Friday, December 20, 2019

I’ve recently been asked by more than one person if I project my pictures that I paint. The answer is a BIG no. In my opinion (tracing, using an art-o-graph, lucy or projector) is something a fine artist shouldn’t do (with the exception of blowing up a drawing). If you start a painting after projecting or tracing the outlines, than your finished painting is no different than a piece of glorified coloring book art. Except for the fact you’re not using crayons but a more professional medium it’s exactly like what a child does when he buys a coloring book and fills in the lines.
A good drawing is the foundation of a good representational painting. It’s arguably as important as any of the other elements that make a good painting. Anyone who’s ever tried to paint before quickly realizes how important the initial drawing is. Learning how to draw is hard and takes most people a lot of study and practice to accomplish. A lot of great artists I know carry a sketch book and are constantly practicing their drawing. It’s something good artists are always trying to get better at. I’d also argue that a great drawing maybe isn’t as accurate as a projected image but has much more life to it. There’s a certain flair to a good drawing that carries over to make a good painting.
As a person who makes a living making fine art paintings it’s hard to compete against artists who use projectors. I’ve never once heard a projector artist tell their client they use one. If I were buying a painting I’d sure like to know. I’ve watched artists who I know use one become much more famous than me and beat me out of juried shows (they never inform the shows they use a projector). Also because they don’t spend their time drawing they produce more work (a good drawing takes more time).
 If you use a projector I’d encourage you to stop and actually take the time to learn to draw. I’ll bet you’ll be much more proud of your finished paintings and you might even like them better. The honesty will show through in your work and you’ll have a much better chance of finding that distinctive style you’ve been looking for. Like handwriting the way people draw is very individual. That’s something that is lost when you use a projector.

P.S. I should say that up until 2007 I considered myself very adept at drawing. Unfortunately I contracted Ramsey Hunt Syndrome and the nerves in my ear didn’t heal the same. I’ve had bad vertigo and funky depth perception since. This makes drawing much harder for me. It would be so much easier to use a projector but I haven’t let myself, Even though my drawing ability isn’t as good as it used to be I’m still proud of the way most of my paintings turn out.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Wildflowers


This is my newest flower painting. It's called "Wildflowers"
and is 8" x 10"


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

Garden Center Steps


I went plein air painting the other day with a couple of
friends at the Tulsa Garden Center. The weather was
beautiful...almost 70 degrees. I used my new plein air
box I just finished making. It worked much better than
the last one I made. I was able to finish this 9" x 12"
painting of the Garden Center's front steps in about
50 minutes.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

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My latest painting will be available at MA Doran's annual small
works show. The reception is Thursday, December 1st, 2011
5:00 until 8:00 pm.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tulsa Rose Garden

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This is my newest plein air oil painting. It's 8" x 10"
and was painted last Sunday. I painted with the Oklahoma
Society of Impressionists in the Tulsa Rose Garden.
We are going to have a small show this Sunday the
23rd at the Tulsa Garden Center between 4:30 pm and
7:30 pm. Admission is $8 per person or $15 a couple.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Hard Stuff

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I haven't painted on prepared board in a long time but
recently I've painted a couple to experiment.  I do
love the way the paint doesn't soak into the hard painting
surface. It creates textures and shows the brushstrokes
a lot more than the canvas I usually use.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Pink Flowers


Another quick oil painting of some pink flowers. It's
8" x 10" on board.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Venice II


    Two more yet untitled oil paintings in my Venice series. The
first is 12" x 24" and the second is 16" x 20".   

Abstract Paintings

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    The first painting is titled "Time of the Waiting Moon". It's a
30" x 24" gallery wrapped Acrylic. The second is titled
"Passion". It's a 30" x 30" Acrylic.

    I began painting Abstracts about 4 years ago after developing
health problems that affected my vision. My vision problems
have since cleared up for the most part but I still paint an
abstract every now and then.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Venice


    These are two of my newest oil paintings. I don't have titles
for them yet. The first is 16" x 20" and the second is 18" x 18".

    I haven't been to Venice but Cheryl and I have a friend who
vacationed there and took a lot of pictures. She gave me
permission to use her photos as reference.
    There are several more I plan to paint. I'll post them when
they are  finished.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Unexpected Encounter

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    This is my newest en plein air oil painting. It's 8" x 10"
and was painted yesterday morning at the Tulsa Rose Garden.

    I set up my easel and started painting about 9:00 am. It
was soon after I started painting that I could hear
someone talking very strangely somewhere behind me.
It sounded like a male voice and it seemed like he was
talking to himself in both English and some other
language. I didn't let it bother my focus on my painting
even though at times he was yelling fairly loudly. As I
was finishing up my painting about an hour later I saw
him walking toward me. He was very disheveled and
had blood running down his forehead from several scrapes.
He said something to me I didn't understand. When I
asked him to repeat what he had asked me he said more
slowly " I don't want to hurt you...could you call the police
and have them come arrest me." I told him I'd prefer that
he didn't hurt me and asked him if he'd done something
wrong that he needed to be arrested for. He said he hadn't
yet...he also said he had been released from jail that
morning and wanted the police to arrest him so he could go
back. I asked if it were alright if I could use my own phone
and he said he didn't mind.  He stood there I proceeded to call
911. The 911 operator took my information and a description
of what he looked like and said she would send an officer. I
told him they were on their way and to wait but he started to
talk to himself and walked away. I stayed at the location
I had called from waiting to see a police officer for quite a
while before moving to another location to paint a couple
hundred yards away. Unfortunately I never saw a police car
come by or saw the man again. I'm really hoping they did
and that they found him. He definitely needed some help.

Please pray for him!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Yellow Flowers

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    A quick 12" x 16" oil painting of some flowers that I
finished  recently.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Collectors' Reserve at the Gilcrease Museum

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    I've been invited to exhibit in this year's Collectors' Reserve
at the Gilcrease Museum. It's a very nice show and I feel
honored that my work will hang next to some of the country's
top artists. The show runs October 22nd - November 7th
and the reception and art sale will be held November 3rd.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

My Favorite Time of Year.


My favorite time of year is Autumn!!

    Cheryl and I took a Sunday drive last fall and went
sightseeing near Tahlequah in Eastern Oklahoma. It
was a lovely day and I made her stop at every pull
out to check out the view along theIllinois river. This
is the first oil painting I've done from the reference
photos I took that day. It's title is "Around the Bend"
and it is 12" x 24".

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

En Plein Air


    I went plein air painting with another Tulsa artist this morning.
We met at the river and jumped right into painting. It started
to rain fairly hard while I was painting my first piece (pictured on
the left above). This was my first time painting in the rain while
using oils. It definitely added another degree of difficulty to the
painting. It took a little over an hour to finish this one.

    I jumped right into my next painting (pictured on the right). It
went a little more smoothly probably because the rain had stopped.
It took about 55 minutes to finish this one. I haven't painted in
plein air for a while so I'm a little rusty but all in all I'm fairly
satisfied with my results.

Monday, August 22, 2011

My first national magazine exposure.


    I've been a member of the Oklahoma Society of Impressionists
for about a year. We have an exhibit currently showing at the
Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
The exhibit is featured on page 200 of the Western Art Collector
July issue. I feel fortunate the magazine decided to use two of
my pieces in the article.