"MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS

"MOONDREAMS" - GLAZES
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

6/27/08 -- AH! THE GLAZES! -- Yes, I have painted this little church before, but never quite in this way. As of yesterday, I have almost completed the sky -- and then the foreground was completely "washed" in Cadmium Red thinned down with painting medium. Opaque paints can be thinned to a semi-glaze and then put over the underpainting. I want the final painting to have that last minute look of sun on an early summer evening. This painting is a great example of the value of glazes and how they inform the final tones of the canvas. Am challenging myself to pull this one out of my Art Hat! DC

"MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS

'MOONDREAMS" - WORK IN PROGRESS
24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

6/26/08 - Blocked in four new paintings this week -- I work on portions of one while the others are drying in between underpaintings and glazes. My goal for this piece is to have the autumn moon rising while the sun in setting through an orange glow. I will post the photo of the glazes on this canvas today or tomorrow. They are essential to the final effect of this oil painting. DC

LLANO DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

"LLANO DREAMING" - WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x40" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen
(Underpainting)

6/24/08 -- When doing underpaintings -- work fast. Mix the colors with turpentine and either Foundation White or MG White -- fast drying. This canvas is another perspective of Llano San Juan - one of my favorite places. Trees at the top are a combination of Chrome Oxide Green Opaque and the darker areas are Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna. The colors in the fields are a combination of Yellow Ochre and Mars Orange. Foliage in the front: Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre and some Diox. Purple -- Also some Burnt Sienna. For the snow I am using just the Foundation White -- mixing some Payne's Grey for the shadows. I have a really good feeling about this canvas! I will need to let this underpainting dry for about a week.

AGUA FRIA - WORK IN PROGRESS

"AGUA FRIA" -- WORK IN PROGRESS
30"x24" Original Oil on Belgian Linen
(Underpainting)

6/24/08 -- HERE WE GO AGAIN! Beginning some new work today -- my house smells like turpentine -- even my three-legged cat, Rosie, is hiding under the covers!

This is a "rito" near my home here in Taos. I love to paint water and don't get very specific with the underpainting -- the water needs to "flow", which means it is a free form of painting. Notice the reds at the top center of the painting -- hoping to catch the viewer's eye with that - it's a little trick. Sky: Thalo Blue, Thalo Green with a little Ochre and Foundation White -- a fast-drying underpainting white. Trees and shrubs: Light greys are a combination of the white, Rose Grey, some Ochre and Payne's Grey. Water: A mixture of the sky colors with Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna for the darker colors. Also bring into the water the other colors in the painting to peek through as reflections. This canvas will be fun -- Stay tuned!

AUTUMN DREAMING - NEW COMPLETED OIL

"AUTUMN DREAMING"
(Completed 6/21/08)

22"x28"New Original Oil Painting on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos Studio at
(575)758-7454

AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS
22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

Monday, 6/16/08 -- Working this painting a little differently than many of the others. Rather than just putting in pure glazes, I am mixing a lot of opaque paints with the darker colors. The sky is completed -- Thalo Blue, Thalo Green, Permalba White with a touch of Yellow Ochre (which grays the blue so that it isn't so overwhelming). The trees and the yellow part of the chamisa is a combination of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre -- and for the darker parts, I have added a little bit of Diox. Purple. The greens are various combinations of Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue for the darkest areas -- also added some Diox. Purple. For the lighter greens I used a "dirty brush" -- a combination of the yellows for the chamisa with the greens. The road will be a bunch of left over colors from my palette mixed together after a day of painting - otherwise known as "mud". This will be a bright and interesting painting. If you would like to see the underpainting, please scroll down to my blog entry of May 26th. Stay tuned!

TEMPLO SION - Studio Edition Archival Giclee

"TEMPLO SION" - New Studio Edition Print

6/14/08 - This morning I was able to photograph this original painting (only three oils left of my personal "Truchas collection"). For a while I lived next door to this little Assembly of God church on the main road in Truchas -- and this is the way it looked twenty years ago. As with everything in New Mexico these days, it has since been turned into a gallery with orange shutters; I can't help feeling that something precious has been lost in the translation.

Now available as a Studio Edition Archival Giclee - printed on Enhanced Matte Presentation Paper (22"x17" sheet size) -- $100.00, plus $10.00 Shipping and Handling (mailed flat). Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express now available through my studio. To order please call my Taos Studio (575) 758-7454.

HOLY SMOKE! -- FINAL TOUCH - SOLD

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - Completed 6/5/08
Sold 6/2/08

Added the swirl of smoke -- the painting didn't feel complete to me without it!

