coming into being. Also that he himself was a property owner nearby and had been since his grandfather settled there in 1861.

Man.

The guy was quite a bit younger than I am and my grandfather hadn't even been born until 1901.

When I could get a word in edgewise I told him no I wasn't there to camp but to paint and was going to stick around until the moon came up so I could see the place in the moonlight - that's assuming the owner didn't show up and shoot me. I asked him three times if the owner was going to shoot me and never did get an answer - being as I'm obviously not shot dead for trespassing I'm figuring said owner didn't want to shoot me.

At any rate, I got the texturing done on the one event-stamped piece I had.

A bit of event information:  Every piece has to be stamped with the special event stamp before you start working on it. I had one stamped base piece, blank of course except for a base coat over the wood. You can get as many blank pieces stamped as you choose, in case of start-overs or just wanting to do enough so you can pick your best efforts to submit. Because I hadn't been able to be there for the first weekend's check-in my sister had gotten one blank stamped for me. So at least I had that.

Once the texturing of that one piece was as done as I needed it to be, I headed back to town with blank canvases to get stamped. I took Duke along of course, but left the empty tent where it was so nobody would snag my spot before I got back.

Went to the place I had been told.

Nobody there.

Went across the way to a place somebody might be able to direct me.

Someone was there and did direct me.

Went there.

Not open.

Out of town I went in a different direction - this time down Gold Camp Road where my sister had shown me a couple of possible places.

I had been up several times earlier in the year and we'd gone driving the area scoping out possibilities.

Being as the possibilities in that vicinity are countless, the choice was impossible for me to make - so I went with my comfortable and familiar Phantom Canyon to begin.

Next on the comfort list was Gold Camp Road.

Off I went to pick my spot there.

Back into town I went, still hoping to find someone who could help me get a couple of blanks stamped. Wednesday was essentially gone and I was supposed to have four completed pieces in by one p.m. on Friday.

No luck.

Back down Phantom.

There I fiddled with the texturing and worked half-heartedly on a couple of other practice pieces.

I was waiting for moon-rise because that piece was going to represent Phantom at night under the moon.

Now, it's not like I'm not completely familiar with what Phantom Canyon looks like by moonlight. I've seen it hundreds of times.

But this was a competition piece, to be done on site and in 'real time', not from memory.

So I waited, and knew it would take a while.

The thing about waiting for moon-rise down in a canyon is that there are high sides to said canyon (by definition) and the 'horizon' the moon has to clear isn't exactly the same horizon you've got if you're standing out in the wide open prairie. It's way up there over your head somewhere.

However - since I had to be there anyhow I took a bunch of phenomenal photos of my chosen site.

And I painted the whole textured piece solid black, before it got too dark to see all the tiny nicks and nooks in the texturing, so I could be sure of a complete coverage. That took up a hefty amount of my remaining daylight time.

As the sky deepened and stars started peeping, I got a smattering of stars scattered across the black sky of my painting.

Finally finally I got the look I'd been waiting for. Moonlight did exactly what I knew it would do and onto the texturing went silver highlights touched into place with fingertips.

And I was essentially done in Phantom Canyon.

Unless I could find a way to get more canvases event-stamped I was essentially done with the pieces I'd be able to submit.

It was probably about one in the morning when I left that site, and about two when I pulled into my chosen site for Gold Camp Road.

Time for a power nap.

Duke on his tether soon had the place sniffed out and settled in.

So did I, as best I could.

Next thing I knew the sun woke me up.

Although I had no event-stamped canvases I set up my gear in the back of the pickup (my mobile studio) and started on a practice piece.

People drove by, waved, maybe stopped for a moment ... and the sun got hotter. So I took off my jacket and was down to my tank top.

Didn't even feel the resulting sunburn ... until later.

A lady stopped across the way, rock-hunting for a path or something she was putting in, so I helped her load up her choices and off she went.

Put texture on a couple of un-stamped pieces ...

Being as I couldn't submit a practice piece, back into town I went, picked up my sister, and off we went to find out what we could find out.

The shop I had been directed to the day before was now open but they didn't have a stamp.

*sigh*

Thursday was passing right on by and I was supposed to have four stamped pieces to submit in well less than 24 hours. I had one.

The lady in the shop thought she knew who might have a stamp so we walked down the block and looked around the corner to see if said person's vehicle was home.

Didn't see the vehicle.

She said, "Let's go look," so I grabbed a few blank pieces and got into her vehicle while my sister followed us in mine.

We found the person home, but no stamp.

*sigh*

However, said person suggested we try a different shop and so we did.

BINGO!

Got several pieces stamped and bought a new canvas that we hoped would fit the frame my sister was making.

