11-10-15 Finished Painting

The photo above is the finished painting of the Williamsburg County Courthouse, Williamsburg, Virginia which I have been working on for several weeks. The real key to completing a commission painting is to please the owner of the painting and keep the painting true to my style. I'm very pleased with all aspects of this landscape having taken enough artistic license to accentuate the background trees to allow the building to fit into a "space" and not just sit on a paved parking lot. In a landscape painting the sunlight determines all the elements of the sketch, the sky, the deep shadows, and just how white the whites really are.  This grand old building deserves to be displayed in all of its original glory and grandeur and I hope this painting does it justice.

11-5-15 Commission

Making progress on this watercolor painting and I can see the end is near. At this point all the major parts and pieces have been painted in, now I must make sure the details are added which may seem like little things but they help to round the painting out. I will let it sit for a week then come back to look at it with a more critical eye.

11-3-15 Commission

Once the eves and soffitt's were finished it was time to paint in the brick walls. I like to paint in one wash and be finished as apposed to the watercolor technique of layer upon layer till enough color is built up that you finally reach a color saturation point. My next step will be to touch up small inconsistencies and put in the windows which will tell me if my values are correct because the windows are fairly dark and will darken up the whole composition. After that there is work to be done on the grasses behind the building.

10/27/15 Detail

I'm very pleased with the progress on this architectural landscape and am just starting some of the detail work. As you can see I start at the top of a painting and work my way down for no more reason other than that's how I've always done it. I suppose I started painting that way to keep my hand from working on top of fresh paint and ruining my work. There is detail to the soffit's, the windows, and the shudders and I expect to post up close detsil pictures of that work.

10-24-15 First steps

These are the first steps of the full size painting. I laid down the sky and let it dry completely before the trees were painted in then a little detail work on the cupola and chimneys. The little color study that was posted first wasn't big enough to show details of the building but this full size painting will allow me to add enough detail yet enable me to keep it painterly which is what I like. The painting image size its 11x15"which when matted will perfectly fit a 16x20" frame.

10-20-15 Color Study

This color study is executed in water color paints and is a quarter of the size of the original. You'll notice it is rendered in a very loose style with no intention of accuracy, the only focus is the color. I'm looking to see if the color is right, lights against darks, shadow sides versus sunlit sides. I took the liberty of bringing the grass yard closer to the foreground than photos captured it and made the background trees denser. I think this adds to the design of the painting.

10-15-15 Framed drawing

This is the enlarged drawing of the courthouse with no embellishments to it yet. My plan is to next paint an 8x10 color study and post that pic on this blog, the color study will help me work out the warm and cools of the painting as well as value and hue.

10-7-15 Commission

These are two initial pencil and ink sketches that I am working on for a possible commission. At this point they are simplistic and only highlighting the shadows and masses. In this stage I prefer not to think of the building for what it is but only as a shape that must fit the composition. Is the perspective right, are the darks dark enough and the lights light enough? What about the background and foreground? These are questions I'm working out.

8-23-15 Commission

I am at the point where I call this painting finished which means I will set it aside for several days then come back to it and look for changes that need to be made, little touch ups, or maybe an addition to balance out a section. Keep in mind the original is much more vibrant than this photo in fact there is no comparison. Keep checking this blog as I will post close up shots of several areas of the painting.

Work in progress 8-18-15

This painting is progressing little by little and step by step as most of the components are there. What I am considering complete is the sky and barn yet there is more work to be done on the tall trees, horizon trees, road, and pumpkins. What is not even in the painting yet is the water pump, fences, and the wording on the sign.

8-68-15 Work in Progress

As you look at these three photo's you can see the progress that has been made as I build one wash upon another. The style that I will maintain in this work is called 'painterly', in other words there will be plenty of brush strokes visible and a loose style with the paint as apposed to a realistic approach. The presence of the barn and foreground is so strong that I planned on the sky being large yet clearly not competing for attention. One of the first design elements that has become clear is the angle of the road being mirrored in the large cloud that has extended off the canvas, the purpose of this is to keep the eye traveling back to the barn, the central focus point. There are elements that I'm still working on such as the large mass at the farthest point on the horizon, the color of the road, the color of the barn in general. I haven't even come close to finishing the foreground.

8-3-15 First Washes

The top photo shows the very first paint laid down on the canvas and the second photo reveals the next washes. The massive cloud that extends off the canvas has hard edges at this stage, they will be softened and adjustments made as we go along. The barn and foreground are very light and need much attention as we progress over the next few weeks.

7/27/2015 Commission Started

Finally my supplies have all come in, my weekend commitments for art shows in July are over, and I'm ready to dig into my latest commission. Both photos are of the same canvas showing the pencil drawing transferred to the canvas by used of the old fashioned grid method. The canvas is a good quality Winsor & Newton and I'm looking forward to laying down some paint tomorrow night if all goes well. I left out the trees on purpose so I could have the freedom to lay down the sky without worrying about that part of the painting.

Commission Sketch 7-3-15

My last post I got ahead of the process by working up a small painting when I always make a sketch first and work the bugs out on the sketch. Please note how I have added subject matter into the sketch that really pulls the composition together. The sign leads your eye into the painting as well as the gravel road and fence but the trees on the right point the eye back to the barn. The eye follows the barn roof ridge along, circles down to the round bales and comes back up to the barn which is the center of interest.

Iowa Commission 6-30-15

This 8x10 study is prep work for a larger commission I'm working on. The final piece will be 30"x 36" so imagine more foreground and lots more sky. Usually I post my pencil sketch then the first painting study but I got ahead of myself. One thing I left out is a wooden sign the says "Pumkins for Sale" because I'm not quite sure of the placement, it seems critical for the correct composition of the painting so I'm taking my time on that sign. I think I've included all the elements so far, except the sign. Please email me and let me know what you think.

Sunday Afternoon Project

I started this Sunday afternoon at 2:00 and was finished around 4:00pm.

Work in Progress 1-8-15

 I decided to put in a dark sky so the white clapboard house would really stand out yet I did not want to do my old standby-the winter snow fall landscape. I felt this did the job!

In this second photo all the elements are there but I'll hold onto the painting for a few days giving me time to add a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Corrections 1-7-15

Some corrections were made at the request of Caitlin, namely, the addition of snow to the roof and a softening of the windows looking out over the deck. To complete the painting I apply a heavy coat of medium gloss varnish to protect the canvas and allow the owner to lightly dust and keep it clean.