Betsey Nelson - Head Study I

Head Study 12x10 oil $360

This another study done using spots of color instead of paintings things (in this case features).

This creates a much more painterly piece and much more interesting painting at least to this artist.

Peggy Sands • Sedona Sketch

This was a large thumbnail that overflowed it's box... It sat on my table a few days. 

I liked it so much I turned it into a little watercolor painting

I can't get over the color of the rocks here.

Robert Burridge - Circus Bird #2

My intentions that morning were to complete a series of small canvas pieces - all 12x12 Birds. My previous bird series had all been black, white, various shades of grey and maybe just a little red for the red winged black birds. 

I started off in black and white but just got that urge to push into color. The more color I added, the funner it got! I added collage papers for texture and added even more color.

I didn't want to create a screaming circus wagon of jarring color. I purposefully used my color wheel and chose a color combination that allowed for a vivid, WOW focal point. 

The focal point in this series are circus masks on my performing birds!

Original acrylic on canvas, $675 + 25 shipping/handling.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Salt Marsh Overcast

Lately, I've been trying a new approach with my oil paintings. I've been using oil pastel for my initial block-in and then washing over it with mineral spirits to create an underpainting before applying traditional oil paints. Why? I find I can control the drawing better with oil pastel. And what's more, if you don't cover the underpainting completely, some of the wonderful "scribbly" marks will show through and energize the final surface.

I must warn you about oil pastels, though. They contain a non-drying vegetable oil. You must use enough mineral spirits to dissolve and wash out this oil so the following layers of traditional oil paints adhere properly.

Here's a recent painting I did this way. I like the way my underpainting shows through.

"Salt Marsh Overcast" 9x12, oil/oil pastel

$300+$10 shipping

www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

- Michael Chesley Johnson PSA MPAC PSNM

Carol Marine - "St. Blasien"

Carol Marine - 8" x 10" - Oil on panel - SOLD

I recently took a trip to Germany with my family to meet my husband's birth-parents. They live in a small town in the Black Forest called Schluchsee, and about 15 minutes away is St. Blasien, where this was painted. I was fairly overwhelmed with the possibilities of subjects - Germany is a BEAUTIFUL place!! I actually had a bit of a frustrating time painting there - please see my blog for more.

Journey to England:6

Libby Caldwell, Oil on Prepared Paper, 12.5 x 15.5 SOLD

Journal entry 6: July 2008.
A sunlit alley in a small town in England. We had found the perfect place for lunch, and thought we should walk around the town for a while before heading for home. This alley came as a surprise along a shady pavement, like a little jewel.

Backyard Landscape

Vince Fazio 9 x 12 Oil on canvas $140.00

This is a plein air landscape using the backyard in the late afternoon with strong diagonal shadows to break up the composition. I need to get more plein air painting practice in as I am heading to Italy next week to do a workshop with Randall Sexton for the Arts Center. Next Post will be Italia.

Betsey Nelson - Bess In White

oil 16x12 $760
This sketch reminds me of Hawthornes words about not painting the features. Putting in the right spots of color. Also his advice of putting variety in whites. Both wonderful bits of advice.

Robert Burridge - Bouquet a Day

Bouquet a Day is part of a series on 12x12 inch canvas, using acrylic paint and collage. I wanted to paint seven small pieces that would go together as well as stand on their own. I started this series out by first "making a mess" of color all over the canvas, then created the vase and flowers by painting the negative shapes. I then added the water in the vase, stems and specific flowers to pull the painting together. When I do a series like this, I line up all seven canvases and paint them at the same time. It is a great warmup time in the studio for me, getting me ready to work on my larger paintings.
Original 12x12, acrylic on canvas. $625 plus $50 shipping.

Michael Chesley Johnson - Salt Marsh Glimmer

This little painting is only 5x7, but I think it really evokes the sense of late summer here on Campobello Island in the Canadian Maritimes. A light fog tumbled in from the ocean into the salt marsh, throwing a cool light on the scene. But the grasses, which are just starting to change into their fall colors, lend a sense of warmth to the foreground. The cool light in the distance and the warm colors up front go a long way to creating an illusion of space in the painting.



"Salt Marsh Glimmer"
5x7, oil, en plein air - Michael Chesley Johnson, PSA MPAC PSNM

www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Journey to England:5

Libby Caldwell, Oil on Canvas, 5 x 7 SOLD

Journal entry 5: July 2008.
The garden in the afternoon. The roses were at their best about a week ago, so they tell me. I remember this maple tree when it was about as tall as me, now it shades a large area around the summer house.

Vince Fazio - Lone Figure

Vince Fazio 14 x 17 Graphite on paper $55.00

A drawing can find its own natural borders or edges. In this case a kind of vignette is formed by the edges of the drawing, a frame within.

Betsey Nelson-Grounded

5x7 $240 oil on canvas board
This was done plein air at the end of a painting day. The challange was to do a good composition on a very small canvas. Mostly this was a horizontal set up so thought was needed to work the vertical in and alos to deal with a lot of the image weighted to one side.

Michael Chesley Johnson - East Quoddy Morning

We have three lighthouses within a few minutes of my studio. Although some artists eschew the idea of painting lighthouses as being too cute, there's a lot that can be done with them. I chose the East Quoddy Lighthouse (also known as the Head Harbour Lightstation) to do an early morning study of light on a white structure.

It's a lonely-looking lighthouse, isn't it?


"East Quoddy Morning"
5x7, oil, en plein air
$60+$5 shipping
www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com

Carol Marine 6x6 Oil on canvas panel - bid

I've been working on a series of carnations, this being the 4th. A student in my last workshop asked me to paint them and I've been stuck ever since. Carnations are a tough flower to paint, but I am thoroughy enjoying the challenge!