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This is another Indianapolis cityscape. It is from an icy winter day when west Market Street was under construction. You can see the one-point linear perspective. Everything flows to the front-center of the State Capitol building. The road is wide towards the viewer, then narrows to the point. The buildings on each side narrow down the closer they get to the same location. Notice light and shadow on buildings and cars. You can feel as though you are walking down the street.
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Although I live in the Indianapolis metro area, I am within five or ten minutes of farmland. I can see many different types of farm animals, and a whole lot of corn. This farm raises pigs. If you look in the background you can see the pig shelters. My wife thinks this painting should be called “HI” because the pig in the front seems like he is saying that.
There are three sections in the painting: the bottom one which has the animals, grass and weeds; the middle has yellow grassland, trees and the shelters; the last one is the sky. Being done that way presents atmospheric perspective — there is a feeling of depth. Also it gives rythm to the picture and makes it more interesting. OINK!
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This is a painting of Claude Monet’s lily pond in Giverny, France. Claude Monet was the father of impressionism. His story is unbelievable. His influence on art has been amazing. He is truly my hero. I was so excited to go to France and stay in a hotel just a block or two down the little country road from his home. It was almost a spiritual experience going to visit his gardens and this pond. He created the pond himself and planted all of the water lilies and greenery around it. He had spent so much time away from his family to paint, and now he could stay home and paint scenes from his own residence.
I have tried to portray the reflections in the water, the different values of green, and the lily-pads and flowers exactly as I saw them. You would have to go there to understand the power of the place.
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This is a portrait of Mike and Heidi. I wanted to paint them because in my mind, they were the perfect couple. They love each other a lot and you can tell it whenever you’re around them. They have a beautiful family of little girls. Everyone they know feels so good to be around them because they treat others so nice.
I have positioned them so there is light and shadow on their faces. You can see their facial structure, There is volume. Heidi is wearing a white shirt. It is very simple in color, yet look at the different reflections it picks up — the red from his tie, the color of her skin. Her light hair makes a beautiful contrast to the background behind her. His dark suit and hair are another beautiful contrast. I really love this painting.
Filed under Portrait Painting Technique by on . 5 Comments.
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I’ve always been amazed by the glow of buildings lit up at night. I remember seeing the monuments in Washington, D.C. and wondering if they actually had light emanating from them. Since then I’ve been obsessed by nighttime colors and reflections. This is the Indiana State Capitol building. I wondered for a long time how I would portray it’s light. Then I finally used my old technique of finding shapes and values of color. I quit thinking about how the building seemed to glow by itself, and matched the actual colors I saw. As I did, the individual shapes and colors all fit together and the glow suddenly appeared.
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I did a show once based upon the song “America the Beautiful.” Each phrase in the song was represented by a painting. I went out in the fields of Indiana to do this one. If you look at the horizon you will see the sun setting. The sunlight backlights the weeds in the foreground. The sky is bright and the field has highlights of yellow, green and red. Also you can see shadow to contrast with the light. The idea behind this picture is to show the greatness of our land.
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This is a scene in Venice. If you look you can see the domes of the cathedral in the background. Of course this is a very impressionistic painting. I’ve never tried to actually paint as an impressionist. I just paint as I feel. It is something like singing versus reading printed word. I guess this is the “impression” of my own emotions. You can see people walking along while it rains.
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This is a scene in downtown Indianapolis. The large glass building is the Indianapolis Artsgarden. Included in the painting are all of my favorite subjects and techniques. I love cars, people, and buildings. I really enjoy perspective, both atmospheric and linear. Perspective gives depth. The atmospheric perspective makes things closer be done larger and with more detail, but smaller and less defined as they are further away. For example look at the cars on the left, but the buildings in the distance under the Artsgarden. The linear perspective is shown when the sidewalk is wide at the front and narrower as it goes to the rear. Everything goes to one vanishing point in the distance.
Look at the different colors in the white car on the left or in the artsgarden. I looked for shapes and values and painted them. They eventually came together like a jigsaw puzzle, creating the objects.
Filed under Oil Painting Technique by on . 5 Comments.
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