Thursday being almost gone I was resigned to not getting four pieces done that night (I'd already done a night piece) so relaxed about it.

Friday I looked out the window to see an aspen and a pile of rocks - they're everywhere as you'd expect - and textured the new (stamped) canvas.

While that was setting up I finished up the textured pieces I'd gotten done - black on white instead of white on black this time.

As noon passed and the one o'clock deadline powered closer my sister discovered that the frame she'd made for the Moonlit Phantom piece wasn't going to work. Being as it already had a small frame we just left it as it was and gave that frame a coat of black.

And then there was the textured piece, still not quite set up.

'Leave it,' she said. 'Call it Study in White.'

And so I did.

She snagged a frame that fit over the front of the canvas, which actually worked out well as the texturing then had a sort of shadow-box frame, screwed it on, added wire to hang it, and off I flew to town with my two pieces in the nick of time.

Out of breath from the stairs, I sat and panted for a bit while waiting my turn.

A lady was working on getting centerpieces put together for the show so I helped her a bit with them.

When we attached the frame to the canvas, we'd not taken out the little staples that had held its previous occupant in place.

'Let's get them out,' said one of the organizers.

A pair of pliers and a screwdriver (I think) showed up and we rassled those little staples out of their places. Only nudged one little place on the texturing, which I covertly fixed as it was thankfully still not quite done setting up.

Having forgotten my bio sheets I had to run back down those stairs and back up them.

Recovering from that, and feeling suddenly at loose ends with nothing in particular I had to be doing, I went back to helping the lady with the centerpieces.

I was supposed to use hot water as the flowers were fresh, and wild.

At the kitchen sink I turned on what they told me was the hot water faucet and waited.

They'd warned me it would take a while as the hot water heater was two floors down.

So I waited.

And waited.

And watched the flowers begin to droop.

Finally I told the lady it would be quicker to heat a kettle of water on the stove.

Which it was.

Mixing that hot water with tap water worked great and we got the job done.

Then I thought what the heck and tried the other faucet.

*laughing*

Yeh.

That night the show was closed to the public; only certain folks attended that function.

The next day it opened up to the public, though, and lots of people showed up.

My sister and I went to see what was going on there and found out a few things I hadn't known.

One was that the little red circle stickers by my pieces meant that they had sold the night before.

Surprised but definitely pleased by that discovery off I went to see what everyone else had produced.

Wow.

The professionals well deserved their status, believe you me.

Because it was a plein air thing, there were lots of aspens in the paintings and I looked at all of them. I was looking for a specific feature, one that I want to use for a series, and was relieved to find that none of the artists had used it.

In the process I was thoroughly impressed with the work of the 'real' artists.

When came the time for folks to pick up their pieces, I realized that I had no photos of either of my completed works.

I wasn't technically supposed to be there as I had nothing to pick up, and the guards were fierce.

But finally they let me in and I got a couple of shots of my pieces.

If you perchance think there's not really all that much to either of these pieces, you'd be correct.

If you think they're different from what a person might expect, you're correct there too. That's what made the difference for them I'm pretty sure - that they ARE so different from all the rest. They look like exactly what they are: interpretive pieces. And apparently somebody liked them well enough to buy them!

Several similar (but not event pieces) ones sold privately, too.

Next up on my agenda is to try yet another experiment: adding tint to the texture.

And, of course, doing a series using that aspen characteristic I mentioned earlier. You'll see what I mean when I get some done and posted.

Also some non-experimental pieces (if I can manage to not make every single thing I do an experiment) with more 'traditional' colors and what not all. People like those too, you know.

In between trying to get the next part of RICIMER written and into print, and making an 'actual living', and figuring out how to get that covered wagon design thing the way I want it ...

I've got eight pieces of various sizes done and either framed or ready for it, six blank pieces prepped and waiting for me to do something with them, and only one work in progress at the moment. Unless you count the half dozen cedar shake pieces that are half-done. All but two of the done pieces are slated for the mountains. I'm getting ready to start on some for down here in the high-desert plains so wish me luck on that.

Christmas is a-comin' oh yeah ... !! So it will be time to get the skyscapes fronted by silhouette landscapes done, and the Star of Bethlehem pieces.

Yeh.

All of life is an adventure, I tell you true.

I'm finishing writing this a good six weeks after the time I'm writing about, and the between-time has NOT been boring (else I'd have done this long since). The car with the donut tire is still sitting up there while I drive the big strong pickup truck (gas hog).

