and while on that same theme

"Market Day"  8x10 ins. oil on panel

An obvious variation on the same theme as the previous. I may end up doing a larger one of this and probably more of the type but for the moment I'm going to move on to another large landscape for a break.

I've been getting more interested in color as a compositional element. Light was always my first concern up until now. That's still a primary consideration and will continue to be but I always felt that if I ever got that more or less under control I would really like to fully investigate color. Well, it's about time and I'm pretty excited about it. There is lots of color to play with in San Miguel and I'm sure it'll keep me going 'till eternity. Back in art school, oh so many ages ago, I was looking forward to the color class more than any other subject. The teacher killed it for me on the first day with the statement "anybody can make a painting work using dulled down, grayed colors - we are going to use pure, bright hues to make our paintings sing "etc......

Well folks, a hall full of trumpets does not make for a timeless symphony. 

You're going to have to arrange your instruments  in some way .............

As in most aspects of painting, subtlety, balance and rhythm is where the beauty lies in Art. Go for it! and remember the best sailing is on  "the uncharted sea".

Very Fast Food

"Platicando" 16x20 in. oil on canvas

This is a picture of one of the vendors and amiga over near the San Juan de Dios church. She's waiting for the kids to get out of the school next door to the church and she'll sell them a bunch of stuff that is actually pretty bad for them. However, the ninos love the stuff and she, her set up and friends contribute  much appreciated color and charm to the scene. No, it's not a plein air study but it came to life owing to the fact that the camera was at hand on one of our Monday morning outings. The tasteful table cloth and the pea green cart wheel simply blow me away .....................

How Time Flies when you're painting .........

First up, - this mornings plein air. It's not signed and I'll probably do a little work on it but not much. We went back to the San Antonio church and managed to find a new angle or two off the square. Only 4 showed up today as it's really slowing down for this fall's shoulder season but we had a lot of fun and went for lunch and a beer after. While we painted a guy who lives across the calle was watching us from his upstairs window and finally came down to have a word with me. He liked what he saw and told me he was a guitar player. Great! - I love live Spanish guitara when painting outside .....one of the perks of this line of work. So he nipped up and got his guitar, sat down on the curb and picked some of the worst guitar music I've ever heard for the next 30 minutes or so. It was a painful surprise, for when a Mexican tells you he plays guitara you can generally rest assured you are in for some class entertainment. Well ..... I didn't know how to react - didn't want to embarrass the guy. So, I pretended I was REALLY CONCENTRATING to cover for the lack of applause. It was a bit of a tooth gritter. You never know what's going to befall you on the streets of old Mexico.

Below:  some of the new ones I've been working on over the last month. 

"The Corn Seller" 16x20 ins.  oil on panel

"Afternoon Shadows along the Rio Laja"  30x40 ins. oil on canvas

"Evening after the Rain"  20x30 ins.  oil on panel

LA BOMBA HISTORICA

"La Bomba Historica" 9x12 in. oil on panel

Well there you are Les. Remember I told you I hate doing commissions?

I loved doing this one! When you have a minute let me know what you think.

Painting on location is a Challenge!

the start

the finish

"Down Piedras Chinas"  9x12 ins.oil on panel 

Painting on location is indeed a Challenge!

We went up to Piedras Chinas again early this sunny morning. It was beautiful but it was cold standing in the shade and with the wind wafting up the calle. That was to be expected,  high in the mountains, even in the midst of summer and I can handle that. Maybe my blood has thinned over the time I've lived here but as I say "it's all part of the job" - when you're really excited and working hard you generate a certain amount of internal heat. People can be a problem .............. and bugs too. Often you roast in the sun in order to exploit that particular angle you just couldn't pass up.

