In an attempt not to be a stranger to everyone who follows my blog, I’m recycling some of my old blogs from years ago. I have many new followers since I began this venture in 2011, and I’m certain few of them have riffled through those blogs of yesteryear. This post features an acrylic wildlifeContinue reading Black Bear Painting from the Archives
I wrote in a recent post about my interest in manipulating my photographs to make them look like paintings. The sample I included was a skyscape. I like skies. And water. Skies would not be skies without clouds. I could look at clouds all day. The photo above is another skyscape. It is a combination—aContinue reading Sunset Photo Manipulation
Photo manipulation has a long history, beginning not long after the creation of the first photograph (1825) by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Anyone interested can read the history at Wikipedia. I recently became interested in manipulating some of my photographs to make them look like paintings. I tried various methods of applying paints and inks toContinue reading Skyscape Photo Manipulation
I have always been attracted to water and the life and world within it; perhaps it’s because I’m an Aquarian. Water can be hypnotic with its reflections and refractions of light and color, and it draws me to capture its many expressions. Here then is a sampling of local reflections and the sites that lay atopContinue reading Water Shots [photography]
Another old art piece of mine. This article was first published in an art newsletter dated 1998. The photos of my artwork that I’ve shared for this post range from the same year to 2001. While oil painting this month, I’ve been having fun painting with knives. Frosting the cake is what I call itContinue reading Painting with Knives
I like to draw. Figure drawing, cartooning, doodling … you name it. Graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, various kinds of erasers, markers, styluses. Line drawing, shading, hatching, cross-hatching, broken hatching, stippling, entopic graphomania (you make a dot at the location of each imperfection in the drawingContinue reading Drawings
Many years ago, I taught wildlife and landscape painting classes. This is a lesson plan from those classes. Understanding and controlling values should be one of your first goals as a painter. When I began painting landscapes from life, I realized that the objects in my finished paintings lacked convincing form. When I understood howContinue reading Painting Alla Prima, Part 2 of 2
Many years ago, I taught wildlife and landscape painting classes. This is a lesson plan from those classes. Alla prima is an Italian expression that translates into “at the first try.” The technique of alla prima is a wet-on-wet direct method of painting that completes the painting in a single session, without previous preparation orContinue reading Painting Alla Prima, Part 1 of 2
A little sketch in watercolor when I should have been writing. Sometimes the mind needs to switch gears. Now, I have a book to finish writing.
This is a re-post from my Facebook page, March 1, 2010. In 1988, black bear weren’t a common sight around Corry, PA. I had caught a glimpse of one during the spring while I was on one of my many field hikes into the swamps in and around Corry. I was sketching a beaver damContinue reading Evolution of a Painting
The three paintings shown below are from 1986 when I wanted to show a deer running through a winter landscape. They are painting sketches filled with mistakes I made while learning about deer and the art of painting. Each painting sketch gets better, but they all contain obvious errors that detract from each picture. Fortunately,Continue reading Allow Mistakes [painting]
My first job was selling the Grit newspaper on weekends. I was 9. During that time I began selling greeting cards for a company that advertised on the back pages of my favorite comic books. I made enough money to buy a bicycle and a pair of roller skates. I used the bike to helpContinue reading Giving [painting]
