The Light in August

"Painted Path" 8x10 oil on Ampersand Gessobord (collection artist)

Happy August everyone! Many thanks to all my summer students who keep painting and working hard despite the many other enjoyable distractions of summer.

Happy hard-working oil painters in my Denver oil painting summer class

New August Oil Painting Workshop
Before my group painting classes resume this fall, I’m really looking forward to teaching an enjoyable 2 day “summer retreat” oil painting workshop at the Foothills Art Center in Golden on August 23/24. Think of it as a 2 day painting vacation—with comfortable AC! We’ll learn lots so come join us! You may get info and register for the workshop here: http://www.foothillsartcenter.org/adultsclasses/

Summer’s Picture Perfect
Quick reminder that summer is the perfect season for what I like to call “image collection.”  Whether your summer travels take to you exotic locales or just really enjoy local exploration like I do here are some quick tips for taking painting reference photos:

• Venues like cafes, parks, farmer’s markets, gardens, street scenes, festivals, neighborhoods, trails, marinas, the beach, etc. all make for interesting photo references you could use later for a class or workshop. 
• What makes a strong painting reference photo? That’s going to differ depending on your art goals but in general it might be a subject you enjoy (like my pinto horse today), or dramatic light and shadow, interesting shapes or textures, eye catching color, early or evening light, etc. Again the more photos you take the more ideas and options you’ll have.
• Once you have man photos it can be very helpful to take a few hours and sort them into groups or galleries with painting themes like landscapes, still lifes, flowers, skies and clouds, animals, people,etc. This makes it much easier and quicker to find just the right photo when you need it later. 

Finally, be sure to have some kind of back up for your photos—either with a cloud, online storage, or on a memory stick just in case. Happy photo gathering--Have a wonderful summer and hope to see you in a class soon!

Fresh Year, Fresh Paint!

"Sagey Sorrel" 8x10 1oil on canvas 

Available at Framed Image Gallery in Denver.

A very Happy New Year everyone!  While I don't love the cold, I do relish the fresh start and clean slate we get every January. Before jumping into 2017 though I wanted to take just a quick minute to review what I realized in retrospect was a really exceptional art year...

My thanks to everyone for your support--especially all my students and fellow artists! Let's take a quick look back at some highlights as they say. 

• Won an award at the Colorado Horse Expo which I plan to enter again this year. 
• Attended PACE in sunny Tucson where I met hundreds of artists and saw many fantastic demos. Still thinking about San Diego PACE this year...We'll see..
• Participated in my 15th Denver Summer Art Market--Always my fav art event of the year.
• Enjoyed a really informative Derek Penix painting workshop
• Met the painting legend Richard Schmid who also signed his books for me. Mr. Schmid was fortuitously here in Denver for a lovely retrospective show of his work at Gallery 1261. 
• Met 100+ local artists teaching workshops and classes 
• Refreshed my Scarlet Owl Studio website (where you can find info about my classes/ workshops)

Not bad for one year right? As I look forward now though I know I need to continue to balance all this exciting art activity with easel time. Got to put in the work for the reward as I tell my students.
Of course it's highly enjoyable "work" when it's a subject you love like my horse painting I did for my gallery's western/cowboy themed show this month. 

Until my next post, best wishes for a successful and rewarding year of creativity and color!

No Hour of Life...

"Bending Blue" 8x10 oil on archival Ampersand panel
For Sale at Framed Image in Denver 

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.  Winston Churchill

Happy First Friday everyone!  I’m going to add to Sir Winston Churchill’s assertion that I feel the same about time spend painting in the studio. I don’t think we should ever feel guilty about time spent on creative pursuits. Even on a tough painting day, I try to appreciate and enjoy every minute.

Quickly, thanks to all the artists who've already joined my Thursday painting class at Park Hill Art Club starting in January. This is going to be an exciting “daily painting” class where we emphasize color for 6 weeks. It's just about sold out but as I write this, I think there are 1 or 2 spots left in either AM or PM—to register or for more info please click here. Looking forward to seeing you there!

I had such a gratifying time painting my light and shadow horse oil painting last week that I wanted to do paint another.  I choose this reference for both the gesture of the horse and the lighting where his head was mostly in shadow.

