AM I BLUE? - Eastern Bluebird

"Am I Blue?" 8x10 Watercolor

 

I love birds...and one of my favorites is the Bluebird! This little guy is all "puffed up" against a cold north wind. From 1983 to 1986 I lived in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  In addition to mountains, pine trees and rishing rivers,  my subject matter included birds of all types...songbirds, gamebirds, ducks, geese, hawks, eagles....if it had feathers, I painted it.  When I moved back to Texas, my subject matter turned more toward the plains, Hill Country, farms and ranches.

In the application of the final few strokes, I realized how much I've missed  painting these joyful creatures - So, look for more of my feathered friends on my blog and website! 

Out To Sea - By Tina Bohlman

Out To Sea - View from the Betzel's - 36 x 48 Oil on Canvas

First let me say that a good commission doesn't come along very often....nor does one often have a "story". This commission is one that resulted from being in the right place at the right time; I'm a true believer that things happen when they're supposed to. This story began last October during my participation in the Invitational Coastal Paint Out in Port Aransas, TX. On the last morning of the event, there was a Quick Draw event - it was cold and the wind was coming off the ship channel about 30 mph...but I persevered & painted a nice one in spite of the uncomfortable conditions. After the Quick Draw, my husband & I wanted to grab some coffee to "warm up" & decided to have a late breakfast at a local cafe`. It was very crowded with only 1 table available, so it was good to be seated and not have to wait. About 10 minutes later, another couple came in - no table available, so my husband (who never met a stranger) waved them over to share our table. We exchanged names...the usual chit-chat about "where we're from" and "why we're here". Bill & Jeanne were from Ft. Worth and purchased a 2nd home in Port A. Long story short, they invited us to see their home and to discuss a commission painting for a large wall in the living area. Their home is located on the entrance of ship channel to Corpus Christi Bay just about 1/4 mile down from the ferry landing. Lovely home; gorgeous view. Bill & Jeanne's favorite past-time is watching the dolphins "playing" out in front of the ships as they come & go. So...my commission was to replicate their "view"....the channel, the ship, their pier....and the dolphins.

So, my journey began with creating a composition that would include these elements, with a huge orange tanker (they gave me a photo of "THE" ship) as the focus. Problem #1: I have never painted anything (that floats) bigger than a shrimper. Problem #2: The canvas is 36 x 48...almost taller than I am...and when on the easel, it is definitely above my head. Problem #3: The tanker is really, really big and the elements had to be "to scale" in comparison. Problem #4: This ship is a bright, eye-popping orange!

From December until the end of April, I spent almost as much time planning & thinking as I did re-mixing a slightly different color than the one previously applied. One "adjustment" lead to another, and another; layer upon layer until the final stroke almost 5 months later. I put the painting on my fireplace mantel and after 2 weeks, decided it was finished & signed it.



"Leading the Way" - Dolphins 12x12 Oil on canvas

One of the issues I had with "scale" is that the dolphins had to be very tiny in the painting - and the dolphins were the source of a lot of fun for Bill and Jeanne...watching them jump and "challenge" the ship to catch them. Off and on over the last month, I painted this small "close-up" of the dolphins as a surprise gift for them. Now, this is a FUN painting! It makes me smile.

Meanwhile, as I was struggling with the usual problems that accompany a large commission work, Bill and Jeanne were going through struggles of their own; Bill had open heart surgery (doing fine & recovering nicely) and she was scheduled for rotator cuff surgery in about 2 weeks. So when I let them know the painting was ready, they were thrilled and excited to see it. My husband and I delivered both paintings last Sunday afternoon. They love it....as well as the little dolphin painting...and the timing is perfect - with Bill still recovering and Jeanne scheduled for surgery soon, their trips to Port A have been put off for at least 2 or 3 more months. The painting is hanging in their patio room which is kind of "tropical" and they can enjoy the "view" of the ship channel as if they are looking through the windows in their home in Port A.

