"Helen" Oil Figure Study

 Another open studio day at Patris Studio and Gallery.  The rain came down in torrents at times.  Inside the studio there were only four painters plus Helen, our model.  It was warm and peaceful.  The sound of the rain on the roof was soothing and welcome in our drought parched valley.

This was another 2 to 21/2 hour oil sketch.  Good practice.  Once again I felt that the morning was successful.  I've fallen in love with the Isabey Mongoose Brights that I have and this evening I ordered several more, including some new sizes.  The chisel shape is wonderful and the feel of the brush on oil primed linen is magic.

Helen   Oil Sketch on Linen   16" x 12"

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

"Bella" An Oil Portrait

This painting is from a photograph.  I really enjoy doing portraits and when the subject is as beautiful and the pose as striking as this young woman, it becomes a special journey.  I've read many artists who say that in order to do their best, they must feel a connection to the subject...no matter whether it is a portrait or a landscape or a still life.  I couldn't agree more.  Whenever I force a painting simply because I should paint "something", I usually have a less than successful effort.  I suppose every painting is a lesson worth experiencing, but when there is a connection to the subject matter, it becomes special.

It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that for a while, I fell in love with Bella, the subject of this painting.  I couldn't resist that "look"...it would melt an iceberg.  Although I only had a photograph as a source, painting Bella was a joy...and good for an old painter's soul. 

Bella    oil on stretched canvas   16" x 16" 

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

The Red Dress

It's been months since I've attended an open studio figure painting session.  I miss the experience and the opportunity to paint from life, so I finally got my act together.   On Friday morning, I attended a session at Patris Studio and Art Gallery in Oak Park.   (http://patrisstudiogallery.blogspot.com/)  It's been a while since I have visited Patris's wonderful new location as well, so this was a doubly productive morning.  Patris's Studio is also where the upcoming workshop with the fabulous Qiang Huang
(Chong Wong) will be held.  I can't wait for that one and the opportunity to meet this fabulous artist and human being. (http://qiang-huang.blogspot.com/ )

This was a three hour session, but I probably have about two hours total into this 16" x 12" painting.  I felt good about the outcome.  Workshops and more frequent painting are combining to give me more confidence in tackling and completing a study like this.  I feel more like I know what to do next....a bit more in control.   Much more practice on simple proportions is obviously needed, but the execution of the painting - given the time constraints - felt planned and controlled.

I'm looking forward to attending Patris's open studios more often.

The Red Dress   Oil on stretched canvas   16" x 12"

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Howard's Mill - Watercolor

Rain has finally come to Northern California.  We are in a severe drought situation, so it is very welcome.  My artist friend Howard Rees and I had arranged to paint outdoors on Saturday, but the rain drove us inside Howard's studio...where Howard had set up a complete watercolor station for both of us.   I had my own personal Howard Rees watercolor workshop.  Howard is an accomplished watercolor painter, so it was a very informative rainy day activity.  I painted from a photo of a painting Howard had done some time ago.  He painted the same scene so I followed step by step as much as I could.

I made lots of mistakes.  Years of oil painting have to be set aside in favor of more carefully controlled watercolor techniques.  My biggest sin in watercolor is to paint too fast.  Watercolor requires some careful thinking before you begin and as you proceed.  It is a wonderful medium though...so much different than oil.  I had a great day in Howard's studio, learned a lot and did this painting.  I look forward to the next attempt.  Hopefully, I'll do a little better.

I call this Howard's Mill.  I don't even know if it is a mill, but who cares?  Thanks for a good day Howard.

Howard's Mill   Watercolor on 15" x 22" Arches Rough

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

A Red Fence In Locke -- Plein Air

Today the Sacramento Plein Air Painters met in Locke.  It was a beautiful morning, but cold in the shade.  After about an hour and one half working on this painting, I had to stand in the sun for 30 minutes to thaw out!  I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly though...in most of the rest of the country, this weather would be very welcome.

 Sometimes I find myself wandering in Locke.  It is so incredibly fascinating and unique that it's difficult to settle on something to paint.  But today I arrived a bit late so I set up fairly quickly.  I made a quick pencil sketch and felt like I had a good feel for what I wanted to paint.  I made a real effort to keep things simple.  I think it worked out well.

