Sketchbook by Stan Fellows

2011-10-14T11:38:00.001-05:00

Two more from recent weeks, and now I gotta get back to work. SF

2011-10-14T11:34:00.002-05:00

The T-post was done afield yesterday. Shovel is invented. (and small.. about 2").

Barn was done this morning from memory.

Oct.14 SF

2011-10-14T11:25:00.002-05:00

IOWA AT 4X6.

With a fresh start here on the farm I've begun a series "Iowa At 4x6", which will be 4x6 inch studies and 4x6 foot oils on canvas. Have been shooting for at least one per day. Attached are a few examples.

Oct.14 SF

2011-10-14T11:19:00.002-05:00

Came back from Michigan and moved into this brand-new house built above a barn. Beautiful vistas in all directions.

Oct.14 SF

2011-07-27T09:08:00.002-05:00

Another oriole watercolor at 9.5x20".

2011-07-25T06:47:00.002-05:00

American Robin. 15x20 watercolor.

I left this shot a little dark so the pencil work wouldn't drop out, but it's on white paper.

2011-07-24T08:07:00.002-05:00

Another tall, slim number.

2011-07-23T06:34:00.002-05:00

I've been doing some watercolors at 9.5x20 (usual is 15x20) as this tall, narrow format makes for an interesting composition and can find a home on a short wall.

2011-07-21T09:43:00.002-05:00

FALL WORKSHOPS. YOU CAN DO THIS.

I'm looking for Sep./Oct. watercolor workshops.

What works best is to set up two 2-day workshops, (Group A attends Mon./Tue./, group B attends Wed./Thu. and then on Friday we have a less formal paint-along day.

This format reduces cost for participants and makes it easier for people to find a schedule that fits.

Cost is $200 per person, and I split with the host/coordinator 80/20.

If you have a group or art league or whatever pick a week, circulate an email and see if you get any bites. Presently my only event is Sep.24, 25.

Contact me at: stanfellows@gmail.com

2011-07-20T22:06:00.002-05:00

I'm back on my blog!!

Past two months have been a blur as I packed up and moved to northern Michigan for the summer and have been in the land of no internet. But I figured out a way to get online today.

While I'm still doing watercolors by the truckload I have also been doing some larger oils of late.

This one is 30x40". I'm piling these up to send to a gallery in Naples, FL where they'll be in the $4,000 range. (I can move quite a bit on this price before I ship them, so let me know if you see something you're interested in.)

Will shoot pics and post some recent watercolors soon.

July 20 2011 SF

2011-05-21T20:39:00.002-05:00

Minnesota peeps; I will be conducting a watercolor workshop in Bloomington May 23-27, and on Thursday my dear host is having an open house w/ wine, snacks, at which paintings will be available for sale.

ALSO, I believe there are still a few openings for the Friday paint-along, which is a very fun and informal day of painting afield, with myself wandering about (when not painting) to offer ideas or suggestions, or to simply chat.

Contact me if interested: stanfellows@gmail.com

May 21, 2011 SF

2011-05-07T08:54:00.002-05:00

Had a nice session with Jenny from CA who came for a lesson.

This was painted for her from a photograph and contained a number of interesting elements; compositional issues, painting glass, how to make background elements interesting but not dominating, etc.

May 7 2011 SF

2011-04-30T21:08:00.002-05:00

Had a sale/show (I'm never sure what to call these) at my house today, and during slow times I made a nice turkey melt sandwich and these two casting studies at 6x6. And again.. sorry for the poor phone camera quality of the pics.

April 30 2011 SF

2011-04-29T13:43:00.001-05:00

Still piling them up for the show this weekend..

April 29 2011 SF

2011-04-27T09:50:00.002-05:00

A couple 6x6" oils. I think the detail of the person playing a Steelhead is interesting; this detail could be covered by a dime.

April 27 2011 SF

2011-04-25T19:13:00.002-05:00

Here are some scans of 9x12 oils. If you see "sparkles" in the dark areas that's because of the scan, which was just the easy way to get these posted.

April 25 2011 SF

2011-04-25T19:03:00.002-05:00

Oh my how the paintings pile up! Here's a shot of a few small oils as I get organized for a sale at my place this weekend.