I'd also like to mention that this commission is very special....but in a personal way - my husband and I now have 2 new friends; and it all began with sharing a breakfast table with strangers in Port Aransas, Texas.

By the way, have I ever mentioned that I really do love my job?

En Plein Air GO!

Terlingua Creek - 10 x 12 Oil

Today I'm excited to share a new adventure - I've been asked to be a contributor to a new plein air website EnPleinAirGO!  This is a sister-site to Eric Michaels' En Plein Air Pro blog and website.  The site will publish reviews from different plein air artists of favorite painting destinations. Those of you who follow my plein air "travels" know that my field easel is the En Plein Air Pro   My first review is Big Bend National Park.  Included in the review are photos of the area - photos of paintings completed there along with suggestions on how to get there, where to stay, eat, ....and, of course...paint!  

  Old Mine Shack - Watercolor 9x12

The 2 paintings in this post were painted in 2012  just outside the west gate of Big Bend National Park - Terlingua, Texas.   I will be writing a review (complete with photos) on a favorite "destination" about every 2 to 4 weeks.  I'm really going to enjoy being a contributor to the site.  Writing these reviews will take me back - allow me to re-visit the sights & sounds and the joy of painting on location.   I'm looking forward also to reading reviews of other artist's favorite destinations and add to my "bucket list" of places to paint......Anyway, click on this link and take a little trip with me....

"Under The Palms" - 30x30 Oil by Tina Bohlman

                                                              



"Under The Palms" - 30x30 Oil on Canvas



"Under the Palms" is my most recent oil painting..... the result of a request from my daughter for "something beachy" to fill a 40" space on her living room wall. This was no small request! Her favorite place is in the Caribbean so she knows the subject well. I don't usually photograph a project in it's different stages, but I thought it important to document progress for my daughter as a record to accompany the painting when it passes to the next generation in her family:

Photo #1

With a thin mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue, I blocked in the light, medium and dark values in the composition. I really liked the strong "grayscale" rendering and was tempted to stop and go no farther! But.....even though this was a nice "sketch" I knew my daughter had somthing more "colorful" in mind....

Photo #2

......so I mixed up a big puddle of cobalt blue, thinned it with Gamsol & washed in the sky including a thin veil of blue over the distant island.

Photo #3

Working alternately between the foreground and mid-ground, I began developing the wide variety of greens. The greens in the foreground are darker in value and "warmer" (more red), while the greens behind the cabana are lighter in value and "cooler" (more blue). Separating colors from the foreground by "temperature" creates depth.

Photo #4

In Photo #4, I worked on the background first by painting the distant trees and enhanced the island mountain. Moving forward to the middle ground, I painted the beach, the 1st layer of color on the hut, and added highlight definition to the palms & foliage behind the hut.

Photo #5

Photo #5 shows about 1/2 day's work; Added more color to the sky at the top, gradating down through cloud formations ending with a cerulean (greenish-blue) at the horizon. Painted the water & added a shoreline in the distance. Brought the sand color forward as far as the trees and around the hut. I worked a little more on the hut; shaped it up, added texture, and defined the support poles some more. Painted the 1st layer of color on the palm tree in the right foreground.

Photo #6

Now it's really beginning to take shape! I finish all the foreground trees; palms, their trunks and all the darkest darks & lightest lights that gives them depth. More work on the thatch roof; softened the shadow edges and added more texture to the thatch. Worked a little more on the horizon, especially in the area where the mountain recedes and softly disappears into the blue sky. This stage of the painting was another 1/2 day - palm trees are no easy task! The application as well as the direction of the brush stroke makes a difference....If the brush stroke is wrong, then the frond doesn't take on the right shape.....and there are so many varying shapes with one upon the other. The shapes - as a whole - have to give the viewer a sense of "motion".... there's always a breeze on the beach. Then there are the bright, clear colors.....oh, my!..... ranging from red to green to yellow.

