On the Block!

update: sold  (Tuesday Nov 19)

"Mexican Fishermen"

12 x 16 in. oil on panel

Just to let people know - this painting is currently on auction at Daily Paint Works and has just under 3 days left in the bidding. It's the first time I've placed a painting up for auction anywhere but I like DPW and their auctions are quite active. There has been one bid of  $300. U.S. on the painting thus far. For this first go I set a pretty low threshold to "test the waters". It's worth a lot more than that, so if you'd like the chance of getting one of my originals at perhaps a rock bottom price - now is your chance!

By the way:  for all you San Miguel plein air painters - we'll be up on Montes de Oca Monday morning 9:30 - see you there if you can make it.

Manana en San Mguel de Allende

"Manana en San Miguel"

9 x 12 in. oil on panel

$ 350. U.S.

I started this on Monday with Donna's plein air painting group in the Plaza Civica across from the Oratorio. Since then, every time I've walked by it I couldn't help but diddle with it until now it doesn't exhibit much of it's fresh plein air beginnings. I'm hoping it still has some vestige of the spontaneity it had in the beginning. It was a fun picture to work on and I guess that's why I couldn't stop working on it. I finally decided to STOP! this afternoon as it was starting to ask for a high degree of "finish" and I would rather reserve that for a larger version of the same scene. If I had persisted with this one I would have figured everything was solved and there would be no point in doing the theme over. I will set this aside and not look at it for awhile - when I do I'll decide if it wants to grow. 

By the way - some purists feel that a painting worthy of the term "plein air" must be executed, start to finish in one sitting. It's a matter of definition, I suppose. I almost always start small to medium size oil paintings on location. I finish them there, maybe about a third of the time. The others get varying degrees of "overtime" back in the studio - sometimes just a touch here and there and other times, here and there and everywhere. The important thing to me is that the work has been launched with excitement -the inspiration derived from being in direct contact with ones subject. As you work on the painting during those first hours, all the surrounding sights and sounds sink into your psyche and if that panel asks for more attention later, back in the studio, you find that any additional work you do on it takes you right back to the location again.In this state of mind you can continue the act of creation with what I would call the "right artistic attitude" and the piece will almost automatically retain a lot of freshness.

I have to say I like the spontaneous look of a painting done quickly and accurately. Less is definitely more. In the hands of the vary best plein air painters the results can be sublime. But even they don't get "five star" results every time. I think good advice to anybody journeying along this plein air route would be not to worry too much about purity of process. There are purists and there are purists. I might not measure up to one persons definition because I just can't let a little painting go without further investigation but take note of this;

I have painted with pros that rely on smart phone screens and special apps to help them compose and find colors ........................ well folks - most of the time I don't even pull out a view finder when starting a picture and I certainly have no need for color suggesting apps. So, what does that make me? - I guess I'm a purist too, right? I can't help but smile when I see the "shortcuts" people try to take. Shortcuts have no place in lovemaking.

 

Final word, - about the only thing I really find obnoxious, even fraudulent are the printer people that  pass dem photos through, dob a lick or two and claim them as originals. Oh, and come to think of it - how about those Chinese sending me emails that quote me a price for doing my future paintings for me??? Hey! - easy street here I come .........................

A Nice Morning on Cuesta de Loreto.

SOLD

                        Cuesta de Loreto  9 x 12 in. oil on panel

(* UPDATE: This painting just won 1st. prize on Daily Paintworks for October!)

This was done yesterday on Cuesta de Loreto a few hundred feet from our door on "calle sin nombre" which goes off  about where this road leaves the picture on the left. Donna Lee and Elaine West painted in the same location and we all came up with  good but very different results. I'm posting Donna's below and I will include Elaine's later if I can get her to send me a photo of it. Elaine lives on a houseboat near San Francisco and is a very good plein air painter - we always enjoy her company when she's in San Miguel. I haven't got out to do plein air for a while as I've been doing a lot of color experimentation in the studio lately. It's been interesting (even a lot of fun) but after yesterday I would  say that the experience of painting on the street (so far) remains the best. I think it's a good idea to try different things though. It's not all that surprising when something you've discovered doing one approach pops up as a nice inclusion in the other - I think there's a little of that in the example above.

And here's Donna Lee's below ..................

untitled 9x12 in. oil on panel     Donna Dickson

There is some great and complicated drawing in this one and considering she spent just over 2 hours on it I find this painting really impressive. Cuesta Loreto really is that steep and Donna has the whole feeling of it just as it is. I love the feeling of height and distance overlooking the town, between the two buildings near center. Five BIG stars Donna !! ............. a very cool piece of plein air work.

   (untitled so far)  9x12 oil on panel     Elaine West

Another great example of  p/a work. Elaine found a rare flat spot in the shade and out of the traffic to work on this one. The guy with the rolled up straw rugs on his bike just happened to come by and made a perfect inclusion for the piece. I love the strong design and those saturated hues. Bravo Elaine !

