WIP - Commission Painting

This is one of the things I am working on at home at the moment.  It is oil on canvas, 2 feet x 3 feet or  60 x 90 cms. approx..

It is a commission that I am doing for a lady.

I have most of the background colours in now and it is almost time to start on the details.  So far I am having fun with this one; although I am sure it is going to drive me crazy in the end as there is a lot going on in it.

Kind of a poor photo as I took it indoors yesterday and the lighting was poor; but gives a general idea of it anyway.

Merry Christmas

Waiting For Morning

I have finally finished one of the oil paintings I had started.

Title:  Waiting For Morning
Size:  Approx. 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 40.5 cms.
Oil on Board

As always comments are welcome.

A Funny Story

Yesterday was the opening of the exhibition of paintings from the painting classes at the Casa de la Cultura.

Over time I have been working on a 3 painting series of Blue Doors from photos I had taken over the years.  Two of the doors were from old buildings in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, the other one was of the door of the building that used to house the museum here in Guaymas.

The new Arts and Culture director for Guaymas opened the exhibition after the classes and various dignitaries were introduced and then snacks were served.

While everyone was chatting my teacher came over to me and asked where the one door I had painted was from, was it in Guaymas?  I said yes, it was and explained to him where it was.  He then told me that the new director had asked him who had painted it as he wanted to meet them.  The teacher took me over to him and introduced us and we began chatting.

It turned out that at some point in the directors life he had removed the air conditioner and re- concreted the wall, on the painting I had put in this detail as it showed as a rectangle of a different texture and colour on the photo.  He had also painted the door blue.

What a coincidence!!  He said that he recognized the building and wanted to meet me and tell me about it.  He was surprised when I knew it had been the museum and had visited it before the flood ruined it.

Really odd the things that happen sometimes, to me that was a one in a million chance that anyone would recognize the building or even know anything about it.  Just shows what a small world it is.

This is the painting of the door.  Oil on canvas.

Size: 12 x 15 x 2 in. or 31 x 38 x 5 cm. 

Busy, Busy, Busy

It doesn't seem like that long ago that I posted; but I see by the date that it is.

I have been keeping busy, mostly with my painting, much to the dismay of the housecleaning.  Well, what is more interesting?  Now really, not much of a question is it?

I am still going to class at the Casa de la Cultura twice a week.  This semester the days have been changed to Mon. and Wed. so that took some getting used to.

There I am still working on the 3rd Blue Door painting, it seems I am getting no where fast on that one.    Lots of detail on that one also, trying to make it look like a hand carved door from many years ago.  Oh well, I suppose slow and sure will eventually get it done.  It seems like I have been working on Blue Doors forever.  When this one is done I am going to stop doing doors for a bit.

At home I have been doing some pastels and some oils.

The Tiger that I did, sold the first day that I posted it on my Facebook page and I really liked that one, so I am trying another one.  This time a baby one.  Not much done on it yet, so no photo; but I intend to work on it tomorrow for a bit.

I am also doing an oil, (on a wood panel) of the boat at night that I did a pastel painting of.  I really like this photo and thought I would like to try it in oils, so I am.

At home I am also working on the oil, (on canvas) of the church at Magdalena, Sonora.  It is coming along and I now have a lot of it base coated.  I need to work more on the church now as it is behind the trees, foliage, etc. in the photo.


WIP- Waiting for Daylight - Oil on wood panel

WIP - Church at Magdalena, Sonora - Oil on canvas

Yesterday I took some of my Pastel Paintings to a small sale over in San Carlos.  This sale is not the greatest venue for selling art as it is a sale of mostly used articles.
I did sell a couple of the small bird pastels, so that was good.
Not sure if I will go to this sale again or not.  The person running this event is hoping to get a once a month art only sale going; so I will wait and see what happens with that.

Tomorrow I am going to go to the first meeting of the year for the San Carlos Art League.  I have never been to any of their meetings before so am not sure if I will join or not.  They meet once a week for class/meeting, etc..  I will see what I find out tomorrow before deciding if I want to join and go there once a week or not.

WIP-- Church in Magdalena, Sonora, Mexico

This is one of the paintings I am working on at home at the moment.

At the moment what is done is mainly undercoating of some of it.  Tons of work on this one also, lots of details as usual.

It is in oils on canvas and is approx. 16 x 24 x 2 inches.

I am also beginning to work on an oil of the Panga boat that I did in Pastels, (Waiting For Daylight).  I haven't really started it yet though; other than putting on the black background.  It will be 12 x 16 inches on wood panel.

Also have a small pastel painting going of a sunset on the mountain with a tree in the forefront; but not enough done yet to post a photo of, size of this one will be 8 x 10 on paper.

Have a good Sunday.

Waiting For Daylight

I have been playing around a lot with the pastels lately.