April 25 2011 SF

2011-04-23T08:43:00.002-05:00

For no particular reason I chosen Robins as a subject this past week, making small (6x6 and 5x7) oil paintings. Might do a few more this weekend.

April 23 2011 SF

2011-04-13T19:27:00.002-05:00

Journal drawing of City High, Iowa City. Lotsa mistakes! Lotsa fun!

Here's an example of taking on a subject that has an overwhelming amount of detail and not being rattled by that.

I began by drawing the contour of the roof lines and general shape of the big pieces of the buildings, unconcerned about accuracy and simply enjoying the ride as my eye wandered along.

Some kids were throwing a Frisbee and I indicated them, then started darkening in some deep shadows here and there but without making any attempt to render the whole building.

Basically I was just daydreaming and drawing whatever little bits happened to catch my interest.

It's not a great drawing of the building but I had a very enjoyable session.

April 13 2011 SF

2011-04-11T07:24:00.002-05:00

PRINTS!

Over the years I have been asked countless times about the possibility of purchasing prints and have always answered no, as my taking a day to get a single print made and mailed etc. was not going to happen.

Recently however I found the Fine Art America site and this looks like an interesting concept; I supply them with a digital file, and customers can browse options for what size print they want, matting/framing options etc. and FAA makes the print and delivers it. Pretty smart.

Link is to the left.

April 11 2011 SF

2011-04-10T06:12:00.001-05:00

Late afternoon 9x12 of Kinnick Stadium.

2011-04-10T06:03:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was hesitating at starting a difficult painting, so to get over that I made this very simple study of a fishing lure.

By choosing an easier subject I got started (often the hardest part of a painting) and once I was painting I settled into enjoying, seeing shapes, making choices about color etc. etc. and from there was able to move on the more difficult painting.. which turned out not to be difficult once I quit worrying about it.

April 10 2011 SF

2011-03-22T19:18:00.002-05:00

Scanned some old sketchbook samples tonight - Looking for the kind of stuff we'll be talking about in the upcoming Journal Drawing workshops; images that are quirky and fun, and are clearly done from careful observation.

The point of this workshop is to train your eye to S L O W D O W N , and drawing is simply a device to do that.

March 22 2011 SF

2011-03-04T20:41:00.003-06:00

This was done (today) mostly from memory, but I'd looked at the scene (yesterday) with great concentration for 20 minutes, so it was sunk in pretty good.

It's what I saw out my kitchen window; snow holding only in northern shadows, and a Robin looking for bugs.

This is 11x14 on smooth bristol.

Did this painting in 40 minutes. Seems the paintings I'm most happy with happen in a very short time.

March 4 2011 SF

2011-03-04T10:18:00.002-06:00

Here's the finished Cigar Break piece I'd been pulled away from a couple weeks ago. Didn't really turn out the way I wanted as it became too fussy. Not a bad idea though and I might try it again on bristol, which allows me to work much faster. (This is done on Canson Montval.)

March 4 2011 SF

2011-02-17T21:23:00.003-06:00

Sorry, but can't get back to the finished piece (fly fishing cigar break) of the previous post right now - Have a workshop this weekend in MN and needed to paint a demo idea tonight.

This painting was done from a still life setup that had a deliberate gap between the elements at the top and the bottom. I tied the top and bottom together by adding/inventing a non-existent red-striped dish towel.

Learning tricks for how to salvage a painting that has a fatal flaw (in this case the composition) is very valuable, and interesting to watch.. I hope.

We shall see how this goes in front of the live audience Sunday.

Feb.17 2011 SF

2011-02-14T16:21:00.002-06:00

My friend Jerry sent me this photo of his fly rod and cigar, which I thought was a nice concept for a painting.

I made some changes as I drew the pencil thumbnail, pulling the distant rocks lower and extending the dark trees higher. Then decided to cast the foreground in shadow with only a hint of rim light on the reel. I want the painting to first be about shapes and composition, second about the stream, third about the story of the cigar break.

The color study above is a little smaller than a playing card.

Feb.14 2011 SF

2011-02-11T17:13:00.002-06:00

Here's a shaky phone camera shot of the finished Coffee Break piece. (I need to get a regular camera). Also a scanned detail of the person.