The main street window space working studio I badly wanted fell through (not literally but still closer than I liked) and I have a load of my things still up there waiting for me to retrieve them, including all of my smaller frames and a bunch of my tools. And my woolen winter coats, brrrr ... ! It doesn't get AS cold down here as it does up there but I still want them. So I'll be making a trip up there ASAP, to deliver the done pieces to their new homes, pick up all that stuff, and bring the car back down where I can use it (after I get an actual tire back on it and the donut back in the trunk where it belongs).

The adventure goes on!!

Middle of the Night Plein Air Painting

Yes I know plein air painting is not typically a nighttime activity ...

But ...

Y'know ...

I am still me ...

And yes I also know that this is not exactly the best photograph in the whole wide world. Cope as best you can.

I didn't TAKE a photo of this piece before it was hanging for the plein air show - and of course once it was there photos were forbidden. I had to go at pick-up time and hope whoever bought it hadn't already picked it up, then had to almost sell my soul to get into the place to take a picture (that I should have already had but ... it's a long story).

At any rate, the back story of this piece is plenty long and I'm not going to relate it all here.

The pertinent bit is that on my drive up to Victor, Colorado for this event I was driving in the night and thoroughly distracted by the moon.

If you know me at all, you'll know my love for a particular place in the Colorado Rockies. It's a thirty mile drive called Phantom Canyon.

The moon as I drove up into the hills that would take me to the top of Phantom Canyon wasn't about to turn me loose.

And so ...

The next day I drove Phantom, at least the top ten miles of it due to the ten-mile restriction of the Victor plein air event I was there for.

My sister and a friend had driven the distance and told me there was a good pull-over spot just before the outer ten-mile limit - so that's where I went.

Pulled into the pull-over.

Turned around to look where I was.

And there was my painting site.

Boom.

Haunted canyon?

Maybe.

But it was the moon haunting me right then and I knew the look I wanted.

Realizing there was no way I would be able to see the details I would need once dark fell, I got the texture-work done and took a lot of photos just because that's what I do when I find myself in a beautiful place (which happens frequently I have to admit).

As the sun went down the silhouettes became more and more striking, at least in my eyes.

And then the moon showed up.

There's a thing about being down in a canyon ... it takes a while for the moon to actually rise enough to be able to have moonlight.

I knew darned well the look I was waiting for - heaven knows I've seen it thousands of times - but for THIS night I had to WAIT FOR IT so I could finish the piece.

Yep.

And there it was.

The piece is called Moonlit Phantom.

If you want to see it for yourself, head down Phantom eight or nine miles (can't miss the pull-over as there are few of them) at about two in the morning when there's a full moon.

And of course you're right ... there's a LOT more to this story than this ... it will be told in due course.

Artwork - A Couple Of Samples

I like using these embroidery hoops stretched with cotton fabric - they come in various sizes, are lightweight, and portable.

These two are acrylic on cotton.

Since I'm In 'Artist' Mode ... Uffda ...

Over a year ago my sister suggested I try a painting that would look something like the one in the post this LINK will take you to.

Well, what with one thing and another, it completely flew out of my mind ... until recently.

I've been looking on line at relevant photos, found some rather impressive ones of both outer space and geologic formations that would be awesome to use.

I'm NOT going to even try to shoot for anything even close to the photo created by the person who created the beauty you'll see in the photo the link will take you to, and have serious doubts whether or not I'll be able to even come close to getting the general concept put together, but the thought intrigues me so I'll likely give it a try anyway. We shall see what we shall see when the time comes.

If you click on the link, you'll read that I thought 'PHI in the Sky!' when I saw the photo - that's because in HELL AND HIGH WATER (it's fiction, in case you're not familiar with the SONG series) there are references to relatives back in the far ancient days (think mammoth and saber cat) who went 'Hiving' in the stars, up there out there, before the advanced civilization of Phi got wiped out by the Extinction Level Event which triggered what we call the Younger Dryas. It took the mammoth, the saber cat, and many other species, that ELE did, and it annihilated a mighty big hunk of Earth in general.

Some of our Characters are separated from family members when they are caught on Earth away from those who are up there out there among the stars. Communications, let alone access, between Earth and the Star Folk are severed irreparably, one more loss to bear when the ELE and its aftereffects are already too much for people to cope with.

At any rate, I have no idea if I'll ever be able to portray what one of the 'hives' of the Star Folk might have looked like, but it's going to be fun just going through the photos of the Universe, and whatever I can find that might be used to represent the settlements up there out there. They're not going to be Space Station things, though. That much I can tell you!

I'm daunted, and I don't daunt easy.

Still gonna be fun though!! Pop that image, or one along the same lines, up to a four foot by six foot canvas and see what you think ... me, I'm thinking 'Challenge!' and I'm thinking 'Oh boy what am I getting myself into?' and I'm thinking 'My sister is either a genius or she hates me.' She wants it in high relief sculpted form no less. 

