Art, Nature & Soul #86

We were in Key West Florida earlier this year, our third time. When we came upon this area at Fort Zachary Taylor. It was a corner where the fort and beach areas merged. What a great find. My first thoughts seeing the people swimming around and playing on the rocks was, Henry Tuke Scott, I must paint this. Later I thought Turner. We hung out, for half the day, and I took a dozen or so photo captured references, to give it the Sperry treatment, at a later time.

The scene before me was playful and romantic. A beautiful sunny day, boats saling, birds flying & boys swimming, posing & playing on the rocks, as if nothing else exists, lost in their own world. Thinking our a composition, I used about 6 of the photos to create and give direction. the beach umbrella, the palms, the sailboat & pelicans, pointed the direction to the main show and focal point. Once the compositions in my head, I’m ready to go.

My process generally begins with a complimentery color tonal splash, acrylic base coat. Sometimes I do a compositional sketch, as was the case here. Then I work very quickly, working wet in wet to block in the scene, beginning with the sky, building and moving it forward to the areas of interest. I tend towards painting in a more painterly imressionistic way as opposed to an illustrated one. The figures on the rocks suggest a posture & pose without revealing much else. That’s so you can fill in the blanks and put yourself there, as intended. More than a voyear you are now a participant and putting yourself there with those you want to be there with.

I usually take a photo of the pieces I’m wotking on to access them from another perspective. Then if I need to enhance this that or the other thing I usually do the next day or two. Most are completed wet in wet in a single sitting though. I left the figures more none descript accept for the playful joyous poses that were happening, so you the audience, can put yourself in the scene.

I went a little more primitive and post impressionist in this piece to create a more whimsicle take in which I Am, & We Are and everyones included.

Thank you, as always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Boys on the Rocks 40”x30” oil

progressions

ono of my photo captures in Key West

Art, Nature & Soul #66

Lemme Take You To The Beach~

There’s a pond behind our home, another at the park we walk everyday and I’m walking distance to the Fox river…Lake Michigan, Superior & Erie are all bodies of water I frequent annually, but it’s the vast Atlantic ocean that beckons me. I love sitting around bodies of water and painting them, but its beach time that calls me home, whether we are there alone or surrounded be 100’s of others that have flocked there for similar reason’s, the peace, calm & serenity, joy & bliss that bodies of water instill.

The ever changing seasonal flora & fauna around bodies of water make them especially attractive to me. There’s a peaceful and all encompassing sense of universal belonging & forever, that fills my every sense. I’m lost in my thoughts near these areas where land & sky meet water, transcending all else, accept my feeling of connectedness to all life… a thought, a realization. a meditation of oneness.

This grouping of paintings, where the subject is the ocean & beaches. From top, left to right is, a group of plein-air artists on Herring Cove on Cape Cod, the 1 st day of harvest moon rising over Martha’s Vineyard, the lighthouse at Race Point in Provincetown, MA. with a few beachcombers, a pier over the Pacific, swimmer’s, a piece inspired by a film and a snorkeling adventure in Key West & a film, the pier that reaches out over St. Augustine Beach Florida, Marconi Beach on the Cape in Massachusetts, Seagulls & Sand Pipers on a beach, either St. Simons GA. or Flagler Beach FL. & the path on the beach that reaches out to the Atlantic from a favorite little eatery in Ptown, the Canteen. These are the places that inspired me to paint them, but what they remind you of , where they bring you & your imagination and stories you create, is up to you.

I paint on location, take lots of photos references, to paint in the studio & use my imagination to create these compositions. I’ll do a kinetic high energy, drip & splatter painting in acrylic paint, to compliment or spike the colors that will become the painting, Then using my arsenal of oil paints & utensils, brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools, tissues and a finger or 2, I go to work in a high energy, free flowing, & spontaneous way, to share the mood & movement of the scene. The initial concept is the thing, for once the image is in my head, it’s a simply a matter of getting in down on canvas as quickly & honestly as possible. Often times with this Frank Zappa tune repeating it self, over & over again, in my head…so, ”Lemme Take You To The Beach, la,la,la,la…laaa.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this bit of insight into my process & mind.

Message me with any thoughts or questions you may have,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #62

What & How we see is equal to, how we convey it. A visual translation into its own language is how I choose to speak to an audience, hungry for a commonality expressed in paint. In an age of mechanical reproduction, from the most basic of tracing or graphing the image & modified digital recreations, masquerading as original art, makes the search for ‘art’ a more difficult task. Like all academic skills they have their place, but creation is creation, an original, an original, & a copy, a copy.

