Friday, February 27, 2015

Alla Prima Portrait: Cowgirl Georgeann (Oil 16 x 12)

It was simply a coincidence that I painted a cowgirl right after a cowboy. Georgeann is the daughter of my friend Rocky McIntosh. As you may tell, I composed the portrait in a similar manner as I did the cowboy Larry. During the process of painting I took pictures of its progression at intervals, which I also presented in the current post.


The following are different stages of the process









Thursday, February 26, 2015

Alla Prima Portrait: Florida Cowboy Artist Larry E. Hudson (Oil, 18 x 14)

Thursday, it was Punta Gorda Portrait Studio day again. One of today's models was VAC artist Larry Hudson. I met Larry a week ago and knew he was going to sit for us to paint today. As you can tell from my painting, he is a very interesting personality. He is a real cowboy who owns a cattle farm at Arcadia, FL. He is also a fine artist.


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Alla Prima Portrait: Allegra (Oil, 20 x 16)

I was invited by a group of Fort Myers Beach artists to do a demo of portrait painting at Orange Harbor Park this afternoon. The model was a pretty blonde named Allegra. Somehow, I always thought of the musical term Allegretto. She was a very good model and posed well. I believe I got her likeness as well as her temperament.

I had an interesting experience when I got home. After I added my finish touch in my embellishment, I took the painting to my backyard for photo shooting. As I was pressing the shutter, the setting sun suddenly came from behind the cloud and shone on the painting. When I looked at the result in the camera, I was surprised to see the painting became totally in an orange color scheme. it was a good lesson about lighting. When we are in an orange lighting environment, I really have to be consciously aware of its existence in order to express the accurate atmosphere.


Monday, February 23, 2015

Enb Plein Air: Reeds on the Canal (Oil, 9 x 12)

I know it looks like the painting I did the other day. As a matter of fact, when I was painting last time the scene, I told myself that I would come back to paint the reeds as the center of my focus in contrast of the dark background. In fact, it is a practice of value relationships again. However, this time I mainly used palette knifes instead of brushes.


Saturday, February 21, 2015

Oil Sketch: The McIntosh's Stable (13 x 13)

This afternoon, after all my chores were done, it was late afternoon. I was wondering whether I should go out to paint. The weather was so good that I told myself that I would paint not too far from home. I hadn't seen my good friends the McIntosh's for some time so I decided to go to theirs to paint. It took a little more than an hour. This time I did things backward. The horses kept going in and out and would not stay put. Therefore, I painted the stable first. When one of the horses came back, I added it on. It was interesting to see that the horse seemed to be deciding whether he wanted to go out again.


Friday, February 20, 2015

En Plein Air: Green Boat (Evening at Owl Creek Boatyard, Oil 8 x 14)

This afternoon I was driving along Highway 80. In an attempt to explore new subjects, I exited the highway a couple of times into some country roads but didn't find anything till I realized I was nearing Owl Creek Boatyard. So I simply drove there. By then it was late afternoon.  I saw a green boat moored in the shadow of the cabin. Pretty eye-catching.




Thursday, February 19, 2015

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Plein Air Oil Sketch: Artist Mary Taglieri (12 x 12)

It was a learning experience to me. When Punta Gorda VAC plein air group leader Sharon E-mailed me asking whether I would like to paint at Worden Organic Farm Market, which would be open 2-6 PM this afternoon, I said yes in spite of the distance. What came to my mind was all kinds of vegitables with vendors sitting in the sun for me to paint. The E-mail also mentioned that the farmer owners would not charge for commission if our paintings were sold there. I misunderstood the activity was something like Paint the Beach Festival, that is, we could sell on the spot what we painted there. Therefore, I took one 16 x 20 canvas panel with a right size frame. It turned out that they meant to ask the artists to bring framed paintings to display and sell at the market. The farm owners Eva and Chris Worden were very nice to provide two tents for the artists. there were altogether four artists including myself. Except me, the other three artists all unloaded from their cars boxes of paintings, display bins with plastic-wrapped artworks, folded tables and chairs, and racks to put up paintings on, etc. As far as plein air painting is concerned, unfortunately, all their vegitables and people are under a huge roof shelter, something like a barn. When the sun was so bright at noon, from outside, things and people were too dark to paint. I was trying to ask for permission to set up at the space behind the barn, thinking I was able to paint things in the sun but was told that it was a busy working area for farmhands to load and unload things. Therefore, I decided to paint either customers or other artists. The sketch took only an hour. When I tried to start my second sketch, the subject,  a customer, took off as soon as I touched the panel with my brush. I had to call it a day.


