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I posted a painting of a Red-Winged Blackbird and another of Daffodils. Different watercolor paintings with not much in common... So why Daffodil Vs Blackbird. When walking my dog this morning, I as contemplating how they were starkly opposite in how a subject was picked for painting. The daffodil was part of the annual Daffodil Hill event near Volcano, CA, where the public is invited to walk on trails through and area of 300,000 daffodils. You can imagine how colorful that event was and how thousands of photos are taken daily by the visitors during that short season. A can't miss opportunity to find a painting subject. Sometimes I will go to similar colorful public events with that same thought in mind, maybe I'll see something dazzling enough that's worth painting.

On the flip side is the Blackbird. I see that bird virtually daily on my dog walk because I live near a protected wetland. From a distance it really isn't spectacular and you see it so much it just becomes a mundane background, like sound becoming white noise. You can no longer discern an art subject because your blinded by the constant contact. However, if you look harder there is an art subject in everything. It doesn't have to be big, colorful, or spectacular. I could make an interesting painting out of a garbage can, not that there would be in any interest by viewers but art is art. The point is the ability to look for art in the mundane and more subjects will reveal themselves to you as potential subjects. It takes a proactive effort by an artist to see what they didn't see or can no longer see. Once that is mastered, your life becomes richer visually and the world of art subjects have multiplied many fold. I'm not saying that it is an easy thing but it's worth the effort and I will keep trying constantly to improve myself.

So yes, there is a difference between the two and I need to work at seeing more things like the white noise of a blackbird.

I posted #206 Rattlesnake Bar. The ink and watercolor painting might seem kind of strange without an explanation. The reference photo was crappy with poor lighting and the winter scene was really dull but it was the best of the few photos I took on the hike and I was determined to paint some part of Folsom Lake. The lake was at a historic low due to the drought and I found the eroded muddy hillside shapes interesting. I first drew in the picture with ink and then painted on watercolor. To make it more interesting (to me) I decided to exaggerate the color differences. Without the reference photo and explanation, the painting might seem like odd and unreal. This started me on a journey increasing the color or saturation of the subject because I like the intensity it gives. I know for most the forty paintings that followed this one, I did put an emphasis on color.

I posted snow landscapes #202 and #204. White is a big deal to some watercolor societies and artists. Unless you paint in watercolor, you probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Paintings done in "Transparent Watercolor", means that no white paint was used. The only white you see is the color of unpainted watercolor paper. This means you have to plan your painting out and reserve or mask the white areas as you paint. Some groups don't consider you as a true water colorist unless you can paint in this style. So it is usually the game I play along with unless I decide to do mixed media. Because once you add white ink or white paint to the painting, it is no longer transparent watercolor. That also means mixing any white paint with other colors and the white is usually pigmented with Titanium Dioxide. The whole idea of this transparency dates back to the 19th century is based on a false premise because they did not understand the actually physics involved with paint, paper, and light. The belief is that colors and white reflect back with more luminosity or intensity if only the white of the paper reflects through the paint to the viewer's eyes and not dulled by white paint. So here's a case of tradition unimpeded by two centuries of progress and still rules the watercolor world.

If had a choice of being accepted as a transparent water colorist or being as skilled as Winslow Homer... Homer would win. Homer as well as other remarkable water colorist in his day, used white gouache. But for now, most of my watercolors are done in the traditional transparent watercolor style.

I just posted two paintings of Blue Oak Leaves. During my morning dog walks I'm always looking for things that I can paint that represent the region. There's no great landscapes or distinctive landmarks in my area so I decided to go small. Blue Oak is only native to California and is found in this area. They even named a street near my house, Blue Oaks Blvd. So that is why Blue Oak Leaves became my subject of two experiments.

Oak tree leaves are predominantly green. I detest green paint straight from the tube. It has an artificial chemical look to it. Phthalo green, veridian, and Hookers green don't quite match nature's green. Sap green comes close but still no cigar. If you mix other colors in with tube green, then you can match nature. Imagine if you only had pink paint from a tube and you had to paint a red apple. Sure it kind of looks like and apple but it will forever have that artificially painted look.

I decided to go one step beyond green, by painting a picture with zero green tube paint. No, it's not true that if mix yellow and blue that you automatically get green, sometimes you get gray or weird shades. Chemicals used in watercolor paint don't necessarily mix in the way you expect. There's actually a book written about it called "Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green" by Michael Wilcox which part of my art library. So all the green you see in #201 Blue Oak Leaves was created from mixing other colors and I tried to capture the essence of what the correct green would be for a Blue Oak, Quercus douglassii.