Cuesta de Loreto 1

"Cuesta de Loreto  1"

14x18 in.  oil on panel
$550.  u.s.

My first painting since our move up the hill to our new abode. We went out with just one  student (Mary) on this last Monday and found a perfect scene not 200 feet from our door. We are just around the first corner to the right. This had to be one of the most enjoyable paintings I've ever done - I'm very happy with the result and the direction my work continues to take. Donna always tells her students " you have to crawl before you can walk " ................. I feel like I'm finally getting onto my feet after mostly half a century on all 4's............

I don't bother with a lot of detail anymore and make sure I only place it where it counts - when it has something to add to the theme and won't just be distracting.

This road is really steep! We keep seeing our new neighbors striding by on the uphill moving about the speed that most hominids would only reach going down. Some of these folks are well over 80 and still are not wasting any time on the incline. Donna and I are in pretty good shape but keep getting overtaken - it's embarrassing. They remind me of the Tarahumara Indians of Copper Canyon fame. Most of them have spent all their life overlooking the town of San Miguel and they don't think anything of skipping down to el centro and back with their market bolsa's.

From Last Week

$350. u.s.

This was the first demo for a workshop we did last week for 2 students from New York, one of whom has decided to move to San Miguel permanently! - the other is strongly considering it. Donna has posted a photo of this one mid way through - when it was mostly greys, on her blog site. I haven't given this a title yet. We're in the middle of a big move up the hill to a larger abode with a fantastic rooftop view of the whole town and beyond. I hate mooooving with a passssion but it's going to be worth it this time.. I thought I better post something now or I won't for the next few weeks as we'll be totally consumed up there for a while.

This one was the second official demo for Mary and Dan. It's not completed but almost so. I want to add some figures and a couple of other things. I'll get to that as soon as I can. We had fun with the demo thing and both of them seemed to feel they learned a lot, which I find gratifying. It's hard to verbalize and paint at the same time - a big challenge to say the least.

$350. u.s.

This one was done on Monday during our regular plein air class. Dan and Mary joined us - this time not as students - and they both did really well. They have really gotten in touch with those greys over the last week. 

There is a nice old man who lives on that corner ( behind and above the fountain ) - he really seemed to appreciate us painting up there. He's lived there all his long life - he told me he is 86 but when he talked to Donna he only admitted to 78 ...................... hmmmmm .............

When it came time to leave Mary gave the viejo Senor her painting !!! - he was delighted and amazed.

Un Dia Brumoso y Dos Soleados

$1800. u.s.

"Un Dia Brumoso"

24x30 inches, oil on canvas

The "wet" season has come to San Miguel and I love those big summer clouds. It's a nice change from the mostly unbroken sunny days of "winter". This painting is obviously done in the studio from reference photos and lots of observation from our patio deck, overlooking part of the town and broad plain beyond. The actual painting view is from further up the hill from where you can see the entire center of town.
This painting was tricky. I didn't want to get too "picky" with detail - I wanted the whole thing to remain a bit fuzzy - misty in fact. The effect of the passing beam of sunlight was very important to me, as was the shifting light and cloud shadow over the plains, so I had to get the values and color temperatures just right. It was a bit of a challenge but I managed to keep enough control to get the proper mood, I think. Yes and it was a lot of work. The next studio painting is going to be a lot more relaxing for a change ...........................

"Calle Recreo desde el Chorro"

9x12 inches  oil on panel
$350. u.s.

This plein air was from last Tuesday and was a lot of fun. I had been working diligently on the big studio piece (above) for many days and it was great to get out on location and really "cut loose"! The morning started out kind of brumoso - it's summer after all - but the sun did break through for a few instants early on and we did our best to note the position of any light and shade we could put to use. The spot we painted from was excellent. However, there is usually someones car parked in that location. This time somebody had parked an old clunker half in this spot and half in the next, so they left us a safe place right by the corner with a very nice composition. In some ways it's really hard to paint in San Miguel as the streets and sidewalks are sooo narrow. The best views are from the middle of the street but impossible to do plein air work from.

"Morning at Espino's Corner"

9x12 inches on panel
$350. u.s.

.............and this one was from Monday. In reality there was a lot more traffic passing us by but you can almost ignore reality sometimes when you're a painter. I didn't want the painting to be about cars, buses and taxi's after all. I can remember a San Miguel from 46 years ago when there was hardly a car in town - in this respect it was a lot more the quiet, sleepy paradise than now! But you can't go back, can you ??

................... So mindlessly on to oblivion we go ........ seemingly whistlin' all the way ...................

Esperando

"Esperando"

16x20 ins. oil on panel

What they say is true .............. there is a lot of esperando in Mexico