“ Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. ”

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Dutch painter

Make Your Own Canvas Panels

You can make your own canvas painting panels at a much lower cost than you can buy them pre-made. In my new video, I show you how to make (8) 16×20” and (4) 11×14” panels for a total cost of $50. All my videos are available for free viewing on my blog. Check it out and send me an email if you have any questions.  Watch the video: click

Plein Air Painting – For Real!

Just to prove to you that I can suck it up and really do some Plein Air painting, here I am painting at one of my favorite locations, Seneca Golf Course.

Getting Better As A Painter

No matter how well a painting turns out, I always feel a sense that I can do it better next time.  I recently read an article about artist Jill Carver in Southwest Art magazine (June 2010).  She said: “I think I’ve found who I am stylistically. I just want to get better as a painter. In my head, I’m six months ahead of what’s coming out at the end of the paintbrush. There’s always a sense of chasing to catch up. That’s what gets me up every day: I think my next painting could be better.” www.southwestart.com I know how she feels, I feel the same way.

Kay Hurley Workshop

Images from the Kay Hurley Workshop this past weekend. Guess who was the only male in the group!

How I Created “Contemporary Landscape Series 6, No. 2″

This is my take on a popular motif that is seen in various sizes and shapes. Mine was done using Golden Fluid Acrylics and various Golden Mediums on a 24x48x1.5” Signature Canvas.

Base: Apply a coat of gesso (not too thick / use sweeping, curved strokes). Let dry. Use a palette knife to apply Q. Gold (Quinacridone Gold) mixed with Polymer Medium to the entire canvas (create texture by dragging the knife thru the almost dry medium). Let dry.
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Stage 1: Tape off a 1.5″ wide horizontal band (approx. 5.5″ from the bottom of the canvas). Use a palette knife to apply a mix of QBO (Quinacridone Burnt Orange) and FMM (Fluid Matte Medium) inside the taped-off area. Remove the tape when the paint is about 60% dry (to allow the paint under the edges of the tape to remain on the canvas, creating less of a hard line). After the paint has dried, to get rid of any remaining hard edges, use a very small brush to go over the existing edges with a very narrow bead of QBO and FMM, varying the intensity of the color and the line of the edges as you go. Let dry. Go over the entire band with a selected application of QBO + FMM to create areas of darks & lights, and to further vary the edges. Let dry. Add a band of Q. Gold + Polymer Medium above the horizon. Let dry. Add a band of Indian Yellow + Polymer Medium above this. Let dry.

Stage 1
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Stage 2: Tape off the sides (12″ from the edges). Apply Matte Gel (regular) to the bottom portions to create texture. Apply a thin glaze of SLG (Self Leveling Gel) mixed with lots of water and a little TRO (Transparent Red Oxide) to the top portions, to create a very light glaze of red. Let these dry. Apply a glaze of Burnt Umber Light + FMM to the bottom areas and another glaze of TRO + SLG and water to the top areas. Let these dry. Apply a layer of TRO + FMM over the Burnt Umber. Let dry. Add background trees to side areas using QBO + Diox. Purple + Fluid Matte Medium. Remove tape.

Stage 2
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Stage 3: Tape off the center area. Apply a thin glaze of SLG (with lots of water) and Indian Yellow to the top portion. Use a palette knife to apply TRO + FMM to the bottom portion, creating texture and light. Let these dry. Remove tape. Finish background trees using QBO + Diox. Purple + Fluid Matte Medium.

Stage 3
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Stage 4: Foreground Trees – use a sponge to apply a mixture of Matte Gel and Q. Gold to create tree shapes. Apply a layer of Matte Gel and Diox. Purple over the first layer, refining the shapes. Apply some Sap Green over this. Apply more color with oil pastels – create lighter areas on tops of trees. Add tree shadows with Diox Purple + QBO.

Stage 4 (the last tree has not been finished)
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Hilton Head photos

Here’s some of the images from my Hilton Head trip which I may turn into paintings.

Hilton Head Trip

I recently returned from an invigorating, albeit brief, trip to Hilton Head Island. I love this place and have been there many times.  Usually I rent a house, but since this was a short trip and we were staying an odd number of days, I rented a villa at the beach. It was a very nice place and certainly convenient to the beach (see photo). As sunrise over the ocean is one of my absolute favorite times to shoot photos, I got up early and shot several images which I plan to use as references for future paintings. Stay tuned to see how this works out.