Working with Tule...

"Tule in the Field"
(in progress)

24x18 acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I think I've got the grass where I want it. I may come back to sections of it before all is said and done, or it may remain this way until eternity. Only time and my creative taste will tell. I find now that I have a harder time letting backgrounds go than I used too. I think it's because as my techniques have changed/improved I want to paint more realistically even when my goal is abstract.

This picture doesn't quite capture the colors I've chosen but I think it gives a pretty good feel for the form of Tule. The blacks are much more rich and the hints of purple are a little more subtle. That's the problem with available light from fluorescent tubes.

There should be a lot more progress on Tule by Sunday night because I'll be at Short Term Gallery all day and I love the book I'm listening to. It's "Beat the Reaper" by Josh Bazell. If they made graphic novels into audio books I think they would read like this one.

Bri-

Lily sketch...

"Floating Lily"

7x7 ink on paper
NFS

This is a sketch for a commission I'm going to be starting. Lily loves the water and her owners take her kayaking regularly. I get the feeling from the pictures they sent that she wished they lived on a lake.

I know that look from Zephyr. There's nothing like being in the water for dogs like Lily and Zephyr.

Bri-

Little seen progress....

So after spending all day selling our Subaru Forester I didn't get any work done before mountain biking. Then after riding the new trail we worked on on Sunday I was too tired to paint.

Today however I did paint a little. So little that the progress is imperceptible, and I figure why waste my drive space with a picture of it.

Right now I plan to do some sketches for a new commission and watch TV.

Bri-

"Puffy" the Flying Cloud

So we picked up our 1957 Airstream Flying Cloud yesterday, and then spent much of today cleaning it out and prepping to take it over to Grumpy's Repair shop to have a few things fixed up on her. So I didn't get any painting done at all.

Here are a few pics of what will soon become our mobile studio and home away from home when we do art shows. Look out world.


We won't be getting "Puffy" back for about a week or so. Translation, I'll get some painting done.

All the work that she needs will be a project to tackle over time, not all at once. It's better to take our time when it comes to this. Slowly but surely we'll be traveling in vintage style.

I have a feeling that she'll end up in just a few paintings for the "Family Vacation" show at Benjamin Benjamin in Oct.

Bri-

Grass everywhere...

"Tule in the Field"
(in progress)

24x18 acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I spent the day working on grass again. Man I am sooooo high, on life right now. (Lame. I know.)

It's coming along, but this picture makes it look a little dark. It's because I spent the day painting and then we went to pick-up our Airstream. Yeah. Now it's dark in my studio, so the pictures dark to.

I'll post some pictures of the Flying Cloud tomorrow.

Bri-

Short strokes...

"Tule in the Field"
(in progress)

24x18 acrylic on canvas
SOLD

After about two hours of short brush strokes this is where I am. While working I finished listening to "Age is Just a Number" by Elizabeth Weil and Dara Torres about her come back to the sport of swimming as a 40 year old mother. It was great, and proof of what I always say. People get faster as they get older.

Tomorrow I hope to get to work more on Tule.

Bri-

Greener Grass...

"Tule in the Field"
(in progress)

24x18 acrylic on canvas
SOLD

So today I spent several hours working on the grass and then just about a half hour on Tule. The grass has come in nicely to a degree, but I think it needs to go lighter. When I step back from it, it just feels a little to dark.

When working without an actual reference for the grass I'm depicting I get to be a little more free with my approach. That comes with it's own problems though. Without a picture telling me what to do I have to decide for myself. So what do I want? I want something light and full of life, but in order to get there it's better to start darker. It's easier to get lighter as the painting progresses, but not so easy to make it darker as I go along.

Well, I could make it darker, but things get darker way to quickly most of the time, so it's better to start dark and get light.

Bri-

Tule in process

"Tule in the Field"
(in progress)

24x18 acrylic on canvas
SOLD

Yeah a new painting. It seems like forever since I posted work on a new painting. Okay so it was only about a week ago, but it seems like eternity to me when I take these road trips to do art shows. Well I don't have anymore planned until early Sept. and I haven't decided for sure if I'll do it. It's the Truckee CA Labor Day Art Festival and it just depends on where both Corrine and I are at in creating work for the "Family Vacation" show at Benjamin Benjamin.

With this piece I'm creating the textures of the grass, but that's really it. Creating the suggestion of grasses but not really grasses. Tule, the dog, will be fully realized though. I think the trick of this piece will be to make her stand out from the background, but not so much so that it seems like a mistake in technique.

Tomorrow I'll spend most of the day at the Short Term Gallery painting, and unless it's busy there I should make lots of progress.

Bri-

New Tule sketch

"Tule 01"

7x7 ink on paper
NFS

Here's a new sketch for the painting of Tule I will be creating. I'm currently working with the client to decide which pose will work best. Since I create my work for individuals it's very important to me to make sure I'm creating exactly the painting they want.

When I do other works it's whatever I want to do, but there isn't one type that is more pleasing to do than the other. It's all creation.

Right now the canvas sits right next to me as I type, waiting for the first brush stroke.

Bri-