January Interior - January 9 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

January Interior 12x12" oil on canvas

I had some good news from my friend and great painter Pat Dillon that I had a nice sale in her gallery today, Gallery Dillon on Williamson St. In Madison! It looks like some of my still life will be in her gallery for a still life show as well, so this 30 in 30 challenge is shaping up to be a success.

I had a great time painting inside my kitchen today. This painting is simple, but it took me quite a while to get into it today. I wiped the composition off the canvas 5 times before I got the layout that I wanted. It was a fun painting session, with the cats and dogs keeping me company. Now to take care of those dishes!

Apples on Pattern - January 8 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Apples on Pattern oil on canvas

Today, I met with the neighbor, who is making me some frames. I've been painting 8x8's for the 30 in 30, so I asked if he'd make me some frames in that size. He has his own saw mill, and he cuts some good looking boards from trees that he cuts down himself. I'll be showing my 30 paintings in 30 days on Saturday the 30th, on the Cool Boo Studio Tour. My stop on the tour will be at the Baraboo Arts Building, which is an old shed for the Ringling Brothers Circus. For more info on that, you can check out the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Cool-Boo-Open-Studios-1605497123003366/

Apples - January 7 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Apples and Pattern oil on canvas 8x8" - sold
 

Lemon Still Life - January 6 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Lemon Still Life 8x8" oil on canvas - sold

 

 

For today's challenge I'm posting a painting that I did 3 days ago. I did 3 sketches in the studio today, but none of them worked out. Knowing what not to do next time is over half the battle.

I am picking up my skateboard halfpipe from storage tomorrow, so I'm hoping to have time to paint in the morning beforehand. I have to cut the halfpipe down, to fit a space in one of the sheds here at the farm. It's a big project. The ramp is 30 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 4 feet tall, but we are cutting it down to 12 feet wide and 3 feet tall. I built the halfpipe in January 2005, I guess that makes ten years ago. Now, I'll have a studio, and a skateboard ramp right out my front door. Painting and skateboarding work together in a way for me. When I can't look at a painting anymore, I try to go out and skate. When I'm too beat up from skating, I try to paint.

Outubuilding January 5 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Outbuilding 8x8" oil on canvas. Sold

 

Here is a little cold weather landscape from earlier today. My friend Josh and I went out painting, and drove down a road that I haven't been down before. This grainery was at a farm with a fallen down barn. The fallen down barn might make a subject for another painting, but it was all in shadow. It was upper 20's outside, but the howling wind made it feel colder than that. There is a storm coming later in the week and I can't wait for more snow.

The Neighbors Place - January 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

The Neighbors Place - January 4 - $99

 

 

 

Another beautiful winter day. I went out to paint an old green truck at a farm a mile down the road, but it was gone. I set up and painted a snowbank, at the farm, but I struggled. On the way home I saw the light illuminating the neighbors corn crib shed, and stopped off for another one.

The days are short, but the light is good.

Still Life Support Team - January 3 2016 30 Paintings in 30 Days

8x10" oil on canvas

Here is afternoon still life from today. I'm enjoying the 30 in 30 because I'm painting more lit still life than I probably would otherwise. My idea for the challenge is to paint outside on sunny days, and to light something up in the studio on the overcast days. I enjoy painting all of the landscapes moods, but I think I'll have the most fun with the challenge painting the light.

Terrytown Barn, January 2 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Terrytown Barn 9x12" oil on panel - sold

It's the second day of the 30 in 30 challenge, and we had sun all day today. We also just got snow here in Wisconsin about a week ago, and I always enjoy painting winter landscapes.

One thing that takes some consideration  when working outdoors is parking. In the summer it's easy to pull the car over into the ditch, and set up to paint. In our state, there is an easement, around 15-20 feet from the center line of the highway. What that means is that it's legal to park in the ditch, and stand there and paint. With the snow, it's impossible to simply pull into the ditch.

Today, I parked in a driveway 50 feet from where I stood. After I had my values sketch done, I saw a snowmobile coming down the driveway. He stopped at my car, and I started walking over to him. Thankfully, he was a really nice guy and just wanted to check and see if somebody needed help. It turns out that I used to work with his sister, at the Boys and Girls Club in Baraboo. I've had mostly good luck with people out in the field, but there have been a couple of instances where I had to remind the property owner of the easement on the road.

