New Orleans Reeds, (12 x 15 watercolor on paper) reserved for WFWS

Each year The Western Federation of  Watercolor Societies hosts a  juried show open to its member associations. The Western Federation of Watercolor Societies’ members association include:  the Arizona Watercolor Association, The Colorado Watercolor Society, The Idaho Watercolor Society, The New Mexico Watercolor Society, The Nevada Watercolor Society, The Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild, the San Diego Watercolor Society, The Southwestern Watercolor Society, The Utah Watercolor Society, The Watercolor Society of Oregon, and the West Texas Watercolor Society.

I am pleased to announce that New Orleans Reeds has been chosen as one of the 100 paintings to be exhibited in the 37th Annual Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition.  The exhibit will take place at the Marjorie Barrick Museum on The University of Nevada Las Vegas campus, from April 13th to May 19th, 2012.  This year the show was juried by Gerald Brommer, who will pick the award winners in April.

Ompa Rainbow (watercolor 14 x 19) Reserved

I’ve recently begun painting on clayboard.  I love it.  But, may of the juried competitions I’d like to enter require that watercolors be on paper.  In response I’ve been repainting some clayboard paintings on paper.  “Ompa Rainbow”  is a paper repaint of  “Big Boy.”

Big Boy (watercolor on cradled claybord 11 x 14) $300

The results of all this repainting  have been what I think are often better paintings, though not better  in every way.   Practice makes perfect is of course part of this equation.  But beyond that, looking at the finished work allows me to make serious design choices.

In “Big Boy” the idea was to make the tuba very large by looking up into a sky dominated by tuba.   In “Ompa Rainbow” I wanted to make the colors pop. I slid the tuba to the left to give it some space around the bell, but the big change is in the background.  “Big Boy” is set against  a blue background, resulting in a very cool painting, all blues, greens and yellows.  To make those cool colors really pop, I gave “Ompa Rainbow” a very warm background.  I also paid attention to color theory.  At the top, where the tuba gets blue the background is blue’s compliment, orange.  At the base, amidst all that glorious plumbing, the background becomes purple the compliment of the predominating yellow.   It’s a very warm red leaning purple though because red sets off green which is  the other color sharing dominance in the lower half of the tuba.

Brass Winds and Shadow (11 x 14 watercolor on clayboard) $250

The Color of Music (16 x 20 watercolor on paper) reserved

I made several deliberate changes when I repainted “Brass Wind and Shadows” as “The Color of Music”.  First, I backed up on the subject a little and allowed all the trombone bell to show.  The colors are deliberately brighter.  I lightened up the shadows.   In retrospect I like the lighter brighter colored version better but I think the tighter crop of the first painting works better.

Bouquet of Reeds (11 x 14 watercolor on Aquabord) $300

New Orleans Reeds, (12 x 15 watercolor on paper) reserved

I did very little to the composition when I repainted “Bouquet of  Reeds” as “New Orleans Reeds,”  but I did deliberately change the mood by intensifying the colors.  I also reversed the basic value plan of the painting by making the background light rather than dark.  I’m not sure I like either painting better.  It’s the mood, not the quality that changed.

Jazz Buddies (watercolor on Aquabord) $300

Taking a Shine to Each Other (13 x 19 watercolor on paper) reserved

With “Jazz Buddies” and “Taking a Shine to Each Other” the later is to my mind a much better painting. With “Jazz Buddies” I intended to really show off the way the bright sun washed away the sax. I think I accomplished that.   With “Taking a Shine to Each Other” I went for drama and I got it by really darkening up the instruments and complicating the dark colors.

“Ompa Tuba” is currently reserved, but prints of “Ompa Tuba” and the other paintings shown in this entry, are available through my print-on-demand shop.

Work in Progress (14 x 19 watercolor) NFS

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a work-in-progress.   But since I paint this instrument series quite differently than I do landscapes and people, I think it’s time.

When painting an image I usually  start with lighter colors and build my way up working the whole painting at once.  But because of the reflections, I treat metal and glass subjects quite differently.  The reflections create many small abstract shapes defined by hard edges and often extreme contrast.  The high contrast between the shapes is what gives my instruments shine.

Abstract Shapes

To preserve the sharp contrast between the shapes I work on just two or three shapes at a time.  I choose shapes near each other, but not touching so that damp paint never meets damp paint at the edges of the shapes.   Because I finish and let each shape dry before proceeding the the adjacent shape, the edges between the shapes remains sharp and hard.

Inside the shapes is a different matter.  Each shape may contain one or more of my favorite techniques: glazing (painting transparent colors over each other);

Glazing

deliberate backwashes (allowing wet paint or water  to move back into damp paint);

Backwash

and dropping in (applying paint from a highly pigmented brush to a damp surface and allowing it to disperse across the damp area.)

Dropped in Color

These techniques produce soft edges and subtle color blending within each small shape. Painting them separately preserves the sharp lines between the shapes.

To give myself a value guide for all of these little shapes, I proceed across the whole painting from the highest contrast outward.  I began with the place where the silver bottom of the clarinet bell meets the black clarinet body.  I also try to work on shapes that reflect each other at the same time.  For this reason I worked on the sax and clarinet at once.

