Out of Commission

Wow! it has been one hell of a winter and spring for me. I have been out of commission for about three months now. At least out of commission from my studio works.

My studio work came to a stop this past winter which has been one of the coldest winters in my 20 yrs. in Florida. To put things in perspective, it all started when one of our water pipes in the house busted and flooded 4 of our rooms, including hallways. The majority of the rooms had carpeting which all had to be replaced. Our homeowners insurance helped with some of the expenses. It's a very long story so I am trying to keep this short.

All our furniture had to be moved into my studio, hence the out of commission from studio work. This turn in my life however did not keep me from painting outdoors once a month with my group OPAP (Ocala Plein Air Painters). Thank goodness I could still swing a brush to keep my painting skills sharp.

It has been a long three months of major repairs in my home with everyday and weekends devoted to repairing our home. My wife and I are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait to get my studio back in order to start painting, blogging and spending quality time with my friends and family. Now, Let's paint!

That would be my studio. You can see my wall easel in the very back.

Double Vision

In an earlier blog I talked about painting two panels side by side. I decided to share this painting project as well. This project was a couple of hand painted signs for the Hilton of Ocala.

I usually do not like to paint the same painting twice. I find it very boring to repeat the same subject over and over. If painting the subject twice wasn't bad enough, I had to paint the same exact painting about 20 feet up on the front entrance of the Hilton building. This time the painting was about a 5'Hx10'W mural.

The two smaller paintings were resting on my makeshift easel. I had them very close together so as I painted a particular area on one, I would immediately do the same to the other. It was a scene to see me go from side to side like a large digital printer, only it was just me flinging around a brush and paint.

These signs were to be installed outdoors in an entry driveway of the Hilton, so I used a high gloss outdoor enamel sign paint. After the paintings were fully dry I sprayed them down with a clear finish for added protection.

Even though I do not like to paint the same exact subject over and over again, sometimes one needs to bite the bullet and do what is necessary in order to pay those pesky bills. Now let's paint!

Paintings in Progress

This is kind of a funny story looking back at it now. For the most part I like to choose my subjects for my paintings. My wife always says Jose does what Jose wants to do and when he wants to do it. Which brings me to this story.

My wife and I have always wanted to finish an area on our back patio. Well, the visit of my sister-in-law and her husband during the holidays motivated us to finally do something about it. Family visits always have a way of pushing one to finish a long overdue project. I only had three days to finish two 4'x2' vertical paintings and have them hung up by the time our guests showed which was supposed to be on the fourth day.

Not being the type of artist that likes to paint for decor purposes, this was that type of project commissioned to me by my lovely wife Terry. Terry wanted the paintings to tie in with our backyard which is a beautiful lush garden that is hard to describe without one actually seeing it to appreciate it. It was also to match with the blue color theme that she had going in this area; hence the decor part.

The paintings are a project continuation from the article I posted earlier about blending a background. Keep in mind I had three days alloted and I usually do not paint for more than three hours per session; 4 hrs tops. I had plenty of time for the scene in my mind. I painted the background one evening. The next day I started the painting in the afternoon. I figured I would finish on the third day if I worked all day. Not!

As I was painting on the last day alloted and I think I was 3/4 of the way done with the painting, the phone rings. Guess who is showing in about an hour. You see our guests decided to drive through and show up a day earlier than scheduled and surprise us. Ahhhh! But I'm not finished! The panic fills the air. Working quickly, I slap some paint here and there, and then the edges because it is a gallery wrap canvas and would look silly if the paint did not continue on the sides.

I told my wife I would need to finish it at a later date and proceeded to hang the paintings. As we were hanging the paintings the edges where still wet enough to come off on my hands as we hung them. I was working in acrylics as usual so you can imagine how quickly I took them off my wall easel. It was a stressful time but looking back, it seems kind of funny now. I still have hours left to finish the paintings because the paintings are still missing more foliage, highlights and blue tinted birds of paradise flowers to match the blue theme. So in essence the patio project I have procrastinated on for some time now is still not completely finished. Well, it's back to the studio for final brush strokes. Now let's paint!

Blending a Background

I wanted to show a gradient of color as a background on my latest painting project. Blending large areas with acrylics is not an easy task to accomplish. The acrylics unlike oils like to dry fast which leads to possible un-uniform or a poor gradual transition from one color to the next.

When I want to cover a large area I make sure I have plenty of paint mixed up so as not to run out and then try to re-mix more paint and not have the exact combination to match the earlier mixture. Painting a gradual transition on a smaller canvas is a lot simpler than a larger canvas such as a 24"x48" which is the case in this project.

In order to make my transition of color look smooth, I mix three different mixes of the same color. By this I mean I would take the original mix, only this time I would add some white to lighten it up. This would give me my middle tone. Then I would take that combination and make an even lighter mix and that would give me my high tone "lightest value". So in essence I have three different swatches of paint on my palette, once again a step not needed when it comes to a smaller canvases.

I was working on two panels at the same time in order to maintain consistency because these panels are to be placed almost side by side so I wanted it to look uniformed. I placed both canvases on a table only because these were gallery wrap canvases and I wanted to get the edges at the same time. Working quickly, I stated at one end "bottom" with my darker color painting towards the center; once close to the center of the canvas I added the mid-tone and blended the two colors together. Making sure my brush was clean I added the lighter mix and blended it with the mid-tone, then continued to paint to the end of the canvas "top" with the lightest color.

24"x48" gallery wrap canvases painted on a table.

24"x48" canvases on my wall easel ready for paint.

One thing to remember is that you have to make sure you have a clean brush for the purest color areas. If you happen to also know how to use an air brush, this is an alternative way. What can I say, I got lazy and did not want to set up my guns, let alone the clean up work. You might want to have an extra brush or two for the blending areas. I always went back and quickly cleaned my brush. With practice and a no fear attitude of making a mistake you too can blend your backgrounds with acrylic paints. Now let's paint!