Feb.11 2011 SF

2011-02-09T18:33:00.002-06:00

Looking at the previous study for Coffee Break fishing piece I wondered about changing the background to be more atmospheric and less dense. Did the attached study today. (Which is smaller than a playing card.) In this study I made the distant falling snow blue/tan and only the nearer snow white.

I like both studies and will probably do finished versions of each.

Feb.9 2011 SF

2011-02-08T15:58:00.003-06:00

Coffee Break Study

Came across a pic of me painting afield, my thermos on the hood of the Jeep. Gave me an idea for a painting of a guy taking a coffee break on a rock. Thermos, shoulder bag, fly rod on rock next to him. (Click on image once to enlarge, then click on the enlargement and you'll see detail.)

This study was done entirely out of my head and it's the way I began every painting that has a concept. From here I'll look for a couple pictures to help me out. I can set my thermos and rod in the yard to look at.

Feb.8 2011 SF

2011-02-07T09:53:00.002-06:00

Here's the finished painting. Parts of it worked out, others not so much. The usual.

Feb.6 2011 SF

2011-02-05T11:34:00.003-06:00

Woodcock painting nearly done. I'll add some precise detail to the branches to make the bird less noticeable at first glance.

Feb.5 2011 SF

2011-02-03T21:54:00.002-06:00

Jumped out of my chair during a movie tonight to scribble down an idea for a painting tomorrow. I was doodling shapes for a composition, (see the thumbnail sketch with the penny) while thinking about a Woodcock hunting painting, and came up with the idea of making both the bird and the hunters equally hidden.

This would be very descriptive of Woodcock hunting - Often very hard to even locate your partner who might be only 30 feet away, and the birds are absolutely impossible to see.

The painting, from across the room, should simply be a pretty fall landscape done with a strong composition. Only upon close inspection will hunters and bird be realized.

We shall see how this goes..

Feb.3 2011 SF

2011-02-03T16:37:00.002-06:00

Came across this painting today - I'd made it New Years Day on the beach in Florida.

Sometimes when painting in difficult circumstances (sitting in sand, windy, pressed for time) I produce paintings I'm quite happy with. The physical discomfort forces me to concentrate on the piece, and I'm more inclined to paint boldly and without care for perfection.

Feb.3 2011 SF

2011-01-30T17:36:00.002-06:00

Another try at a sporting scene that leans more on what the day feels like, and plays down the actors and action.

I asked my daughter, Daisy, if this scene should have falling snow (the last thing added to a winter scene) and she said no. I'm still undecided.

The picture here is poor - Shot it lit by a drawing lamp with my phone and the trees reflection in the water shows too light. In fact it's almost as dark as the trees above. But you get the idea.

Jan 30 2011 SF

2011-01-28T22:04:00.002-06:00

Here's a sequence of a painting I made today of a Great Blue Heron. Pretty much a top-to-bottom painting.

Jan 29 2011 SF

2011-01-26T16:51:00.002-06:00

A few people have asked for paintings of Pheasant hunting, which is a pretty tired subject. So I thought I'd try making a painting that is about shapes and composition and let the hunter and bird be very subtle.

Here's the thumbnail sketch and a detail from the finished piece. Parts of it worked out OK but I'd like to try this again. Maybe in oil.

Jan 26 2011 SF

2011-01-25T10:01:00.002-06:00

I was going to shoot a new demo video this morning but can't figure out the camera and have to wait for my daughter to get home from school. Typical.

So here's a detail of a fishing piece while posting something is on my mind.

Jan.25 2011 SF

2010-12-07T20:04:00.001-06:00

A couple UIHC oils. These are 5x7 on panel.

Dec.7 2010 SF

2010-12-07T20:03:00.002-06:00

Killing time Sat. during the sale at my home made this painting of the scene across the street.

Dec.7 2010 SF

2010-12-07T20:00:00.002-06:00

Curious to learn if one can use watercolor on a 20 degree day I went out Monday and gave it a try. The answer: NO.

Roughed in this painting afield and then finished back home.

Dec.7 2010 SF

2010-11-18T14:44:00.002-06:00

A painter I'm working with asked yesterday about painting foliage and how to deal with all the confusing shapes.

