The blog has moved!

In order to get my blog more connected to my website, I made it a part of the website.  So today's actual blog post, and all future ones, can be found at RNaylorStudio.com   Click on "blog" at the bottom of the left menu on the page and, voila!

I'll keep this blog in place for awhile so anyone who wants to look at the old posts can do so.  At some point I'll probably retire it.

Thanks to everyone who has followed the blog and its off-and-on entries over the years.  I hope you'll keep an eye on the new one along with the website.  For me painting has a MUCH higher priority than website and blog updates, but I do try to keep them sort-of current, so that those who take the time to view the site will have something new to see from time to time.

Oil Painting, 24 x 30 inches

A street scene on a pleasant, early-autumn day.  I think of this painting as a "happy accident".  This is a term I most often hear used by watercolorists (since the medium is so hard to control many things happen by accident, some happy and some less so).  In this case I was recently at my local art supply store stocking up on canvases and other supplies, and accidently bought some linen when I intended only canvas.  I've used linen before, several years ago, and decided I liked the working surface of canvas better.  (canvas comes from the cotton plant while linen comes from the flax plant...to me linen seems to have a smoother, less toothy, faster surface but also seems to require more delicate handling in order to get a good paint layer)  Anyway, weeks after I got my supplies home, I unwrapped one of the canvases and noticed it was linen...I painted on it anyway and unlike a few years ago I loved its surface.  In fact I painted 2 paintings on the accidentally purchased linens, each one a real pleasure.   Next time I need supplies I intend to include linen in the mix, even though it is more expensive than cotton canvas.

Oil Painting, 22 x 28 inches

Sometimes I like to do a minimalist composition, one where there are really very few, simple shapes and a small focal point.  In the case of this painting almost the whole scene is made up of one large light area of the wall and one shadow area.  The challenge is to allow each of the 2 shapes to have enough variation so it is restful but not boring.  The diagonal line of the shadow's edge is interesting to me, and especially the shadows of the plant.

Oil Painting, 18x14 inches

This is an experimental painting which was part of a series of night scenes like this one.  As I was working on an earlier one in the series I got the urge to use more transparent paints (still oils).  So I set aside my favorite Cadmium reds and yellows (all very opaque) in favor of Perylene Red, Indian Yellow and a transparent orange (all transparent), in addition to my usual blues which are already transparent.  The main opaque pigment is white, a Titanium/Zinc blend.  I mainly wanted to use the transparent pigments in the darker shadows, but in the end I also used some opaque mixtures there, and used the reds and oranges in the interior-lit parts of the painting too.  They seem to impart a distinct glow.

I will probably work on the painting a little more, but it has been a lot of fun to experiment with some new colors, and new types of colors. 

And now for something completely different!

This is an oil painting, 20 x 16 inches.  I did it in a class I am taking at the Art Students League in Denver...the class focuses on abstract painting.  I am taking it in order to study the elements of shape, light, color, texture, edge quality, line, etc, without the distraction of making it look like a specific subject.  I then intend to take my observations back to my regular work. 

There are a couple of benefits I hadn't thought of until a couple of classes went by.  I am learning and experimenting with different ways of applying/modifying/removing paint.  And, since I have no intention of taking these paintings to shows or galleries, I have nothing to lose with each painting and can push each one in any direction at any time.  This may be a good attitude to bring back to my regular work as well.  And, it's fun.

Happy New Year!

This is an oil painting, 20 x 16 inches, based on a view of a rock climber in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  When I saw this scene and cropped the view, I liked the simple division of the picture into light and dark shapes, and of course the tension of the climber on the rock wall.  The late afternoon winter sun was hitting the rock wall straight on and giving a nice illumination to the red rocks.  Our state is named for these red rocks, which can be found for many miles along the front range of the Rockies, "Colorado" being a Spanish word for red.

This painting and several others can be seen at Framed Image this month, in a show titled "Way Out West".  The show coincides with the National Western Stock Show which is one of the major public events in Denver each year.  The gallery is at 5066 East Hampden Ave. in Denver.  Their website is www.framedimage.net

Oil Painting
18 x 36 inches

A late-afternoon scene in New Mexico, on the way from Amarillo to Tucumcari.  There was just a little piece of bright sky at the horizon, which is why I painted this.