A Swansboro Outing

Today Patti and I went to Swansboro. She enjoyed reading a book while I painted. I am going to be trying more water/marsh scenes since it's all around us I might as well get used to it. I found it challenging to get the water to "lay down" and get my distance perspective correct. Any insight from you would be greatly appreciated. This is a 6x8 oil painting. Thanks for looking and as always feel free to comment. By the way, I was asked to put my paintings in a small shop in town. I am only going to be selling them for $20. If you are interested, please contact me and save me a few $'s in commission. (I do mean few! Ha!) Dean

Back in the saddle

It has been almost a year since I posted on my blog. Time sure flies. Went through a lot of thoughts about painting. I tried acrylics, then oils, then acrylics again and now back at oils. Most of it ended in frustration. Today was the first day in a LONG time I wanted to paint. I went down the road a piece and asked the property owners if I could stand on their road and paint their barn. This is what the result was. It is a great kick off place to start. Please feel free to comment and critique. I am considering starting to sell on esty just to keep myself in paints. If you see something you like let me know before I post it and save me a few pennies. I am going to wait till they dry before I post on Etsy so if they sell right away I can ship immediately. Thank you for looking and I look forward to hearing from you. One more thing, the gate was an add on because a woman that was visiting said it was important that that was in the picture.....okay???? This is a 6x8 or 6x9, it is on a panel so however they make them:)
 Dean

lesson 4

Here are paintings I got from lesson 4 with Bernie Rosage Jr. and Onslow Art Expressions. We painted a still life (the lettuce and tomato) using some basic rules of order in establishing a painting. I then sat down last night and painted the apple. I am very pleased with this. Tonight I tried painting the sea shells. I really liked just sticking to the order and seeing the painting come to life on the canvas. As always, thanks for looking.

lesson 3

This was an exercise in wet paint on wet paint. We went right from a value study to color. It was a challenge. I got frustrated trying to separate the trees on the right from the ones on the left. I eventually got the idea. Thanks for looking!

homework again

I did my homework again this week. I added color to a value study I had done. I am getting the hang of it I think. I really have to learn to do water though. Yes, that is water! Ha! Thanks for looking, Dean

Adding color

I had lesson #2 today and we added color to the value study we did last week. We thought the sky should be left alone so I did. I really enjoyed making mistakes and wiping them off till I got the right value. Definitely see a lot of mistakes in my future! Ha! I am going to try to addd a sky to one of the other ones I painted last week. Looking forward to next week when we go right from value study to painting color. Thanks for looking.

Art lesson #1 homework

Here is my first homework assignment. Bernie had sent me a picture and told me to make it my own. Here is my attempt. It was harder without someone pointing out your problem areas. When you have to critique your own work you have to REALLY looks at what is there and not what you think is there. I emailed it to Bernie last night but haven't heard back yet so this is probably not finished totally but wanted you all to see it anyway. Thanks for looking, Dean

1st art lesson

Tonight I had my first art lesson with Bernie Rosage. We are going to meet for 2 hours a week for the next 2 months. I am really trusting to get valuable information. I think if tonight was a sample then I am doing the right thing. We did a value study. I know most of you know what that is but for those who do not, a value study is just doing a picture (or study) in one color varying the value of the colors to project perspective. Darker items in the foreground and as things recede into the distance they get lighter. The "path" is actually a river or creek but could be whatever. That is where the color would dictate what it is. Thanks for looking, Dean

plein aire class

Had a plein aire class that Bernie Rosage taught today. Here is the pic I came away with. Was lots of fun and learning.

Surf City

Was at the intercoastal waterway today and painted this with some friends. First painting since december. Fun!

plein aire time !

Bernie and I got out for a couple hours in the cold to paint. We originally intended to paint a barn/water scene but the windy was pretty brisk in that open field. We opted for "Miracle Meadows" and utilized our artistic license. (The road was made up! Ha!) All in all it was a great time of sunshine and fellowship for us. As always, feel free to comment, Dean

morning coffee

This ended up being an exercise in shading mostly. The spoon is one I am definitely going to try again. Silverware is not one color but a myriad of reflections of their surrounding objects. Thanks for looking, Dean

Paint night!

I got at the paints tonight and painted a tube of paint and palette knife. I tried a different perspective, I was almost looking straight down on the subject.

Dominoes anyone?

Thought I'd paint something different. It was something I think we all played at one time or another. What do you think?

empty bowl

Here is a small bowl I painted. Trying to find the right colors is challenging but and exciting adventure.

Fuji

I was told by a friend they like Fuji apples better so I painted one today. They certainly are different with the red and green on the same apple!

Apple

Well I thought I'd try fruit for a bit. I find them a lot harder than they look. Comment if you like.

Another candle

Here is one I did tonight with the candle unlit. I am enjoying working with shadows and trying to get them right. I got help from Bernie with this one. I had the wrong color on the wall. If it's still wrong that on me! Ha! As always, feel free to comment.

By candlelight

I painted this tonight in an 8x10 format. The largest I've tried lately. I have not wanted to use too much paint, it's expensive! Ha!I know I will have to be doing this again. It is a challenge to paint "light". Please comment if you have any ideas for me. Dean

canteen

Here is a civil war canteen I borrowed from a friend. I believe it is one of the first things I ever painted when I started 3 years ago. I was a lot easier this time:) I am enjoying working on small still life's because you can knock them out in an hour or hour and a half. please feel free to comment, Dean