Crazy Painting

I believe I mentioned this somewhat earlier. Somehow a painting sometimes just gets away on it's own so I decide to experiment with colors which gives me hopefully some insight into how color interacts to create it's own values, lines and contrasts. I don't really try to make a good painting but the impact is what it is.

Ice Bear Again

I know, I've shown this before but since my brother Mike didn't think the bear was "fluffy enough" I did a little work on that aspect of his fur. Mike is a good critic and I have a tendancy to use too much line to delineate the anatomy of an animal. So, here you are Bro.

My Winter Duties

Haven't been on the blog for a few days (not sure anyway if anyone is reading it) because it's snowed about 2 1/2 feet the last three days so I paint in the morning until it gets light and then my snow routine starts. I clear snow off the tarp of the 1963 Starcraft cuddy cabin cruiser I have parked below and then hit the snow blower while Peg gets to her shovel duties. Wednesday night was particularly tough. It just kept snowing and by Thursday morning we had another 15 inches in the driveway. Sooner or later we were going to run out of the essential supplies, milk, beer and wine coolers, so it was time to break out. Believe me, this is excercise. Meanwhile I'm intermittantly working on what I call a "crazy painting" using lots of color and texture. Usually these don't turn out very well but this one has a certain panache. I'll show it to you soon.

Snowing-Framing-Knife Making

Now that's an eclectic title! It's snowing outside so the ski resort should be happy. I'm downstairs framing some paintings for the exhibition up in McCall in February that apparently is a lodge that is also giving a wine and cheese party with the art. I guess that's the way they do these things and it's certainly better than parking my van on the side of the highway and putting up a cardboard sign that I have art to sell. Besides it's kind of cold this time of the year. Now to a knife making tip. At one point I knew I should try to solder my guards to the blade because that's the way you are supposed to do it. No problem except I wasn't a very good solderer. So I discovered that Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy worked just fine. I've never had a guard come loose and if you get a little sloppy you can clean off the excess with mineral spirits before it hardens. Now I've also discovered JB Weld and it also makes a great substitute for solder. If it can repair a cracked engine block it can hold a guard in place. Last but not least I'm showing you a picture of a really nice bowie with elk handle I made a couple years ago in prison (that's what we call the townhouse we used to live in down in Boise). Sometimes it felt like that.

Ice Bear

Now we get to what I've been doing this week and I'm quite pleased. This painting is 18x24 and only the second one I've done of a polar bear. I guess they've become a symbol of the global warming thing but I painted it because I wanted to try some new techniques and especially show the contrast of the bear with the stark and desolate background. Most think of polar bears as white but I didn't use any in this painting. Read somewhere that they aren't really white but their color picks up their surroundings...something about the hollow hair reflecting the environment or light. It could have been more blue but what fun is that? I borrowed the title from a Bob Kuhn painting and consider this a tribute to Mr. Kuhn who passed away on October 1st at age 87, painting to the end. So Bob, this is the best I could do and you are a significant inspiration for my painting. Sometimes I get better and that's encouraging as a late starter in wildlife painting.

Knife Sheath as Art

Been busy the last couple of days so I thought I'd put two blogs up this morning. Making the sheath for a knife is as much art as anything because it should fit the character of the knife. This one is certainly the most complicated I've made for one of the elk handled bowies. Don't know where I got the idea but the double snaps are cool.

Clyde Aspevig-Crane Lake

I think every painter has heroes and their work and eventual style is influenced by those individuals so I decided to reveal one of mine. This is simply a copy of a striking landscape by Clyde Aspevig, a Montana landscape painter who is simply grand. Somehow he captures values and contrast that provides drama in his paintings. I did ok but was more hesitant in my values. It shows but I think we need to at least strive to come as close as we can to those greater artists we admire. Otherwise we just aren't trying hard enough. Also, I thought I should put something other than a wildlife painting on here for you to see. You'll never see this landscape for sale as it would be unethical to pass the idea of someone else off as my own.

Final Fish Painting

I'm not really satisfied with this, probably because it was too difficult to change from an underwater to above water scene. It was difficult to say the least because everything has to change, the fish, color, values, etc. I have learned to at least stay with a good idea even though it's lost it's freshness because I usually learn something. Not sure if that's the case here.

