"FAMILIA SANTA DE CHIMAYO" - SOLDNew! 100 SMALL PAINTINGS
6"x8" Orig. Oil unframed on Italian Gessoed Panel
MY PROCESS--DOCUMENTING "WORKS IN PROGRESS"- NEW PAINTINGS AND PRINTS. -- INCLUDES PALETTE AND COLOR NOTES.
8/10/09 - Here are the glazes on a new canvas "ADOBE WALLS" - 24"x30" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. I posted the underpainting June lst -- you can scroll down to see the color combinations. Will let this dry for several days before working into it again. Am all set to begin new work - including my 100 SMALL PAINTINGS and GUATEMALAN JOURNEY. DC

15 July 2009 - "CORDOVA AFTERNOON" - 24"x30" Work in progress - Phase II - The Glazes - transparent and semi-transparent colors -- painted over the underpainting after it has dried using the painting medium (recipe for medium in column on the right of this page). The sky is completed -- Thalo Blue, Thalo Green, a dab of Ochre, some Prussian Blue and Paynes Grey for variety. Stay tuned.
"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - 24"x30" Oil on Belgian Linen - Work in Progress - The Glazes. Glazes are transparent, semi-transparent color which I apply over the underpainting. I believe this phase of the painting is essential to add depth and vibrancy to the final painting. After the painting is completed (the next stage is the application of opaque colors) the light enters into the canvas and is refracted back through the layers of color. Somehow this method has evolved over the years and seems to work for me. DC
"ROAD TO WILDERNESS GATE" - NEW WORK IN PROGRESS - My most favorite place in "suburban" Truchas, N.M. (UNDERPAINTING). Mixing all my colors (except for "cartoon" which is reinforced with Prussian Blue) with MG Underpainting White and turpentine. Sky: Thalo Blue - Thalo Blue Green with touch of Ochre to "gray" the colors. Clouds: White is mixed with just a small dab of Cad. Yellow - Grey is Payne's Grey mixed with the while. Middle Ground Greens: Prussian Blue, burnt Sienna, Chrome Oxide Green Opaque. Grasses: Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna. Foreground: Earth colors mixed with Dioxazine Purple.
9 June 2009 - WORK IN PROGRESS - "FROM A SUNSET WALK" - 8"x28" Original Oil on Fine Belgian Linen. This underpainting has been drying for a little over a week - My painting medium has turpentine in it, so the oil sketch must be dry, otherwise the color would be picked up. Now I can "lay in" the glazes -- the transparent dark colors, which is what I will do today. DC
1 June 2009 - "BEHIND ADOBE WALLS" - NEW 24x30" Underpainting. FYI -- While the large 48"x60" underpainting "Donde Nace la Vida" is drying, I am spending this week "blocking in" several more canvases. Sitting at an easel for long periods to complete a painting is not easy -- and there are days when I lack a certain enthusiasm. Usually five or six underpaintings (oil color sketches - MG Fast Drying White and pigment) sit all around me....and as long as they are "down" on the canvas -- I can paint them in my head anytime of the day or night. When I finally put them on the easel, the difficult work of planning the light and shadows, colors, etc. is mostly done -- the excitement has built to complete the canvas and my days at the easel go much more smoothly! DC