To demonstrate I used my always-handy fake flowers. Of the 20-30 flowers/leaves/stems that could be seen I picked out about 3 flowers and a couple leaves, drew and then painted them with great care. The rest of the leaves and flowers I let go, sometimes working wet into wet, sometimes making abstract shapes and colors, all of this simply to approximate the values and colors but making no attempt to capture any detail besides the 3 previously painted flowers.

Nov. 18 2010 SF

2010-11-12T19:15:00.002-06:00

VIDEO!!

My daughter (11 yrs. old) filmed and posted a Youtube video for me today.

I can't figure out how to post these on the blog so that they simply open and play when clicked, so if you want to see the vid you have to copy and paste this link. Sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeCKpD98xY

Nov.12 2010 SF

2010-11-09T10:20:00.006-06:00

Here's a good exercise in editing; Sitting on the lawn looking at the scene before me I took a very long and relaxing time deciding what the painting would be OF, as opposed to diving in and trying to paint the whole forest.

I chose to make something of an L shaped composition with paint and leave a significant tree on the right in pencil only. Having that penciled tree in there is important but if I'd painted it the composition would have looked like a football goal post.

Nov.9 2010 SF

2010-11-09T10:18:00.002-06:00

Flopped the pic I used the other day to get a fresh look at it and made this 9x12 oil.

Nov.9 2010 SF

2010-11-06T20:58:00.001-05:00

A 30 min. study from a photo. Getting more comfortable with horses.

Nov.6 2010 SF

2010-11-05T13:06:00.002-05:00

20 minute study done this morning from a photo.

Nov.5 2010 SF

2010-11-04T10:13:00.002-05:00

After doing a lot of nocturnes this week I woke up today needing to see some bright color and painted my friend's Morning Glories.

Nov.4 2010 SF

2010-11-01T20:17:00.002-05:00

A dawn value study of UIHC entrance. Did this (5x7) on a panel tinted medium blue using two colors: sepia+black to make a dark, and a light blue. I guess I used some white as well..

Nov.1 2010 SF

2010-11-01T08:45:00.002-05:00

Getting the hang of Nocturnes.. finally.. a little. Trickier than I had thought. Last evening made this 5x7 of Boyd Tower by dashing recklessly through a 20 min. session on location, then went home and made contrast adjustments.

Nov.1 2010 SF

2010-10-14T10:44:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine had a baby yesterday so I made a painting for the baby. I've always thought this was a fun idea - Imagine having a painting on your wall that was made for you and dated on the day of your birth.

Oct.14 2010 SF

2010-10-06T20:00:00.001-05:00

One more; Boyd Tower, UIHC.

2010-10-06T19:49:00.002-05:00

I've had a terrific week painting afield, and the key to this; biting off less as a subject.

For whatever reason in recent months I'd been seduced into trying to capture an entire scene while painting on location, and while that works for some people (usually requiring multiple sessions) for me it's a poor fit. So of late I've been reminding myself that afield I'll only make "studies". The irony of this statement is that I have no intention of doing a more complete painting later. A study is all I intend to do, but with that in mind I am more realistic about how much can be accomplished in one painting session.

Above are a few recent pieces.

Oct.6 2010 SF

2010-09-23T17:54:00.002-05:00

I never would have believed I would one day wake up enthused about painting horses, but as I'm beginning to get a grasp of their form, and with gentle and helpful critiques from Barrie and Daisy, they have become a very fun challenge.

My plan is to continue drawing and painting them from photos until I can confidently draw a pretty good horse without looking at anything. (The lower left pencil drawing was a stab at doing one out of my head.) I figure I'll be where I want to be about 100 horses from now.

Sep.23 2010 SF

2010-09-12T22:06:00.002-05:00

Another horse day - Encouraged by the response to my last horse painting I've been studying horses (via web images) and today went back to Barb's farm to paint.

I sat and watched this horse for 40 minutes before making a 15 minute watercolor study of her. (I wish I'd remember to do this more often - Spend MUCH more time observing than painting.)

While the proportions are imperfect I am generally happy with having caught the gesture of the horse in this quick study.

There is hope...

Sep.13 2010 SF

2010-09-08T20:15:00.002-05:00

A surprisingly great painting session today with Barrie - Went to Barb's horse farm, and deciding to roll the dice I chose to paint a horse, a subject which has always given me nothing but fits and frustration - There's something about the construction of a horse that I have trouble seeing and understanding.

