I just learned that wildlife artist Bob Kuhn passed away in October. He was an incredible and influencial artist. He will leave a mark forever upon the landscape of fine art and particuliarly in the wildlife art community. Scratchboard artist Tania has a nice post about Bob Kuhn, which is where I learned of his passing:http://www.tanianault.ca/thescratchboard/2007/10/18/bob-kuhn-master-wildlife-artist-dies/

I am a big fan of Bob Kuhn's work and sad to say that we will no longer be able to see new work by this legandary artist.

A Painting A Day

I haven't posted here in a while. I have been busy getting my blog set up and running. I decided to join the ranks of artists who are doing daily painting blogs.
My new blog, "A Critter A Day" will show my daily efforts to create small works that will be available for sale.

When I first started this blog it was for the sole purpose of keeping me motivated and to keep me sketching and drawing as a means of being in constant communon with my art and to help me begin to express myself creativly. I didn't think I would have much time to dedicate to art so it was simply a sketching blog to show work I would do either in my free time or while away on vacation or camping. It take long for me to begin to muse about picking up a brush agian and begin painting. And I did. Now I cant stop. I have produced more paintings over this past year than I have my entire life previously. I have no intention of stopping. It is becoming a part of me. Something I NEED to do. Like breathing. I have no intention of quitting this blog although I will not be posting as often. I will be focusing my efforts on creating daily paintings and posting them on A Critter A Day. This effort will be a great excerise for me not only in disipline but a way to hone my craft and become a better painter. Until I post agin, visit my new blog "A Critter A Day" and check out what my daily efforts will yield.

Blue Heron Experiment: Finished

The final painting. I am pretty happy with the final result. The brush work is a little sloppy, but I don't have much time to work so I need to paint quickly as possible. I hope that as I continue painting this style I will begin to tighten up and develop a more controlled and precise painting.

"Blue Heron" 9x16, oil on panel

Blue Heon Experiment: Part 4

At this point I feel pretty good about the body of the Heron and decide to begin adding the beach. I need to have this color note on the panel to help me decide if the Heron is looking complete or if it will need more work. Because the heron is mostly blues and grey, I wanted the sand to be warm. In the reference the sand is cool: white with a touch of blue and grey. This lacks contrast, plus I know the sky and water are going to be cool, so I decied to push the color and really go for a warm yellow.

Blue Heron Experiment: Part 3

Next I mix up the colors for the body of the Heron. I fill in the area with a cool gray and then lighten and add color on the panel. I then paint in the legs and start to add more detail.

Blue Heron Experiment: Part 2

Next I mix up a pile of paint for the dark areas. I fill in the shadow on the ground and the shdow areas of the Heron. Mxing up a warm orange I paint in the beak and add a little detail.

The Blue Heron Experiment: Part 1

I have been wanting to try a new stylized approach to painting some wildlife. Sort of a loose abstract but still maintaining some detail. A source of inspiration for this would be silk baltic paintings or even the "factal" effect of a stained glass window. This is a style I have been thinking of approaching for some time now and just decided to give it a go and see how it works out. I recorded each step along the way in a sort of tutorial of the process. More for my own benefit, to be able to look back and see how I created it. But, I thought it also be an interesting process for everyone else to see as well. So here it goes.

First I sketch out the design of the Heron using a Tuscany Red colored pencil. My ground for this is a 1/8" thick hardwood panel that I made myself. I usually only use my own panels cut from hardboard, sealed and primed.

Over the sketch I outlined the basic figure using Burnt Sienna, breaking the composition up into large shapes. I am working in oil, so I will let this dry overnight so that I can work on top of it without disturbing the original markings.
To the right of the panel you can see the photo reference I am using.

Here is another small one for the holiday show. Below is the initial sketch



A close up of the sketch:



And finally the finished painting:

"Black Bellied Whistling Duck" 3.5x5 oil on panel


Actually I am not happy with the water. I wanted a touch of Thalo Green in the shadows of the water, but the Thalo Green got completely out of control and dominated that mixture. When this is dry I will probably go back in and repaint the water a higher key to help the contrast between it and the duck.

