After learning of the book series, 'The Sacketts' from Mike Free,  I watched the movie (by the same name).  One particular scene drew me in to sketch.  Progress posts to follow.

On The Easel This Week 'Blush'

   This is a small section of the painting.   Another rose will go in the upper right and another left of main rose.  Roses are such a fun subject.  Their interiors are luminescent and so delicate.

And the finished piece, 'Blushing'

Mother's Favorite' 8X10 Oil on Linen Panel

My father always brought my mother yellow roses for her birthday and their anniversary (they were married 60 years before he passed).  Taken from a lesson by Daniel J. Keys, these yellow roses are going to my mother on what would have been my father's 96th birthday.  My mother is 94 and will enjoy receiving this painting.

Work In Progress - The Block in Stage (for the rose).

Purple flowers are done.  Rose is at the block in stage, leaves will come and glass vase has not yet developed it's personality.  A fun one indeed.  8 X 10 Oil on panel.

'Point Lobos' oil on panel 6x8 2019

First piece finished in my new Art Studio

Art studio location - 804 Estates Drive, Aptos, Ca 

The location is a collection of artists studios located between Seacliff and Capitola along McGregor Drive

studio acquisition, May, 2019

"Spring Petals" 5 X 7 Oil on Linen Panel. Spring is here and the colors are delicious. Both plein air paintings are 'direct' method meaning no underpainting, just applied directly and quickly.

Our Peanut 'At Rest'

Peanut appeared on our doorstep in 2005.  She landed at the right house that night; cold and hungry. Didn't take long for her to feel right at home.  Here, she lounges on her red donut bean-filled pillow in front of the fire place.  Quick sketch on paper, charcoal pencil

Antigua, Guatemala

This work, in progress (many features of the figures and highlights throughout are to come), started some number of months ago from a photo given to me by my daughter Heather and her husband Jeb.  The right edge spills over onto the deck where I took the picture.  The right edge actually ends with the attendant at the right side in the lovely red sash.

During their many travels, they especially admired and enjoyed Antigua, Guatemala. The town sits next to an inactive volcano (seen as the mountains in the background rise up).  The beautiful arch is a graceful structure supporting the tower which seems to protect the town and its people.  Santa Catalina Arch seems to bring the town together with its spectacular and vibrant color.  From the colorful woven tapestry to the beautiful serpentine columns and cobble stone roads, the eye travels from one marvel to the next.

My largest format taken on so far, this oil on linen canvas panel is 40"x 30".  With two draft drawings completed, I started the initial work with a nice burnt umber under painting.  The perspective took many adjustments as did the color harmony.   During the project Heather and Jeb mourned the loss of their two beloved cats Murphy and Bella. They now sit under the watchful hand of Heather and Jeb, by their side.  When finished, I will post the final work.  Enjoy!!

Stanford Night Fireworks - Sketch in Progress Fall 2014

 

This fall my son, Chris and my grandson Michael Rex (age 2) and I, went to a Stanford College football game. The night air was a little cool and we had great seats. To celebrate, Stanford provided a wonderful fireworks display at the end of the game and Michael enjoyed it soooo much. The stadium lights were all turned off and while still in our comfortable seats, the display was captivating.  I was inspired to capture the memory. This sketch is just with my regular pencil.  I will be working on it until both are rendered further. Just for fun, here is the first stage.
 

Goodnight Moon and Mikey's Favorite Things 2013

18x12 linen on panel "Goodnight Moon and Mikey's Favorite Things"

Michael Rex Baustian-Girard is my grandson born in April 2012. When I painted this in late 2013, he was 20 months old and already quite an artist himself (my walls are full of his watercolor masterpieces).  Here are some of his favorite toys, books, his bear 'Fynn' and one of his painting masterpieces.  Imagine the day I am painting and little foot steps come into the room (Mikey's). He says 'Grandma, what youdoooing'? They really talk like that, sort of mush all the words in to one.  I said, 'painting, would you like to see'? I pulled a chair up, he stood on the seat.  I put my longest Rosemary & Co number 12 brush in his hand, picked up some medium blue and helped him paint the blue arched strokes you see in the right side background.  After a couple of passes, (while I'm still steadying his hand with the brush in it), he turns his head, looks at me and says, 'Woooooow'.  A priceless moment. 
He also painted the brown foreground.  He and I paint together and he is really good.

I will post one if his greats and you'll see what I mean.


Mikey's Corner
Plein Air painting a tree in our yard.

