HAPPY NEW YEAR

Reduction linocut on Japanese Gampi paper.

STEP-BY-STEP

I found this great website belonging to watercolor artist Mark Stewart. Here you can see examples of his fantastic paintings and he also shows three different step-by step watercolor demonstrations. A great help to people like me with watercolor deficiencies!

http://www.markstewartwatercolor.com/watercolors/casestudy.25.7.16.25.0.0.html

ANYTHING WITHOUT SNOW

We have been dealing with snow for the past week so I did this pastel with no snow anywhere!

Pastel on Strathmore paper.

END OF THE YEAR

Trying to put everything into some kind of order in my studio so I can start out the new year feeling a little bit organized. One area still showing a glaring weakness...watercolor! I can't believe the number of attempts and the number that ended up in the 'nice try' pile. I should give myself an 'A' for persistence though!! Here's one that came close to what I was trying to do.

SO MANY WAYS TO PRINT

Storm Brewing...Monoprint on Rives paper.

MIXED MEDIA

This painting started out as a watercolor but, as almost always seems to happen, changed to acrylic pretty quickly. Watercolor...my never ending challenge!

PRINTMAKING PLUS

Another website with great art. Mariana Bartolomeo uses etching, wood block, monoprint and mixed media to create unique and beautiful pieces of work.

http://www.virtu-studio.com/Page1Navigation.html

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Much to be thankful for this year!

HOLIDAY CARD

I finished (well almost) the pastel I have been working on. The timing should be perfect as I think it will make a good holiday card.

SHE DOES IT ALL

Belinda Del Pesco is an artist that I love to follow. She works in art areas that I find so exciting. At any given time you can see fun monotypes, collagraphs, woodcuts plus great watercolor paintings.

http://belindadelpesco.blogspot.com/2011/11/monotype-monterey-retreat.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BelindaDelPescoFineArtBlog+%28Belinda+Del+Pesco+Fine+Art+Blog%29

The link above is to a good monotype lesson she recently posted.

LEARNING CURVE

I've been working on a new pastel that, so far, I'm really happy with. Learning how to use gouache as both an under-painting, and a way to brighten some of the pastel areas.

FINEART AMERICA WEBPAGE

Fineart America has provided webpage space for me to display some of my art. It took a while, but I now have a number of pieces uploaded in different galleries.

http://john-brisson.artistwebsites.com/

LINOCUTS

Not as elaborate as the Mark's prints...a couple of mine. Baby steps!

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Mary Mark is an artist who creates wonderful reduction linocuts and pastel paintings. She is probably one of the foremost lino artists in the country. She lives and works out of a 120 year old church in New Richmond, Ohio. Her website http://www.marymark.com/WelcomePage.htm shows some of her pieces and also has a section explaining the process.

WOLF PASTEL II

I have made some changes and added to my wolf pastel based on a second photograph of the subject. More detail and more trees!!

WOLF PASTEL

After watching a couple of Roberta Baer pastel video clips I started a small pastel painting of a wolf myself. Nothing like the work that she does, but a lot of fun for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si-3A_sKmkw

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is my wife's birthday. The wonderful woman who let's me use the downstairs of our house as my art and music studio.

Watercolor that I'm working on now.

GRANDPA???

I've spent the last few days watching my first grandson while number two was born. I'm still thinking that I'm too young to be a grandfather! Levi came into this world at 8 pounds 12 ounces. That's making your presence know!

Pastel that I did of Liam (First grandson)

FANTASTIC SCRATCHBOARD ART

I have mentioned scratchboard art and how much I enjoyed the different times I've attempted a drawing in earlier posts. If you would like to see how it is properly done, visit this Youtube clip of Canadian artist Al Weitzel creating a beautiful wolf piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF9uFyWx3fk&feature=related

EAST COAST

Spent the last five days in Baltimore, or more specifically, Annapolis. I went to the Navy, Air Force football game to see Kriss Proctor. I coached him here in Big Bear, so quite a treat seeing him play. The game didn't turn out as I would have hoped, but I enjoyed seeing the academy and what Kriss' life is like now.

Not much time for art except a quick watercolor study.