Back to the easel

Getting the paintings finishes and framed for the two shows got me off track with any steady painting. I need to get back to it though as I am trying to get work together for a holiday show at The Creative Center. I need 20 painting to exhibit for sale and I am trying to pound out a bunch of small painting that I can frame and sale for a lower price, to help encourage sales. I am also trying to keep the subject material "broad" so as to attract buyers. By broad I mean birds, flowers, fruit, etc. I am not sure how long I can maintain that being that it won't be long before I begin to come up with creative ideas and want to experiment. This show will purely be about making some sales and making some extra money for the holidays.

Below are the first few for this show. I dont have a lot of time this days to dedicate to painting so I have squeeze as much productivity as I can out of a few hours a day. And usually not in one sitting. An hour after work and maybe an hour later in the evening. With my 21 month boy wanting to be a part of everyhing I do, It can be tough to focus and get things done. I did find a solution that helps keep him occupied while I am painting. I set up a smaller easel I have, at his height, and put a canvas on it for him. He colors it with crayon, then to be like his old man, I gave him some old brushes and a cup of water. He loves it! He colors with the crayons then smears them around with a wet brush. He even demands that he has a papertowel to wipe his brush in.

This one is a quick apple study, about 30-40 minutes. I used a #8 filbert for the whole thing to help cover it and get it recorded quickly. 5x7, oil on panel.



This is my easel setup. You can see my homemade pallete that I bolted to the frame of the easel. Having it between me and the easel helps to remind me to keep my distance and get up close with the brush. I still lean over it to get closer but it is the thought that counts right? On the easel is my progress, about halfway complete, of an American Goldfinch.



Close up the completed painting.
"American Goldfinch" 3.5x5 oil on panel

Nature & Wildlife show

The Nature & Wildlife show had a great opening. The atmosphere was energized and a lot of people were coming and going through out the evening. They had a good band playing popular rock songs a live barn owl and donkey. There was some really great work featured in the show, the most dramatic of which were the iron sculptures by Bill Secunda. My painting simply titled "Falcon" won third place in the oil/acrylic category. Being that this was my first show I am pretty excited that I placed!
It was a good moral boost to see my work featured among other artists. For years I have been staring at my work without any real comparison to help gauge the quality of the paintings I was producing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my paintings ranked up there with the better works featured. Even the plein air paintings I had in the "Carnegie Painted" show surprised me. The quality of work at that show was fantastic with some really beautiful paintings. My work wasn't as good as the other artists, but they could definitely hang (literally) with the rest. It gave me great encouragement to see I am on the right track.

Below are some picts from the Wildlife opening reception.

This is my second show. Just happens to be the same night as the wildlife show. I have twp paintings that will be showing in this on. Both painting were done "plein air" in the town of Carnegie.

Opening Reception is Friday September 7, 2207 6-9:00
Click this link for more details: http://www.3rdstreetgallery.net/CPVII.html



"Standard Ceramic" oil on panel 12x10


"Pa Pa J's" Oil on panel 12x14

My First Art Show. I got 5 pieces that where accepted into this show.
The first image is the cover of the program. Following are the painting that will be showing.

Opening Reception is Friday, September 7 2007 from 7-9:00
Click this link for more details: http://www.butlerartcenter.net/index.htm



"Back Off" Oil on stretched canvas 12x24

"Evening Bugle" oil on stretched canvas 11x14

"Midday Reprieve, Oil onstretched canvas 8x10

"Falcon, Oil on stretched canvas 10x14

"Looking West" Oil on panel 11x14

Elk Paintings

Thereis a local Wildlife & Animal juried show and exhibit coming up at the Creative Center in Butler, PA. I decided to enter some work to see what happens. This will be the first time I have entered a show of anykind and I am excited and nervous about it at the same time. I plan on entering 6 pieces, "Looking West", "Cheetah Portrait", "Back Off", "Falcon Portait" and the following two elk paintings.

"Evening Bugle" 11x14 oil on stretched canvas



The following is a sketch I did to familiarize myself with the contours of the elk in this pose.



"Mid-day Reprieve" 8x10 oil on stretched canvas

A couple more plein air's

I recently went to White Pines, Tennessee to visit my aunt and uncle who had just retired and build a home on Lake Douglas, just outside the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. What a spot! The lake is gorgious and is home to Osprey, Bald Eagles, Herrons and countless other creatures. I could spend a lifetime down there painting.
We went on a road trip through part of the Smokey's. We saw some incredible vistas and valleys. Even got lucky and spotted two Bull Elk in a field. All and all it was a fantastic trip and I hope to return soon and often.