Photo #7 - "Under The Palms" - 30x30 Oil on Canvas

 Photo #7 is the finished painting. The "gallery wrap" sides aren't visable. Painting the sides, top & bottom involved another couple of hours with "drying time" of 2 hours between each side. While working on the sides, I decided the cabana was a little too "perfect" so I created a hole on the edge of the roof and repainted the shadow below to show sunlight coming through. Repainting the shadows under the hut led to working a little more on "edges" between the sunlight and shadow on the sand - making some softer & lighter, others harder and darker.

I delivered the painting on Christmas Eve and judging by her reaction I think she liked it!!!  Of all the "commissions" in my career, this one gave me the most pleasure; it was a special request from my daughter, a subject that gave me a bit of a challenge (very different from a Texas landscape) but most importantly, it's a painting that (I hope) will remain in my family for a long, long time.

Painting Big Bend National Park

The past 2 months have been "crazy busy"!  In between paint out & exhibition events, I traveled to Graham and Mount Pleasant (on different days, of course) and gave a watercolor demonstration for each art group.  In mid-November, the Pecan Plantation art association in Granbury invited me for a demo and the following weekend, I taught a 1-day greeting card workshop to their group.  It was very much fun & everyone completed at least 3 cards on that day.

Port A Invitational Coastal Paint Out the last weekend of October was not only fun, but very rewarding.  My quick draw painting of the Marina and a popular local seafood restaurant won the People's Choice award. 

"U Hook 'Em - We Cook 'Em"  9x12 Watercolor
This painting will appear on the 2013 Port A Coastal Paint Out event poster!

Following my trip to the coast, I participated in the Kerrville Paint Out event along with 50 very talented painters.  Very honored to have won the People's Choice award with my quick draw painting
titled "Cool Shadows".

"Cool Shadows" - 9x12 Watercolor

I spent the last week of November painting in Big Bend.  I painted in the park last March with watercolor.  This trip I worked in oil.  I tried to capture Santa Elena Canyon in both mediums and there just isn't any way to give that awesome scene "justice".  You just have to go there & see it for yourself.  Standing on the banks of the Rio Grande with Mexico just a stone throw away, you're at the foot of  canyon walls that go straight up....bathed in bright sun on one side and deep purple & blue shadows on the other.  Totally overwhelming...even for an experienced painter.  I gave it my best shot....but just couldn't "pull it off"; the painting (along with the watercolor painted last March) will go into my "source bin" with the hope that I can use it to make a good studio painting one day.  I wasn't alone in my endeavor....14 other painters were out there with me.  I liked the paintings the others did, although most of the painters felt as I did: just can't do that canyon the justice it deserves on canvas!  But the day was wonderful; 80 degrees, clear blue skies - In the photo below, I'm the painter on the far left.



Santa Elena Canyon - Big Bend

 



 

In a few days, I'll post some of my value sketches and share my color studies....along with a couple of paintings that I think are destined for the Plein Air Southwest 2013 show - deadline is Jan 6th... all entries must have been completed - plein air - in 2012.....time's running out!

"Cool Shadows" Wins Peoples' Choice in Kerrville, TX

This past weekend, I participated in the Kerrville Outdoor Painters' Event in Kerrville, Texas.  In the 2-1/2 days on location,  I managed to complete 4 paintings.  We were allowed to submit 3 to the exhibit judged by nationally known Albert Handell.  Included in my 3 paintings was my Quick Draw painting - which won the Peoples' Choice award.

"Cool Shadows" - 9x12 Watercolor - SOLD

Winner:  Peoples' Choice Award

 

The Barn - Kerrville Hills Winery

9x12 Watercolor

 

 

The Well House - Kerrville Hills Winery

9x12 Watercolor

 

 

The painting, "Cool Shadows" sold at the evening reception Saturday night.  The other 2 might still available - the exhibit will continue until November 3rd.  This event was a "1st Annual" and it was evident that the organizers definitely did their homework on how to host an outdoor painting event.  From the moment of check in on Thursday until the final hour of the Saturday night awards presentation, the event was staffed with helpful and knowledgeable people.  I definitely will add this paint out to my calendar for next year. 

