90. On the San Antonio

On the San  Antonio

8x10 oil/linen

Fishing season is in full swing around here, so maybe that's why my thoughts have been going in that direction.  We have two rivers  whose headwaters are both about 6 or 7 miles from my house... The San  Antonio, and the East Fork of the Jemez.  They converge  about 14 miles downstream to form the Jemez  River, and both are beautiful, wild, and scenic, and cut through some rugged canyons with waterfalls, cascades and TROUT.  I reckon that's what this fella is after.

Terrible photo of a decent painting but I've been offline so much, thought I better check in so you'll know I'm still out here!

89. Helping Grandpa

Helping Grandpa

8x10 oil/linen panel

I gave myself a limited time to do this one,  on purpose to try to keep things sketchy....

I did like the thought of this old guy and his young grandson "helping" him... How often do we say to our childrend or grandchildren, "wanna come help me?" and really, we are doing all the work, we're just letting them be a part.   And that's important stuff.  Worthy of a painting, I thought!

88. Relic

The Relic

8x10 oil/linen

This is an old abandoned adobe cabin down in Ponderosa, NM.. not far from here.    The recent Bear Springs fire  threatened this area, but thankfully, they have it mostly contained now.

Not exactly dailies, but....

 These are not daily paintings.. slightly more complicated than I usually do in a daily, but it actually didn't take me much longer than that... But with these larger ones, I tend to spend lots of time just staring at them and thinking.  

Never underestimate the value of looking at your painting and deciding what to do next... look at it in a mirror, look at it upside down, just look at it... Sometimes I spend as much time looking as I do painting!

The first is a morning light scene, called Dawn Patrol.   I like coyotes.  They are survivalists - they can adapt to almost any environment. We hear them nightly here at our house... yip, yip, yip!   Drives our dogs nuts.

Dawn Patrol

oil/linen 12x16

And here's my favorite song about coyotes, and the west in general, actually....

Don Edwards - Coyotes

The second painting is evening light. Seems I managed to do two paintings and bookend the daylight...

Notice that late day shadows are "dirtier" - not as clear as the morning shadows.. maybe because of the accumulated dust in the air... Morning light is cooler, can be pinkish, or a clear yellow. Evening light is a warm red, and in the last daylight hour, that light is so powerful as to overtake the natural color of everything, and it all becomes tinged with red. It has to do with the refraction of light, but don't ask me to explain it.

So, here is "A Yearling for His Son" (title changed from previous)

A Yearling for His Son

oil/linen 16x20

87. On the River

On the River

8x10 oil/linen

This was about an hour's effort, and I was determined to keep it sketchy and free.... This photo doesn't do it justice, but I have to run out, and don't have time to try to get a better one. So there...

What doesn't seem to show up in the photo are nice areas of very thin transparent paint - mostly in the darkest areas, which adds a nice feel next to the thicker opaque color...

Cows and Angry Rocks

After painting like mad, and finally shipping off the paintings for my Keene, NH show, I took the day off and went on a hike and run  through some territory we haven't explored yet.  It was real pretty country.. the range cattle are back, and the new calves are everywhere. I just thought  you might like to see them - running and jumping as babies do.
At the very end of the short video, Momma cow calls one of the calves back.. the black angus calf that turns back and answers her... soooo precious.

And, then, there was the angry rock....

and just for "art content" here are a few sketches I did while waiting at the Dr.'s office...

it was  from some sport magazine.. which figures, since it was the physical therapy office.... I hate just "waiting". Sketching with a pen mean no erasing!   Good practice for careful observation and measuring....

I have a week of  out of town plein air painting planned for next week. I will be without access to the computer (gasp!!)
so won't be updating till I return, but hopefully will have some new paintings to show for it!

So I usually bring a sketchbook with me...

86. Dandelion Wishes

10x10 oil/linen

 One of the things I consider when putting people in my landscapes is how to make the painting

"universal".  Unless it is a specific portrait of somebody, then I think figures need to represent

a life experience to which we can all relate.  

Many times you will notice I put such figures facing away, or otherwise not a straight on view of the face.. this also helps to "symbolize" something with the figure rather than portray an individual person.

This little girl making a wish and blowing the dandelion fluff is, to me, a rite of spring.. the dandelions seem to be just about the first thing that pops up in the yard. Haven't we all done this? Right now, our yard (if you can call it that since its mostly just a pine forest clearing) is full of beautiful yellow dandelion flowers and white seed pods.... Personally, I love them and am happy to let them grow.  I have a 'dandelion garden" behind the chicken coop where it is wetter and they grow large... the hens love them, and I go out and pick a handful of leaves for them every morning.