This is the view from there waterfront property looking across the narrow part of the lake. The lake is much better than my dipiction of it. In the distance you can see the smokey mountains.

"Douglas Lake" 10x12 oil on panel




It painted this one a couple of days after we returned from our trip. This looking North-West of our back deck. I decided to paint this in grays to practice my values, plus to paint it quicker as another storm front was moving in overhead and it was threatening rain.

"Approaching Storm" 10x14, oil on panel

Here are a couple of plein air painting. This first one is a quick study I did before meeting a friend for some beers. This is at a local bike trail that runs along the Youghigheny River. This particular spot is in a small town called Little Boston. It was a nice spot to paint with lots of subject matter. I would like to get back there when I would have more time paint. This is a small 4x6 painting that I pounded out in about 30 minutes, including set-up.

"Little Boston Bridge" 4x6 oil on panel



This plein air was done in Polish Hill. I had painted the buildings to the right of this on another outing to this spot. Once agian, I had somewhere to be and was running out of time. There was a house right next to this on eon the left I had planned on painting but ran out of time. So I filled it in with sky and went on my way.

"Polish Hill Home" 10x12 oil on panel

This painting is a studio painting I did about a month ago. I was inspired to do a group of seagull paintings after re-reading "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach. This first attempt is nothing like I had envisioned in my mind. I got to trapped by the photo reference and was unable to pull my vision out of the reference.
I will revisit this later when I have a more solid image in my head of what I am trying to accomplish. But, for now, here is this one.

"Looking West" 10x14 oil on panel

I painted these back in May. My family and I went camping for the weekend at Ohiopyle. I ended up being a beautiful weekend and a fun trip. Although, camping with an 15 month old boy isn't the same as camping when it was just the two of us. He definitly keeps our hands full. My wife however, being the generous woman she is, took charge of him which allowed me to go paint in peace for a few hours. I went to a popular spot called "Cucumber Falls" to paint and found it to be an exhilerating place to paint. The thunder of the waterfall and the moisture in the air really helps to calm the nerves, relax and focus. Even though it was a very busy spot, with kids climbing all over the rocks and people taking pictures or just sitting around and watching me paint, it was also a calm and relaxing spot to paint. I definitly want to get back and paint this location again.

"Cucumber Falls" 10x14 oil on panel




This one is of a pop-up camper that was set up in the lot across the way from our camper.

"Camper In The Shade" 4x6 oil on panel

I have several "plein aire" paintings that I did over the course of the summer. At this point I can't remember the order in which they were painted.

This one was a fun one for me. It really helped me get over my fear of getting out there and painting in public. I painted this one during the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington DC. Lots of people were milling about the mall so I got to tackle that fear head on. My first time painting any transiant objects which was fun.

"National Mall" 8x10 oil on board



This is a quick study I did in my backyard. Not my best but I will show them all, the good, the bad abd the ugly.

"Pear Tree In Bloom" 8x10 oil on panel



I did this one on my deck in the back of the house. This was done mostly as a study to practice painting "sky holes" or those litle spots in trees where the sky can be seen through the branches.

"Pine Three's" 4x6 oil on panel

I have a lot of work that I need to post. It has been a busy summer and I haven't had the time to keep up with my blog. Before I post anything new I have some older work I would to post here.

The first is a Cheetah portrait. This is oil on canvas paper done in a thin wash with detailed layed on top.



The next one is from the same year. Both were done in 1995. Looking back at these two pieces I wonder why I didn't continue to paint. They are pretty good and had I kept up the tempo and been painting all along...I can only imagine how far ahead my skills would be now. It is a lesson learned, NEVER STOP PAINTING!

"Proud" oil on canvas paper

Falcon Portrait

I did this one a couple of weeks ago. I think this is heading in the right direction as far as style goes. I like the big chunky brush strokes. This on one of the canvases that I stretched and primed myself. I love the tooth of these and will have to make more. I dont know if it my imagination or not, but I seem to paint better on these.

