Good Harvest

The bounty of a good chilli crop .  Or could double as a Christmas scene here in New Mexico .

This was a challenge for me first it is on primed hardboard second its a 4" x 4"  a  support used a lot but I never tried before .  I never worked that small before. 

This is acrylic on gessoed  hardboard (masonite)  4x4.


Thanks for looking.

Quiet Evening on The Trail

This is a idea brought to life .  I searched for some references to go by for shadows and shading . These were built into my vision.  I like the result.

It brings back fond memories of campfires, camping, horseback riding  and just enjoying nature.  I hope you enjoy this little camping trip.

 

This an acrylic painting on a16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.

You're Trespassing

 I had several names thought up like "My Pasture","What Part of Run Dont You Understand" "Go Ahead and Make My Day "or " This is  " My Field "  .  Going to leave it as is for now. but starting to like "What Part of Run Dont You Understand" better. What you think? Which One?

I tried to use color, light  and dark to tell a story.  A dark stormy sky adds drama a bull about to charge.  I had a hard time finding a reference to work from. I wanted a longhorn about to charge facing viewer pawing or other threatening poses. This is a frankenstein  reference 4 bulls to the stance body language nostrils eyes and the color.

 Longhorn fans this one is right up your ally . I had a wild animal in pastels  theme  going.  But some suggestions  spurred this to life.

This is a pastel done on Stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke, Art Spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

Old Forgotten Farm on the Hill

This is a multi reference painting.  One was a field of bluebonnets from a low angle and another was  old fence with a made up farm house from a sketch. 





 I tried to match the different blue a sky is from the high desert blue sky.  I had fun with it thats the main thing.

This is an acrylic on a 10 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.

Hope you like it and thanks for dropping by.

Sundown at the Western Oasis

The old windmills once a common sight and icon the western states are slowly disappearing . They are being replaced with electric pumps and waterlines . Also ranchers and farmers are gradually going out of business and giving up and letting them rot.  I just love windmills, old farm or ranch houses old barns.  All the items of a by gone era.


This painting is a composite  from several references.

It is an acrylic on 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas .

Thanks for looking.

Rise and shine again

Working on the effects some more. Changed the composition some. Every painting so far is a learning experience .  A different way ,a easier way or what dont work so well. 

 

This is acrylic on a 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.

Thanks for looking looking.

King of the Mountain

King of the  Mountain,  He is ready for the Next challenger .

The big horn sheep dot the west from Canada to Mexico. Residing mainly in mountainous regions and rough terrain any where from dry desert mountains to the wet forests of British Columbia .   The Rams can weigh up to 500 lbs .

I did get the pleasure of seeing a duel of 2 rams. Opposite side of a canyon from them I watched them and heard the loud clack of the horns meet time after time.  Hard to believe  how loud that is when they bash to gather. It seemed like a good 30 minutes they kept at it.  Until the weaker one gave up.

This is reminiscent of that day I watching em duke it out .

 

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .






Thanks for stopping Bye

Rise and Shine.

This sunrise was a experiment in  light and shadow .  I was trying to incorporate new ideas and styles  into my paintings sunrises or sunsets .  Trying to get an overall glow to the sunrise .   Hanging on the wall it looks good .

 This is acrylic 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas.

Brilliant Dawning of a new Day.

Brilliant Dawning of a new Day.  I painted this for my Dear Wife she needed a  better view when on the treadmill .   Some is from reference and he rest is ad lib  .   I am happy with it whats even better My better Half is happy with it. Running down the dock is better than running at an interior wall.

This is an acrylic on 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas .

Thanks for looking

Rocky Mountain High

This fellow enjoys rugged shear cliffs , high mountains  of the Rocky's.  There is a old saying a road so rough only a Mountain Goat would travel. The goats climb places it at ease that make  a trained  mountain climber think how do I get there.  I must admit I have seen these in nature as a white or cream dot on a mountain in the distance. I have seen photographs of them on a roadway I have never been so lucky.  This is a composite from multiple references .  I tried to get a inquisitive look ,like what are you doing here?  I  am happy with it.

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

Hope you enjoyed viewing it.

Spider Rock

This is in Canyon de Chelly  Az. These are impressive twin spires in the bottom of the canyon. The Taller one is approximately 800 feet tall. They are not far from Canyon de Chelly ruins .  Actually the taller and thinner spire is big enough at the top to land a helicopter on. I believe there are commercials of this spire with  cars or trucks on top of it. It sure dont look like it could fit one from looking up from the ground.

