"BLISS 2"sold

I am so happy to be blogging again. I do love writing, and this blog has been a learning tool for me for ten years. Mostly, I talk about my inspirations and growth as a painter. In the beginning, I started the blog because I thought it would be helpful to my students. As it turns out, it has been helpful to me.

Let me explain. You understand that journaling can be a personal journey into self, self growth, etc. I believe that this is very good for an artist. A look inside one's self. 

It is so easy to avoid self exploration. Mostly, it can be painful. And let's face it, we all want to avoid pain, yes? But, at the same time it can be a way and means to self growth. 

As an artist, I have learned that I cannot avoid looking into myself. I need to reach into the real life stuff, and not always the safe areas of my life. I suppose I want to continue to grow and be true to myself. This is why I must continue on this journey. 

We all have a choice. Avoid the deep contours of one's life and remain on the surface, or dig deeper. I guess art has been a vessel in which to dig that trench into who I really am and what really matters.

This is art. This is why we paint. This is what it takes to grow as an artist. It takes, I believe, an inward journey into who we really are and what we want to say.

These past few months I have experienced this kind of self exploration while painting my large formal pieces. As it has turned out, I have discovered that this journey is a worthy investment and I am excited about where it will lead me.

Flowers are one of God’s most beautiful inventions. He knows what beauty is. I am enjoying every minute of the little discoveries that can be found with paint while learning to see the flower in a new way.

I have embraced this journey to explore the color, shape and movement of the flower. Also I am working at learning to see the subtle changes of warm and cool, harmony, edges and variety of shape while keeping my brushwork loose. 

I am using a special medium that I make and I call “the sauce”. This is a thinning agent that keeps the initial block-in very transparent. I finish with plenty of impasto, while keeping some of the initial transparency.

It has turned out to be a never ending discovery process that is so interesting to me, I cannot wait to finish one and move on the the next.

I believe that these florals will continue to evolve as the year progresses, and I can't wait to get back at it on my return to California. Especially because flowers will be abundantly available this Spring.

My Two Favorite Books...

When  I left California to spend 6 months in Arizona, I grabbed my two favorite books. "Sketching from Square One to Trafalgar Square", by Richard E. Scott and "A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art" by Dan McCaw.

You understand.  You are leaving your home to a second home for 6 months! What do you really need to take? When it came down to it, I chose these two books. Which says a lot, yes?

'A Proven Strategy for Creating Great Art' has been a long time favorite. If you are not familiar with the artist Dan McCaw, you must look him up. Look at his older works. He has become a real abstract expressionist is the past few years, but I love it all, especially his older works.  They are very impressionistic with lovely musical balance and color. He knows how to break it down to "seeing" and is a master at color.

This book is very well written with all the basics that you need to create good art. I love the heart work involved. This is where art happens. Unfortunately, this book is no longer in print. The good news is that Dan is writing a new book that should come out fairly soon.  He has two sons who are very good artists themselves.

"Sketching From Square One to Trafalgar Square", is a newer book that has captured my heart. As a teacher, I recommend this book quite often. Richard E. Scott is not an oil painter, but he teaches sketching along the same lines that I teach oil painting. This is a must have!

He takes you through a sketching adventure that will teach you how to see as an artist. Very good stuff.

Do make it a point to study these two books, if possible. Good foundational teaching at it's best.

How I Paint These Days...

It is my belief that once you have a good understanding and practice of the fundamentals of painting, you can go beyond that as far as you want.

What do I mean? Well, it takes years to get this far, but you can get there with practice. You need to work with these elements: VALUE, COLOR, SHAPE, DESIGN, TEXTURE, LINE, EDGES. I could go on. Understanding comes first in your head, but you need to practice to the point where your brush also gets it. So practice.

So when I say you can go beyond this point, I am talking about freedom of expression. You must then learn to work within yourself, and dig deep. Trust it. And trust what you know.

This is a journey that I find myself on. And let's face it, it is all about the journey, yes?

When I took the workshop with Derek Penix last week, he talked a lot about this kind of painting. I was right there with him. I understand that CW Mundy and Quang Ho are on this kind of journey, and I can so relate to their philosophy of painting. I'm excited about this because I have a lot of admiration for these painters.