10x14 Oil on stretched canvas

Wow! I didn't realize it has been over a month since my last entry. Been busy with other things. One of which is designing some t-shirt graphics for "Red Friday", which is a movement to show support for our troops by wearing red on Fridays.

I set up a shop at CafePress.com to sell the designs. It has been a good learning experience to set the shop up and promote the merchandise. I am not sure how much or if I will get any sells from it. Especially since the "cause" is sort of lost in all the noise going on with the military and the war right now.

Here is the link to the shop: http://www.cafepress.com/redfridaygear

"Bridge over red rock" 12x14 oil on panel

My latest painting. Did this last weekend. Pretty happy with the way it turned out. Probably my "cleanest" painting yet. This was taken from a photo reference I got online. The photo (of the painting) has a lot of glare on it which is altering the color. It is not as bright as the photo is, more true to life. When it is fully dry I will try to get a good scan of this.

Spent the weekend prepping some new panels. Cut down a 48x96 sheet of hardboard to various sizes. I got a total of 39 panels. It was a lot of work but I figured I would take the time and prep a whole sheet, which will keep me stocked for some time.

Pittsburgh from Schenley Park

Painted a couple of Saturdays ago on Saint Patty's Day. It was a sunny day but way cold out. I set up next to a stand of pine trees, above the ice rink. Thought that was smart as it would block the wind. Big mistake! The wind would blow across a big berm next to the ice rink and pick up the snow only to dump it across my palette and paint panel. Good thing I was working in oil! So, being that it was so cold and I was beig pelted with snow, I only worked on this for about 30-40 minutes. This is my first plein air with a limited, three color, palette. Alizarin Crimson, Cadnium Orange hue and Thalo Blue. Only used two brushes for this, Filberts #8 and #4. Would have used some brights (would have made squaring off the buildings easier), but I forgot them at home. I may return to this spot and do a spring and summer version of this view.

8x10, oil on panel

Back Off!

I completed this painting about two weeks ago. It is a return to a style I was playing with back in the late 90's. You can see an example of this in the "Mountain Lion" painting that is posted on my paintings blog: http://daveraselpaintings.blogspot.com/ I am trying to get an abstract/graphic look in the background, balanced with an impressionism/realism look to the animal. I think it could work well, just a matter of getting that balance between the two. I am pretty happy with the way this painting turned out. I think I really captured the expression on the falcon's face. This is oil on stretched canvas, 12x24.



Here is a detail shot of the falcon's head:


The following is my second attempt at this style. I was trying to get more motion on the canvas with this one. This is oil on stretched canvas, 16x20.



This was an interesting experience with canvas for me. The first one, "Back Off!", was painted on a canvas that I prepared myself. I started with raw 12oz. cotton duck canvas. I stretched it then prepped the surface with rabbit skin glue sizing. This stuff is amazing. It pulled the canvas tight as a drum. I then primed the canvas with Oil gesso, applied with a palette knife. The second painting "Bird of Prey" was done on a store bought canvas. The difference between the two blew me away. Granted, the store bought one was a cheap Michael's brand, but the application of paint on the two was so dramatically different. The paint flowed so nice and smooth on the one I stretched. The store bought canvas took much more work to get the paint to stick. I think it shows in the painting itself. Lesson learned.

Had a good couple of weeks. I got three new painting I am anxious to post. Need to wait for the paint to dry to get a good pict. Two are in studio and one is plein air.

I am really getting anxious for the weather to change. This will be my first spring doing plein air paintings and I cant wait to get out. I have been scouting locations all winter.

The first painting I completed has a thread at wet canvas. The image isn't that good being that there is glare on it. Here is the link:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5468445#post5468445

Art is like a hayride...

