Paintings

Painting 




Misty River - 4x8 Watercolor 



I haven’t posted here for 6 years. In that time, I put down my camera and picked a paint brush. In the short couple years I’ve peen painting I’ve discovered that painting is almost the opposite of photography and yet also the same. It’s the same in that your trying to represent reality in a stylistic manner that may or may not represent the “truth”, but it does it in a way that evokes a response from the audience and artist. They differ in that painting starts as a blank canvas that you fill with meaning but photography is a process of capturing the world on film by finding a way to eliminate all the distractions and unnecessary elements diminishing your vision. Painting is additive and photography is subtractive. At least to me. 


Hope Valley - 10x8 pastel on sand paper. Similar to photography in that my subject still manages to be smack dab in the center of the composition. 


I started out my painting adventure by picking up a Koi watercolor set. I figured watercolors would be the easiest since we all started our art careers in kindergarten with crayons and watercolors and they were also the cheapest. My portable little watercolor palette cost less than a single tube of oil paint!  

Whoops. Spoiler alert, watercolors are NOT the easiest medium. Why do we torture our young?!  Next I tried gouache and acrylics. Many things to like here. 






Then I tried pastels. I love pastel. I love, love, love pastels. 



Cowboy. Study of a Frank Serrano. 6x8 pastel on homemade board. 

Of course, I eventually tried oils. And while I recognize that oils are by far the most commonly used medium in fine art and I love what you can do with them, I don’t love working with them. I’m a messy painter. I don’t like to clean my brushes. I can’t be bothered to scrape and clean my palettes or pochade boxes. I don't like to plan ahead, or prepare a bunch of stuff. I never have paper towels in adequate supply. Problematic traits for an oil painter. I do like how forgiving oil is. How easy it is to blend and layer. How I can truly get any color I need with just a small number of tubes. 



Sierra Cottonwood - 8x6 oil on panel



Upper Owen River - 8x6 oil on panel



So after about 5 years, which medium do I like most? I have no idea. Still trying to figure it out. Currently working mostly with watercolors because we are getting ready to move and everything else is packed. I'm enjoying them. When watercolor is done right, the translucent brightness of the color can be mesmerizing. But I rarely do it right. And then you have to hide it behind glass. If I had to choose today and sell every art supply except one medium? I would keep the pastels. I love the tactile immediacy and freshness of the color. And frankly, I'm a better pastelist than anything else.

Apple Study - 8x10 pastel on paper


Chicken Salt Shaker - 8x6 pastel on paper


Pear Study - 8x6 pastel on paper





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