But sometimes they can surprise you and what happened this fine morn was a bit exceptional. I had set up in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a very quiet residence - no sign of life. When I say the "middle" of the sidewalk it is to be understood that I was occupying the whole of the sidewalk as they're about  20 inches wide at this point on P. Chinas. The front walls of the houses begin at the edge of the sidewalk. I hadn't taken any great notice of  the overhanging balcony above. You can't envision every possible eventuality when you go "en plein air" - I hadn't packed an umbrella either ...... it was a fine sunny day. Well, I was pretty inspired by the scene, drawing accurately, working fast - just a cookin' along -  at the point where a little infusion of detail would maybe, with a little luck bring this adventure to a happy conclusion. I was a bit cold so I crossed the road to soak up some sunshine. It doesn't hurt to take a short break at this point, anyway. It allows you a fresh, critical look at what you've done before you do any final damage. We all congregated for a few minutes and whilst our bones warmed we noticed a gringa moving about in the upstairs portion of the casa in question. Suddenly she open the shutters and started liberally watering her thirsty balcony plantas. It didn't take long for that water to seep through the pots and caer to the calle below. In a word, it was a total wash out. The worst of the cascade fell right where I had been standing at the easel. All I could do was gather up my stuff before it got too soggy and move up to where the others were- safe on high ground. 

So, I cussed and shuffled around, generally making a nuisance of myself for quite a time. I finally settled down enough to do a little sketching of an all new subject but the spell definitely had been broken. I started a  painting of this new subject but everyone else was finishing up while I was only about a quarter into it, so we all packed up and headed back down town. 

However, I will work the "start" above to a finish and we'll see where it goes ................

Photo reference

It's kind of dark but should be of some help. Minutes after the photo was taken the site was rendered no-go.

Monday Plein Air

the start

We only had 3 people show up for "Plein Air Monday" this morning. I think because of all the rain lately everybody assumed it would be a washout and slept in. Some folks, I know had better excuses than that. Anyway, we missed you and the sun came through now and then. Although it was a bit chilly we had a good time. We set out to paint the very old little church on Piedras Chinas (near the bottom at Garza). Donna and Yvonne found a good angle and did a couple of good watercolors but I couldn't seem to be happy with the church, so I found myself a windy little spot in the deep shade at one extreme corner of the churchyard looking down onto calle Garza where it meets P. Chinas. I ended up doing a wider angle of it than I at first thought, so I don't have reference material for the foreground vegetation - I may go back up in the morning to finish it "in situ". I will post the result ...............

"Morning Light"  9x12 ins. oil on panel
$450. U.S.
I don't know how many "morning lights" I must have painted by now. ........... Lots!
However, that title seemed to fit better than all other contenders so, - there you are.
It was a great challenge that I hope I have pulled off not too shabbily. It was especially tricky retaining  (maybe even enhancing) the feeling of looking down over that bank. I left out the V.W. in the yard below - it would have become a competing, extra and unnecessary center of interest - even though the empty yard might be a little lonesome without it.

the ref photo

Rooftops

the subject

I forgot to take a ref photo on the morning the painting was begun, so I took this one this morning. Never forget to take a reference photo before you begin. So I have this very dull photo to work from. Naturally, it was sunny the day the painting was begun. Not the end of the world as we know it however. It may even be a plus - we'll see how it goes. It's pretty obvious that we don't try to slavishly copy the subject at any rate.

An artist re-arranges, re-designs, composes, drawing heavily from the right side of their brain .......... 

..........often butchering beyond any hope of recovery what could have been a nice little picture ...........

 

the "start"

It's pretty dull in the studio for painting today - I've been waiting for the light to strengthen a bit but it doesn't look promising. Anyway, let us begin .....................

the "finish"
"Rooftops"  9x12 in. oil on panel
$450. U.S.

Well now,

The first tool I grabbed was the palette knife and I stuck with it almost all the way through. It was very engaging, almost fun, working it over but you know it wasn't nearly as much fun as in the beginning when it was just a "start".  Did I butcher it beyond hope of recovery? - no, I don't think so. I like the result but I do a lot of second guessing that I shouldn't. I just can't seem to help nudging the color a bit here and there, just to see what it might have looked like that way -  I'm usually surprised  to find later that the original, spontaneous decisions were better. Is this a case of "curiosity killed the cat" only in this case it's paintings?
Sobre todo ...............it was an entertaining challenge and those funky rooftops came off not too bad.
...................time to move on ..................