Let Your Painting Rest for a While

Bluebonnet Field
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
12 x 12 in/30.5 x 30.5 cm
Copyright 2013

Every now and then you may want to look through your completed paintings to see if there is at least one that could be improved. As you know, when you work at a painting and are really concentrating on making it the best you can for hours or days, you are likely to lose your focus if not your objectivity.

When it's completed, or you think it is, it's helpful to let it sit for a period of time before you look at it again. During that time your mind and brain will have moved on to other works, and you'll be able to see your painting in a new light, figuratively and literally.

That's what I did with today's image. I originally completed it last Spring, and although I thought I had done a pretty good job, when I looked at it a few weeks ago--I could see it needed work. So, I make several additions, such as more foliage in the foreground, and corrections, such as softening edges everywhere. It was relatively easy to do in acrylic, and I think now it's ready for its debut. I know you didn't see it before, but what do you think?

Paint an Urban Scene

Buda + Pest
Acrylic on Hardboard
18 x 24 in/46 x 61 cm
Copyright 2012

Here's an acrylic I completed last week from a personal family photo. Quite the panoramic view, it was fun to figure out how much detail to include in a scene with so much going on. I like the mix of colors urban landscapes provide the painter.

Painting cityscapes is a challenge for many painters. But---a painting challenge is how we learn. That's why we pick up the palette and brush the next day.

Paint. Paint. Paint

An Inspirational Place

Morning Seat
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
6 x 6 in/ 15.2 x 15.2 cm
Copyright 2013

Here's a small painting from a reference photo taken on a Spring morning. It's on the grounds surrounding the Rothko Chapel in the leafy museum district of Houston. The chapel and, of course, Rothko's paintings are contemplative and inspirational, and I wanted to capture some of that. If you haven't been there, I hope you get the chance to visit someday.

5 Years of Art Blogging! Happy Birthday OrbisPlanis

This week we're celebrating 5 years of blogging about art, painting, and painters at OrbisPlanis. I hope you have enjoyed all the information as well as my own art all these years.

What started out as a blog about re-newing one's interest in art (e.g. A New Art Blog on How to Renew Your Art Skills) turned into a blog with information about painting (e.g. Mixing Believable Greens) and painters (e.g. What Was Claude Monet's Color Palette?) and more recently A Painter's Blog about my own journey through watercolor, oil, and acrylic (e.g. Experiment With Painting This Summer).

Happy Birthday, OrbisPlanis, Happy Birthday To You!.

Cool Thoughts in Oil

Cool Day
Oil on Canvas Panel
5 x 7 in/12.7 x 17.8 cm
Copyright 2013

I painted a little oil painting recently to help me keep cool on a very warm summer holiday weekend in the US.

The scene is a line of trees on a cool, overcast day with a hint of an impending rain shower.

It makes me think I feel cooler anyway, and I wanted to share it with my readers. I hope you feel cooler, too.