Did you ever go for a ride in a hay trailer? Pulled by a big farm tractor across dusty, bumpy dirt roads through a farm pasture? This is what the creative flow feels like. When I am completely engaged it is like sitting on the wooden bench in the back of a hay trailer. Tractor spews some smoke as it jumps into gear and lurches forward. Slow at first. Then it begins to pick up speed. I am sitting there enjoying the scenery and the blissful gently bouncing hypnosis of the trailers movement. But then it begins to pick up speed and the gentle bouncing turns into a rough bucking. The ruts under the wheels deepen and knock me from the bench. I get back to my seat and hang on for the ride. It's fun but you got to hold on. Then it gets real rough. The trailer is kicking and bucking hard now. I can barely hold on. The dust is kicking up and I am choking on the foul air. Kicking and bouncing, moaning and creeking, I get bounced to the back of the trailer. Thr tractor is speeding up heading down a pasture path. Half seated, half standing trying to remain on the trailer it hits a hard lump of dry earth. Throwing me up in the air I grab onto the back gate as I tumble over the side. Hanging on for dear life, dust in my face, teeth rattling, I am being drug along like a rag doll. Unable to hang on anymore I let go and crash into the hard earth rolling to a stop in the middle of the path. The tractor and wagon rolls on, bouncing and kicking till it is out of sight.
Thrilled with the excitement of the energy yet dissapointed that I couldn't hold onto it. Laying there I wonder if I will get to experience that again. But I have learned that if I stand up, brush myself off and start walking, another trailer will be by soon.

Top Ten Moments

All of the artwork is finally complete for the top ten materials moments.
This was an interesting project to work on. Each moment required some research to find specific items, or historic accuracy. Because of time restraints I couldn't complete each moment as a whole illustration. So to save time i created only on "sheild" drawing and compiled the sheild image together with the individual moments after inking and scanning. I also added the background texture to this composite, using Photoshop to bring them all together.

So here are the moments. Click on the image below to see a rotating gif file:

Old Paintings...

One that got away.



"Leopard" watercolor on toned paper, 1997, 11x14

I love this painting. Unfortunately for me it was destined for an auction to raise funds for the local women's shelter in New Castle.
I believe it fetched $300 which was contributed to the cause. That is good, but I would love to see this again, and in retrospect probably should have kept this one and created another for the auction.

If the person who purchased this is out there, and just happens to come across this post in my blog (one and a million shot), please email me and let me know who you are.

Old Paintings...

Another from the past.



"John&George" pencil on paper, 2001

I was commisioned to do this for a client who was a huge Beatles fan. Shortly after George Harrison died, they wanted this portrait done of both Goerge and John Lennon.
I was originaly going to title it "The Dead Beatles", but I guess that would be a little insensitive.

Old Paintings...

Work has been keeping me pretty busy as of late and I have not been able to commit much time to painting or drawing. So I thought I would take some time to post some old paintings that I have done.

Here is the first:



"Bear Totem" Mixed Media on canvas (acrylic, modeling paste, sand), 22x28, 1995

I still remember working on this painting. It was a complete experiment. I had this vision in my head and just went for it. It was a test of my patience, as I am used to sitting down and completing a painting in one or two sessions. I put on about three or four layers of modeling paste to build up the texture I wanted. Each layer took a night to dry, so it was about a week of prep before I actually got to paint this.

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual-become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.
It is in the nature of all people to have these experiences; but in our time and under the conditions of our lives, it is only a rare few who are able to continue in the experience and find expression for it.
At such times there is a song going on within us, a song to which we listen. It fills us with surprise. We marvel at it. We would continue to hear it. But few are capable of holding themselves in the state of listening to their own song. Intellectuality steps in and as the song within us is of the utmost sensitiiveness, it retires in the presence of the cold, materials intellect. It is aristocratic and will not associate itself with the commonplace-and we fall back and become our ordinary selves. Yet we live in the memory of these songs which in moments of intellectual inadvertence have been possible to us. They are the pinnacles of our experience and it is the desire to express these intimate sensations, this song from within, which motivates the masters of all art.

Robert Henri- The Art Spirit, International Studio, May, 1921

Drawing these hands was one of those moments. I sketched these hands from a photo reference on wetcanvas. I sat to simply doodle, half-heartedly, and this sketch just flowed out. So simple, so effortlessly. I love the presence of the line on the paper. The mass of the shapes; muscle, flesh and bone. I come to realize that this is my goal. To be able to engage that song within each time I place pencil to paper. Brush to canvas. Because of the disconnected flow of free creativity, due to the responsibilities of life, these moments are rare and valuable. Everytime I look at this drawing I am reminded of that song within. I am reminded that I can engage that song and hold myself "in the state of listening". Even if only for a brief moment.