madewood plantation

I stayed one night and did two paintings at Madewood Plantation in Napoleanville. This was the first one and I only just had time to block in the composition before the sun went down. I'm working the color here from memory, the bright white of the plantation house backlit by the even brighter sky, and cool colors prevailing. So many of the paintings I did there are in a very warm palette so this is a nice change! oil on canvas, 24 by 36

still life

I think that painting in black and white separates clarity from confusion. I rarely paint still life, but I love looking at it when artists I admire paint it like Chardin, Manet, Morandi, Matisse, etc.. Still life is historically ranked the lowliest genre of painting, certainly the genre closest to the earth which means there must be something to learn from its practice! Here is a still life painted as a demo for a student. Something I believe is important if you are painting representationally is to be able to express in your painting a 'feeling' of things having color and being in light, but without using any color, just black and white. Pulling that off, that is clarity. Look at a reproduction of a Raphael or Degas in black and white, the painting still works, you can even guess the color of things. oil on panel, 12 by 16

the columns hotel

I stayed at the Columns Hotel on St. Charles Ave and they let me set up and paint. The lobby has a beautiful dark wood desk and staircase, high ceilings, subdued lighting, it's absolutely beautiful. I started it in New Orleans and have been painting on it back in LA. I'll post a shot of how it started, and how it looks now; on location I kept the paint thin and washy, now I can paint more precisely with opaque paint. It really is a fun color experiment and everything that I tell my students and painting from life and memory. I squeeze out my colors, for this painting mainly yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, winsor violet, ultramarine, and thalo green, and mix tints of each of them with white making a pile at a value just a little lighter than yellow ochre; this takes about five minutes tops but it pays off. There is a big value jump between the lightest lights of the lamps and the ambient light of the room, but that is what is essential to mood. So with my paints mixed to this certain value, I allow myself no more white. I have to mix a color that "feels" like white in the ambient light of the room, but with these seemingly dark piles of paint. That sets the key of the painting, like putting a capo on a guitar. So with the lightest you can go with your value limit, you mix a color for "white", for the Columns I picked a very warm color because that was the feeling there, but whatever hue you pick for "white", orange-y or blue-y or whatever, sets the color key for the painting and determines the key of the rest of the local colors which are all obviously darker in some way than your "white". I'm convinced it's something Rembrandt did when he blocked in his paintings, it helps you orchestrate the lights. work in progress, oil on canvas, 24 by 18

Antoine's

Here is a work in progress shot of a painting I started in New Orleans. It's the interior of Antoine's Restaurant in the French Quarter. The restaurant is 160 years old and has been in the same family for 6 generations. I was allowed to set up and start the painting on location which was fun and exciting! I'm trying to get the mood of the lighting that I felt there, warm, soft, and even. Delicious food too! I highly recommend a visit... oil on canvas, 24 by 30

the Napoleon House

Through Gene, my amazing contact in New Orleans, I was granted access to work in a number of amazing interiors; the Degas House, Antoine's, the Column's Hotel... here is four hours inside the Napoleon House in the French Quarter. I knew at this point in the trip that I was not going to be able to "finish" a piece at every location I could paint, but the joy is always in being there and capturing the composition and color from life in an attempt to record a feeling and a place. A few generations of the owners and employees of the restaurant are on display in person and as paintings from the past on the walls. work in progress, I'm going to try for Menzel and Manet, oil on canvas, 18 by 28

the Degas House

The second night I was in New Orleans I stayed at the Degas House, a beautiful bed and breakfast on Esplanade Ave. It is the house he lived at for six months in 1872-3. It is restored to it's original state and is filled with books and reproductions of the artist. I did an interior of the main room with a portrait of the illuminating guide of the home and a descendant of Degas. You can see from the location shot that I painted the room the first day without anyone in it. The next morning the guide was able to sit for 45 minutes so I added her then... oil on canvas, 24 by 18

New Orleans

I took a painting trip to New Orleans and have not been posting on my blog, but I've been busy nonetheless and have some posts to catch up on. The first painting was of the Jean d' Arc statue at the French Market at the corner of Decatur and N. St. Peter's. Here is a plein air shot and a pic of the final painting. Boy was it HOT out there, I was glad my friend Rod recommended I get the headband because I was sweating like crazy... oil on canvas, 22 by 28

chinatown

I was in Chinatown in downtown LA yesterday doing some live painting at an event that the Hive Gallery was a part of called the summertime Make It Funky Fest! It was really fun and folks had a great time watching the painting unfold... I posted a few youtube links as well taken from my phone! chinatown video 1 chinatown video 2 chinatown video 3 oil on canvas, 30 by 24