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!

Challenge Day 6: Ready for Red

"Wine Garden" 8x10 oil on linen (private collection)

If one says 'red' - the name of color - and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different. (Josef Albers)

A few days ago I posted a blue/orange complementary painting. Today I’m working with red/green. This can be an awkward combo because it tends to have that holiday flare. I went with an obvious and easy choice here with a floral.

I also used a palette knife for most of this for some extra texture as well as to help keep the colors cleaners in an alla prima painting with lots of red.

These cheerful late summer flowers (some kind of petunia??) are from a neighbor who has one of the nicest private gardens I’ve ever seen. I tend to like more unusual colored flowers such as blue, green, blacks--so this rather unusual wine color caught my eye. I’m not a gardener so I really admire anyone who has a way with flowers and plants.

They say if you want to attract attention wear red. And I think this is true of red paintings as well. They tend to be really eye catchers at shows and festivals. There’s just something about red…Thanks and happy weekend painting to all my fellow challenge painters!

Challenge Day 1: A Certain Blue

"Blue River Bird" 8x10 oil@ The All Colorado Show from 9/27 to 10/31--SOLD

A certain blue enters your soul. Matisse

Day 1: Limited Palette with Dominant Primary Color

Happy September everyone! And so it begins. After some debate, I’ve chosen “COLOR” (you saw that coming didn’t you?) as my 30 in 30 theme. Obviously COLOR is an enormous, almost overwhelming, subject so I’ve decided to narrow my focus each day to a specific color plan, strategy or approach. 

Today my goal was: Color harmony as well as dominance (in this case a rich sapphire blue).  This confident little sparrow caught my eye on an early AM stroll in Breckenridge, Colorado. He was hanging out on the sunny boulders near the beautiful Blue River.

This 8x10 oil study is just three pigments and white: Ultramarine blue (warm blue), alizarin crimson (cool red), and hansa yellow light (cool-ish yellow).  My white is mostly Permalba (titanium+zinc).  That’s it. Three primaries and white. I almost always find this to be a successful color approach to little paintings.

If you’re participating in the “30 in 30” thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic month of painting. My thanks to Leslie Saeta for creating this exciting community (are there really over 700?) of daily painters. I know this will be busy but motivating and inspirational month for all us!

Day 2: Another limited three color palette. Different pigments and warmer… Stay tuned.

Welcome to the Bloom Town

A rainbow of summer blossoms in Breckenridge, Colorado

Happy August everyone!  As a nature painter it’s important to me each summer that I get out of the city and paint and/or take as many nature photos as I can before cooler weather comes around.  As a visual artist I also think it's helpful to change up your environment once in a while. And that doesn’t mean you have to jump on a plane to Tuscany—though that sounds pretty nice. I’m a little more practical though…

So last Saturday I took a quick trip up to charming Breckenridge, CO (which is less than 2 hours from my Denver based studio if the highway traffic isn’t too bad ).  With an apology to all my ski and snow loving friends I think the Colorado mountains are even more lovely in the summer.

The flowers in Breck (as we call casually call it) were out in full force as you can see in every color of the rainbow. I had a really relaxing time snapping photos, strolling along the Blue River, enjoying a fresh Palisades peach crepe (the most amazing crepe I’ve ever had), and checking out the many little boutiques and galleries.

Walking along the Blue River in Breckenridge, CO

 At 9,200 feet the air is so dazzling fresh and clear—perfect for taking photos and just the right amount of cool on a warm August Saturday.

And last Wednesday I also took a one day plein air workshop in Belmar Park (about 30 minutes away) with painter Jeanne McKenzie. I’ll share more about my plein air day in my next post. Aside from a rather painful bee sting to start the day it was a wonderful summer day of painting with lots of helpful outdoor painting lessons to take note of. (For example, bug spray is a must on your packing list but bug bite ointment or pain relievers are even better.)

Before I go quick thanks to my latest Twitter and Pinterest followers! I appreciate your quotidian support and creative camaraderie!