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. 

Oil Painting, 12 x 9 inches

This painting of an evergreen tree will be one of 3 paintings I have in the Miniature Masterpieces show at Evergreen Fine Art in Evergreen, Colorado.  For those of you in Colorado, the opening reception will be this Friday November 20 from 5 - 8 pm, and I plan to be there.

In other news, we have now moved home and studio into the city of Denver.  We are in the Park Hill neighborhood, a great walking community built mostly in the 1920's and 1930's.  We have great access to all that Denver has to offer, but for a city neighborhood it's still fairly quiet.  We miss our mountain views but are excited to be in town, and the mountains aren't that far away when we need a visit.

I sacrificed a lot of painting time over the summer as we unpacked boxes and shifted furniture.  But most things are in place now and I am back on a good painting schedule.

Oil Painting, 16 x 20 inches.

We have had a lot of rain lately in Colorado, and for the past week I have tried to honor Mother Nature's decision with some rainy-day scenes.  It's an interesting change from my usual sunny-day paintings.  The colors have to be different (largely cooler), and edges in many areas need to soften quite a bit.  The challenge and fun of it all is to get the painting to express something about what kind of day it was.

This is a scene in the autumn in Washington DC. 

Oil Painting, 24 x 36 inches
An autumn scene in the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado.

This painting and at least 20 others can be seen at my upcoming show at Evergreen Fine Art in Evergreen, Colorado.  The opening reception will be Saturday March 7 from 2 - 5 pm and the show will be up through March 28.

In the show I will be bringing my painting style to scenes of life in the West, and it is accordingly titled "A Western Life".  Some of the paintings (like this one) are of scenes that could have taken place 100 years ago, while others clearly evoke the West of today.  One of my favorite things to paint is the human figure in the context of a larger landscape or scene, and many of the paintings will do this.  Those who know my work know of my fondness for strongly-lit daytime scenes...there will be some here, but I will also be exploring other lighting situations including night scenes.

And that's probably enough said for the moment.  If you're in the area I hope you'll have an opportunity to stop by at the reception or at least see the show.  More information about the gallery can be found at www.evergreenfineart.com

 

Oil Painting
14 x 18 inches

A group of skaters on a lake in Colorado.

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR for 2015!

The above is an oil painting, 18x14 inches.  A bronco-riding cowboy at a rodeo in Colorado.

After living here for many years I finally got to the rodeo circuit this summer, and was very impressed with the skill and courage of the participants.  It also provided a great many painting ideas, as there are many dramatic moments in the course of an afternoon at the rodeo.  Most of the bronco-riders and bull-riders end up in a position like this rider (who after a direct trip to the ground immediately got up, brushed himself off and walked off the field unharmed)

I call the painting "Game Over".

Oil Painting, 18 x 14 inches

A scene in downtown Chicago, just east of "the Loop".  The view is to the west and the overpass in the middle distance is the train track for the loop trains.

A couple of posts ago I showed a painting I had made from the complementary colors red and green...this painting is the same idea, but the complementary colors are yellow and violet.

Oil Painting
8 x 10 inches

Recently I did a series of small paintings of cakes and desserts.  It was a lot of fun, including shopping for the subject matter!  The 4 that I like best (including this one) will be shown at the annual Miniature Masterpieces show at Evergreen Fine Art in Evergreen, Colorado.  The opening will be next Friday November 21, from 5 - 8 pm.  If you're in the area please do stop by.  As the title suggests, the show will consist entirely of small works.

Oil Painting, 18 x 24 inches

This is a scene in Toulouse, France.  I liked the architecture of the old bridge, the reflections in the water, the figures in the scene and the arrangement of light and shadow.  But as much as anything I was interested in making a painting based on the complementary colors red and green.

Oil Painting
24 x 30 inches
A challenging scene involving interior light and exterior shadows after dark.

Oil Painting 14x18 inches

Another in this summer's series of plein-air paintings, this one in the town of Silver Plume, Colorado.  This old mining town is one of my favorite spots for painting.  Here we are looking down the main street of town, which remains unpaved.  We are having good weather for outdoor painting, at least in the morning.  The afternoons have been bringing us rain, which may not be good for painters but it is very good for the forests so we are grateful for it.

Oil Painting
9 x 12 inches

The plein-air season is well underway for me, and this is one I did recently not far from my home in Colorado.  Aspen trunks are a subject I've returned to many times in the field.  They are a great opportunity to study light and shadow, and each tree has its own variations on the standard Aspen themes.  Plein air is certainly not the only type of painting I do, but it is an important part of the mix and helps me develop good painting habits.

Has it really been over 6 months since my last post??  Last weekend an artist friend reminded me that it's been awhile, and so it has!  Since my last post I have spent many of the long winter evenings making a new website, which can be found at http://RNaylorStudio.com    The long winter evenings are of course now long gone, but the new website did take up a lot of my computer time for awhile.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

The painting above is one of a series of night scenes I painted, this one in Albuquerque, New Mexico, along the old Route 66.  It is an oil painting, 18 x 14 inches.  As is well known, I am very fond of strongly lit daytime scenes, so this was part of an effort to explore different types of light.  It was both a challenge and a pleasure to paint this.

PS  Yes, I will plan to increase the frequency of these posts!

Oil Painting
16 x 20 inches

I have been working on some interior scenes recently...I find them interesting because the light is so different from outdoors and the objects and shapes in interior scenes are also different.  In an outdoor landscape I may be working with a depth of 50 miles...here it is only a few feet.  It keeps me on my toes to approach different subjects and lighting conditions like this.