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

En Plein Air: Letting out the Horses (Oil, 11 x 21)

When I got there this morning Lane was letting out the horses. he followed them to the stable, leaving the fence door ajar behind him.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Plein Air Study: Red Truck (oil 8 x 11)

Yesterday afternoon when I was biking on Wheeler Road, I noticed the red truck behind a wire fence. Inside the property, there were several lines of potted palm saplings. At the gate there was a realty agency sign. Maybe some nursery was making use of the space to store some of their potted plants. Anyway, I like the old-styled red truck. It looked in good shape. I decided on spot that I was going paint it the next day.


Saturday, February 14, 2015

En Plein Air: Saturday Afternoon at Owl Creek Boat Works (Oil 12 x 9)

It was a great sun-shiny day. I went to Owl Creek Boatyard this afternoon. A boat was lifted out of water to be repaired. Her name was Oasis, which belonged to a guy named David, from Cape Coral, FL. I met him there. Very friendly. He also told me he was a collector of paintings about marine topics.


Friday, February 13, 2015

Alla Prima Oil Sketch: Farmer Tommy (21 x 15)

This afternoon, I went to Fresh Produce Farmers Market on Highway 80 (Palm Beach Blvd). My friend Tommy happened to be there managing the sale. I knew how he worked there. Usually he sat on the side watching everything, that is, the produce sale under the tent, farm workers in the field picking and transporting veggies to the tent, customers coming and going, etc. If he had to take a close look, he would stand up and walk over to the spot of problem. Otherwise, he just sat there keeping an eye on everything. Therefore, I offered to paint him sitting in the sun and he agreed. I told him that if he needed to break the process, that was fine with me. I also gave him breaks even if he didn't need to leave. The painting took altogether two hours. Tommy said he liked his portrait.


Thursday, February 12, 2015

Alla Prima Portrait: Smiling Jennifer (Oil, 21 x 15)

It was Punta Gorda VAC's portrait studio day. As usual in winter, we had two models. I went there kind of early this morning. Some of my fellow artists told me excitedly that one of the models was already fully dressed. I always like to have some drama in portrait posture, so I was happy to set up at the site where the dressed model was supposed to sit. When she showed up, it was such a disappointment to me that I immediately moved to the other site no matter who was going to pose for us there. The cause of my disappointment was the surprising fact that the lady dressed herself as a clown. I have to give her credit for the make-ups and the full dress she wore because her face was like a clown mask and it really didn't matter how she actually looked or even who sat there in her place. What I could remember now is the red dot she had on the tip of her nose like a piece of MM candy.

By the time I set up at the other site, the model arrived. It was Jennifer, daughter of one of our respected volunteers at the VAC library. As you could tell, Jennifer is lovely and loves smiling. She kept smiling even without us telling her jokes.


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

En Plein Air: Fixing the Hay Stacker (Oil, 10 x 12)

After reading the whole morning, I needed a break, so I drove to AC Moore this afternoon to get some paints. On my way home I took Buckingham Road and stopped at Meloy Hay Company. I liked this out-spread place with lots of agricultural machinery. I painted there before. When I saw an old guy named David working on a truck-like machine, I went up and asked, "Do you remember me?" David looked at me and smiled, "I surely remember you." Then I said, "Do you mind if I paint you working there. You just work as usual and don't mind i being there. I won't be in your way." He said OK and told me it was a hay stacker he was fixing. The machine had been almost stripped to the bones. David explained that he was the only person there who knew how to fix the machine. There were dismantled parts everywhere. At first, I tried to paint him lying on the ground under the machine, but he didn't stay in the pose for long, so I had to scrape what I did and paint him standing there.


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Plein Air Sketches in Oil and Ink

I went to Lane and Debbie's horse farm this morning, knowing the horseshoer Ray was coming this morning. I thought he would do what he did last week, something I would call horse pedicure, that is, instead of putting on shoes, he did only trimming to their hoofs, which would not take long enough to keep Ray staying in one position for me to paint. Therefore, when I got there, before Ray came, I started painting a horse in the stable eating breakfast. However, I didn't know that Ray was coming to replace their shoes till it was too late for me to move. I got only enough time to do two ink sketches of him working on horses.

Later, Lane sat in the sun for me to sketch his portrait. Interestingly, it was so comfortable sitting in the sun this morning that it was really difficult for him to keep his eyes open.

Morning at Horse Farm
Oil, 8 x 11

Texan Cowboy Lane
Oil, 21 x 15

Horseshoer Ray

Horsesher Ray

Monday, February 9, 2015

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Quick Oil Sketch: Sun Bather Pam (13 x 13)

It was a great day today. I got an impulse to paint the sunshine, so I went to Ft.Myers Beach after lunch. It was a stupid decision to go to the beach on Sunday. I was stuck in the traffic in and out of the island. The sketch took only an hour, but I spent three hours on the road.

