color chart 7 - adobe

Vasari Adobe

color chart 6 - shiprock

Vasari's Shiprock

color chart 5 - bluff

This is a custom color by Varsari and part of the Scott Christensen palette. It is called Bluff. Very nice mixtures.

color chart 4 - permanent bright red

The fourth chart, permanent bright red

color chart 3 - ultramarine blue

Here is ultramarine blue mixed with the rest of the palette and tinted.

I love this video. Wish there was a school like this where I grew up.

scene in: duke ellington school - Google Videos

color chart 2 - cadmium pale lemon

This chart shows Cad Pale Lemon mixed with the other colors of the palette then tinted down four steps.

color chart 1 - full palette

This is a chart showing each color of the palette as it comes from the tube followed by four tints.

a new venture

A week or so ago, I learned that one of my paintings was juried into the American Impressionists Society annual exhibition that will take place in Denver, Colorado–my former home. It will be strange to go back after all these years and even more strange to be exhibiting there. All the same, I'm very excited for this opportunity and very much looking forward to spending a week in Colorado.

In conjunction with the exhibition, AIS offers a couple workshops. I've decided to take the Scott Christensen plein air workshop. I wasn't cheap and what was more shocking was the cost of the supply list. The workshop is an OIL painting workshop and I am not an oil painter other than a few times a year when it's too cold or wet to paint outdoors with pastels. Why am I taking an oil painting workshop? Lots of reasons. First, Scott Christensen is an amazing landscape artist and whether or not I continue in oil I'm sure I'll learn many fundamentals of painting that are relevant for any medium. Second, I like a challenge. Scott's palette is different from anything that I've used before with the primaries, white, and eight grays (custom mixed for him by Vasari). It is a beautiful palette and from what I understand an extraordinary paint.

The paint arrived yesterday and I excitedly opened the large shipping box. Inside I find three smaller boxes. Two simple corrugated boxes containing the primaries and white and a larger box with beautiful gold embossed VASARI label. I open it and find eight tubes where the labels are marked with actual paint samples... works of art. Now, those tubes of paint displayed on my workbench and I wonder, "Where do I begin?" Logical as I am I tell myself, "At the beginning, goofy." And, from the bookshelf I retrieve Richard Schmid's Alla Prima. I thumb through the pages until I find what I'm looking for—Color Charts. That's where I'll begin.

With the paints displayed, I begin applying gesso (two coats each side) to 1/4-inch acid-free foam board. When it was dry, I began applying black artists tape (trimmed to 1/4-inch strips, approx.) to create 1-inch squares. I have 11 tubes of paint and I need 12 boards. I'll keep you posted as this project progresses.

a work in progress continues

I started laying in color with the idea that the final piece will focus on the house and the azaleas. I'm painting on a Wallis Belgian Mist and I used a size that is larger than what I expect the final piece to be. My client asked that the house be bright. The architecture and landscape don't show much of the home except for the roof which isn't very interesting. When I first painted the roof it seemed dominant so I toned it down and accentuated to light on the bricks. The light is not exactly realistic but I hope it's believable and meets the client's request.



This is one of the images that I sent to the client for review. I think the painting is about 90% complete. I'll put it on the rail for a while and wait for feedback from my client. Before I sign it, I may—or may not—make some adjustments and call it resolved.