So I started trying to draw a live horse in the way one does a figure drawing, but the horse wouldn't stand still and I gave up. (This drawing might be seen if you look at the painting upside down, before I turned the paper over for a fresh try)

I then tried to visually reduce the horse to three simple shapes and capture that in my head, I quickly made a painting of the horse, and as soon as the paint said "horse" I quit and moved on to filling in the rest of the painting.

The key to today's success was to simplify what I was looking at, and to declare victory as soon as possible.

Sep.8 2010 SF

2010-08-30T21:55:00.000-05:00

2010-08-30T21:44:00.002-05:00

Interesting evening - Stumbled upon a sketchbook from 2007, the year before the flood and just before the bottom dropped out of my former career as an illustrator. The drawings in this sketchbook are very alive and free and are generally drawings of people in engaging poses.. very different from the more withdrawn landscapes and such in the following years.

On one of these pages I diagramed my thought process for figure work, which is to begin with a general shape and then work my way towards a gesture that works with that shape. This is the way I always see things but I'd never before done a diagram to explain it.

I really wish I could just do figure work for a living, but presently those don't sell as well as other subjects. Maybe someday the figure stuff will catch on.. Who knows..

Aug. 30 2010 SF

2010-08-26T20:47:00.002-05:00

Wow... my last post was in June? I guess that whooshing sound was summer passing by.

Painting with Barrie again we sat in front of a rather overwhelming view of a garden a little past peak and a distant farmscape. With too much to see and not a lot of time I knew I was in trouble and made some severe edits to what I would tackle in this session and looked at just a few flowers, eliminated trees, and pulled the distant shed closer.

Not a great painting, but if you're drowning and a small branch floats you to shore, well that means you made it to shore. I survived the session and salvaged something out of it, and sometimes that's a great victory.

Aug. 26 2010 SF

2010-06-16T21:24:00.003-05:00

Harper's Magazine sent me a fascinating article about concealed weapons to illustrate. (It's a great piece, dispelling with data any assumptions you might have had about the issue.)

Here's my study for the opener ( of 4 illustrations), a beauty shot of a .38 but lit in such a way that it is veiled. Concealed. I'll find out tomorrow what Harper's thinks.

I should add that the art director at Harper's is one of those very rare art directors who will trash a concept, give a suggestion, and the end result is a great improvement. So I'm open..

June 16 2010 SF

2010-06-08T15:55:00.002-05:00

Interesting session w/ Barrie today; We'd both struggled with our paintings of Barb's garden last week, repeatedly feeling lost and confused by the overwhelming amount of information.

Today I tried a favorite trick to remedy this, which is to turn my back to the subject. Working from a photo I placed behind me I was forced to memorize simpler, smaller bits of information which I then turned and applied to the painting.

This self imposed handicap changes what you look for when observing the subject, and when you work on the painting you feel more at liberty to change things to serve the painting, rather than getting caught up in simply copying the subject.

June 8 2010 SF

2010-06-06T09:57:00.002-05:00

Went back to the marina yesterday, ignoring a tornado watch, and made a weak 9x12 oil painting.

Stopped at my pizza pub on my way home and made this sketch and notes for improving the painting.

It's easy to forget that as an artist your job is not to copy what's in front of you, but to run that information through a filter and make the painting your own.

June 7 2010 SF

2010-06-01T19:21:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd posted this painting a few days ago and just now realized I hadn't. These are peonies in a friend's yard around the corner from my house. Painted May 28.

June 1 2010 SF

2010-06-01T19:12:00.003-05:00

Fascinating painting session with my friend Barrie today; I THOUGHT I knew where I was headed with this garden painting but about halfway through was completely lost and had no idea what area to paint next, what shapes to look for etc.

And then unexpectedly the small area at the back of the painting, (the fence and Peonies) worked out. With this area in hand as a success I felt free to let the rest of the painting be very loose and nonspecific, which gives the entire painting a fresh feel.

So sometimes the best plan is to have a little luck..

June 1 2010 SF

2010-06-01T10:16:00.001-05:00

Two paintings from this weekend made at the marina.

June 1 2010 SF

2010-05-26T19:47:00.003-05:00

Busy day! Knocked out a piece for The Nature Conservancy (a regular client) and then did a demo for a friend who came by for a watercolor instruction session.