Here is the latest one that might be finished.

I titled it:  Waiting for Daylight

Size: 8 x 10 inches or 20 x 25 cm.

Tetakawi Sunset 2

Back again with another sunset painting of the San Carlos / Guaymas landmark mountain Tetakawi.

  It is chalk pastel painting on paper 8 x 10 inches, unframed and un-matted.

It is available for purchase.

Tetakawi At Sunset 1

Just finished this,this morning.

Chalk Pastel on paper.  Size:  8 x 10 inches or 20 x 25 cm.

Without mat or frame.

Title:  Tetakawi at Sunset 1

La Puerta Azul 2

I just realized today when I was cleaning up some of my painting stuff that I had never posted the finished painting of the second one in the 3 painting series of Blue Doors.

This painting is 12 x 15 inches on a 2 inch deep canvas and is done in Oils.

I did it from a photo that I had taken around 2006 or so.  It is the door of the building that used to be a museum here in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico where I live.

Here it is:  La Puerta Azul 2 / The Blue Door 2

Tiger - Done I Think

Well, I think I am saying that the Tiger is done.  I will look at him yet for a few days; but I think he is at the point of being finished, or he feels he is at this point.

Let me know what you think.

Work In Progress - Tiger

Here is what I am working on at the moment at home.  I have been wanting to do a tiger for a long time and finally decided this was the time.

Lots of work to do on him yet; but he is coming along.

As always I am open to criticism/suggestions.


Tiger, (In progress)

Bird, 4 of 4

I finally made myself sit down and finish this last bird this morning.  It wasn't going well and I wasn't and still am not happy with it; but I am calling it finished.  The more I try to improve it the worse it gets.
This one I would give a failing grade to, definitely not one of my better ones. The bird even looks unhappy.  Oh well, that is life, onto something different.

First Sale

This morning we packed the car with some of my artwork and various comfort things and headed off to the first sale that I have ever taken my art to.

It wasn't really the greatest venue for selling art as it was a sale where people were selling second hand goods.  I knew this before I went; but wanted to get some feedback from strangers on my artwork.  Friends and relatives tend to be very nice and non-critical so it is hard to gauge how others think of my work.

We sat in the shade for the morning and I watched peoples reactions as they looked at the paintings I had displayed.  It was a calm, peaceful setting for a first time experience and I actually did make 1 small sale and gave out some business cards to people asking about commissions.
All in all a good morning.  Mission accomplished.

After we packed up, we went out for lunch before going home.  A good morning.


Paintings displayed.

Sitting and relaxing for the morning.

The view.

Birds, Birds, Birds

I felt like trying something a little different size wise lately and I had a few photos that I liked and wanted to paint in pastels.

I decided to try a set of birds in a 5 x 7 inch size and so far I have finished 3 of the 4 that I have planned.

This size is probably not a size I will do often when I finish the 4 th of this set.  I had a hard time doing the fine details and have decided to try doing a couple in 8 x 10 inch size next to see how I like that.

I enjoy doing the 11 x 14 size; but by the time you mat them and frame them they end up being quite large, which can be a bit off putting if you have wall space restrictions like I do.

As always I am open to criticisms and comments.

In other news, I renewed my living permit for another year here in Mexico and this year I also applied for and received permission to sell my artwork.

There is a small sale over in the tourist town close to us this coming Saturday and I am trying to get up the nerve to take some of my stuff over there and see what kind of comments I get.  As the winter people or "snowbirds" have not yet arrived there will be a small crowd, which should be easier for me for a first time showing.

Wish me luck.

Finished Pug Pastel Painting

I have been kind of missing in action lately, it has been so hot here that I haven't been doing a lot of painting.  The heat seems to have sapped my energy.

It is cooler this morning, so I decided to finish a pastel painting that I had started a while back.

It is done with soft chalk pastels on paper and measures approx: 11 x 14 inches or 28 x 36 cm.

Pugs are one of my favorite breeds of dogs.

As always feel free to comment and criticize.

Unsure of a title at this point, I am leaning towards something like, "Not me, I'm Innocent"

Art Walk for Festival Mar Bermejo

During the Festival Mar Bermejo we went on the Art Walk.  Here are a few photos of some of the artwork.

Mural Is Done

This morning I put the finishing touches on the mural and I am saying that it is done.  Beginning to end it took me 27 days; although I skipped working on it a few days here and there and as it is pretty warm here now I only worked for a few hours each time in the mornings.

I learned a couple of things while doing this.

1.  I do not particularly like using acrylic paints, for the simple fact that they dry too fast and there was next to no time for shading.

