The Idea

Sometimes when I’m out and about, I may see something that inspires me for a painting and I may not have my sketchbook in hand. So I make a mental note. When I get to the studio, I will draw a small sketch of my “mental note”, so that I won’t forget about it later. Most artists refer to these little sketches as “Thumbnail sketches” Some of these little non-detailed sketches may develop into a more refined drawing and then maybe into a painting. I don’t take these sketches too seriously and I don’t always save them. If I look at one that has lost its appeal, it will just be tossed away.
  One day during during a drive, we made an unscheduled stop at an outdoor informal and unusual museum of mill stones. The shapes and textures of the stones and the birds that were hopping stone to stone drinking water from the center holes was visually appealing. After returning home, I quickly sketched out this thumbnail to hold the thought. I think this thumbnail sketch might develop into a completed painting……….. hmm?  By the way, I never seem to learn my lesson; Always, always carry a sketchbook.

 

Really, He posed for you?

 At the Kaziuko Mugė last weekend in Vilnius, one of the questions asked by a visitor at our booth was about the painting, “Memories of Yellowstone”; “Did that bear pose for you?” of course it was asked in the spirit of good humor. But the interest was there. The partial answer to that question was “yes, he did.“ The grizzly that modeled for this painting lives at the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim Washington. He is actually a retired movie star, no kidding! And he will pose for you. I also modeled a small bear "bust" out on non-hardening clay so I could get the position and lighting I was looking for. I saw a few grizzlies in the wild during my Yellowstone days but I never had the courage to ask one to pose for me.



 

Portrait or Stillife?

Although almost all of my paintings are related to wildlife and nature, once and a while I break away from this subject matter to hopefully improve my skills in someway.
Recently I found some old tools that belonged to my wife’s father. They are well used and show some character. A pair of pliers, a screwdriver and a wrench… Perfect! So I placed the three tools on a dirty table (which I dirtied up) and sketched the tools individually onto three small gessoed Masonite panels. The only technique that I used that is unusual for me; I used my fingers and old rags to scrub the painting periodically during the painting process to create texture and give the painting a worn look to emphasize the real character of the tools…..I guess you could say, I painted their portraits.


 

 

 

 

 

 

Kaziuko Mugė

 On March 1 -3 2013 was the Kaziuko Mugė ;  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaziuko_mug%C4%97   held in Vilnius Lithuania spreading about 9 km. There were thousands of attendees and about 2000 participants. We were one of those participants. People endured the cold and snow and came from all over Europe to see or participate in this event.
 Thank you to all of you that visited. Thank you for your kind comments and interest in my art.
 I want to say a special thank you to my wife / representative, Jūratė. For her love, enthusiasm and for believing in me. And for enduring the cold snowy, weather during the Mugė. She made it a big success.
                   THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Back to the drawing board

It has been a little while since my last blog entry. It seems time flew past me with a lot of events happening in my life that are not art related.

I would like to mention that I completed the Kernavė  buffalo painting…..well, I thought it was completed. After looking closely, I decided it is in fact not finished. I am not at all satisfied with the buffalo, the river, foreground grasses and some of the clouds. That is a lot to be “unsatisfied” about. What I believe happened is I got bored with it and rushed through it to just get it finished.
 So, it is on the “back shelf “ just for a little while. With the painting out of view for a while, it will give me time to refresh my inspirations for this piece. When I take it out to view it again, I hope it will be clear as to what I need to do to rescue this painting. Or I may look at it and say…”nope, it’s going back on the back shelf again for a little while longer.”