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Our little group played the other night in the Battle of the Bands. We weren't part of the competition, just the closing music while the judges were voting on the bands. It's great to play with these guys because they are the most popular teachers in Big Bear which means we can do no wrong!!    Battle Night

GENIUS LOST

Today Jim Henson would have been 75 years old. The world really needs him right now!http://youtu.be/jtqOaabx1j4

WATERCOLOR MADE EASY

Well...not so easy for me but love watching someone who makes it look like it is. I've mentioned before that I have become a huge fan of Sterling Edwards. I have a few of his DVD's and hope to attend one of his workshops in the near future. He does his paintings with so little effort and so fearlessly. Works with big brushes and paints with loose bold colors. Just fun!

My attempt -

BIG BEAR ON HIGH

Acrylic painting on Arches watercolor paper. I can make the watercolor paper work, just not the paint!!

FIRES

The recent fires in Southern California brought back memories of 2007 and the fire in our mountain area. Thousands of acres burned and mountain communities effected. Big Bear was evacuated and we spent many days with my son and daughter in law. Knock on wood...this fire season has been a bit calmer.

Big Bear Fire - Acrylic painting on Arches watercolor paper

A LITTLE BIT OF BLUES

Mr. Hooker's Hobo Blues. That's the way it was done!!



Bass Work - Reduction linocut on Japanese paper.

STAYING WITH PASTELS

While I'm on this pastel high and drooling over wonderful paintings created by fantastic artist, another site to mention belongs to Paul Bosman. Another artist who's roots are in Africa but now lives in the United States, his works are in oil, acrylic and some beautiful pastels. His colors are so subtle, yet draw you right into the picture.

Another of mine below. Really!!!

PASTEL ENVY

Reading one of my older art books, I happened upon some pastel paintings by an artist named Dino Paravano. He paints all kinds of subjects in oil, acrylic and pastels. His wildlife work done in pastels is what especially caught my attention. Truly fantastic. He lives in Arizona presently, but grew up in Africa which shows in his work. Time well spent on his website.

http://www.paravanodino.com/

One of my pastels below. Not quite the same!!

PASTEL PAINTING

My friend and artist from the Pacific Northwest (Lopez Island) Anne Karp started working with pastels again and got me interested in working with them also. They allow such a fast paced session and are so forgiving of my lack of drawing talent. On the left is a beautiful pastel by Janet Sullivan, an artist from Montana. Below is one of Anne's and one that I did.

IMITATION

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I found an artist that produces such fantastic art that I had to try one of her scratchboard subjects. Thanks for a wonderful practice subject and session C. Sheeter and I. Villi (reference photo).

MONOPRINTING

A monoprint is a single impression of an image made from a reprintable block, such as a metal plate used for etching, a litho stone or wood block. Rather than printing an edition of multiple copies of a single image, only one impression may be produced, either by painting or making a collage on the block.  ~Wikipedia~

A monotype lesson.  http://www.monoprints.com/info/how_to.html

One of my prints to the left.

STILL REVAMPING

I am finally almost done reworking my studio area. Should not have taken this long but I procrastinated with the best of them on this project. The drums and guitars in the other part of the room were way too inviting!

Just to feel like I wasn't neglecting art completely, I did do another small scratchboard.

PRINTMAKING

Margaret Rankin is a printmaker from Toronto who uses a variety of techniques and subjects for her art. Definitely worth spending a little time on her blog site.

http://magprint-original-prints.blogspot.com/

VISIONS OF DON HENLEY DANCED IN HIS HEAD...

My grandson playing my drums. We have him for a couple of days and enjoying every minute!!

Thanks to a fellow blogger (Jeannette) I bought an Arches travel notebook to practice watercolors with. Great for sketching and value studies. I'm not any better, but wasting a lot less paper!

I LIKE GOOD SAX...

Surrender your whole being to a note, and gravity disappears...with one chord, John Lee Hooker could tell a story as deep as the ocean.

—Carlos Santana

This print was used on a T-Shirt which

sold well on Cafe Express

 

Good Sax

Reduction Linocut

MATT BROWN REVISITED

Matt brown is the printmaker that inspired me to start making my first prints. I happened upon him giving a demonstration at a fair in one of the New England states ( can't remember which one now). I go to his website http://www.ooloopress.com/index3.html  and blog periodically to see what new prints he has created. He works with multiple blocks and on my last visit, I see that he is getting much more intricate with his technique.