My Wife Got A Hobby

Now you are going to have to double click the ads so check her Alaskan blog. I know...there are tons of them out there but nobody keeps notes like this woman. She's even got mileage figures. I'm just the driver and the fire starter so I really appreciate a good navigator. Meanwhile, I'm still working on that fish painting. I thought it was lost because I was stupid and had two different mind sets going. I had switched the landscape to an above ground scene but somehow kept painting the fish underwater. Figure that one out. When I realized what I was doing I wondered if it was too late. Never say die so this morning I went at it again and hope to post the results tommorow.

Fish Painting

This is some of my work on what really is my first fish painting. What's interesting is that I began trying to make it an underwater scene until Peg came down to The Cave and said "I really like the way you have those fish jumping out of the water". Well, one thing you learn is that the first reaction of a viewer is usually right and no matter how hard you try to convince them it is different you might as well consider their view. So jumping out of the water it is. I'll show you the finished product soon.

Interior Scene

While I was at it I thought you might like to see what I mentioned. I hope this is a fairly good picture. Basically you just paint a reasonable distant landscape scene on your painting support (board, canvas, etc.) and then frame it in with tape (not duct tape). I used to use masking tape but it doesn't give the sharp edges that blue painting tape gives. That's the tape you buy in the paint section at Home Depot or wherever. Interior scenes are very different because you have to imagine the light coming in and the feeling looking out. I highlighted the woodwork a couple times and then glazed it a few times with burnt umber until it looked like it does.

I promised myself I wasn't going to give boomer advice on this blog but some of it is too valuable to resist. Hey guys...if you think women are still attracted to you and you want to save some money on cologne just use Degree deoderant...it's smells better than something expensive and lasts for awhile if you get lucky. Also, don't think your heels are as soft as a baby. My wife Peg says mine wear holes in the sheets at the bottom of the bed so once in awhile just put some lotion on them after a shower. You don't have to tell anyone and it might make your socks last longer too.

The Gallery

This is one of the paintings the gallery was unable to sell. I'm thinking wildlife is not one of their big sellers, however they did want to display the two duck paintings I've shown you. Since I was on that roll I decided to do a small interior scene I've thought about for some time. When I get a picture of that I'll put it on here. It's interesting but the gallery said anything with a fish is appealing to people so guess what? Starting one yesterday I found that creating an underwater scene is difficult. It may not turn out very well but I'd rather court failure than just paint safely. What's the fun in that?

Mallard Duck

My second duck for the gallery, another 9x12. I kind of like this one too and wanted to face it the other way in case they wanted to show them together. Obviously ducks with color are more interesting than those that are sort of bland looking although I think the more drab type of duck would be ok in a larger landscape. I think these are turning out pretty well for a guy who hasn't painted a duck in 20 years. I remember my first attempt was kind of pitiful. Anyway, we're waiting for our first big snow storm which is supposed to come today so we'll see how hard it is to get to the gallery. Before I forget, we received an e-mail from a promoter for the Winter Carnival and they would like me to exhibit at a lodge in McCall during the festival. So far I said yes. It's one of those wine and art events so maybe the guests will be in the mood to buy art.

Wood Duck

Just as I was about to call the gallery in McCall that carries a couple of my paintings they beat me to the punch. Basically they wanted to know if I had some smaller paintings for the holiday crowd...the kind that were less expensive because the economy is kind of soft and art isn't moving real fast. So of course I told them sure and decided to paint a couple duck paintings before next week. Ducks really aren't my thing but this 9x12 turned out fairly nice.

King Of The Flats

I just finished this one this morning and it went faster than I expected. Sometimes paintings do that and it's always a pleasure. This is 18x24 and I especially like the atmosphere (it's Katmai National Park in Alaska). The brown bear turned out well without it standing out too much from it's surroundings. This integration is important to achieve a realistic rendering of the entire scene. I like it.

Another Painting

I'm now working on a nice bear painting in an Alaska setting and it's turning out nice. I guess paint what you're good at and one of mine seems to be bears. Got some snow last night so used the snowblower this morning to make sure it was working. A bit hard to start but eventually ran ok. Thought I'd just give you another painting to enjoy so here it is.

I like moose too...think it's the challenge of painting their antlers. This was a big hit with the kids at the summer art show.

