…on completing the first layer of this 20x20” seascape. Keep scrolling down to watch it unpaint itself...
My New Home Studio…
…is complete, and feeling much like, well, home!
My favorite part besides having Lauren always nearby are these angled, wing style shelves. I have one for each palette set to a comfortable height for grabbing brushes and color while painting (right) or mixing paint (left).
But I couldn’t completely leave the lovely steasel behind, so a magneted painting rag and palette knife holder made the cut.
Lastly, in keeping with a small footprint, the color and medium shelves were installed down low, out of the way of future paintings, but still close by.
Dawn Chorus..
…is the title of this diminutive 4x4” painting with a ton of detail in the cypress knees. It is a fitting title for one of my favorite spots among the black water of the Edisto River.
My Temporary And Yet Future…
…studio is starting to feel like home. Probably because it is, well, home. Although I will be moving downstairs once I finish a floor and paint the walls. You can see a video tour of the studio below the text on my “Process” page.
Today This Painting…
…was supposed to be enjoying many viewers in Lake City, SC, but like many things recently, ArtFields 2020 was cancelled. But they are releasing the artwork online if you need an art fix: https://www.artfieldssc.org/galleries/?festival_year=2020 And if you have the chance in the future, drop by Lake City! It is a small town that has some really neat things going on, year round.
This Little Study…
…is close to being completed. It is a small four by four inches.
A Quick Glimpse…
...into my studio through this progression of photos shows my easel and the process that defines my painting. The first block of photos is the first layer being completed. You can see the black and white reference photo that I used to sketch out shapes which will define the areas of light and dark. Then as I paint, I recorded the colors that I used for each element of the painting, in this case from background to foreground, or from top to bottom. The color study is the tall skinny strip below the painting.
After completing the first layer, I take a break to simply look at what I've accomplished and decide where the painting needs to go (usually while working on another painting). Once I know, I sand the painting smooth to remove the brushstrokes while hopefully leaving as much paint as possible. Using the color study from the first layer, I mix the paint for the second layer, painting it over the first on the color study to see how the change will affect the painting. These shifts can often be minute, but they are extremely important to capture the realism of the scene.
Using this method, I am free to paint the second layer without much of a thought to color, which allows me to focus solely on tightening and refining the detail of the painting. Unfortunately internet colors and low resolutions don't do it much justice, but the details are there, and the shift from one layer to the next is often quite remarkable! I often feel the first layer is tight and restricted, a rough draft if you will, while the second pass allows me to be more intimate and flowing with the extra understanding the shapes and feel of the painting. A light glaze (a mostly transparent layer of paint suspended in a painting medium) adds to the foggy atmosphere of the painting and a varnish follow, which completes the painting in four layers.
I hope you've enjoyed this small glimpse into my process, and thanks for following what I do!
The Latest Painting…
…ul 137 (write my lines) is finished, as it was varnished today. This little painting measuring 4 x 16” is my first marsh-scape in nearly two years.
This One…
…is getting closer to being finished. Just a stripe of second layer spartina in the foreground to be completed, then a glaze and a varnish once it is fully dry late next week!
Photographing The Boneyard Beach…
..at Botany Bay on Edisto Island this past weekend I may have found my next painting in a skeleton oak tree.
This might be the photo reference I use for a 20 x 20” painting to be including in group landscape show at RLS later this summer.
But either way, it’s always a fun place to explore with those whom you love...
Back To Painting…
…the second layer on this small (4x16”) landscape of spartina. I’m particularly happy with the transition of color from the background to the foreground.
This Past Weekend…
…Lauren and I were hosted by the exceptionally talented @june_stratton and her husband Jay. Each morning we woke up with the marsh vistas of Redbird Creek out our bedroom window, and Saturday we explored it by canoe.
The First Layer…
…is complete. Now onto the second!
This Little Painting…
…is coming along nicely. Four by sixteen inches is a good space to paint in, and I’m enjoying all the fog of late as I paint this place.
From Humble Beginnings…
…my next painting is up on the easel. This will be fog shrouded spartina, with the wrack line of last seasons spartina swirling in the foreground.
I’m Always Painting…
..but not always painting the same painting.
This is one that I started at the beginning of 2019, but have only worked on it in an on again, off again fashion.
Working this way, I get to take a break from the other thing I have going, or have something to continue on with while the other painting I’m studying dries.
You’re now scrolling back in time to see its earliest layer, and the finished product should be up in a week or two once the the painting dries enough for a glaze and a varnish.
When My Wonderful Wife…
...tells me there is a place I need to see, it always puts a smile on my face. The ensuing explorations usually turn into future paintings. This Sunday proved no different, with a little help from the trusty ladder, even trustier Subaru, and of course with Lauren as my guide!
Sometimes I Forget Things…
…Sometimes I forget things, like finishing a painting once it has been painted.
But with a glaze, a varnish, and a frame repaint, this one is done, done, done!
This is the full view of untitled landscape 135 (dream the wheel) 24 x 24” oil on panel 2019.
And finally a detail view!
Taking press photos…
...for an updated version of my life had me thinking about all the cool studio spaces I’ve had in 25 years of painting. Two of the coolest though have been with Robert Lange Studios. Thanks R&M! And feel free to drop by this one anytime from 11am-5pm. 2 Queen St. Charleston, SC 29401
I’m So Close...
...to finishing this painting, so I figured I’d post five photos for you to see what six weeks of painting looks like. Scroll down back through to the first layer of paint.
