Studio Stuff

What I've been up to last week - oil painting.

Abstract
monochrome
12 by 12 inches

Abstract
two colors
8 by 8 inches

12 by 12 inch underpainting

9 by 12 inch study

 

STUDIO UPDATE

Random musing

    My latest explorations of color and imagination.  I think abstraction has gone into the background of my paintings.

    Abstraction never goes away completely, not in Art.  The heart of abstract thought is perception and cognition with out narrative and memory woven in. 

    Something like that.  There is a lot of room for growth in this                                                                direction.

    

 

This one is currently drying.

"Nobody's Perfect"

oil paint on loose canvas

 

Current Projects - October 2021

Musing About Choices

1.  This week, focusing on using thin layers to build up form and texture.  Seems to turn out interesting effects.

2.  Paint to edges?  Leave margins?  Implications? 

3.  Pallet Colors: Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow, French Ultramarine.

4. Composition intuitive.  Need to try being more deliberate about placing shapes.  

oil paint on 12 by 16 inch canvas

The ones below are oil paint on 12 by 12 inch board

in progress

in progress

study 

in progress

finished

 

oil paint study
Work in progress

 

There is a year or so between the sketch and the painting above.  The sketch was not a study for the oil painting.  It was an attempt to scratch the art itch.  So, I am reaching back in my memory to try something in a different medium. 

This is my first exploration of this type in oils.  Glazing techniques, mainly because I need to get better at that.

Observations 

Pencils are much more intuitive for me than oils; but, not as much as I was expecting.  

I rather like the two pigment approach using raw umber and titanium white.

It has a surreal quality to it.  Why?

pencil -sketch study

New Study Observations

title: TBD

status:  work in progress

medium:  oil paint on 12 by 12 inch panel

notes: 

1.   water reflects sky - observation

2.  color used sparingly is a very effective way of drawing attention in a painting.

3.  marathon sessions don't always produce good results.  i think my creative rhythm needs breaks.

before color added,
this photo has a better sense of scale

Cave

Oil Painting
"Cave"
12 inch by 12 inch board
currently drying

 

Daily Projects

titleTBD
oil painting
12 by 12 inch panel
in progress

Title: TBD
oil painting
8 by 8 inch panel
Drying

title: TBD
oil painting study
6 by 6 inch paper
Drying

"The Cave" prelim title
oil painting on 12 by 12 inch panel
in progress

 

Roughly Presented

Roughly presented in chronological order.  

I do like to work with darker pallets.  The effect feels solid to me, focused one might say.     

9/2025 Lake of fire

9/2025 - in Progress

9/2025 - in progress

9/2025 - title pending

9/2025 - in progress

7/2025 - The Stand

7/2025 - Campfire

Untitled
potential :  river, Banks, Bridge, etc

untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Abstracted Landscapes

Title "TBD"
oil paint on 12 by 12 inch board
September 2025
In progress

"red sky III"
oil paint on 12 by 12 inch board 
September 2025
Ready for signing

POINTS IN THIS POST

1.  Not overly concerned with realistic depiction in paintings, although it's a useful skill.  

2.   Color delivers emotional impact.

3.   Tone delivers form.

4.   Still working out the structure of painting.  [Is that composition?  Do I need another word?]

Question

Why only landscapes?

 

Notes on studies - September Meditations

study
oil paint with ink
4 by 6 inches

study
oil paint with ink
4 by 6 inches

Extremely thinned layer of paint over ink patterns.  

The plan is to keep going until I lose interest.  [Personal exploration]

Fade effect result of either thicker layers or number layers - in the first picture.

Should be interesting.  The ink is applied first as doodles that I have done most of my life.

Two Paintings

Title: Ghost
Oil Painting on 12 by 12 inch panel
August 2025
 

Title: Vortex
Oil Painting on 12 by 12 inch panel
August 2025

Notes

Color or no color?  

Both seem to work.  

Usually, abstraction has some roots in reality.

The cat like form is obvious.

The monochrome is not quite a wave.......a visual riddle?

Yellow Skies I
oil painting
Loose canvas 12 by 16 Inches

 

Attempt at depicting scale in the photo.

Notes on Between Earth and Sky

title:  Between Earth and Sky

Oil Paint on 12 by 12 inch Panel

Aug 2025

Notes

Increasingly using thin layers to build up images.  [Turpinoid.  Has a hazy effect different from linseed oil]

Not particularly concerned with perspective, or even realistic depiction.  Letting the mind fill in the blanks.

Limited pallet. Four colors, primaries and a white. Forces me to understand materials like paint.

More intuitive than planned.  

How many people actually see sky?

Musing on Directions

 These paintings are examples of the effects popping up in my work.

1.    These are are all suggestions of form.

2.    Pallet is limited.  Colors results from mixing.

3.    The paintings are fast, for oils.

4.    Figurative work is new ground for me.

5.    I need to paint more cats to improve.

.............................................................................................................................

Personal Notes

The one's where a single color dominates appear to have more presence.

Figures appear to add something to landscapes that make them relatable.

9 by 12 inch paper is a good size for most days.  I wonder if a larger canvas would reveal more mysteries while painting.