In #203 Blue Oak Leaves 2, I experimented with hot press paper. The background I wanted to less sharp than the leaves but sill have texture or interest so I experimented with different brush strokes. Of course the hot press smooth paper has of mind of it's own, so it was learning experience. I did you green from a tube but I almost never use it straight. I modify the green with other colors, and when you don't that you have an infinite palette of natural greens.

Nature is full of green. It is unavoidable if you paint nature. To paint the correct green takes work. That is one reason I hate green.

I posted #199 Red Maple today. Still in the early phases of restarting art, I decided to pick mundane objects I see daily to try different watercolor techniques. It is hard to get the color intensity just right without sometimes doing multiple washes to increase the pigment concentration. In this painting I also used dry brush technique to try to capture the textures of the leaf. In early 2015 besides the Red Maple, I painted some oak leaves I saw while walking the dog.

Looking at a twig of oaks leaves is a rather mundane subject. That was the challenge to myself, can I make leaves look more interesting besides just the task of painting it? For one the blue oak leaf paintings (#201 yet to be posted), I decided not to use any green paint from a tube. All the greens in that painting were created by mixing other colors. The other oak leaf painting (#203, also not posted yet) I tried incorporate a blurry stylized background yet to keep the leaves sharp. Blue Oak, Quercus douglassi, is native in this area and I wanted to capture the essence of that type of oak. A big street near me is called Blue Oaks Blvd., yet I wonder how residents around here actually looked closely at the leaves for detail and color.

Leaves are very simple, not spectacular, and always around us. A relatively simple subject becomes a mental exercise for my paintings. It doesn't matter what I paint there is always some mental game I play while painting. Can I improve visually upon what is reality.

I've posted #196 Bourn Cottage and #197 Spike and Sadie. These were done after I become a new resident of Roseville, CA. I met a few new friends and wanted to explore the region.

The Bourn Cottage was seen during a tour of the Empire Mine historical park near Grass Valley and Nevada City. It was created at the richest, oldest, deepest gold mine in California history. The cottage was drawn with pen and ink and then I filled in the color with watercolor. I was thinking about old pictures of buildings I've seen done in "pen and wash" style and was wondering what it would be like to try that. My experiment in mixed media.

The dogs were owned by a couple living in the Newcastle area north of me. Now that I had dug through my storage and found my seventeen plus year old tubes of watercolor painting, I wanted to see if they were still viable. The dogs became the subject of the transparent watercolor painting a few weeks before 2015. Since it came out okay, I decided to jump back into watercolor painting in 2015. ....and the tubes... 30% of them were dried up but on the other hand 70% were still good!

Painting koi with watercolor is like... shooting fish in a barrel, an easy win. You can layer in the waves and shimmering with transparent watercolor paint and the koi are naturally colorful. I've painted about three paintings of koi at the Hakone Garden in Saratoga, CA. After moving up to Roseville, I found a little koi pond at the High Hand Nursery in Loomis. I painted another batch of koi paintings from that as well. I like painting koi but there is more to life than fish so I seek other subjects but if I had to limit my subjects, koi would be in top part of my list.

I added a painting of my buddy, Jerry. We have worked with the same employers since the late 70's and we retired within three years of each other. For a short time in recent years he ended up living in Roseville as he was providing hospice care for his in-laws while dealing with his own cancer and his wife's cancer. During that period it was quite trying for him both physically and emotionally, we would often take motorcycle rides. I knew those rides were therapeutic and great breaks the strain of hospice care. After the hospice care ended he has moved back to his home in Georgia.

He came out for a short visit as we attended a retirement dinner for friends this week in April 2016. I was submitting an application for the Placer Arts Org. open studio tour for November 2016. I had Jerry review and edit my "Artist Statement." My writing tends to be very short and not elaborate because my career required reports for court. I decided to put this new artist statement into my Info/About section. I think it's a bit long for an artist statement but it does explain my art. Thanks Jerry.

I decided to add some of my old paintings to get this website moving along a little faster. They're from when I started painting in December 1993 till I quit in April 1998. The Sunflowers painting (#190) was the last painting from that period. From this point on I'll post paintings that are from 2015 to the present after I restarted my watercolor painting.

I decided to start a website for my art. I have about 40 paintings laying around the house and will post one a week. Most of the 40 were painted in the last year since I've restarted painting. If you notice anything wrong or could be improved on this website, please let me know. Or if you have and questions , feel free to ask.

The first painting I posted of the Periwinkle was randomly picked out of the pile. It was painted on a watercolor block pad, 12" X 16", 140 lb, cold press.