Cosmos

Cosmos
Oil 5x7 Linen Hardboard

Little 5x7 oil.  Will I tried.  
WDE painting for this week.  Thanks for the ref. pics Mike!
Will have to get a better picture up on this one.  Bad camera.. or perhaps bad photographer!

Atwood Lake

11x14 Acrylic
Canvas hardboard

     I did a few quick sketches on canvas when we went fishing at Atwood Lake.  It was such a pretty area I had to bring my paints, but I forgot my white.. Oops.. One color not to forget so sketches it was.
     I have been using a very limited palette lately.  Tit. Wht, Lemon Yellow, Cad. Yel. Med., Alizarn Crimson, Ult. blue, and since I have not been able to find the tube of Chrome Oxide Green.. well I guess its even more limited.  ;-)
   

Highlandtown Lake- 3

Highlandtown Lake-3
5x7 Oil on Linen Hardboard

  Again, a little painting from a plein air sketch out at Highlandtown Lake, Oh.
  The camera didn't pick up the subtle blues and lovely pinks that are in this painting.  Why? Cameras are limited about 4000 colors rather than the roughly 6 to 10 million the human eye sees. A viewer's eye loves to play inside a good painting or drawing, being attracted to the colors, shifts in values, sense of line, and emphatic undertones that is found there.  Whereas a viewer will only scan a photo long enough for the brain to pick up what is needed to identify the subject. The "Ah.. I get it." moment.  There are exceptions to this though. Photos that create an emphatic feeling for the viewer also give the viewer pause and the brain allows the eye to linger and play.  When I paint I always ask myself if I am having fun on the playground, and do my paintings sing to the eye?

The Old Ohio-- East Liverpool

5x7 Oil Linen Hardboard

Hope to be back to a painting or so a day.  There are so many paintings I would love to get started on, and I plan to.

This was from a plein air sketch.  The Ohio River on a lazy afternoon.  Fish were lazy too!  Not one nibble but lots of scribbles.  :-)

Garden's Doorway

5x7 Oil on Linen Hardboard

Guess everyone can tell I'm more of a landscape artist, huh?  .. ;-)

To many interruptions the last few days to paint proper and there is a deadline looming in October.  It is also an honor as well. Olglebay Institute of Art chose me to receive one of the two Up-And-Coming Professional Artist Scholarships that they offer to artists.  I was floored as well as pleased!  My booth fees and any charges will be waved for the Olglebayfest Oct. 7-9th. 

Now I really do have to paint faster!

Mountain Trails

Mountain Trails
18x24 Acrylic Gallery Wrap Canvas

Lately I've had an interest in reflected light from more of a physics standpoint than through an artist's eye.  I want to understand how light works beyond what ones mind allows the viewer to see at specific moments in time.  When one views a breathtaking scene the eye picks up the little nuances or sparkles and shows the brain, the brain never really shows these on an intellectual level.  Instead the viewer gets an emphatic rendering of the scene rather than all of the information that is really there.  The viewer enjoys the scene but can't pick out specific reasons why.  If you don't think this is true ask yourself why the human language contains so many phases along the lines of, "To beautiful for words?"  See how many more you can come up with. 
As an artist I want to invoke those feelings that the brain imparts to the viewer, I think this is what makes art far more appealing than viewing a photo. 

Sailing

Sailing
11x14 Acrylic on Linen Hardboard

  The mast, rope lines, and reflections were a daunting addition that I was reluctant to add in.  So, after having it on the easel for 6 weeks I decided that if it didn't turn out I would just paint another.  I have a real fear of adding finishing touches on paintings.  The addition of just one color next to another, color relativity, can change the whole painting.  Been there done that.  ;-)  Thankfully those mistakes are becoming fewer and farther apart.