It's Just Today

Believe it or not I'm sort of multi-tasking...at least the way we do it in the mountains. Of course I've got another painting started down in The Cave and for the last couple of days I've been managing some knives for sale on ebay...did I mention that I've got the archery bug again, first time I've had it since I was a kid so I bought a bow (traditional long bow) on ebay and some arrows. I'll have to wait until spring to set up a target but at least it's another thing to look forward to. Thought I'd put up a small landscape for you to look at if you'd like. It's Mt Oberlin and Mt Cannon in Glacier National Park (Montana). Now back to multi-tasking...am supposed to write the "Christmas Letter". I know...I know......

One Of My Favorites

This is the larger version of one I painted a couple years ago when I was still living in Boise. The funny thing about this painting is that I remember I wasn't really in the mood to start one but thought I'd give it a try. Sometimes a painting just seems to paint itself and this was one of those times. When I finished I thought it was good enough to enter in Art For The Parks, a national artist competition, but then discovered the 16x20 format was too big for the minis and too small for the regular competition. So I actually repainted it in 18x24 which you see here but it was not accepted. Oh well. Anyway, it's the first time I discovered that a yellow ochre glaze can work wonders on the right animal.

Final Cougar Painting

This is it...the final of the cougar painting. Am pretty satisfied and obviously did alot of things to it between the last time and now. Actually it's the first good cougar I've painted...the others just did not look right. Anatomy is sometimes difficult. You will note I deliberately kept the background and the foreground reasonably simple to not detract from the animal. Hope you found it interesting going from the initial sketch to the finished animal. I still like the title "The Stalk". Let me know if you think of something else.

A View Of The Cave

It's Thanksgiving morning and that's always big meal day for me. Of course I'm going down to the cave to work on the painting which I may show you later. In the meantime I thought you might be interested in this one picture of the cave. It's the room where I moved some of the equipment from the garage to work on knives this winter. What you see is a drill press, scroll saw and a vise. All that needed besides the belt sander which, of course, remains in the garage because of the dust. It's 8 degrees this morning and still no accumulation of snow. From my upstairs window I can see Tamarack Resort has some and I know they are making snow.

Can't Stop Now

This is the way it goes when the painting beckons you back. Someone once said it's takes two to paint, one to do the painting and another to stand behind them with a baseball bat to let them know when to quit. Anyway I obviously just had to take the animal further with some glazing and brushwork. Still basically using the same colors, yellow ochre, van gogh brown and burnt sienna. Trying to make the animal "pop" a bit without profiling it too much. Also decided some gray rock in foreground would be appropriate to emphasize the silent stalk a cougar would make. What do you think?

Back From Boise and Painting

Well, I'm back from Boise and thought I'd take this painting a bit further so I went down to The Cave and got more serious about the animal by blocking in some darks and lights relative to the neutral ground of the body. Colors I like to use are Van Gogh brown (dark) and Yellow Ochre (light) with tints of Burnt Sienna. I'm mostly an earth color guy. Also sketched in some trees to the right to give the background a little depth. I think some wildlife artists paint the eyes first but that seems to spoil it for me. I'd rather focus on the landscape and the animal for awhile and save the eyes for a treat toward the end. Besides, I don't want them staring at me throughout the painting process. I was hoping this would turn out well because it's the first time I've ever shown a painting in progress and can you imagine painting poorly in front of everyone?

Starting The Painting

Before Peg and I go down to Boise tomorrow morning to take care of mom (92) I decided to get the cougar painting started. First I'm using a 16x20 masonite panel that is gessoed with a medium umber tone (white and dark umber). Then, hopefully, I did a better sketch of the animal. Don't know why I have a hard time with this particular animal but I do. It's made a bit more difficult because there is a small amount of "foreshortening", a fancy artist word for the front of the object is more towards you than the back. Then I mixed up some hooker's green and payne's gray to block in the background. Very important if you are using acrylic to go light around the animal's profile or you will get ridges that are difficult to deal with when you paint the animal. Using oils is not so much a problem. Then with a touch of the green mixed above with more liberal amounts of raw sienna and unbleached titanium I sketched in the ground. You might note that I started leading the foreground toward you to create the illusion of depth and the tension of the animal coming forward. Right now I'm thinking a good title is "The Stalk" but who knows. Got any ideas?