May 26 2010 SF

2010-05-19T10:47:00.002-05:00

Experimenting with my phone to take pics for blog.. Not great.

About the same time last fall that I sunk my regular camera I began working only at 15x20, which is too big to scan. So while I've been doing quite a lot of painting I haven't had a good way to post things on my blog.

Bear with me. I'll get it figured out.

Here are three recent oils. I've been experimenting with "quilting" the shapes within the painting, laying swatches of colors next to each other, letting the seams show and not doing a lot of blending.

May 19 2010 SF

2010-03-02T16:41:00.003-06:00

Looking for inspiration for doing some new figure work I went to a wonderful blog called Life Sketcher, one of my favorites. http://jeanmariedrouet.blogspot.com/ If you scroll down a bit on this blog you'll see some stunning ink thumbnail studies. Jim does a beautiful job of catching the essence of the figures in these studies without getting encumbered with any detail.

One trick for doing this is to use a drawing tool that is relatively large compared to your paper. You can use a thick pen and make a tiny drawing (as I have done in these two studies) or work on larger paper using a fat marker or maybe a crayon the size of your thumb. The point is to be unable to render detail, which then forces your eye to see only the most important shapes.

Mar.2 2010 SF

2010-02-28T17:03:00.002-06:00

Carolina Wren study. 7x10 watercolor. (NFS)

On the table to my right is an interesting small branch I cut from a bush outside. The branch is screwed to a board and can be turned to any angle. I look at this for ideas about form and composition when I paint trees.

Also on that branch is a small bird made of modeling clay. I sculpt the bird into the approximate body shape of the bird I am painting and can then pose and light it.

Feb.28 2010 SF

2010-01-31T10:29:00.002-06:00

Loon. 8x11 watercolor.

Sometimes I forget that cheating is OK..

Facing this Loon painting I was dreading the task of painting black around all the white spots on the bird, then recalled an exchange w/ my friend James last week where he mentioned painting in gouache (basically opaque watercolor).

Using white gouache made the spots a simple matter.

This is one of five paintings for the Minnesota DNR.

Jan 31 2010 SF

2010-01-20T13:26:00.003-06:00

Table landscape. 7x10 watercolor.

Another invented landscape.

My daughter had some project going on the table and it was covered with drawing pads, pens, a stapler etc. I drew the scene and "melted" the shapes to give the drawing some flex.

Colors in this one were decided based on what I felt the painting needed.

Fairly happy with this and might replicate it as a large oil.

I left this scan large as the detail is fun to look at. (Click on the image to view enlarged.)

Jan 20 2010 SF

2010-01-19T12:51:00.002-06:00

Invented landscape. 7x10 watercolor.

Last night at my daughter's swimming practice I was making little drawings of areas of the pool where I saw interesting compositions. The BW scan (with the corner of a dollar for scale) is a drawing of the corner of the pool.

Today I looked at my little drawing and decided to make a landscape of it. I looked out my window for color ideas, softened the hard lines indicated in the drawing and then gave vertical stuff tree color and texture, and flat stuff snowy shadows. The middle ground areas got a dirt texture. I wasn't happy with how I handled the lane barriers, but still it was an interesting experiment.

Jan 19 2010 SF

2010-01-18T16:58:00.002-06:00

7x10 watercolor.

An invented landscape. I was looking at the random elements on a table across the room (the trees at left are a flatscreen TV seen from the side) and pushed and bent them a little to resemble a landscape. The color pallet was derived by looking out the window.

Jan 18 2010 SF

2010-01-18T13:30:00.002-06:00

More doodles..

I can't emphasize enough to students the value of simply doodling. So often we (I include myself) hesitate to draw or paint because of a recent frustration with our art. By doodling pointless shapes and objects with no goal in mind you get some practice without fear of failure. Here and there something cool happens on the page that you might not have been brave enough to try on a "real" piece.

I scanned the BW drawing and then went back and applied WC, again just fooling around.

Jan.18 2010 SF

2010-01-11T10:12:00.002-06:00

Started a new watercolor sketchbook yesterday and made a point to ruin the first page just to get that out of the way. Did some doodles at the top and then invented a singer painted in watercolor.

Jan. 11 2010 SF

2010-01-04T20:16:00.002-06:00

Oops.. One more.

