Painting at EPCOT 2011

(and keep your day job!)

This past weekend I was invited to paint plein air at EPCOT's International Flower and Garden Festival. As requested by a very generous admirer, I'm posting the results...bravely. Ah, but France was absolutely intoxicating with the heady scent of spring. Did you know that jasmine fragrance is an aphrodisiac?

Here are the three I finished. This was my first attempt...going for the splashing water fountain of course.

Setting up my easel next to a glorious bed of ranunculus was quite savvy of me. Especially when I engaged in their portraits as the ladies-that-garden were attracted to the flowers they did not recognize. Let's ask the artist if she knows what these are...oh!...you're painting them!
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Here's the red awning again over the entrance to the French restaurant with the fountain in the background.

"La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile." - Destouches.

The Four Elements

I'm callin' it. After working on the buggy things I previously mentioned, I decided to sign it and step away from the easel. Some artist friends suggested that I remove the background horse on the right. Seriously considering that idea for awhile, I decided doing so would  force that strong diagonal-leftward-thrust again and shift the focal point. Instead, I repainted that crazy horse head that serves as an anchor for the lunging horse. The expression remains feigned annoyance.
 

 The Four Elements  oil on canvas, 48"x58"

"If I see an ending, I can work backwards." - Arthur Miller 

Down to the Wire

I'm very close. At this point I can clearly see some changes necessary. The horse head on the right in back of the lunging horse is all wrong...too big...just weird. It's been annoying me but I wanted to get a good feel for the water before I started fussing with it. Also, the horse being bitten needs wilder eyes, after all, he's savaged and crashed into by the two surrounding horses. The forearm on the biting horse is too long.

I added a bit of blue to the bottom water to get some color variety and pop the oranges. I was very unsure of doing this but the water was too violet. It's a combination of ultramarine and my new Gamblin Chromatic Black that I'm enjoying. The top of the splashing water is highlighted in white with just a whisper of cadmium orange. Perhaps it needs more of a warmer statement but I'm unsure and at this point don't want to make a mess of things.

Painters have to know when enough is enough. Many of us are so good at overworking a piece, myself included.

“Doubt can only be removed by action.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Cover Art for the 2011 Farm Directory

It's the third time. I'm so honored to have my artwork chosen for the 2011 Farm Directory published by the Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers, Inc. Early morning training at the track as I've experienced it for many years. Foggy. Busy the way it gets when the track re-opens after a break to harrow the surface. Debbe Wojack has once again organized an impressive and well-designed directory.

The title is "Off the Rail". Giclees are available. Check here for info.

"All doors open to a hard push." -  Irwin Greenberg

Water Action Begun

I've started fooling with the water. So far, I'm pleased although it needs more contrast. Taking a photo while a painting's in progress is a great way to critique it. Better than turning it upside down or looking at it through a mirror. Viewing it on the computer monitor is really helpful...all the "ugly" areas that need changing jump out at me. Although you would love to be a fly on the wall when I walk into the studio the next day. 

 

My reaction when I first see it: "ugh!".

The strength of criticism lies in the weakness of the thing criticized. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Horses are Almost Finished!

 The horses are finished, not the entire painting. Tweaking remains for the horses and then onward to create the crashing/splashing turbulent water. I've researched photos of horses running through water via the web and there's some helpful reference. But none of it will apply to the way the horse on the right is jumping out of the water and colliding into the middle horse.

It's a limited palette:
Titanium White
Chromatic Black (as I mentioned a few posts ago)
Cadmium Orange
Voilet (created with a mixture of ultramarine blue and quinocridone magenta)
Raw Sienna

"Live intensely and dangerously. The world may not depend on your efforts, but you do. - Eric Maisel

Getting Some Detail

Progress is slow. Coating giclees. Applying for grants...a most intensive endeavor. The application process is  tedious, but the satisfaction experienced from completion and sending off with a huge blessing of faith is so gratifying. I'm on a roll with the grant process. Very few individual artist grants available. Why is that?

I'm painting in some of the details on the upper part of the horses. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have no idea why I spent so much time sketching in their legs as most of it will be obliterated by the crashing water. I suppose I'll have indication in areas of transparency. Note the chalk line still visable...above is light, below will be shadow. I like the contrast of the background with the light-filled heads.

"Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating." -  Dr. Wayne Dyer

VoilART! Gallery Website is Live!

We've finally launched our new website for VoilART! Gallery + Studio. It's only one page but it directs you to our individual artist websites and also provides contact info. Tweaking is in order but heck, it's a start. Simplicity is key. Jackie and I will both be providing updates for our gallery events and also posting our individual travels, outside exhibits and other happenings. Many thanks to award-winning designer Jessi Miller of Little Black Mask Marketing for helping us get it started.

There's a link to VoilART Gallery + Studio in the sidebar to the right. You can visit us anytime.

“You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.” -  Donald Rumsfeld