2.  I actually can do a big project and finish it before getting bored with it.  I have a short attention span.

Here is the finished mural, finished size 150 cm x 100 cm or about 60 inches x 40 inches.  Many thanks to Alfredo for allowing me to use his picture for reference.  The mural is of a scene in our downtown area, part of the malecon with the mountains in the background.

One Blue Door Painting Done

I have finally finished the first one of the Blue Door paintings.  There was a LOT of tiny detail on this painting and it took me what seemed like forever to finish it.

It is oil on canvas, approx. size is:  30 x 40 cm. or about 12 x 15 inches.

Comments/criticisms welcome as always.



The full painting.

Lantern detail.

The other lantern detail.

Door detail.

Mural WIP

I finally remembered to take a photo of the mural, or as far as I have gotten so far.  I have done a bit of work on it since these photos; but it is a LONG way from finished still.  It is getting warm here so I have only been working on it for a while some mornings when I haven't had other stuff going on.  So considering how slowly I work this could take until next year to finish.

Here are a couple of photos of it as it was a couple of days ago.

Mural -- Background Is In

Ok, I have been working outside on the mural.  Not lots of hours as remember it is pretty warm here right now; although the humidity isn't bad yet.  Today it is 35 Celsius right now, which is more or less 95 F..  I try to start in the morning after the patio has some shade and then work for a while at it.

At this point it basically looks like a big mess, as this is just the background colour, about the only thing that is almost done is the seagull in the top left hand corner, so lots of work to do yet.  I am hoping to beat the humidity; but not sure if I will or not.

I am not liking working with the acrylic house paint, it is so different from oil paint.  It dries soooo fast that I have exactly ZERO time to do any shading so that is going to be a big problem when it comes to the finishing work.  Not sure how I am going to get around that one.  Anyone have any ideas???

Ok here are some photos of it in progress, as I want to keep track of how it is going.

This is where it is situated on the wall, basically between the propane tank and the electrical breaker box.  The door to the apartment is on the right hand side of the breaker box.

The seagull, the only thing almost finished in the whole painting.

The whole mural.

The dark line close to the bottom is the seawall and in front of it is the bay, Guaymas Bay.  A lovely place to relax in the evenings.

Painting A Mural

As if I don't have enough paintings in the works at the moment, (3 in oils, 1 more drawn and ready to be put on the canvas).  I decided to start something new to me, a small mural
We have white walls on our patio, (brick construction with a smooth layer of concrete over it), and I have been thinking about doing this for quite a while; but I hadn't found a photo I wanted to do, until the other day.

I wanted the photo to represent Guaymas and I think this one does.
It is of the malecon, walkway along the bay, in centro and depending on how it turns out people should recognize it as a view of our city.

I blocked it out and starting drawing a few days ago in between doing other things, painting, naturally not housework lol.  I decided to keep it fairly small, (for a mural), so it is going to be about 60 inches x 40 inches or about 150 cm. x 100 cm..

As usual I think I picked something that is way beyond my abilities, (lots of details); but am going to give it a try.  If I don't like it, I will just paint over it and pretend it didn't exist.

I am not sure how well I am going to do working with acrylic paint either, I am worried that it is going to dry way to fast for me to blend it as I want.  I guess I will find out tomorrow when I start slapping on paint.

Here are some pictures of the drawing, as it is done in pencil and fairly lightly I edited the pictures to make the lines show up, so the photos look pretty weird; but you can make out the drawing lines.



The whole thing.

                                                                                     

















The left side.

Sort of the middle.

The right side.

The whole view from the right.

The whole view from the left.

Wish me luck as I am going to need lots of it.

Still Here And Still Painting

I am still here and also am still painting; although I am not finishing too much, works in progress.

In between working on the 2 in oils at home and 1 oil at class, I have been playing around with the pastels at home also.

Here are some photos of the "in progress" at work.  I haven't taken my camera to class and taken a photo there and probably won't.  The one in class is coming along quite well I think and the ones at home, well maybe not so much, not sure yet.


This is a pastel painting.  I belong to an amateur photo group here in Guaymas and one of the ladies posted a lovely photo of a sunset sky with the cactus looking black in the setting sun.  I am not happy with it at this point; but am unsure of how to fix the sky, so I am just looking at it for the moment, it may end up in the garbage, its fate is uncertain at this point.

This one is just a fast little seascape that I made up in my head.  I need to darken the water a bit by the mountain reflections and perhaps tone down the mountain in the middle distance.  It is sitting here and I am just looking at it also.  It may get thrown in the garbage can yet too, its fate is uncertain also.

This is the oil I am working on at home.  It is one of the 3 paintings I am doing of Blue Doors.  It still needs some of the shading on the door, the door handle, the tree branches that are on one side of it and some of the highlights added, so lots to do on it yet.

So that is what I have been up to.  If anyone has some ideas of how to fix or do something on any of these, please leave me a comment.