Paint a Beach Scene to Cool Off

Beach Day
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
8 x 8 in/20.3 x 20.3 cm
Copyright 2013

The dog days of August are upon us in North America, and I thought a beach scene would be an appropriate way to celebrate the season.

Here's a small acrylic I did recently from a reference photo on a trip to the beaches of Santa Monica, California, USA. These are some of the best beaches in the country, if not the world, especially if you like the cold Pacific waters this or any time of year.

Mixing the correct blues for the water and for those hazy skies over Los Angeles was the painting challenge. The same can be said for mixing believable colors of the sand, not to mention the challenge of painting waves breaking on the shore which, if you paint much water, you already know.

I hope you like it and that it inspires you to paint one, too.

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.

The Silver Lining of Acrylics

Stopping By
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
8 x 8 in/20.3 x 20.3 cm
Copyright 2013

I understand why some painters complain about acrylic paint.

Acrylic dries too fast. Acrylic mediums and gels can be tricky to use properly. Acrylic is hard to blend.

But, for every complaint there is a silver lining.

You can paint as quickly as you want and make corrections almost immediately. It dries fast because it's water-based, which means it's easy to clean brushes and hands, and there's no odor.

The use of mediums allow you to paint as if you're using oil, allowing additional time to move the paint around and to provide a gloss, satin, or matte finish. Try that with plain oil.

OK, they are more difficult to blend but only relative to blending oil really. This makes one spend time to learn the best paint consistency and how to better paint lost-and-found edges, which most painters should be doing anyway.

Today's image is a little acrylic I finished this week. Not bad, I think.

If you haven't tried acrylics in a while, you will be surprised at how much fun they are to paint with.  

Experiment with Painting this Summer

By the Lake
Oil on Canvas Panel
5 x 7 in/12.7 x 17.8 cm
Copyright 2013

I am enjoying painting again in oil, although I'm sure I will alternate between painting in oil and painting in acrylic all summer long.

Summer is a good time for experimentation, and that's what I want to do--try new things, learn new things, discover new painters.

I hope you can take some time this summer to experiment with painting and  discover new things to inspire you. 

Today's image is one of the smallest paintings I have done, only 5 x 7 in (12.7 x 17.8 cm). I find that painting small is a good way (for me anyway) to get re-acquainted with oil painting. Plus, I'm painting alla prima, so small is good.

This is a scene of a small waterfall at a man-made lake within a condominium complex. It was enjoyable to paint the strong sunlight, the contrasting dark shadows, and the reflections of the rocks.

Painting should be enjoyable if not pure fun.

View from the Back Porch

View from the Back Porch
Oil on Canvas Panel
8 x 8 in/20.3 x 20.3 cm
Copyright 2013

Today's image is a small oil painting I completed last week. As I mentioned a few blogs back, I recently decided to return to oil paint after several years.

I'm still painting in acrylic as well, but have put my watercolors away for the time being.

Anyway, I painted this painting from a reference photo taken one summer day on a visit to the Potomac River in the state of Virginia, USA.

It was a beautiful, if somewhat warm, day, and I would have liked to have painted en plein air. However, I'm pretty sure the National Parks Service would not have allowed me or any other painter to set up an easel on the back porch of Mount Vernon.

So I had to make do with my reference photo. Not bad, I think.

Acrylic & Oil

Nectarines
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
8 x 8 in/20.3 x 20.3 cm
Copyright 2013

I am painting in both acrylic and oil--not in the same painting, of course. Do many painters do that? I don't know.

This week I painted two paintings, one in each.

This acrylic, Nectarines, is today's image.

I am comparing my experience in both to determine if one comes out ahead. I don't know yet.

Of course, the difficult part is not necessarily the medium but in actually rendering the painting.

I don't expect miracles, but I will continue to paint in both and see how I'm progressing.