It Mostly Looks the Same

Day 2 of the final for the auto painting commission. At first glance the image looks more or less like the finish of yesterday but there is a solid 7 to 8 hours of painting since the previous posted image. These paintings are initially fast to paint but slow down as you close in on detail and nuance. Cars are nearly all complex curves and can be real brain teasers in the rules of perspective. The Porsche on the left needed some shape corrections that I just couldn't see until I looked at it again today. I only have photo reference of the Corvette on the right at other angles, so I have to adapt the drawing to the needed perspective in the painting. Not so easy if you want things to look realistic.

I'm getting close but I know it will take at least another full day to complete.

Starts, Finishes, Remakes

Here are three paintings, two finished, one underway. The landscape in the middle is 36x48" and ready to be shipped. The one below, same size, has had a facelift from it's previous image. It stayed around the studio long enough for me to see some flaws I wanted to fix. Artist license.

The automobile painting is a commission I mentioned earlier. The sketch is seen in the lower part of the photo and the final version is partially done. It will take a bit more detail and a few more general applications of paint to give it some character and color depth. The auto paintings are particularly difficult unless you problem solve before you attack the large final piece. I did my homework on this one so there is not as much anxiety and suspense.

Economic blues

So far I have avoided writing on the economic downturn. Its a tricky subject. Everyone in the artist community wants others to think their sales are impervious to the slowdown. But our art sales are only strong as our collectors' bank accounts. Most artists will admit, at least to other artists, their sales have been affected for a few years now. I began the business of selling paintings around the year 2000, marketing my work in outdoor art shows or fairs. Two years ago there were strong signs that sales were tailing off. Like the economy in general, that trend is more pronounced in the last year or so. At this point show organizers are feeling the effect in the reduced number of artists applying to shows and some accepted artists are no longer able to come up with the hundreds of dollars in show fees months in advance. We are also having to think carefully before committing to a show a thousand miles away.

Artists are hurting but we need to hang on and hope for better times soon. Meanwhile we must promote the work, diversify price points, seek commission work and most of all, produce the very best work we can do to weather the storm.

Today the to do list was a mix of jobs. First there were paintings to pick up that were lent for an art themed corporate event Friday night. Then back to the studio to get in some painting. This afternoon I delivered work to a designer's project where my gallery representative and the designer worked with the homeowner to choose art for the walls. We'll have to wait a couple of days to see if the client wants to keep any of the paintings.

This is the barn piece shown yesterday at it's inception. It measures 33" x 40". It is close to finished but I'll wait to look at it tomorrow and see what it lacks.

Back to the studio

Time to make the donuts. This morning was spent working on a couple of small paintings from last Friday. I feel it necessary to work on several at once as I can get stuck trying to force the end to a piece in a single session.

I also needed to get a large painting underway. The photos show the start to a new barn piece. I love to paint barn structures. I think they are among the most noble of architecture in their simplicity and they seem to resonate with collectors. This is a barn I have painted a couple of other times, once in fall and once in winter. It is on the Stover Myer farm in Bucks County PA.

The image on the right may look finished to some but there is only about an hour and a half invested to this point. Now comes the hard work of tweaking and layering color.

Mardi Gras in a war zone

There is in my past a spring tradition that I have neglected for the past 20 years and this weekend I made amends. I talked about the Sebring 12 Hours sports car race in a March 3rd post. When my friend Steve said he had tickets and asked me if I wanted to go , I enthusiastically said yes. For various reasons, I haven't been in awhile. The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is the same weekend and participating in that has sometimes conflicted. Other times just plain old lack of ambition has kept me away.

Going to Sebring demands preparation. If you do it right, it's a camping event. So provisions are necessary possibly including old couches, tents, lights - decorative and utilitarian, an electric generator, a grill, maybe some plywood for a outdoor deck, some astro turf, a potted plant or two and oh, copious amounts of beer and ice. This year was a day visit so a grill, cooler and camera was all that was needed.

Sebring should be on your life list. It is a weekend of dirt dust, noise, and people watching that somehow adds up to a non stop grin. The race is run on a road course spread over about 3.5 miles, and there are few grandstands for the spectators. The fun is in moving from spot to spot along the fences. The cars are racing at different speeds around the circuit and the scenery changes as you move about. Turn 10 is the core of Sebring infield culture and a walk through after dark will - well, bring a camera. I suppose you would call this extreme camping. There are people who brought pool tables, ping pong tables, house plants, japanese lanterns, a lit fish tank - with fish, roofed tiki bars with flooring, easy chairs of every description usually perched atop motorhomes or scaffolding. Satellite dishes are everwhere. Flat screens glow along with campfires as the race is broadcast live. It's not a problem to keep abreast of the leaders as you walk. Most everyone is welcoming and happy to share the tv. Meanwhile a race is screaming by a few yards away. Sebring is an outdoor party for 85,000 people punctuated with racing noise, wood smoke and dust. Think Mardi Gras in a war zone.

On the drive home late Saturday, I was thinking about the experience now and 20 years ago. The racing was still awsome. But honestly, I could have seen the race better in the comfort of our family room. I think I went back because I wanted to see if the party was still on. Darn if it isn't. Maybe next year I'll take the fish tank.

Amelia Island

Another trip to north Florida this morning. This time to the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance at the Ritz-Carlton. There were a couple of reasons to get up so early on a Sunday. I needed to get photo reference to assist in the car painting I'm currently working on, and also visit with the artists of the Automotive Fine Arts Society who were putting on an art exhibition at the event. My hopes are to be juried in at some point and exhibit along with this group here and at Pebble Beach. A member artist explained to me the application steps so I guess the ball is in my court.

Another reason to go was to spend a little quality time with my good friend Duke, who picked me up on his way from Tampa. We had a great time walking among some very unique automobiles spread over the golf course fairway. On the way home we spent the time in the car catching up with each others lives and sharing plans for our anticipated lottery winnings. A fireball out the driver's side glass caught my eye about a half-hour from home. Space Shuttle! We pulled to the side of the highway and shot a few more pictures as we watched the shuttle Discovery power towards space and the booster rocket tanks fall away. It's a spectacle that never gets old.

A good ending to a good day.