Even more so, it seems now a days anyone with a digital camera or cell phone, is a photographer. Please push the envelope if you’re going to claim said status, pretty pictures are a dime a dozen, even the misappropriated ones which seem abundant. That said, a photo is a great way to remember a moment you’ve experienced, so when I’m not painting on location I use them as emotional, as well as visual references, for both great times had & potential future paintings, expressed. In this photo capture the serenity of the beach, the quiet sounds of the waves rolling in as the birds, seagull & sand piper alike , spend their time looking for breakfast, along the shoreline.

The photo I’ve taken has seemingly crisp lines separating all entities and our eye has averaged the colors into blocks for easy understanding. Having been here, to this location, a beach, and making mark, a visual memory, I know that the color and light are much more dynamic in person and have set out to paint there depth and interactions.

Here I’ve begun by toning a 24”square canvas in an acrylic prism violet. The violet gives a subtle color continuity to the painting as a whole and when my sgraffito technique is used to scratch into the surface paint, thus giving an even greater depth. This also helps to give direction and the allusion of motion. After brushing in preliminary shapes and blocks of color, I get busy with a variety of palette knives, layering in the water, sand & birds along the shoreline. Artistic license is used here as I’ve made just a suggestion of the Sand Pipers, as to keep our primary focus on the Seagull. With the Seagull in mind, I’ve also modified its location and changed ever so slightly the shape of the wings & legs to give the appearance of lift off, where as the photo it’s running toward that moment.

I’ll spend weeks, days & a great many hours thinking about my approach and what my intended statement is, before ever picking up a brush. Once it’s in my head though, I work very quickly, blocking, layering & building the image, as to make it a non static representation, trying to keep it fluid, moving and changing. That being said, rather than a moment trapped in amber, I’m creating a moving , living landscape of the world we live in and you’re invited to come along as an active participant.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my thoughts & creative process.

As always, you questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Shoreline, Seagull & Sand Pipers

24”x24” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #52

Some of the simplest subjects, make for some of the more compelling paintings. When we set off for home, leaving Ptown, we have got into the tradition of stopping off at Nauset Beach along the Cape Cod coastline.

On this occasion we had picked up breakfast, then stopped at the beach to eat as we were heading off the cape. It’s usually pretty early when we leave 630-7a.m. so the beach is usually pretty vacant, though we have run into the same elderly woman, seemingly doing her morning meditation there, twice now. I have painted her twice now, as well. First time she was sitting oceanside on a massive slab of rock, another she, walking stick in hand, traversing the path, to the top of the sandy cliffs that over look the beach. However this morning, at the beach, was covered in dense fog. Two people were shore fishing and one little bird nestled in the dew covered branches of a pine tree were all the life that could be seen.

The lighthouse swung around beamed across the sky and the fog horn echoed as it blasted through the wet air. We walked along the beach listening to the surf gentle splash upon the sand. It’s an amazing thing, the colors that reveal themselves upon a seemingly grey morning. Wherever the light hit made the colors vivid, a branch, a bird, the sand, sea and air. A lone, unattended Lifeguard Chair revealed itself upon the beach, against the ocean and sky, barely distinguishable one from the other. It seemed the perfect subject in which to find the light and paint the colors it revealed.

After some studying of the surroundings the colors were discovered and painted. Whether I paint on location or back at the studio, I almost always take photo of my subject, sometimes for reference, other times for a record. My color studies are typically done on small hardboard panels. A variety of brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools and tissues were used to convey the more subtle design elements of the scene and a foggy grey morning is transformed.

As always your comment & questions are welcome, Richard

Color Study #24, Off Duty 10”x10” oil on panel

Art, Nature & Soul #31

Several years ago, I started painting these smaller studies, on 8”x8’, 10”x10” & 12”12” panels. Some are painted from photo references, others en plein air & still others from my imagination. Most pieces are created alla prima, in one sitting, as way to explore & complete artwork concisely, making them at an attractive price point, to the new collector.

Where ever I go, there I am capturing a moment in time and space. Hopefully conveying more than a sense of place and evoking an emotional sense of life, as intended. Everything I paint is important and meaningful to me. It has a had an impact, made me think, wonder and want to share my experiences, feelings and ideas. More over these moments are autobiographical slices of life shared.

So please come along this journey, explore it with me, be part of it, as I continue down the rivers, roads, alleys , and paths less traveled, to destinations unknown.

As always thank you for your continued support,

~Richard

*Most of these studies are not on my website, but are on either Facebook or Instagram. Please contact me for further info, if you’re interested in aquiring any of these, or the other small treasures.

