Jump

An image of standing on the brink, ready to jump unprepared into oblivion, has been with me for some time. I made this painting just for me. I am now ready as I have never been before. So "Jump" is NFS.

The colors in this painting are yummy. Mike took the reference photo at Laguna Gloria. It must be a photogenic spot because later I saw a slightly different version of it printed in The Austin Statesman.

Hometown Series Limited Edition Prints

My Hometown Series sold too quickly. The Series capture scenes that I see every day in our little town of Driftwood, Texas. I'm not complaining but rather missing the little paintings. So I made a very limited edition of 30 high quality giclee prints. Each one is a true facsimile like the gallery wrap originals with images on 5 sides (face and 4 sides). The size is 8x8 inches and priced at $100 each.

If you want to have your own, send me email at driftwoodtxartist@gmail.com.

"La Ventana Light"

"Back in the Day"

 

"The Salt Lick"

Light Play

My newest painting is all about the light and shadow. We can only see color when there is light. That's just the way the human eye works.

The first image is the painting in its completed state. I have drawn the image and applied opaque paint. The second image is the completed painting after applying a permanent mauve and raw umber light glaze over all, and then pulling out the lights and highlights. Both versions are appealing in different ways, but the second painting is stronger overall. 

Hometown I: The Salt Lick - SOLD

This is the third in the Hometown I Series. You can't create a series of iconic local scenes  of Driftwood, Texas and omit The Salt Lick. It is a mecca for barbeque eaters and the most recognized landmark for the area.

I am ready to leave these small format paintings for a while and choose only large brushes in my studio.

Hometown I: Back In The Day - SOLD

This is the second in the Hometown I painting series. Yes, I did modify the La Ventana Light listing so that you could see them together and because I changed the name from La Ventana Entrance to La Ventana Light. Hey, I'm the artist so I get to say.

This building was once the hub of community activity in Driftwood. It housed the General Store and the Post Office. Now it is the photography studio of a notable photographer, Dan Winters. Dan works for the likes of The National Geographic. Dan now owns the building and keeps restoring and improving it. This view is from a few years ago before the color of the building to the right was modified and the old sign identifying it as the Driftwood Country Store was wiped out. Many will remember this landmark as it is depicted here.

Hometown I : La Ventana Light - SOLD

"La Ventana Light"

This is the first in a series called Hometown. It is oil on a 8x8 gallery wrap canvas. I intend to make this my first painting for sale, once I have two in the series completed. The second is on my easel now and is going well.

My hometown is Driftwood, Texas. We sometimes ignore the scenes around us in favor of the more exotic. Every day images can evoke strong emotions. Each time I round the bend at this entrance this scene says, "Home" to me.

Red Cup A or B

These are two black and white graphite drawings of the same subject, a red cup sitting in a white saucer with a black card in the background. This was an exercise of manipulating values, the lights and the darks in a scene. I hand drew the same image twice by using  graphite pencils on Bristol Smooth paper.

In image 1, A, I used no pure black. On a scale of 1-10, black being a 1 and pure white a 10, there is no value 1 in the image. The card is a 2 value. Notice that the contrasts are extreme and the scene looks sharp. If I had taken the dark down all the way to black, the contrasts would be even more extreme.

In this second image, B, I used no 1 values, no 2 and no 10. Notice how the scene looks more soft and dreamy as if it is in lower light or viewed on a misty day.

 

 

It is interesting. Artists make lots of choices that influence how we respond as the viewer.