Garfield Substation
. 8 x10 oil on linen.
It was with unexpected delight that I had some backgrounds I had planned to do over the weekend cut form the show I was working on so I got to go out and do some P A painting. I've been is the studio so much this was a real treat.
This is on a hill above The Pasadena Department of Water and Power. It was a gray day, but I still tried to get a little more color into the shot than was really there. Something about palm trees is always fun.
Also a reminder to make it to try and make it to my Demo This Wednesday the 18th at the Riverside Museum of art. 6:30. scroll down for more info. Only 5 bucks!
posted by william wray at 8:02 PM
34 Comments:
I've been watching your work for a little while and this is my favorite one so far. I like the sharp and smudgy contrasts.
I hate mondays.
But damn, those are some cool palm trees. I love how it looks like there's so much more detail than what's actually there.
William: Nice balance in the color and the composition.
The trees look oddly humanoid.
It's a fine painting, and so is "Foggy Buses"
Thanks S- I've been trying to soften a few more edges... Glad you noticed.
Will man.. this composition really grabs my attention. Personally I love cloudy gloomy days and you captured the feel for me in this work. The grouping of palms in your view provides a visual rhythm that keeps the subject interesting and balanced. Color.. well there you go .. yellow tamed by the grey sky .. nicely done and anchored with the foreground grass.. a good day's work - I'm taking notes on this one.
These look more like the palm trees of my youth than western ones. That was old Florida. If only the trees in the distance were covered with moss.
You brought back some memories for me here, mostly good but a couple of near death experiences from my reckless early years.
Great job! It's fun to see all the playful paint strokes in the large version.
Nice work! Makes you look a bit like a voyeur!
Your landscapes are fantastic and this one is one of my favorites so far. Makes me want to go someplace where there are palm trees. Wonderful!
Nice, sometimes those little ones have a spark!
thanks Erich-- I'm here for your monday blues.
Your comments help mine.
thanks Slim.--
Hey Galm-- It's the cartooning background... You have a tendency to caricature everything.
AWESOME!! really awesome! great palm trees and i really like all the colors you put into the overgrown grass.
what i like best about your fine art paintings is how amazingly accurate you capture earthy, real-world colors.. which is one reason why i like this one so much
This and the foggy buses are quite wonderful and I can tell that you are having more variety in your edge work. Very well done!
Nice I love palms, wish we had them out here in Seattle
WK-- I'm pretty much happy to be outside painting no matter the weather other than super hot days. Have fun I Chicago-- maybe we can get out there when you get back.
Hey Tom,
Yes in our reckless youth we all had some rough times. I like and think of the down times as giving me a deeper base of truth to draw from in my work. If something I do feels lonely, that comes from the truth of being an Army brat, thus constantly traveling making short term friends. Along with a distant Father and of course much violence on military bases make an angry lonely boy and man.
I think that why my studio pieces are darker and more personal. The PA's are more about the lovely moment of the day in nature. I can think of an artist I know who paints mostly outside so they can dwell on the happy colors and the warmth of the day. Inevitably their studio works are colder and they do a lot less of them as the their inner workings are dark and tormented and they try and run from that. Better to be outside in the happy warm light. I've be doing more studio work as I'm trying to deal with the bad stuff.
BG,
oh I am--all good artists are. If I wasn't afraid of being arrested, I'd look in peoples windows and take pictures for paintings.
Cooper,
There is a palce with no Palm trees? They are such a weed tree, I tought they grew anywhere. ;-)
thanks Mike-- there is a certain someting about the quick outside ones. Never capture that energy in the studio.
love the substation and the buses... i have a real fondness for your little "vignette" scenes like "All That Remains" and all of your construction equipment pieces. i've always liked construction equipment at rest. i'm currently working on a piece of two empty car carriers that looked liked dragons to me. i wish, though, that more of your pieces were for sale.
Hi, I'm back again to let you know that I took your suggestion of the marsulephant swinging from its trunk and it's up on my Gnemo's Sketchbook blog. I like this idea so much I plan to do a couple more but with more swingers (double-meaning consciously used). In fact, I think I'll call the young marsulephants swingers.
Also, I really enjoyed your thoughtful comments here. I now know three aspects of you: skilled plein air painter, accomplished and clever cartoonist and deep thinker.
You know, I visit a lot of art blogs... and I have to say, I don't know how you get so many more comments than everyone else does. It's a party over here! So Cool!
I dig the gaps between the foliage. And the subtle colour of the sky.
thanks Ryan,
I'm getting there. I appreciate your enthusiasm. When I'm outside it's the real world . When I'm in the studio--- it's something else... ;-)
Stefan,,
I always have to remind myself to lose them...
Joe, they gorw so easy and fast. Time for one in the back yard.
Bonnie,
Your blog link dosen't work for me so I can't visit your work-- I don't post prices, but my work is for sale in the galleries in my links and directly from me.
Gosh, your work is so damn good...Or you got a magic wand or something? "Foggy Buses" are freakin' awesome.
Love everything about your paintings...They're all so full of life! Magical work, indeed!
Regards
Tom you're too kind. I can't help but think with a smile of swinger elephants perversely lusting after each other in a Hinrich Kley kind of reflection of an over indulgent society.
Silvina,
I'm happy people take the time to post, but it's not just because of my work, I try and post at other blogs, reply to everyone and have new paintings up every 4th day or so. You have to work at making your blog work. I notice a lot of folks just post a few blog entries and then expect their blog to magically attract posters... Doesn't work that way.
william wray: i cannot imagine why the blog linke doesn't work... try it from here www.dubhsidhestudios.com
also want to say "hi" to Tom Kidd -- missed you at the boston conventions!
I love the color palette on this image...cool stuff.
Post a Comment
<< Home