Art, Nature & Soul #27

Commissions Welcome! While it would be great if everything one painted sold, it’s not the case. The truth is, if you’re a more prolific artist, you produce a lot of art. The majority of it is good, some superior and fewer pieces, are just experiments that went askew . That said, the market is satuarated with art, artists and painters trying to sell their work, especially in recent history. It seems a great many people are trying to find a more balanced lifestyle, thus, creating fills the need, that’s great and I encourage that whole heartedly. I’ve often thought about holding & teaching an art expression/therapy group. I still may, in the near future.

That said, commissioned artwork is yet another avenue of services, that I offer, as painter. From abstract to portraits and everywhere in between, even bookcovers, have been some of the requests I’ve honored upon commission. It can be more of a challenge to paint commissioned piece, as it’s, in part bridging a clients vision to mine. Although most clients know what I do and their expectations correlate to them from the start. I’ve been doing commissioned work since I was a young teenager. Some of them commercial business signs, still others pastel portraits, & even stained glass windows, are some works I’ve accomplished upon request .

This piece was commissioned by a person who had a particular vision. She lives here in the midwest & winters on the Georgia coast. The beach, ocean, & it’s abundant life, plus it’s calming effect have a great appeal to her. The sandpipers scurry and feed along the shoreline. It was with a certain color pallette and look, intended that this piece was executed and delivered to another happy collector.

as always, Your questions & comments are welcome

~Richard

‘Shoreline Beachcombers’ 24”x20” oil on canvas (Commissioned 2018)

Art, Nature & Soul #25

En plein air is the act of painting outdoors, it literally translates, as such. But not only, it's also an approach, a matter-of-factness of impression & an expression of directness. Here's a study, I just completed from a photo.

It’s a rarity that I have time to paint outdoors with the busy life and commitments I have. But, I do spend a fair amount of time walking with the pups, twice a day, most everyday. It’s meditative, an opportunity to take all of natures beauty in, and observe it’s ever changing cycles in their abundance. Walking that much, usually around sunrise and sunset, is an opportunity to observe and I remember when I first discovered when the leaves on trees in the fall first begin to change colors. Simply, it’s where first light falls on them and day after day you can see it as the light angle changes over weeks, a month as we move closer to winter.

My eye captures the first idea of the scene. Most often I have my camera with me to capture another interpretation. Then I begin to interpret yet another at the easel, choosing a color palette & painting the painting. Most often I’m not trying to copy nature but rather express my interpretation of it. The colors are choosen to give the atmosphere I’m trying to convey. The shapes and form are often exagerated to give emphasis to the more emotive aspects of nature. Most of the time they are completed ‘Alla Prima’ (in one sitting) and sometimes going back, a day or two latter to tweek the details, thus the medium is in part the message.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a walk on the beach with the pups and so it was I captured a fleeting moment of joy & bliss, in this oil painting on board.

As always, feel free to comment or ask questions

~Richard

A Walk On The Beach 12”x12” oil on board

Art, Nature & Soul #23

Standing on a beach looking out over the vast sky and sea, stirs the imagination. In fact all bodies of water do that for me, ocean, lake, river & pond alike. Like a map they mostly converge and are connected in some way across the globe. Having grown up in a near suburb of Chicago, the Great Lakes were a fascination and later the Atlantic ocean. They, the water, bring me a great serenity & peace, but also a sense of the turbulence & reckoning of lifes possibilitites. I still spend as much time as possible near the water and at the beach. I live along the Fox River in Illinois.

Memories of my own childhood were sparked when I saw this photo of a friends child at the beach, shovel and bucket in hand. What can I create today? A question posed then setting forth to create castles in the sand. Lost in the moment, you sort of disappear, nothing else exists and all the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and thoughts subconsiously moving you along as the sun energizes your every action.

The majority of my non-abstract & current artwork feature scenes of large bodies of water. The vast and seemingly ubiqutous nature of looking out over the the sea, and the ever growing sense of complete isolation, yet connection to all life, is overwhelming as conveyed. Using all my emotion, skill, and tools, I’m setting forth, on canvas, to create a non-static relief, making you, the viewer, a part of the scene. My palette in place and using acrylic & oil paint, brushes, palette knives, & sculpting tools, I go at it, always trying to convey a sense of motion and depth, until I’m satisfied with the emotional content, as well. This was painted Alla Prima, in one sitting with of preliminary sketch, direct to canvas. So please, let me take you to the beach.

As always, feel free to comment and ask questions, commissions available,

~Richard

'Boy at the Beach', 30"x20" oil on canvas (SOLD)

The photo reference

in its new home