There is a story with them. Being named Spider Rock the local native legend  Spiderwoman  lived at the top and taught the local Navajo people how to weave. And they do some beautiful rugs. There are other stories with these spires and Spiderwoman it is not my place to tell them I have no affiliation with the tribe.  I just love the  beauty  of the land  like the stories and legends  and like the people and culture.

This is an acrylic on a gallery wrapped canvas  10 x 20 .

Thanks for looking.

Prong Horn

I Did this fellow right after the buffalo.   Just  got around to photograph my newer works.

Lets bounce this is the split second after he sees you and before he bounces of into the distance the next thing you see is his back side getting smaller into the distance.  Actually they are a relative of goats.

They are native in the western Untied States grass lands, high desert, and steppes of the mountains . Open plains they call home their eyesight and speed make them challenge to any predator.

This is a pastel done on stonehenge paper natural white its 15x22 . This is done with Schminke,Art spectrum Sennelier ,and Blicks soft pastels.  With Nupastes and pastel pencils  .

Hope you enjoyed viewing it.

Bovine of the Prairie

I had a old photo of a Buffalo at top of a ridge with trees silo barn  windmill fence ect. Thought it ruined it cropped it out .  I like this better .

Side note 1492 60 million of these , some herds were in the millions. By 1890 780 were left alive.

This is a pastel soft pastels with hard and some  pastel pencils on 15 x 22 stonehenge  paper .  Have a stack of sheets and pieces from pencil drawings. I like how it handles pastels.

As happy as I am with this I am going to do a few more in this style with other American wild life. 







Thanks for looking

Red Valley

My better half and I took a drive out behind Shiprock over into Arizona for sight seeing and material for painting. The Town Red Valley is just over the boarder. This is an out cropping of sandstone I thought was interesting  we found just off the road near Cove Az .  I loved the juniper fighting for survival in a crack on top of  a barren rock. I thought I would make a great painting.

This is acrylic on gallery wrap canvas  16 x 20.

Alpha

This is a composite of  references .  The Wolf standing on a knoll from one  a rock  out of another reference  and pine trees.  I think I captured   an attentive  gaze in the wolf . The original he looked bored . Hes waiting and watching for the slightest movement sound or whisper of a scurrying  rodent or any thing that qualifies as next meal.

This one I really enjoyed doing it .  But It was hard to get a good picture of it .  The transparent glazes would glare  show the top color or the base or just the highlights. I finally used all manual settings manual focus still had glare upper left but 90% good.  Maybe natural light light bulbs and tripod light stands  might get the photo quality I want.  The camera my better half got for a birthday present is pretty good I lack in skills and proper lighting .  But for now my purposes are full filled as is I get a good picture on the web.

This is acrylic  on  gallery wrapped canvas 16 x 20.

Thanks for looking

Howling Coyote

This is in Monument Valley  looking past the Totem pole and Yee bi chea dancers to the Howling Coyote way out in the distant about to get a shower.  Monument Valley has been a place that fascinates me the high cliffs, sunsets sunrises with beautiful colors with dark shadows. A change of 30 minutes  can change the colors from a sandstone cream to fiery reds and oranges  or golden yellows the rinsing and setting of the sun is a sight to behold if you are ever threw there stop and watch one. 

This was finished  early April , but I started it in January  this sat on my easel while I was in the hospital from that wicked flu that went around this spring.   Finished this when I came home.

 The boulders on the bottom left are the size of a home  there actually is a home and coral there for what I was painting they didn't fit  so they gone.

This is acrylic on gallery wrap canvas 16x20.

Another  study on wildlife  . The reference cute bunny was from wetcanvas.com  as a sub forum challenge .  I liked the picture so I gave it a try.  This setting could be in my back yard. I am getting better at photography also still having glare on parts getting colors better .  But the transparent  glazes seem to photograph off from actual color and intensity  some layers virtually disappeared . 

This an acrylic  is a 8x10 canvas panel .

This was an experiment on animals and their fur coats .  I saw a photo of a bear eating something undetermined in a tree I really liked it .  I added a dark back ground reworked the shrub turning it to a red berry bearing  shrub.

I read the old masters many times used a limited pallet  with out blue . Greens were made with black and yellow.  All greens on this were done like that.

The fur was painted in a grisaille  with glazes of color over the under painting.  I am pleased on how it turned out

This is an acrylic painting done on a 8x10 canvas panel .

Hope you enjoy viewing it . I had fun pushing my boundaries .

I have been painting drawing and learning this last month not talking pictures of the work either. I have a few new watercolor paintings I would like to share.