Not that I will ever get close to their level -- but that doesn't matter. I want to paint from the heart.

The catch?  It can hurt. You must be willing to make mistakes, lot's of them. This is what it takes to grow. So let go of your perfectionistic thinking and go explore.

Some ideas that may help - (some from Derek and some from myself)

Paint with no outlines, and mass in your shapes instead.

Use your whole arm to move the brush and not your hand.

Focus only on about 15% of what the eye can focus on.

Use the dialog of color, shape, value, edges and line....make them work TOGETHER.

Simplify

Keep in mind the quality of light.

Rely on your technical ability while tapping into your intuition.

Hold your brush at the tip for freedom of expression.

Use the elements of light and shadow.

Variety in EVERYTHING.

Don't over think.

Fracture your brush strokes for more interest.

Squint A LOT!

Scrape with a knife from time to time.

Weave all the edges together.

Paint everything at once.

Make changes as you go.

Build the paint as you go.

Make no two things alike.

Use less information in the background.

Step back A LOT!

Use a Mirror!

Use your edges to move the eye around the painting.

Build and destroy, and rebuild.

Expression is a learned technical skill too.

Everything is subject to change.

Keep some of the underpainting showing through.

Keep some areas simple and others more complex.

Explore the elements of design.

Photos are a starting point.

Make every stroke different.

Explore

Don't be rule based.

Paint mistakes with confidence.

Enjoy the process.......

New Classes Coming Up.......

"Abundance" Oil on Linen  36?x36"
Available Here

2017 SUMMER CLASSES IN TRUCKEE

Some exciting news.......

DREAMING OF SUMMER IN TRUCKEE..... Well, as much as I love the desert, I am getting excited about coming home to California next month. And with Spring in the air, I'm putting together some plans for my Summer and Fall classes in Truckee.  I will be teaching a morning class on Wednesdays from 10 am to 1:30. Cost - $50 per class payable on day of class. 24 hours cancellation is required and I will take a waiting list. Buy 4 classes for $185. and use the class by the end of the season. The dates are as follows: May 3rd, 10th & 17th June 14th, 23rd & 28th July 12th & 19th August 16th, 23rd & 30 September 13th, 20th & 27th These classes will start with a review of the basics, painting from the still life set up or from a photo. We will also spend some time learning to paint specific things, such as trees, clouds, etc. I believe that it's worth time spent practicing some new exercises that I have designed - which will result in better paintings. We will focus on the creative passion side of painting, keep it fun, and stay out of judging our own work too harshly We will learn how to identify what it is you love about what is attracting you and paint that! Write it down and post it in front of you.  I'm excited to see all of you and I can't wait to teach again! To sign up, send me an email or give me a call. My new studio will hold 6 to 7 students at most. After I get a full class, I will send out an email with the supply list and the specifics.

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CONTACT INFORMATION: 

Contact: Randy
Email: ranblaz@hotmail.com
Phone: 916-952-7914

Derek Penix

I recently had the opportunity to take a workshop with Derek Penix. I have long been watching his work evolve over the past few years and I love where he is going with his paintings.

It's no wonder that I love his work, he has studied with CW Mundy and Quang Ho, my two most favorite painters of our time. I loved his paintings of boats from the French Riviera, but he is now painting some wonderful new subjects.

Derek taught at the Scottsdale Artists School here in Scottsdale, near our Winter home. It is great that the school is so close by because they have amazing artists from around the United States who come and teach workshops here. I have been following the school for more than ten years, so I had to take advantage of the opportunity. At any given time, they offer 5 or 6 national artists workshops, in addition to weekly classes and open studios. It is located in the heart of the art district in Old Town Scottsdale. I plan to take another workshop when we return to the Phoenix area next October.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the three days working with Derek. I could tell in the first few minutes on the first day that he was a very relaxed teacher who shared my philosophy about painting. After all, I adore the philosophy's of CW and Quang as well. Their influence on his work and thinking about painting is very apparent.

The first day of class, he demonstrated a boat, and I painted from one of his boat photos. Be sure to check out his website.

I'll talk about the philosophy in a later post. In the meantime, happy painting!