Artfields Is Open!

Artfields is open! If you are anywhere near Florence, SC drop by its neighbor to the southeast, Lake City, where 370 artworks from the Southeast are displayed in over 40 venues around town.

There are all sorts of events, talks, and performances until Saturday, April 30th. If you go, find the cool tank sculpture, and take a peek inside for one of many unsuspecting Lake City surprises.

From there your can’t miss the green building filled with tasty beverages, and after sampling a few, head to the building with the blue awning in the background. My painting is hanging there, with the lovely people at ProMotion Rehab and Sports Medicine. Even better, drop by the Welcome Center at 110 East Main Street to register to vote for my painting, u.s. 135 (dream the wheel) with Artfields ID#229795!

I Have A New Studio-Mate.

She can be caterwauling loud and often makes a stink, but I’m going to keep her anyway.

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Friends, can I introduce you to Violet Ashton Boyd?

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Born on December 28th at a dainty 6lbs and 13oz, she is completely the apple of her Dad’s eye.

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After Sanding…

…the first layer smooth, I’m onto painting in the second layer.

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Here I’m smoothing out the transitions of color in the sky to make it subtler and more atmospheric.

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It’s somewhat amazing to see how little color is on the palette, and then see how much shows up in the sky in the finished version. Often less truly is more.

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Someone Asked Me…

…about my last post, specifically what “blocking in the first layer” means.

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I thought it was a great question, so here are three photographs of the painting process and two reference photos to show how I focus on the big shapes, colors, and areas of light and dark.

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It’s big brush strokes (for me) and trying to get as much information down without spending time obsessing about details or filling in each and every crevice.

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To help this along, I even blur my reference photograph so I don’t have that information to paint in, as shown in the next two images.

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Now that the first layer is done, I stare at it for a week or two, then sand it smooth and paint it again. The first layer is like a rough draft, while in the second I sweat the details and make it realistic as possible.

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There’s Nothing Like…

…a fall weekend in the mountains to recharge your batteries and get you connected back to nature. A short hike to a remote cascade was all it took for me. Not sure there is painting in this, but it was beautiful.

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I’m Blocking In…

...the first layer of paint of this marsh scene.

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The goal is to quickly get down a color-scape, keeping to general shapes. In the second layer, I’ll tighten the detail to sharpen the realism of the painting. 

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I Don’t Know…

…what the plant is that creates the field of red in the center, but it sure is pleasing to paint. I’ll get one more try as this is the first layer of this little 3x11” painting.

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The Second Layer…

…of paint is finished, and this one is just hanging out to dry. In a week or so it will get a glaze to add a little more foggy atmosphere, then a varnish and a frame!

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Closing In..

…on completing the first layer of this 20x20” seascape. Keep scrolling down to watch it unpaint itself...

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My New Home Studio…

…is complete, and feeling much like, well, home!

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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).

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But I couldn’t completely leave the lovely steasel behind, so a magneted painting rag and palette knife holder made the cut.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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