These are done with watercolors on 90lbs  watercolor paper .

More Watercolors

I have a couple more watercolors to post today . I am enjoying them. I have some acrylics painted and more watercolors but need to get a good photograph of them.

These two are 9X12 on watercolor paper .

New Medium Watercolors

Old news Family got me art supplies For my Birthday. Watercolors from one and art books another and canvases and more supplies.

One book had a good section on watercolor techniques the other facial expressions .  Lots of washes blobs and scribbles later I kinda like this.

These are my first 2.

9X12 90lbs cold press watercolor paper  Van Gogh watercolors .

I will just rotate what medium I will create in today. I like the spontaneity of watercolors its a break from other styles that  are laid out planed out.

Cardinal in the Storm

I saw a picture like this and I really liked it . I changed it cropped it made it snow .  If I knew where the original reference came from I would gladly credit to him or her for the good photograph.

I enjoyed this one  I really cant believe I didnt post this yet . It seems I did this January 14 or December 13. 

This was done with pastels on 9X12 Colorfix paper. I used some nupastels , Blick soft pastels, art spectrum, Sennelier, pastel pencils ,and some Schmincke.

A Glass of Candy

 Liquorice mix in a goblet.  I have been hesitant to draw these types of candies and  hesitant to try painting glass. So I what did I do? Take the easy way nope did glass and candy together. Allsorts is the name of the mix  I just did not think that was the name from when I was a kid.

The inspiration for this was from the image gallery from wetcanvas.  Images there are free to use for reference . Chia is the user who uploaded this reference .

I am happy with it .  I feel this was a success . 

This was done with pastels on 9X12 Colorfix paper. I used some nupastels , Blick soft pastels, art spectrum, Sennelier, pastel pencils ,and some Schmincke.

Three Sisters in the Kitchen

This is my second acrylic painting this year . But I had this in my head for a couple of years . I finally did something about it. Had some problems with glare on the lower left the shadows are too dark on the right . I needed to try outside in the shade.


The story behind this is the 3 sisters are corn beans and squash .

Depending on which tribe each one has their own legend or story .  I have heard legends and stories from many of the tribes around the 4 corners .   I am afraid I will butcher their oral traditions by mixing stories . The one I know is from back east.

 Many   years ago there were three sisters who lived together in a meadow . The sisters were very different from one another. First of the three was a little sister, so young that she could only crawl at first, and if she wanted to stand up she had to twine herself around her eldest sister  who carried her younger sister all the time. The little sister wore velvet green with fancy ribbons.The  eldest. She was always standing very straight and tall above the other sisters trying to guard them . The eldest sisters feet gets sore and hot  holding up little sis and protecting the middle sis. The middle  of the three sisters, wore a shawl of bright yellow and was running off across the field when the sun shone and the  wind blew in her face.  She wrapped herself around big sisters feet keeping them cool in the hot summer sun

There was only one way in which the three sisters were alike. They loved one another very much and were never separated. They were sure that they wouldn’t be able to live apart.

After a while, a stranger came to the sister’s field. It was a little Seneca  boy. He was as straight as an arrow and as fearless as the eagle that circled his head far above in the sky. He knew the way of talking to the birds and the small brothers of the earth, the mouse, the groundhog, the chipmunk, squirrel and fox. The three sisters were very interested in this little Seneca  boy. They watched him fit his arrow in his bow, saw him carve a bowl with his knife and wondered where he went at night.

Late that summer, the youngest sister in green velvet who couldn’t stand up without the help of her big sister, disappeared. Her sisters mourned for her until the fall, but she did not return.

Once again the little Seneca  boy came to the three sister’s field. He came to gather reeds at the edge of the nearby stream to make arrow shafts. The two sisters who were left watched him and gazed at him with wonder at the prints of his moccasins marking his trail to the field.

That night the second of the sisters disappeared. This time it was the sister who dressed in brilliant yellow and always wanted to run off across the field. She left no mark of her going but it may have been that she set her feet in the moccasin tracks of the little Seneca boy and followed him.

Now there was only elder sister was left. Tall and straight she stood in the field never bowing her head with sorrow, but it seemed to her that she could not bear to live in her meadow alone. The days grew shorter and the night grew longer and colder. Her green shawl faded and grew thin and old. Her hair once long and golden was now brown and tangled by the wind. Day and night she sighed for her sisters to return to her, but they did not hear her. Her voice when she tried to call them it was low and sad like the cold winter  wind.