The Sketch Of The Cougar

Over the course of doing a painting I thought I'd show you some of the steps so I went down to The Cave this morning and did a quick sketch of the cougar I'm thinking of painting. I didn't use to do this enough and ended up with animals that didn't look right. Also, doing a sketch sort of develops a "memory" of the animal and shows me what my bad tendencies are going to be. For example I have a tendency to make my cougar's heads too large in proportion to the body. Drawing also helps initially determine where some of the darks and lights will be. It doesn't have to be a great drawing, just good enough to get started. Took about 20 minutes with just a regular #2 pencil and a piece of paper. You'll never know if you can draw unless you try.

Latest Painting

I thought you might like to see what I've done recently before I got distracted by my knife sideline. As you can see I like to keep it simple without too much detail like the late Bob Kuhn. This is a grizzly in the Yukon called "Scent Of Winter". The great thing about painting is that you can take different elements from different places and put them together like I did here. The landscape is from a photo I took on my Yukon trip and the grizzly is something I saw in a book. Anyway I hope you like it. I'll try to take a picture of a couple knives I've been working on and post those too.

The 30 Year Painting

Previously I mentioned that I decided to take a kind of lousy painting from 1977 and just repaint it so that it at least looked respectable. It was so bad that my ex-wife didn't even want it in the divorce so this was a challenge. Basically I just repainted the whole thing over the heavy texture of the original and it didn't turn out too bad. It's a tidal pool on the coast of Maine...kind of a heavy atmosphere but the composition and patterns intrigued me. Anyway it's better than the original so here it is for what that's worth.

It's Cold In The Garage

Actually did go out in the garage yesterday (about 20 degrees) and it wasn't so bad bundled up. Roughed out a couple of really nice bowie knives on the belt sander. Am becoming a better knife maker and I do sell some of these on ebay from time to time. I think soon I should discuss how to become a painter and my wife tells me it is possible to post photos with a new post so maybe I can show you a painting in progress. She says she is going to update my internet art site with some better pictures and a couple new paintings so it should be soon. Check it out by clicking on it in this blog page.

It's Cold Outside

Only 15 degrees so I'm down in The Cave finishing one of my more unique paintings. It started as a painting of a cove in Maine in 1977 and then I thought it was good. I was busy with other things then...moving to Colorado and thinking about being a dad in spring of 78. So basically I hurried my paintings. Somehow I never threw this one away and when it surfaced the other day I thought I could make it better. I did and now I like it. Interesting..now I've got a painting that spans the last 30 years, 77-07. Am thinking about spending a little time in the unheated garage today because that's where the belt sander lives. Obviously can't use it inside The Cave but at these temperatures I'm thinking about it??

Need To Get Back To Painting

Well...I'm still working on that knife sheath and last night it rained very hard with heavy winds but it melted the 4 inches of snow we received earlier. I need to get this particular knife thing finished so I can begin my next wildlife painting of a cougar. My wife tells me there are alot of boomer hobby sites out there so you need to find this one.

Morning In The Cave

I thought I might add that while my wife was creating this blog for me I spent the entire morning in The Cave making a good landscape better and fabricating a sheath for my latest knife creation. I certainly appreciate her work and am gratified that I can share it with you.

Where Is Everbody?

I just created my blog this morning and boomers aren't pouring in (or anyone else for that matter). I would say everyone is at work but it's a holiday so a good time to find my blog among the millions out there. So let's get with it. You will find me quite different than some.

Let's Call It A "Hobby"

You need something to do when work no longer consumes your time. It's best if that something is relatively inexpensive and you can do it on your own. So, let's call it a "hobby". Obviously it can be a multitude of things and nothing is out of consideration. You are only limited by your inability to take the risk that you might try something at which you might fail.
I chose painting, specifically acrylic landscapes and wildlife, and the pursuit of this particular art form has never failed me and I will talk about that in this blog. Along the way I also became interested in making knives rather than just buying them. It is amazingly gratifying and there are excellent sources for materials just as there are for creating art.
These are just my current "hobbies" and I'm sure I'll pick up more along the way.Tell me about your hobby or ask me how to get started on mine.