2010-01-04T20:07:00.002-06:00

I was going to do a demo of how to paint people in WC for a friend and suddenly had that awful thing happen where you forget how to draw.. (Yipes!!!..)

My solution when I "lose it" is to doodle. Don't think, don't scrutinize, just start marking up the paper, and sure enough your skills will return to you.

Here are the six pages from a recent tiny sketchbook (I scanned a quarter on one page to show size) I did recently to shake off my funk and get my groove back. The paintings are acrylic. I used an oversized brush so I wouldn't get all fussy and would be forced to paint very simple shapes.

Jan.4 2010 SF

2009-12-13T18:53:00.002-06:00

Funny how often this happens; When I am absentmindedly painting I often do my best stuff.

Tonight I had a pallet of acrylics laid out that I was done with after a job, and before chucking it in the trash decided to do a quick postcard for my friend Rudi... and this little 10 min. study is the best thing I've done in three weeks. Note to Stan: DON'T THINK.

Dec.13 2009 SF

2009-11-13T15:19:00.002-06:00

The finished painting.

It's funny how many little decisions are made along the way even on a piece this simple: Putting in the picnic table to imply private property, aligning a main tree with the paddler's arm to pull the composition together, a hundred decisions on what to paint / not paint to make water look like water and trees look like trees without getting fussy, how to imply people on the porch without detail, and so forth. It all happens faster than you could narrate.

Anyway, I hope they like it.

Nov. 13 2009 SF

2009-11-13T15:18:00.003-06:00

After doing the canoe and starting the trees I decided to leave the left side of the piece somewhat unfinished to keep the feeling lighter.

2009-11-13T15:15:00.002-06:00

Knowing there would be a lot of green in the painting I chose to make the canoe red, and because it was the part of the painting I was most uncertain about I did it first to get the scary part out of the way. (I've been busy this week and needed to do the painting in about two hours.)

2009-11-13T15:07:00.002-06:00

I made a new, more precise drawing on tracing paper, put that on a light box and traced onto my WC paper. This tighter pencil drawing was sent to the art director for a final sign-off.

2009-11-13T15:02:00.002-06:00

Here are the two shots I used. The kayakers were at the right eye level, and I looked at the canoe to guess how high up the stern would rise, where the person would be sitting, etc. A canoe is one of the hardest shapes I can think of to draw. The angles and arcs are so pretty on the boat itself but are very confusing and difficult to capture accurately.

2009-11-13T14:57:00.002-06:00

I thought it might be interesting to describe a typical assignment and the process I follow.

Southern Living sent me an essay written by someone who lives on a river and how they enjoy the passersby.

My initial sketch (done out of my head) shows a woman waving from a canoe, the canoe clearly not angled towards the shore. The concept was approved so I moved to the next step of collecting pictures to guide my painting.

2009-10-19T19:51:00.002-05:00

Painted at the open house at Harvest Farm Preserve yesterday, honored to be one of the handful of artists invited to participate.

This little (6x6) study was funny; I had been chatting with some nice guy who stood behind me watching as I painted. I was about done with the study, but went to my pallet and picked up some paint, and then held the brush poised over the painting for 20 seconds as I considered doing a little more with the leaves. Uncertainly, I brought the brush closer to the painting, and the guy behind me gave a disapproving, "Mmmmm..." I withdrew the brush, laughing, and told the guy, "You're right. It's done."

Here it is, saved from over-working by a stranger.

Oct.19 2009 SF

2009-10-04T11:21:00.001-05:00

Another reposted image for workshop demonstrations. SF

2009-10-04T11:08:00.001-05:00

With new workshops on Journal Drawing starting soon I decided to repost some images we'll be talking about so participants can more easily find them here at the top of the blog. SF

2009-10-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

2009-10-04T10:48:00.004-05:00

Oct.4 2009 SF

2009-08-20T19:33:00.003-05:00

Personal journal piece of a drink at W&P.

A full day of smashing out art with a midday lunch break of driving a new muddy road I discovered.

Upon completing my assignment this evening (Southern Living magazine) I decided against cutting the grass and went to my little pizza pub (Wig & Pen) for a drink.