'Melons and Tea'

Recently I worked with my favorite artist, Daniel Keys. Daniel teaches throughout the states and was in Carmel this last September.  He brought wonderful back drop clothes that he got in Chinatown.  The backdrop was a wonderful deep blue and red tapestry like print.  I left it loose so as to not draw too much attention away from the focal point.  Melons are so rich with color as the large one shows.  The smaller cantelope melons were whole except the far left one, which was cut in half.  You can see the reflection of this melon on the honey dew.  Pumkins, melons, squash are all wonderful this time of year.  Another is in the works.

Randy Higbee Gallery 6 Inch Squared Show 2012

It is time again for the Randy Higbee Gallery 6 Inch Squared Show.  And I am proud to say this entry below was accepted!!! The show date is December 8th and it is located at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa, CA.

This show is awesome with every entry (and there are hundreds of pieces in the show) 6 inches by 6 inches.  Randy is already sharing artwork for the show via Facebook - Randy Higbee.

100 Series - The Journey

The '100 Series', which has 3 posts, will resume however before it resumes, I'll be sketching, drawing, and developing my technical knowledge of drawing.  Starting this last January, I started attending drawing fundamentals and figure drawing classes under Sadie Valerie, and will continue studying for the better part of this year.  Below is my current project, 'Studying Vessels'.  It is about 80% finished.  More will be completed on each vessel and the background.  It has taken approximately 36 hours of work to this stage.

I am learning how to compare the area immediately around my shading to more accurately select the correct value choices.  Measuring is important to establish accurate sides of the vessels and establishing the correct relationship of each part of the vessels to each other.  Ellipses are wonderful to learn about and they look great when done well.  When this piece is finished I'll post a photo.

Additional Works

While working on 'Michelle' am posting a few other works done recently.

#3 of 100 Series 'Michelle' - The Block-In Stage

Michelle at the block-in stage is not easy to do.  First, proportion is very hard to do correctly and to add to the difficulty, proportion from a photo (which compresses the figure/scene) creates other distortion problems.  But the good news is that because there are distortion problems, the artist will make the final decisions (a good practice always).

There will be several attempts at the block in stage.  Here are two.  As I redo the sketches they will get closer and closer to the vision I have and how I want this piece to look.  I am not there yet, but you cannot get closer until you take steps in the direction you want to go.  The darker image on the right is the photo converted to black and white.  The one on the left is the first attempt at free hand and is still incomplete (proportions not right yet).  I decided to post these attempts however, since it has been a while since 'Michelle' got any attention.  To help myself with proportion, my next block-in sketch will show red marks at the various stages showing how I made the decisions about proportion.  You will enjoy this next stage as it is right out of my portrait drawing 6 week class with Sadie Valeri  http://www.sadievaleri.com/blog/ . 

Some subjects are fun and interesting to do and some have you so enthralled that you cannot leave it until mastered.   This one is one that I have a very strong desire to master.  That is so exciting, when an artist feels that way about a subject.  How lucky can you get!

#3 of 100 Series 'Michelle'

After finishing 'Plein Air 100 Series' #2 this afternoon around 3pm, I headed out for inspiration to start #3.  After a few stops at various locations, Pajaro Dunes, Sunset Beach, Taylor Farms (all just down the street), I ended up at the bluff at La Selva Beach (where the train goes by).  There on the bluff, in just the right light, I found my next inspiration.  #3 -  'Michelle'.  Thank you Michelle!

Michelle let me take several pictures and we struck up a conversation.  Never let an opportunity pass and this one is a good one.  Michelle, it turns out, lives in La Selva Beach and is just beginning her artistic journey.  She showed me several paintings she did in acrylic on her iphone right there on the cliff.  She asked if she and her friend could call me with art related questions.  I said, of course, and offered for us all to paint together.  Without skipping a heartbeat, she said YES! I think an impromptu art group may have just started.

Reference Photo 

#2 of 100 Series 'Evening Train In La Selva Beach'

# 2 Plein Air Study 

Union Pacific Railroad runs through Santa Cruz County between Davenport and Watsonville.  U.P.'s major client, Cemex (a cement plant in Davenport) closed this year.  The Davenport to Watsonville line may discontinue as a result of the loss of revenue from Cemex.  On its daily run, it  comes through La Selva Beach near dusk.  The railroad bridge and approaching train at La Selva Beach face viewers on the bluff and the train continues along the base of the bluff as it travels southbound.  Following are:

  the reference photo

 initial block-in         

                   

First lay in of color  

Finished work         

The design is unusual with the bridge leading out to the right.  But the train comes in from the upper right and the design seems to work.  The land mass was difficult but I know it very well and I think I captured the height and depths pretty well.  The edges improved from 'At Rest' to this one.  Please feel free to offer insight.  Only 98 more to go!!