A Red Fence in Locke   12" x 16" oil on canvas   Plein Air

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

Willie's on Broadway Plein Air Oil

David Peterson, Sacramento's cherished watercolor artist, hosts a plein air paint out on the third Saturday of each month.  He has been doing this for a long time, I understand.  Currently the Sacramento Plein Air Painters meetup.com site serves as the source for information about the time and place of David's paint outs, as it does for dozens of other plein air events, thanks to moderator Martha Esch's tireless efforts. ( http://www.meetup.com/Sacramento_Plein_Air_Painters/ )

Last Saturday, we met at the parking lot of Willie's a Sacramento favorite for hamburgers and chili fries.  Right across Broadway from Willie's is the Iconic Tower Theater which was the starting point for the world famous Tower Records.  The weather was incredible, and most of us were in shirt sleeves by 10 am.  The majority of the group painted the well known "tower" of the Tower Theater, but I decided to turn and face Willie's and give that a try.

My goal here was to capture the feeling of Willie's and the rear of a neighboring gas station.  I wanted to get the 'urban clutter' feel.   I had a 16" x 20" linen panel already toned in a pretty garish red-orange.  That's a lot larger than I usually attempt when doing plein air painting, but I wanted the width to give me room to block in the structures without getting too small.  I decided to ignore the bright tone, even though I was thinking "vignette" right from the start, meaning that the tone would be a major player.

I made a very conscious decision to try to paint the shapes and shadows and avoid painting things.  I also resolved to think in layers: block in of major shapes and shadow without detail, locate few edges to define shapes slightly, add some pieces of color placed as judiciously as possible and finally place the 'clutter'.   I think that plan worked well overall.

Willie's on Broadway    Oil on 14" x 20" linen panel.

It's surprising how many missteps can be made even when one knows better.  I made several here.  The most obvious is the placement of the large pole....almost dead center!  I even compounded that by sketching in a parking lot curb that leads almost vertically to the base of the pole, thus effectively splitting the painting in two!  I considered painting the pole out and relocating it, but decided against it.  I didn't want to start getting fussy for one thing.  For another, this is a plein air sketch.  If I were to try to translate it into a studio painting, I'd shift the pole -- maybe.  But in the end, I started liking it.  There's a certain tension that it creates.  It's all part of the mess.  It's edgy.  Maybe it's OK.  Maybe not.   But it stays.

I've cropped the painting in this picture to 14" x 20", cutting two inches off the bottom.  That's in keeping with the reason for the selection of this panel anyway....it was the width I needed.  The height is superfluous.  I'm going to cut down the panel to this size.  

All in all, a great morning on Broadway.  I had a double cheeseburger and garlic fries afterward.  Don't tell my cardiologist.  Although overall, I think both my heart and soul got a boost by being in the sun with artist friends again....thanks David!


My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art

"Rising Above"

Happy New Year!  2014 is here, ready or not.  Is it possible that it's been 14 years since Y2K, when planes were going to drop from the sky and computers worldwide were going to stop working?  And here we are more than a year after the end of the world.  Looks pretty much like it did before.  Guess I should stop procrastinating and get back to work!

This painting has been on my easel for quite a while.  I put some final brushstrokes to it yesterday and signed it.  Time to move on.  My object and focus in this painting was the evening light strongly hitting the old Elks Building in downtown Sacramento.  I pushed that light by darkening the foreground somewhat more than it appeared to be in real life.  I also minimized the detail on the old building, letting the rich native color of the building and the light of the setting sun be the star.

As I painted along though, I couldn't help but notice and reflect on the stark contrast between the Elks building, built in 1926, and the newer and closer building which also edges into the light.  I simplified the newer building, leaving out a fairly plain vertical panel at the corner, letting the windows run to the corner instead, so I can't hold the architect responsible for that.  But in either version - the actual or my simplified one, the contrast between the soaring architecture of the Elks Building and the squat structure and prefabricated panels of the newer building is much the same.  Although change is always inevitable, it makes you a little less enthusiastic about tearing down the old to make room for the new. So maybe that's a theme for this painting as well.  It certainly gave me the idea for the painting title.

"Rising Above"    Oil on 20" x 12" canvas

My Art Site: Bruce Hancock Fine Art