SUENOS DEL NORTE - SOLD

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - SOLD
(Completed 2 June 2008-Sold 3 June 2008)

22X28" Original Oil Painting on Fine Belgian Linen
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner
For price and availability, please call my Taos studio at
(575) 758-7454

SUENOS DEL NORTE - WORK IN PROGRESS

"SUENOS DEL NORTE" - GLAZES

Monday, 5/26/08 - It seems that I mixed a little too much cobalt dryer into my painting medium and the varnish got a little syrupy -- added more turpentine. I want this to be a quiet, dreamy full-moon painting, so the lighting is a little tricky...a lot of "invention" will go into this canvas! Stay tuned.

AUTUMN DREAMING - WORK IN PROGRESS

"AUTUMN DREAMING" - UNDERPAINTING

Monday, 5/26/08 - 22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - All my colors have been mixed with turpentine and MG Underpainting White.  I have used various sizes of bristle brushes to make a color sketch of the scene.  Sky: Thalo Blue, Thalo Green with a touch of Yellow Ochre.  Trees and Chamisa:  Various shades of Cadmium Yello and Yellow Ochre -- to make shadows, add a little bit of Diox. Purple or Cobalt Violet to yellows.  The Road:  Various mixtures of Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Rose Grey, Cadmium Yellow.  This underpainting has dried for about ten days -- I will begin to put the glazes in tomorrow.  Stay Tuned!!! 

LLANO SAN JUAN - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"LLANO SAN JUAN"

36"x48" New Original Oil Painting

Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

Completed 5/23/08

EL LLANO - NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"EL LLANO"

22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen

Framed in Gold with Linen Liner

On exhibit at McLARRY FINE ART GALLERY

225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M.

(505) 988-1161

"ALMOST HOME" - ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING

"ALMOST HOME" - NEW ORIGINAL OIL

ONCE UPON A TIME in a place called Llano Quemado (suburban Truchas, New Mexico), I lived on a horse ranch high in the mountains overlooking the Espanola Valley.  One spring a man from Santa Fe brought five pregnant mares to board at the ranch,  along with a "How to Foal" instruction book.  My favorite was a huge white Arabian named Radiant Wind.  Away from the main ranch house there was a horse barn and a small apartment attached to the foaling stall.  Late one night I watched her give birth to a beautiful black colt...what joy!

"Almost Home" - (30"x30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas - framed in gold with linen liner) is the view from the edge of the small village of Rio Chiquito.  From that little back road I would reconnect with the Truchas highway -- home to the ranch, usually at sunset.

Now being exhibited at MC LARRY FINE ART GALLERY, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M. (505) 988-1161.

EL LLANO - WORK IN PROGRESS - GLAZES

"EL LLANO" - WORK IN PROGRESS - GLAZES

4/17/08 - 22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. It's snowing and cold here today and am enjoying sitting in the warm studio working! Working the Glazes into the Underpainting (See 4/10/08 Post). There is something a little unusual about this painting in that I am adding more opaques to the glazes. The sky is a mixture of Permalba White, Thalo Blue, Thalo Green and a little bit of Indanthrone Blue. The shape of the clouds is Permalba White -- with a little Payne's Grey. The darkest greens are Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- and I have added some Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. What appears as the road is what I call a "dirty" mixture, because I have taken the colors which weren't used after yesterday's work and mixed them all together and saved the little pile of paint for today-- a perfect dirt color! The foreground - Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna -- then mixtures of Yellow Ochre, Mars Orange, Cadmium Orange and Chrome Oxide Gr. Opaque. This canvas will dry for about a week to ten days before I can work into the colors again. STAY TUNED!

NEW! UNA TARDE DE RIO CHIQUITO

"UNA TARDE DE RIO CHIQUITO"

11"x14" Color Study in oil for larger painting (30"x30"-"ALMOST HOME) -- This study is painted on gessoed Italian Wood Panel - Framed in Gold with Linen Liner. For more information, please call MC LARRY FINE ART GALLERY, 225 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, N.M. (505) 988-1161.

"EL LLANO" - WORK IN PROGRESS

"EL LLANO" - UNDERPAINTING

22"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen - Am trying for a very quiet, early morning feeling. For color mixtures, please view the previous post. Next - glazes, glazes, glazes......Keep coming back!

ALMOST HOME - WORK IN PROGRESS

"ALMOST HOME" - UNDERPAINTING

30"x30" Original Oil on Fine Artist's Canvas --A full color turpentine wash over the whole canvas.....my usual mixtures from Cadmium Yellow, to Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna and some Diox. Purple. Next come the glazes.....Stay Tuned!

"CHAMISA DAZE" - NEW ORIGINAL OIL-SOLD

"CHAMISA DAZE" - SOLD

New Original Oil Painting - 11"x14" on Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner.

"DOWN A COUNTRY LANE" - New Original Oil - SOLD

"DOWN A COUNTRY LANE" - SOLD

NEW ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING - Completed 3/27/08
11"x14" on Italian Gessoboard
Framed in Gold with Linen Liner