Unlike other rounded objects, I don’t worry too much about giving my instruments the illusion of  depth with shading.  I don’t have too.  If I get the values of the little abstract shapes correctly, the instruments shade themselves.  The bell of the clarinet in defined by hard lines, but the value contrast creates roundness.

Clarinet Bell

Similarly, the shapes in the saxophone bell create the illusion of depth and roundness:

Saxophone Bell

Jazz Buddies (watercolor on Aquabord) $300

My instrument show, “The Sound of Paint” opened Today at Art in the Valley, and continues through the end of November.  Reception Thursday, November 3rd at 5:00 pm.

I hung the paintings Sunday and I’m very pleased with the way they look.  In addition to the instrument paintings,  there will be a selection of matted original watercolors and a selection of my animal sculpture.

"Three Horns" (watercolor on canvas 16 x 16 inches) $400

Grandpas Toy (14 x 18 watercolor) $375

When I’m showing paintings at the fair, I’m usually locked in my booth. I’m supposed to be demonstrating and I can’t leave the booth empty for more than a few minutes. So when friends and family visit, I take a few minutes to tour the fair. I always manage to see the fine art show, the quilts, the midway, and antique autoland. I also visit some one or two day events. The Classic Car Show took place on the last weekend of the fair. It’s a fun little event. There are cars from the 60s to the 20s and bands playing oldies.

This little red car caught my eye, especially the grill and the head lights. Have you noticed I like shiny things?

Painted on clayboard this painting my be matted and glazed or framed without glass like an oil on board.

This painting is available through Art in the Valley, Corvallis Oregon. Or purchase a print from my shop at Fine Art America.

Electric Reeds (16 x 20 watercolor on clayboard) $400

This is another painting competed at the Oregon State Fair.  I began it on the first day of the fair intending it to include a lot of shadow in the design much like Jazz Buddies and The Color of Music.   But the shadows actually competed with the instruments no matter how much I tried to knock them back by greying them down.  On the last night of the fair I got bold and simply did away with the shadows altogether substituting an almost black back ground.  This changed the feeling of the painting entirely.

The result is not subtle, but it certain grabs your attention.  And while it’s not what I was aiming for, I like it.

This painting is currently available through Art in the Valley, Corvallis, Oregon.

Prints are available through my shop at Fineartamerica.com. See more jazzy art here: jazz art.

Silvery Night Music (11 x 14 watercolor on aquabord) $250

I began this painting at the Silverton Art Festival and finished it up at the Oregon State Fair.  My photo reference is from the same group of photos I took for Silver and Glass make music.  But I wanted this painting to be more dramatic, so I darkened the background to make the light more obviously artificial  indirect lighting.

Painting outside in the heat on aquabord was an challenging experience. Most of the time I was painting the temperature was over 90 degrees and it was very dry. The challenge was to keep the board wet enough to work with. I brought in a spray mister the second day which helped considerably. I used cardboard pieces as a shield to keep from misting the parts I didn’t want wet.

Painted on clayboard and finished with a clear acrylic matte varnish and mounted on a black cradle frame, this painting is ready to hang. Alternatively, it can be framed like an acrylic or oil painting.

Prints are available through Fine Art America.com.

Reeds Between Sets (6 x 6 watercolor on clayboard) SOLD

I painted this little watercolor just after we got back from vacation and promptly sold it at the Silverton Fine Art Fair a couple days later.  I love the composition and I’m tempted to do it again a little larger.

Saxy Trio (13 x 22 watercolor on paper) $375

Three saxophones I captured at my Weathers Music photo-shoot.  I liked this particular arrangement because they  look so social, like they are singing together.  I tried to emphasize that cozy feeling in the painting.

The composition is a new one for me.  I’ve been told that just about any letter makes a good composition.  “S” is very commonly used in landscapes with roads or rivers snaking in the the interior.  “O” is often used to frame landscapes. “X” pops up all over particularly in figurative work.  I’ve seen trees form “W,” but I”ve never done it.  This is the first “W” I’ve ever done and it’s so obviously a “W” that it makes me smile.

Prints available through my website at Fine Art America. See more saxophone artwork here: saxophone art

Silver and Glass Music (11 x 14 watercolor on claybord) $300

I painted this in my usual palette of  cobalt blue, phthalo blue, ceruleun blue, hasna yellow, new gamgee, burnt siena and dioxian purple plus a new addition, phtalo green.  Like phthalo blue, phthalo green is extremely staining and very transparent. Even on clayboard and canvas it’s hard to lift.  Typically, I mix my greens rather than pour them out of the tube, but there’s something metalic about phtalo green that can’t be mixed and it’s the perfect color for depression glass.

When I finish this one, my mother-in-law commented that she admired anyone who could paint glass. I will tell you the secret about painting and drawing glass. There’s nothing any difficult about glass than any other subject. The only trouble is psychological. If you just paint the shapes you see, no matter how abstract, when you step back, it will look like glass. It’s only when you worry about making it look like glass that it doesn’t. The same thing is true of metal.

Painted on aquabord and  finished with a clear coat of acrylic, and mounted on a black cradle frame.

Or purchase a print through my Shop at Fine Art America.