Today’s Painting Tip: Look for the light! As a painting teacher, I often see even advanced students working from a nice reference photo but the lighting (indoors or out) is flat or overcast—dare I say even gloomy or just blah. 

That's OK if you goal is subtle and understated but I think you’ll find that an exciting painting will be easier to achieve if you have dramatic or attention-grabbing light conditions. I’ll go so far to say that interesting lighting can make an “everyday” object into a very special painting subject!

P.S. Next time I'll post a still life painting inspired by today's announcement of Pantone 2016 Color of the Year or should I say Colors?? Stay tuned...

Happy Colorful Friday!

"Colorful Cadence" dressage horse painting 8x10 oil on Ampersand Panel

Are you online shopping for “black Friday” art supply deals like I am? (As a color sensitive artist I feel like Black Friday should be more positive like Fuschia Friday!) Color name aside, so far I've  stocked up on basics like Centurion linen and Ampersand panels as well as a Silver brand Bristlon brush to try since this is the one that Carol Marine says she uses.)

Today, while frosty cold am very relieved to see the sun's return after a rather gray Thanksgiving. In addition to running some errands (need more Fitbit steps after pie!) I’m heading out to take photos. Speaking of photos, if you're looking for painting subjects and art inspiration this is a good time to review and revisit your photo files. 

As you grow and evolve as a painter you may discover a photo gem that catches your eye on second go round. That was the case with this painting of a lovely silvery horse I’d taken a picture of at a dressage show in late summer.  As a casual rider I’ve always admired the movement and precision of dressage—both on the part of the horse and rider.  It’s like horse ballet! Also there's something energizing about painting a warm sunny day when the actual weather conditions are less than ideal.

Before I get back to surfing for bargains, just wanted to remind everyone of my winter 2016 painting classes. Starting first week of January, I'm offering three affordable weekly Denver painting group classes on Tues, Weds, and Thurs. (And my Tues. class is ongoing in December.)

So if you’re looking for a way to add color to your life and stay inspired during the long winter months be sure visit my classes/workshops page. In the meantime, happy painting and holiday shopping! 

An Oil Painter's Confession

"Bella Buckskin" 24 x 24 acrylic on deep gallery wrap canvas (in progress)

After a super sunny warm fall it's suddenly freezing in the Mile High City today! As with all poor weather, this is the ideal excuse to skip my "non art" errands get some work done in the studio.

More specifically, I’m prepping for my painting demo tomorrow evening at the lovely Cherry Creek Country Club. My thanks again to the Club for the invite! Picking a demo painting subject is never easy (at least it's not for me) but I’m pretty sure I’m going to work on one of my favorite types of paintings—a contemporary colorful equine painting which is my post today.

As a daily painter I will always adore buttery alla prima oil painting. So I'm sometimes asked why I still use acrylic paint. The fact is that acrylic has many advantages which many of my painting students enjoy every day in the studio.

So I thought I'd share 10 reasons why an oil painter like me still uses acrylics depending on the project and why you too might appreciate this flexible and versatile medium:

1. Do you tend to change your mind as you paint? Acrylics dry so quickly I can easily paint over a section or “correct” with some gesso.  .
2. I’m braver and more experimental with acrylics—You can fix just about anything even if you paint thickly. (No “fat or lean” rule like oil.)
3. Depending on the canvas size, I could (and have) change the entire background color in less than 10 minutes.
4. I can quickly glaze a thin transparent layer of paint over a section to adjust or enhance a color. (Just about impossible in wet in wet oil painting.)
5. If oil is "black tie" I think of acrylic as "casual Fridays." Plus it's more affordable. No fancy linen or sable brushes. And while I prefer pro grade paint like Liquitex Heavy Body I've done perfectly well with Hobby Lobby brand (love the turquoise!) and even 50 cent "mistake" hardware paint leftovers.  
6. Large fresh acrylic paintings are easy and clean to transport. If you have thalo blue oil paint on your steering wheel or leather seats you'll appreciate this. 
7. The harder edges of the acrylic work well for a bolder, more graphic style. 
8. I could easily add a “mixed media” component like pastel, collage or a texture gel/paste for interest and variety.
9. Blending acrylics and soft edges can be tricky but it becomes easier with alacrity, more paint, and practice. (You could also add a slow drying medium or blending medium.)
10. Usually, I can complete a larger painting in acrylic faster than I can in oil paint—this is very helpful for art deadlines like shows, festivals, etc.