Felt like drawing tonight and took my own advice; just draw what's in front of you when it occurs to you to draw and make a journal remark about the day. Don't try to illustrate the day, just draw what you're looking at and write whatever comes to mind.

Aug. 20 2009 SF

2009-08-06T10:53:00.003-05:00

5x7 open acrylic on panel. Harvest Preserve.

Went back to HP for an early evening session and guessed right that it would get terrific light across this field.

Still getting a feel for the Open Acrylics - Different from regular acrylics but not quite like oils.

Aug. 6 2009 SF

2009-08-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

Stones at Harvest Preserve. 11x14 watercolor.

Did this yesterday in difficult circumstances; hot, sunny, very windy. With my workshops lined up I was curious to see what sort of day would be impossible for participants to do field work in.

I left the sky white and also only indicated parts of the foreground grass. Leaving some areas of a watercolor open gives them a fresh feel.

Aug.3 2009 SF

2009-07-30T13:33:00.002-05:00

Parking meter.

Yesterday morning I went downtown for a coffee and sat outside with my sketchbook.

Looking for a starting point for doing some drawing I decided against looking for something attractive or interesting and instead looked for the dumbest, most boring subject available; this parking meter.

The result of this exercise is that you draw simply to draw - You're not trying to make something beautiful. It breaks the ice and gets you started.

I wish I'd heard what happened to Brent - Caught just that one remark as two guys walked by.

July 30 2009 SF

2009-07-15T15:58:00.002-05:00

Sea shell and WC tube. 11x14 watercolor on bristol.

After a day of doing business stuff I sat down to paint and had a hard time "seeing".

Decided to do a simple exercise to show my workshop people and picked a tiny broken shell and a used-up watercolor tube as subjects. At first glance not exciting items to look at, but holding each and looking carefully they revealed fun shapes to paint.

There's always something beautiful to see if you slow down and look for it.

July 15 2009 SF

2009-07-14T23:15:00.002-05:00

Canoe on shore. 5x7 oil on panel.

Did this study some days ago from looking at a watercolor of the same scene. For personal reasons it's significant to me in that for the first time since I started painting again in oil I really felt in control of the medium and therefore could paint "the way I paint", as opposed to a perfunctory execution of a subject.

I told myself when I (again) started painting in oils that I'd have to do 200 bad oil paintings to get where I wanted to be. This little study is about number 300. I guess I was optimistic, but whatever, here I am, and happy to be here..

July 14 2009 SF

2009-07-14T23:07:00.004-05:00

Pond hockey. 5x7 oil on panel.

While I am certainly interested in doing gestural figures I couldn't help being distracted by these frozen pond images. Here I have eliminated any figures and simply looked at a pond that has been skated on.

July 14 2009 SF

2009-07-14T23:03:00.002-05:00

Pond hockey. 5x7 oil on panel.

I liked what was happening with the foreground ice in the previous study, so in this one I diminished the one skater and made a composition that leaned more on the texture and reflection of the ice.

July 14 2009 SF

2009-07-14T22:48:00.003-05:00

Pond hockey study. 5x7 oil on panel.

This was done yesterday after looking at the previous study of the same gesture; I realized I'd "squared up" the figure in the oil study, turning the figure towards the viewer a bit, while the pencil drawing of this figure is at more of an angle.

This is a common ( and lifelong in my case) mistake people make when drawing a figure - There is a strong tendency to straighten-up a figure you are observing. You really need to tilt what you see more than what you think you are seeing, and generally that will turn out to be about right.

Another change was to set the figure on ice that is free of snow and reflective, which is very interesting to paint.

July 14 2009 SF

2009-07-12T17:47:00.003-05:00

Pond hockey study. 5x7 oil on board.

This too is based on a drawing from yesterday. I hadn't meant to run the guy's skates off the bottom but was happy with the rest of the drawing and thought, hey, maybe it will look cool like this when it's painted.

July 12 2009 SF

2009-07-12T17:43:00.004-05:00

Pond hockey study. 5x7 oil on panel.

This was based on a drawing I'd done out of my head yesterday. I found a bunch of great video of skaters but at this point felt it unimportant to get the drawing figured out precisely and simply followed my original sketch.

The big curved shape in the background is an undecided thing - Wanted the shape there but didn't decide what it would be. Might end up being a cloud, or a backlit snowy hill.

July 12 2009 SF