It was a nice sunny day, and I had a good time out in the field. I'm not sure if I'll go outside to paint for tomorrow's 30 in 30 painting, because the weather might not be as nice as today. That's alright because I got a few in today, and if it's cloudy I'll light up a still life in the studio.

Cracking into 2016

Eggs 8x8" oil on canvas - $99 free shipping

 

 

For the month of January, I'll be participating in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. This is going to be a lot of fun!

 

My first post for the challenge is this little 8x8" painting of my breakfast. When I was a teenager, I worked at the Reedsburg Egg Company for two summers. Eggs would come down the conveyer belt, and we would fold the tops of the cartons down, and package them into cases to be sent to grocery stores. The Egg Company now only deals with organic brown eggs, as they are a smaller operation and there are plenty of organic sources for eggs in the area.

 

It looks like sun tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to painting outdoors, in the snow.

Some Reds

Reedsburg Alleyway

Rock Springs sketch

Mixing Primaries from Secondaries

Autumn Forrest 24x36"

Clouds 6x8"

I started using a new color on my palette this summer. Violet. In kindergarten we learn that by mixing blue and red, we get purple. You can make a pretty good purple on the palette by mixing a cool blue with a cool red. But, whenever two pigments are mixed, it is not as brilliant or chromatic as a color from the tube. Violet is more chromatic straight from the tube than a mixture of red and blue.

The reason I put violet on the palette was not that I needed brighter purples on my palette. I needed this secondary color to mix lower intensity primary colors.

By mixing violet and green, you can get a lower intensity blue. By mixing violet and orange, you end with a low intensity red that is sort of a red ochre.

If you mix green with orange, you can get a low intensity yellow. If you give it a try, mix more orange than green. Of course, you will lighten these mixtures to get them as light or dark as you need.

It might sound funny, but I've really been excited about mixing secondary colors to make the primary colors. It's the little things that can keep you sparked!


By the way, I got this bit of info from a passage in Robert Henri's book The Art Spirit, which just might be the best book on painting. If you want to read more about color, you could also check out the book Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green from the library.

Autumn Trees - Fall Art Touring, and DTouring

Autumn Trees - painted on the DTour, and shown on the Fall Art Tour

There is plenty to do around the area in October. I'm honored to be a stop on the Fall Art Tour. The Tour is the longest running studio tour in Wisconsin, it has been going on for over 20 years. Showing art in a gallery is great, but what makes the Fall Art Tour Special, is that you get to enter the studios of the artists and see their process. Each year we have hundreds of visitors to the Chicken Coop Studio, it always feels like I'm harvesting my paintings during that weekend, just like Brian Bender is harvesting the crops in our fields.

fallarttour.com describes the event:
The third full weekend each October, some of Wisconsin's best-known artisans open their studios, allowing visitors a unique, behind-the-scenes view into how their work is created. Known as the Fall Art Tour, each year it draws visitors from all over the country to artists' studios tucked away in the scenic hills in and around Wisconsin's art communities of Baraboo, Spring Green, Dodgeville, and Mineral Point.
During the three-day tour, artists will be in their studios, demonstrating and selling their work. These artisans include painters, sculptors, potters, weavers, jewelers, woodworkers, mixed-media artists, and more. Many of these studios are open only for this event, providing a unique opportunity to meet the artists and purchase their work. So join us on a drive through the autumn countryside during this once-a-year event that includes a rare glimpse into the restored breweries, one-room schoolhouses, and historic storefronts where some of Wisconsin's best-known artists work.

The Chicken Coop Studio in the 2014 Fall Art Tour

There is also the Farm Art DTour.
The first year of the DTour was in 2009, well that year was sort of the pilot for the DTour. In 2009 Jim Splittgerber, Joyce Ihde, and I painted in a field as one of the stops on the DTour. The DTour has grown since the first year, and now there are thousands of people who come to take the DTour.


Donna Neuwirth describes the DTour as a 50-mile self-guided back roads tour by car, bike or buggy through the beautiful, unglaciated hills and valleys of Sauk County.
The DTour is punctuated by temporary art installations and artist-built Roadside Culture Stands selling fresh, locally grown produce as part of our new Food Chain initiative. You’ll also find Field Notes (rural culture education sites), Farm Forms (creations made by farmers, area businesses and community groups), Pasture Performances and more!

Painting on the Farm Art DTour in 2013