Thanks and best wishes for all the time you need to be as creative as you can be!

Spot On Color

"Seeing Spots" oil on canvas 11x14

I had such a fantastic time painting the colorful pinto horse a few days ago, I decided to paint an appaloosa. I love working with patterns and textures when I paint animals. This time I chose a higher key and added more surface texture. In this case, I used a painting knife along with the brushwork. I really had to stop myself from painting more leopard pattern spots--it's rather addictive.

My color selection for this painting was a few more pigments than I typically use, but still fairly limited. Also, I'm sometimes I asked about my preference for paint brands. I've tested almost every brand over many years so on a palette like this it's not unusual that each of these is a different brand. This doesn't make replacing your colors very practical though, so you may want to pick a few favorites and stick with those.

Permalba White, Indian Yellow, Trans Red Oxide, Perm Rose, Aliz Crimson, Ultra Blue, Thalo Blue, Yellow Green and small amount of Ivory Black.

Also, quick note about black since I'm often asked about that as well. Personally, I don't usually use black but I find myself using it sometimes and in moderation when I paint animals. Like many artists, I work with ivory black as a very dark neutral blue. And I usually mix black with another pigment help warm it up such as a touch of Alizarin or Red Oxide.


I don't know about you but I always think of colorful or patterned equines such as palominos, pintos (paints), and appaloosas being featured in Native American or Western art work, but in doing some research, I came across this interesting 17th century Flemish painting by Meulen of Louis XIV riding an appaloosa. In fact, artists have been depicting spotted horses in art since the 11 century.

This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

So my painting challenge to you today is a patterned animal--have fun and see you in the studio! For more info about my classes, please click on my class link at the top.

Palomino Moon

The snowfall and cold temps continue (as I think it does for many of us) so I'm starting to get a bit restless, but there are certainly worse places to be on a snowy day then in the studio enjoying my jazz station and painting ponies. As I've mentioned before, I've always loved horses and in particular colorful patterned horses such as paints, appaloosas, and palominos. Earlier this week, I had such a great time playing with layering acrylics (tube and fluid) on illustration board that I wanted to try another piece but this time with horses, rather than birds.


My original plan here was to keep the overall palette very subdued and monotone--I was going to use mostly blue and green grays with maybe a pop of warmer color. Perhaps I'll try that again. But this time best laid painting plans went out the window. I found myself continuing to intensify the colors using quin magenta, transparent red oxide, thalo blue, and even adding a hint of metallic copper. I used soft gel medium to add texture to the "cliff."  

On a bit  of a side color note, I came across a fun color site the other day Colorstrology which basically assigns a personal "color sign" to your birthdate. My birthday color in May is Green Tea and my color attributes are: Unusual, artistic, spiritual. Hmm, I guess most of my family and friends would agree with those. And I just realized my home office is painted a Behr color called "Green Tea"...Interesting. 

Thanks again to my students braved the chilly weather to come paint this week. As always I find your company and artwork a continued inspiration. Am thinking it's time to head to the kitchen and make something super spicy. Stay warm and paint happy everyone!    

One Horse in a Blue Moon

Hope you are already enjoying 2010! This is a good example of an oil painting where I combine a variety of themes, goals, and inspirations. Which for me is how I like to paint the most. For example, I was thinking about the recent rare blue moon--it only occurs one ever 19 years on New Year's Eve in fact. So we won't see another until 2028...

I also challenged myself to paint in fairly dark, limited range neutral palette--but of course some color made it's way in as I worked along. So I'd like to try this again and really try to keep the color at a minimum just to see what happens.

Originally, I wanted to play with balancing 2 objects or key shapes, in this case 2 horses, but in the end it wasn't working and I decided to simply paint out the second horse. Just for fun though I left the ghost of his shadow on the left. Ahh artistic license...And to balance the remaining horse I added some mysterious figures (?) on the ridge.

I should note that this was entirely from my head which helps me at least to focus more on shapes, patterns, line, edges, values, etc. This is one of the paintings where I may be tempted to keep playing with it, but it's frankly sometimes best to move on with what you've learned in this one.

For more information about my work or my classes, as always I welcome your emails. Please write to me at the email in my blog header. Have a great first week of 2010!