“Uliveto e Trattore”

I've been studying Van Gogh's olive grove paintings a bit. I then remembered that I took some pictures of some olive groves when I visited Italy a few years back. Digging them out, I discovered a few I liked. As a result, inspired by Van Gogh, I started on this small painting. I mean, it's not Van Gogh. It is just not. But, the inspiration is there.

Later
After working on it for a while, I might have been going for Van Gogh, but ended up with Bob Ross. I'm not sure.

Even so, I've learned a few things: First, a stiffer brush is better than a softer brush. Two, structure in trees is better than too many curves. Three, Van Gogh may have outlined the trunks of his trees, but thinner lines are better than thick. Also, it is best to vary your line weight. Finally, alizarin crimson does not make a good trunk. Transparent oxide red is better.

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Wedding Portrait

“All Souls Procession Bagpipers Study”

Graffiti Of: “Bikes in Amsterdam 2”

A digital image from my other blog:

Bikes in Amsterdam 2

“The Veil is Thin”

Some notes:

First attempt at using the Zorn palette.

So far, I've found a few things. With a wider palette, one usually paints with pigments. With a limited palette, however, one paints with colors. There is a difference. With a wider palette, you learn the properties of each pigment and what you can do with them. Not every pigment is the same, and when mixed they perform differently. With a limited palette, you have only four pigments. The mixes with these pigments behave the same no matter what. You really truly paint with color and value.

The other lesson is this: with a limited palette, you really have to mix all four pigments in some way. Pure pigment with no mixing does not look right. Compare that to a wider palette. In that case, you might mix maybe only two pigments, or you may end up with mud. In fact, only in the rarest situations do you mix more than two and only with very specific pigments. With a limited palette, however, no matter how you mix them, you can't make mud.

Lastly, opacity is not 100% opaque. There is some translucency.

Oh, and one last thing. There is no such thing as beginner's luck.

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Final

Graffiti Of: “Bikes in Amsterdam”

I’ve got a new blog for my digital work called Graffiti Of.  This is my first new post:

Bikes in Amsterdam

“All Souls Procession Drummer Study”

“All Souls Procession Fiddlers Study”

“All Souls Procession Guitarrón Player and Trumpeter Study”

“All Souls Procession Study”

“All Souls Procession Study”

I've had to sort of regroup after mom died. Most of my current projects are on hold. I did manage to start this small 11x14 inch piece to keep my chops up. That is all I can muster.

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“The Battle of San Romano” Reproduction, Part 0.1: Materials

My Blick order came yesterday. It consisted of powdered pigments, mostly earth pigments, though some modern pigments too, some walnut oil, gesso, tools for mixing pigments, and a hardboard surface to do a compositional study before I do the big mammajamma.

I’ve looked at some recipes online for egg tempera. Usually they use egg yoke, distilled water, and a little oil to keep it “open.” I chose walnut oil, which was a commonly used period alternative to linseed oil.

My plan is to do a series of studies to try and master painting with egg tempera before doing the final, to scale study, and finally the big one.

That is all for now. I plant to post each step along the way.

 

“Battle of San Romano” Reproduction, Part 0

Okay, I’ve got one commission to do first, but I’m getting excited about my new project. I’m going to try and do a reproduction of the piece below. The piece is called “The Battle of San Romano” by Paulo Uccello, a Florentine artist from the 1400s. 

My wife and I saw the piece at The National Gallery in London in 2019, before the pandemic. When I saw saw it, I said, that looks like photos I’ve been taking at Estrella all these years. The composition will be my own, from my Estrella photos, but the technique and materials will all be period. It will also be about a quarter the size of the original. I’m expecting the project to take a year or more. 

Wish me luck! I might make posts about my progress.

“Dour Man Wearing Jaunty Hat”

Back to a chiaroscuro style portrait, but utilizing some thicker, chunkier paint to give it some spontaneity, and a painterly quality.

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 3”

More palette knife craziness!

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 2”

We're talking chunky paint!

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NFT Art Carnival

I created my first NFT. It was an epiphany awaking. I realized that this was just a little surface scratch in a huge revolution that is coming. This is the revolution of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Non Fungible Tokens, Crypto Wallets, and so on. I firmly believe that this will be my kid’s generation’s Internet, in that what the Internet was to our generation, this will be to hers.

It will affect the way money is made and spent. It will affect banking. It will affect economics. It will affect the way you are paid. It will affect your taxes. It will affect the idea of ownership of anything digital. Facebook, with its rebranding, is all in. Entire countries are adopting crypto as their official currency.

I also firmly believe that this is the thing that our generation, when we are old, will be confused and befuddled by. Our kids are going to be the ones that have to explain the technology over and over again to us and we still won’t get it. It will be overwhelming and we will be too old to adapt.

Mark my words. Hold onto your hats and keys. A big change is coming.

“Graffiti of Shapeshifters”

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Graffiti of a Glass Half Full"

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Graffiti of Simpler Times"

This is another digital piece based off of one of my figure drawings in my sketchbook. I like the way it turned out and the title so much that I might do a whole series of "Graffiti of..." pieces.

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Cinnamon Bun"

This is a digital piece. It is based on a pencil sketch I made in my sketchbook.

UPDATE:

I just created an NFT for this artwork and put it up for auction on Rarible right here: [link]

You can order prints right here: [link]

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 1”

This is the first in a series of smaller studies, related to Dia de los Muertos and The All Souls Procession. These are quick, and untitled.

Work in progress

Third attempt at digital art.

Progress over time:

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"Beach Day"

Second attempt at digital art.

You can order prints right here: [link]