But one day when it was the season of the final harvest, the little Seneca  boy heard the crying of the third sister. He felt sorry for her so he took her in his arms and carried her to the longhouse of his father and mother. Oh what a surprise awaited her! Her two lost sisters were there in the longhouse of the little Seneca  boy, safe and very glad to see her. They had been curious about the boy and they had gone home with him to see how and where he lived. They had liked his warm longhouse so well that they decided to stay there for the cold winter. And they were doing all they could to be useful.

The little sister in green, now quite grown up, was helping to keep the dinner pot full. The sister in yellow sat on the shelf drying herself for she planned to fill the dinner pot later. The third sister joined them, ready to grind some meal for the Seneca family’s bread. Ever since then the three sisters spend their spring and summers in the field together, and their winters in the longhouse, helping to feed the family of the little Seneca boy. And the three sisters and the Seneca have never been separated since.

 

 This is the preliminary sketch 18 x 24

 

Acrylic on 22 x 28 gallery wrapped canvas.  

 

Misty Mountain Morning

I saw this photo of an Appalachian scene I really liked it. So I tried to recreate it using a mountain ranges profile near me. I like this .

 

Pastel  9x12  on strathmore pastel paper .

Shiprock a side rarely seen

This view of Shiprock  is from the southwest looking northeast .  The vantage point we found is half way up the Lukachuka Mountains.  In this vantage point you can see the volcanic dikes running northwest  and south. Local legends those are the wings from the great bird that brought them there.  The other peak is a Mitten also.

This is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas 18x 24

La Platas first snow

This started out as a news paper clipping from 40ish years ago. It is of a first snow fall in laplata canyon Near Hesperus Colorado . My Mother loved it she kept the clip that area holds a lot of sentimental value .  She gave me that clip to see if I could do some thing with it.  This is how it turned out.  It became one of her Christmas  presents she was over joyed when she saw it. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I am going to make this again artistic license change the river and far tree line and mountain .This is true to photo .

 

This is a pastel painting 10 x 16  I used colorfix primer on 100lbs watercolor paper toned a warm grey.  I used Nu-pastels, Blick brand soft pastels  Schmincke and Sennelier .

Roses another one

This is a similar shape to one  I I did in colored pencil  but did this one in pastels. I have not done flowers with pastels before. I like how it turned out .

 

This is 9x12 Strathmore pastel paper a grey colored paper. Mainly used soft pastels  but hard and pastel pencils were used. Thanks for looking.

Weathering the Storm.

This one was a quick loose representation of the reference I have. One of my cousins took the photo of a small herd of buffalo hunkering down in a blizzard .  When ever I see these magnificent  Icons of the old west it is a bitter sweet moment. I am happy to get a chance to view one and a glimpse into Americas past, its bitter is knowing millions were killed for just their hide leaving the meat to rot on the plains.  Uncontrolled slaughter took the herds  of million down to the verge of extinction . I have read some herds were so large it took days to go around ,some herds were said to have a million heads thats a lot of bovine there. Now they are a rarity . One article states before 1492 there were 60 million yes 60,000,000 but by 1890 there were 750.

This is Pastel on grey Strathmore  pastel paper . It is 9x12 with hard and soft pastels .I used Nupastels , Blick artist pastels, Sennelier and Schminke Pastels.

Here is a older couple  both are of Monument valley .  That is one place that truly inspires me.

This is an acrylic  16 x20

 

 This on is a pastel   9x12

I did these 2 in the fall of 2012  .

Reworked one of Paintings from last fall

I has miss placed the reference I used on this one.  Actually I had a house full of kittens in play mode 24/7 everything got put up.

So I ad-libbed the lower part of the mitten after it was done  I wasn't happy .

The photos color is off on the pic above.

This is the finished reworked Mitten .Much happier with it. I need to keep references close at hand. I recall someone said paint what you see not what you think you see.  above is a good example .

Illustrations For a Childrens Book #2

Here are the second set of illustrations .  The hardest part is keeping the people and the puppy looking similar from one scene to the next.

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I had fun doing these . I think I will explore more in this area of art.I have a relative who has some ideas we need to explore. She has some old books she had written decades ago might try a new set of art work for them. It seems like its hurry up and wait then repeat.

Illustrations for a Childs Book

I did this set of drawings for a starting out author  just so happens I am a starting out artist . I  am waiting to see this set get published . I want to display them since I am pleased on how they turned out.

I wont give away any story details . These illustrations are colored pencil on  8 1/2  x  11 Stonehenge 100% cotton paper . 100% cotton can last centuries .

This is book 1 book2 is for another day. I hope you enjoy viewing them knowing the story I really enjoyed drawing them.