HOME "PORTRAIT" COMMISSION - 201 East University

"The Fowler Home - 201 East University"  16 x 20 Watercolor

Home portrait commissions are hard work.  Most go together pretty quick; the elements are easily defined and arranged into a pleasing composition.  If it's one of the quick ones, the "research phase" only involves 2 on location sessions for color notes and sketches of architecture details that are lost in the shadow areas of a photograph. The "drawing phase" is about 4 hours and the "painting phase" takes from 4 to 6 hours.  Then there are commissions that take a bit longer.....like this one; "The Fowler Home".  As you can see from my reference photos below, this is not a small house!  

This 2-1/2 story home is a 100+year old beauty sitting on a 1/4 acre lot in a historical residential district of Waxahachie.  Mature trees surround the house and in the summer the dappled light adds to the charm.  One tree on the north side is probably older than the house.  On the south side toward the back is the carriage house.  The home and carriage house have been through many phases of restoration which involves a lot of time, patience, and expense. After many happy years of raising a family, the owners are now "empty nesters" and have decided to down-size.  They commissioned the painting as a memory to take with them and will pass the painting on to the children.

This is a close-up detail of the front door.

View looking north toward the 100+ year old tree

View of the front from the street

The carriage house

During my interview with the owners, I quickly discovered that the carriage house and the big tree were important to them.  In order to include both in the composition, the "angle" of the house had to be "straight-on" with the tree on the right and the carriage house on the left. Oh, and the brick walk was important too; they laid it by hand themselves. 

This is the finished drawing.  I worked on "thumbnail" sketches for 3 days, which involved several trips back to the house to verify bits of detail.  My process is to first get the proper "scale"; the house compared to the size of the carriage house and the big tree.  Next is to accurately draw the house. "Getting it right" on a project like this requires a lot of drawing, erasing, and re-drawing...so the original draft is on a piece of transparent vellum that erases easily.  Throughout the entire drawing process, I'm checking to make sure all horizontal and vertical lines are "true".  If those lines are right, then all other lines fall into place easily, such as the hipped roof angles.  When I'm satisfied with the drawing, I transfer it to the watercolor paper using a graphite-based paper - it's the artist's "carbon" paper.

 This is about 50% complete.  I've washed in the pale yellow color of the house leaving the white of the paper for the porch railings and trim.  Added some landscaping and part of the background on the right.  and lightly washed in the big tree's foliage. The Crape Myrtle tree and carriage house on the left are about 85%.

 I apologize for the "slanted" angle of this photo; the drawing is straight; it's my camera that's crooked -  This shows the washed in shadows and dappled light cast from the big tree on the roof & front of the house.  A little more detail is added to the trees and I've defined the brick walk and detail of the windows and doors a little more.  I will apply 2 or 3 more light washes to deepen the color of the house and finish the big tree & foliage.  The last is to finish the foreground'; I'll add shadows cast from the tree across the lawn and walk.  The home during different times of day is usually in "dappled light" and partial shade. It sits facing the east so this is a "morning" painting.

 I compare values and color against my photos and sketches - I allow the paint to completely dry to make sure there are no more value "shifts".  Watercolor when dry is usually 3 to 4 times lighter than when it is wet.  Since this painting is on 300# Arches paper, it takes about an hour to dry completely.  When completely dry and under low humidity conditions, I'll apply 3 coats of clear matte acrylic - front and back - to seal the painting and render it "waterproof".  My clients can make the decision to mat and frame it traditionally under glass...or (my preference) frame it without the mats or glass.

This commission was a lot of work - about 20 hours total; but it was joyful work.  I love turn-of-the-century homes...they just don't make 'em like that any more, and I appreciate people - like my clients - who take time and money to care and preserve them for the next generation.