At first, my subject didn't know that I was painting her. Later, when she noticed the painting, we introduced each other. Her name is Pam, who works at Naples Post Office but lives at Ft.Myers Beach.


Saturday, February 7, 2015

En Plein Air: Wilderness by the Canal (Oil 12 x 20)

I went to Wheeler Road this morning. It was a great day. Even though there are quite a few professionals living on both sides of the road, mainly it is farm land. Therefore, people have to have to let some loose cows graze on their properties as tax breakers. On the east side behind these farms there is a big canal. If I am not wrong, it is Hendry County beyond the canal. Between the canal and the farms there is a tenth-mile-wide area which runs like a belt along the canal. The government sends workers to cut weeds if they are too high. I have no idea how the land is to be used, possibly for high-voltage power cable or other developments. For now, people simply help themselves to it. Some ride dirt bikes; others went fishing in the canal. Trucks run on the land and cut their tracks along the canal. It was nice to be in the wide-open space and enjoy the sun.



Friday, February 6, 2015

En Plein Air: Red Tractor (Oil, 13 x 13)

I went to the Farmer's Market this afternoon. Tommy told me that he had already moved the red tractor to the field for me. Even though I didn't plan to paint the tractor today, since he was so nice, I painted it anyway.


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Alla Prima Portrait: Artist Larry (Oil, 20 x 16)

It was Portrait Studio Day at VAC, Punta Gorda today. We had a new member and he volunteered to pose for us. His name is Larry. He is great at depicting birds. As usual, it was a three-hour session. Deducting the six 10-minute break, the actual painting time was two hours. In fact, the picture below does not do my painting justice. I don't know why it looks so bluish. As a matter of fact, it is not blue at all. Maybe it is because in physics, blue light is the most sensitive color in the spectrum and the camera was first and foremost affected by the blue light.


The next morning when it was light, I retook the picture. Even though it was still bluish, it was much better. See the following.



Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Plein air Oil Sketch: Fisherman Henry (11 x 11)

I went to Harns Marsh this morning and met Fisherman Henry. He was using artificial baits to fish bass or trout. I was never successful in using artificial baits, so I asked Henry a lot of questions about fresh-water fishing. Then I realized that I was asking too many questions. I would find it rude if someone asked me so many questions about painting when I was painting outside. However, Henry was very patient and explained to me in detail. Therefore, I offered to paint him while he was fishing. He liked the idea. The painting took a little more than an hour. He was standing on the rocks by the wire fence.


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Oil Sketch: Horseshoer Ray (15 x 20)

I think I should have focused on the horse and the man instead of trying to depict the environment. Ray worked with three horses this morning at Lane's farm. He spent around 15 minutes on each horse. On the average, he stayed in the pose for about four minutes since he had to work on the other three feet, too. Therefore, I had altogether only twelve minutes for the pose, considering the three horses.

he is coming back Tuesday week, again. I hope I'll d a better job then.


Monday, February 2, 2015

Plein air Oil Sketches: Cowgirl Debbie and Lane's Tool Shack

We agreed that I went to Lane's farm to paint Debbie, Truitt's mother this afternoon. When I got there, Truitt said they were not home yet. I didn't want to wait there doing nothing, so I decided to paint Lane's tool shack with a small tractor in front of it. It seemed the tractor was used to pull a mower. I set the timer for one hour and started right away. Shortly after I began, it got windy and rain began to fall. I got an umbrella from the trunk to cover my easel. When it got heavier, I had to stop and went inside. Lane and Debbie was just in time to be home before it began to pour. In about 10 minutes, the rain stopped as abruptly as it started. I went out to continue the oil sketch. I stopped painting when the timer went off. Therefore, the sketch took not even an hour.



When I finished the tool shack, Debbie asked where I was going to paint her. I asked her to take a chair and sit  near the tool shack. Her portrait took about two hours.



Sunday, February 1, 2015

Plein Air Oil Sketch: Cowboy Truitt and His Dog Cane (Oil, 24 x 19)

I went to Lane and Debbie's farm this afternoon. They were not home. I knew they were busy. As I was deciding what views to paint, I saw Truitt come out of the house. The sun-shiny day reminded me of Kim English's paintings and I really wanted to paint figures in the sun, so I asked Truitt if he would like to sit in the sun to let me paint. He liked the idea but asked whether he could have Cane with him. "Of course," was my reply. Except for a few breaks, the whole sketch took less than two hours.