Uffda.

How about I just paint one and display it on a frame at a 45 degree angle or some such?

Heh.

I can make it the cover of a big triangular box and store stuff in there. It'll have to go out in my lean-to since this little house I'm living in now ain't got space for no such thing. 

Lord have mercy.

Like I don't have enough to do. I'm supposed to be rewriting the first book of SONG, making new book covers, concocting trailers, updating ALL of the books, yada yada and MORE yada. Do I have time to ding around with a huge painting? Well, maybe. Procrastination is my middle name. One of my middle names. I'm going to try to shoot for Spring Equinox to have this stuff all done, but it's not like there's any real 'deadline' for which I'm eternally grateful. Summer Solstice would be just as good a time, right?

I'll say it again, with emphasis.

UFFDA! 

Painting On 100 Year Old Cedar Roof Shakes Again!

And I have to admit to feeling a mite odd posting about artwork when I can't get any photos at all to load into my blogs, but there you have it. I'm posting because it's been too long since I've done any artwork at all, and I do love these little pieces.

If ever I can figure out what the problem is with getting photos to post, you'll be inundated with them!

At any rate, this new batch has mostly textured designs, meaning I'm essentially sculpting in low relief and putting the paint onto the 'picture'.

So far I've got one white on black winter-scape using acrylics over the sculpting medium on the wood, a couple of monochromes using translucents (one blue, one burnt sienna) again over the low relief sculpting, a couple using both acrylics and translucents over the sculpting, and a couple that are basically abstracts.

Sad for me that I have a heavy work schedule for the next few days. I hate when I'm just getting into a project and have to cut it short, but ... it is what it is and that's all there is to it.

Ah, the monochromes ... the translucents are antiquing the sculpting to bring it out. Layers will deepen some parts, and I can wipe off places I want highlighted.

You already know the bases I'm using: cedar roof shakes (shingles) salvaged from my old 100 year old house as I was putting on the new shingles.

You want to know what I've been using for the 'sculpting' medium? Acrylic latex caulk. Yes the kind that comes in tubes and you use a caulking gun for application. I put a bunch onto the shake and use a regular table spoon to move it around and into place. Build up some places that you want in the 'foreground', and even more if you're going to put grasses or other details in. The grasses are made by simply 'slicing' into the texturing wherever you want the blades. A person could use whatever tools they wanted to. Once I did everything 'finger-painting' except for the base coat. Finger-painted the texture on, did the base coat, then used my fingers to highlight the black base coat with gold (and possibly silver; I can't remember as it was a while ago and the painting is long sold to a great home). It's the same way I did the white on black winter-scape highlighting, and is the technique I'll use for probably a hundred more simply because it works the best, gives me the best control.

Once I'm done with this set of textured pieces I'll go to working on the flat surfaces of the cedar shakes, mostly with acrylics. One thing I love about the cedars is that they've all got weathering patterns that either suggest or outright dictate what the piece is going to become. They've also all got saw blade grooves, which can make it awkward to try to paint, say a sky, sideways to them. Even when I go 'with the grain' so to speak, the swoops of the saw blade lines show through. I don't mind it because they are after all what they are!

Yeh.

Still frustrated as all get-out that the photos won't post but ... oh well. I'll add them eventually I hope.

Another experiment I want to try is putting enough gesso onto the cedar shakes to give me a smooth surface and trying some of the Prismacolors on them. So there's that to look forward to, and that's a fact.

I once did a painting of a forest pond using the translucents, with metallic highlights. The thing about that one is that it looks different depending on what kind of light is on it. In regular room light it looks like a quiet peaceful little glade in the woods, a little on the dark side. But if you try to take a photo of it like that, and use a flash, you'll get all the metallic highlights and a completely different look.

Hmm ...

I wonder.

I betcha I've got a photo of that one somewhere in this blog. Maybe, just maybe, I can find it and do a copy and paste thing. It's worth a try, right?

Wish me luck.

HERE IT IS!

You may as well see the post :) It's not a long one, I promise! You'll see what I mean.

Seeing the photos makes me realize that they just can't capture the painting, which is an inconvenience to say the least.

Ah well.

I'll likely give it another try, and see what shows up in more of those kinds of paintings. Translucents show up differently on different types of surfaces. When I'm able to add photos (IF) you'll see what I mean about that too. The burnt sienna monochrome in particular emphasizes that. The 'base' of the piece is bare wood while the textured part of course is not; there's a big difference in how the translucent 'takes'. It soaks right into the bare wood, staining it dark, and kind of 'rides' on the smoother surface of the textured part. The 'riding' part of the equation comes into play when I'm working on canvas. It makes it easier to wipe off parts I want lighter, sort of like water colors, but takes longer to dry, giving me more time to fiddle with it.