After a few days, here are more technical notes. 1) I like red but the red trestle detracts from the focus.  The drawing of cars and rail and engine are incorrectly drawn. Lines hill side to the viewer's right of the train need to be more vertical not diagonal.  Can you see it, the one dark brushstroke, it needs to be vertical.  The bluish color left and right of train needs to be less saturated, less blue.  Behind the hillside is the Monterey Bay.  The water needs more saturation and definition.  All in all, improve drawing, the right color in the right place, brushstrokes in the right direction, more definition and color in the bay.

#1 of 100 Series - 'At Rest'

Here are the first examples of '100 Series' Plein Air Painting. Let the discussions begin!  This day was a beautiful clear beach day in the low 70s.  The air was very still along the northern California coast, the sun was shinning, it was about 1pm in the afternoon.  Nice scenes were available in several directions.  I chose this one to tell the story of this young couple at rest after a fun morning of surfing.  They are organized with their supplies and shade tent.  Their chairs were carefully chosen for relaxation.  And they are obviously in sync with each other.  Ok, on to the more technical part. 

The first photo is the actual scene, the next is the initial sketch,the third is the block-in of darks, lights and a hint of the local color.  The fourth photo is more local color added.  Still unfinished, and may stay unfinished, this example is meant for analysis.  So let's get started. First I will step back and analyze the stages.  You are welcome to follow along.  After a couple of days, the next post will offer insight on drawing, values, color temperature, edges and composition for 'At Rest'.  Constructive comments welcome.

It has been several days and I have read more than 150 pages in 'Alla Prima' by Richard Schmid, AGAIN.  One thing I know for sure, knowledge precedes skill.  What I know for sure, the painting does not convey what interested me in the scene.  But, because I am very optimistic, let's start with what is working in 'At Rest'.

What is working in 'At Rest', well, I had a lovely time at the beach.  The couple gazed a long time at the ocean, their surfboard and shade tent nearby, all beckoned to be painted. The scene conveyed a contented pair relaxing by the water following a morning of surfing. 


Did the design and drawing work?   The subject and supporting elements are no longer at eye level.  Eye level is somewhere up near the distant mountains. The planes are somewhat foreshortened.  Had the planes appeared expansive, distant and far-reaching, the sense of relaxation would have come through. The background, middle ground and foreground values are very close creating a somewhat flat appearance.  The edges in each plane are the same also creating a flat look.

This is a simple design that has me much perplexed.  It will continue to challenge me.  I will solve the problems and triumph!

Knowledge proceeds skill. Next is 'Evening Train in La Selva Beach'

An Artist's Journey - Developing Technical and Artistic Expertise

As a developing artist, I have immersed myself in the journey of painting this year.  This year has been a particularly exciting journey of meeting and working with some of the best master artists in the United States today.  Here in the Monterey Bay area of California, two world class events took place this fall (2011), Weekend with the Masters and the American Impressionist Society Conference. 

In September, Weekend With The Masters was held in Monterey and such masters as Richard Schmid, Daniel Gerhartz, Rose Frantzen, Nancy Guzik, Quang Ho, Daniel Smith, and many more, (26 masters in all).  For four days, each conducted demonstrations, held technical lectures and instructed small groups for the day.  Hundreds of artists from around the country participated in both events.

In October, the American Impressionist Society held their annual conference in Carmel, CA.  I volunteered one week of time (prior to the event) receiving, unboxing and hanging more than 250 exquisite entries for this prestigious event at the host gallery, Windsong Gallery, Carmel.  Following my help I studied landscape painting for five days with Scott Christensen, a nationally known landscape artist.  Under his guidance, we painted along the pristine coastlands of Carmel and Big Sur.  While the locations were exhilarating, landscape painting can be very challenging with the continuously changing light and shifting weather conditions (such as dense fog breaking way to clear skies, then shifting wind gusts and spraying surf).  What I know (and learned) is that the most fun is when I am one with nature placing color notes to convey the experience in all of these changing atmospheric conditions.  It takes 100 paintings to develop a higher level of technical ability.  In the months ahead, you will see each of the '100 Series' plein air paintings along the Monterey Bay.  At the end you will see the progress from the first to the final paintings and read interesting technical insights on improving.

As my journey continues, I will post links to some of the best technical notes posted on the web today.  I will also be sharing my successes and 'learning opportunities' as they are available.  So stay tuned for a year in the life of a developing artist and all the challenges and opportunities along the way.

Happy Painting!
Susan Hogan Girard

Sunflower Series - A Study in Yellows 6"x6" oil on linen panel