Working the layers can be a bit challenging. You have to wait in between or you'll wipe off the under-color with the over-color ... and it's a bit like working with soft 'chalk' pastels in that you really need to begin with the lightest colors and work the darker ones over them - even when dry, it's next to impossible to lighten anything as each coat serves to deepen the colors. I suppose if I got desperate I could use acrylics over the top, but that takes away most of the challenge and compromises the depth of the painting's layers.

And that's about all I've got for tonight.

I've got a couple of pieces that are about ready for their next layer so had better get to applying them I reckon!

Here for now - to go into the Artwork blog as works in progress

Here are a few of the pieces I've been working on - experiments as always, and fun as fun can be.

They're works in progress, texture going onto the cedar shakes from that 100 year old house. They'll get acrylic and/or metallic, depending on what they want when comes the time to finish them up.

This one will most likely want acrylics. The exact same paints are going to look different when applied to the wood of the cedar shake and to the texturing, so we'll see what comes of it. The good news is that if it turns out to be something i don't like the looks of I can always paint over it and start fresh!

  I have a feeling this one will end up being something of an abstract. Although the foundation is there to go with a 'traditional' landscape/skyscape, I don't think that's what Destiny has in mind for it.

And this one ... ah, this one might end up being quite an interesting little piece, although it certainly doesn't have to go that route.  But what I'm seeing is a background of stone with a sort of futuristic 'city' in the foreground. Is the city protected by the stone or held captive by it? That's a Story the might have to find a way to tell itself as I have absolutely no idea at present! Part of the Story might emerge as the paints go onto the piece, so ... be ready to see this one when it's complete.

Part of the fun of it is how the pigments and/or metallics react  and interact with the different textures of the wood of the cedar shakes and the smoothness of the texturing.

When the Queen Calls ... Answer

The stately stand of aspen in the center of this photo is one organism. Because of the way aspen grows, what appear to be individual trees are actually connected clones of one original.

Be that as it may be, this photo is called Phantom Queen. She stands along the 'driveway' of my HOME home, which would be Phantom Canyon of the Colorado Rockies. It's been a good long while since I've been there, and will likely be another good long while before I will be there again - so I'm profoundly glad I took a lot of photos when I could, back in the day ... 

When it comes to the Queen, she Calls loud and clear at times. Not necessarily for me to 'Come HOME' because she's an understanding kind of Queen and doesn't expect the impossible of me. No, her Calls are mostly for me to get off my backside and do some artwork.

As soon as I get Part One of this book into print, I'll take some time to answer the Call of the Queen, see what she's wanting from me this time!

What's Going Into My Front Porch Windows? Eagles.

I'm rough sketching eagles to go into my front porch windows.

Imagine that.

For now they're very simple - graphite on cotton.

Whether or not I'll 'finish' them is anyone's guess. I'll deepen them of course; they're just lightly sketched for the moment. Otherwise, as long as you can tell what they're supposed to be from Main Street I'll probably leave them alone.

I'm making them on the rough side on purpose, using unfinished wood behind the cotton. 

I plan to get seven of them rough sketched tonight. I have to take a break now and then because my fingers, hand, arm, and shoulder get tired. 

Yeah I know - it's not like I'm 'overworking' them. Even so it isn't going to do me any good at all to push beyond reason or they will get overworked. 

When I get them all sketched I'll think about backgrounds. At the moment I'm leaning toward skyscapes in the six basic color families: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. The seventh one will probably have black coming in from the outside to white coming out from the eagle. Maybe I'll just use that for all of them, come to think of it, and skip the skyscapes.

Ach.

Who knows?

I reckon the eagles themselves will make that call. And yes I do realize that sounds weird. Cope as best you can. I have a hunch these eagles are going to be as bossy as our Characters are.

Speaking of whom ... yes, they're champing at their respective bits but are showing admirable restraint at the moment. After all this nation represents what they all lived and died to protect and preserve. They aren't going to balk about sharing a little time here so these eagles can have their say. 

And here they are - the first six anyway - in rough draft form. Yes, three and six are the 'same'. They flank the rest. Actually it was an accident. I was picking the birds as I went along and totally picked the same one twice.

No, they're not finished. There are times I kick myself for letting anyone see works in progress but then I think - what the heck - so be it.

Oh, and I've got one more to do but being as it's past my bedtime already and I have shifts to fill for a few days, rest sounds like it might be a good idea.

Here are these all lined up: