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Seems that I'm am the lucky artist who's name was drawn out of a hat and I am the featured artist for the 2019 February edition of Style magazine. Style magazine is a regional publication covering; Roseville, Rocklin, Granite Bay, Folsom, El Dorado Hills, El Dorado County and Lincoln, California. The author was interested in my family inspiration to start watercolor painting which was the main topic of the article.

If there's one thing that is worth taking away from the article it is how I started painting after middle age for no particular reason except curiosity about family. If I can do it, so can you. It really doesn't matter what the end product looks like, the important part is that you take that step and to follow your heart. You don't know what you can do unless you sincerely try it and persevere. Which leads me to this story...

When I was in high school, a friend's mom kept saying to me I wish I could paint and do art. My response is always why don't you just do it. She would say, but I'm not good enough. This went back and forth on for decades. A quarter of a century later, she finally joins an art club and creates art by painting and drawing. She loves it and her works were are admired by the art club. The painting continues for a few years and she is so happy that she followed her heart. Then she says to me, I wish I had started sooner. About a year later, she died of cancer. I attended the funeral in San Francisco and at the memorial were members of her art club that spoke glowingly of her art and passion for it. At the memorial were many easels displaying her artwork. It was a very sad day but I was happy that she finally took that step and painted. And that is a lesson for everyone, take that step for whatever you want to do, and it's not just about art. Life is short.

I'm finishing up 2018 and have a plan for 2019. My goal for 2018 was to study California Scene Watercolorists from the 1930's to 1950's, paint faster, and paint larger. For the most part it was successful. I'm now more accustomed to painting a half sheet rather than a quarter sheet of watercolor paper and my speed has doubled. I've read about four dozen books on watercolor with half of those involving the California Scene artists. This is the end of the third year of my watercolor effort and I was more driven this year than the previous two. At this point I needed to decide whether I should continue with watercolor or take up a new activity. After much thought, I decided to continue with watercolor painting.

From all the books I read this year, there are about a half dozen that have some interesting techniques that I need to develop and that will be one of my goals for 2019. It is hard to make a change in style and technique but I need to push myself to go to next level. That also requires making some mistakes and not so great paintings in the process. I can tell you that plein air painting is not easy for me and that is something I need to work on. In a similar vein I would like to be able someday to demonstrate my watercolor painting which requires even more speed since I might be confined to an hour's time. So that's the additional goals; plein air painting, learn how to demo, and learn new techniques. As for actual demonstrations, I'll target 2020.

Some of the side effects of painting larger and faster in 2018 is that I ended up with a lot of paintings and have more big frames/mats. I painted a painting a week, so that's 52 paintings. When I participated in the annual November Placer Arts Studio Tour, I had 120 paintings framed and hanging. Because of my location and historic "Camp" fire in California on the Veteran's Day weekend of my tour show, the smoke was so bad it was deemed hazardous to go outside. About a dozen people came to my location specifically for watercolor despite the smoke. Lucky for me they were dedicated friends and I sold some paintings. I also received some commission work from my friends. At at the rate I'm painting it would be insane to frame the next 50 paintings and then have 170 stored. I will not have enough wall space to hang them for a show. So I will remove old paintings from the frames and replace with new ones. I have decide which 50 tor 60 paintings are no longer worthy, another goal for 2019.

I'm still alive and kicking. My art goals for 2018:

Study the history of California watercolor painters between 1920's and 1950's. They created a regional art style known by various names including the California Style, California Regionalist, California Watercolorist, etc. It was a style that elevated California to national and even international attention. I would like to know how they painted so quickly and have bold paintings. There are many famous artists in this group including; Millard Sheets, Dong Kingman, Rex Brandt, Milford Zornes, George Post, Hardie Gramatky, and more... One of the artist in this group painted 5 paintings a day for 3 years. How in the world did he do that? George Post painted 1 or 2 paintings a day his entire life and they were half sheet in size. They've also mastered design, composition, and captured California during that period.

I would like to also make a sketch or little painting every single day to improve my drawing skills. There's only way to improve... practice, practice, practice. The only problem with little paintings or sketches is that I don't consider them actual paintings and I'm unlikely to post them on this site. I did post a little plein air painting like Colfax as an example. My idea of a real painting is quarter sheet or larger, that is 11" X 15" minimum. For 2018 I will try to paint at least 1 painting a week until November.

If I combine these two simple goals, I hope to elevate my art a notch for 2018. I still plan to do the Placer Arts Studio Tour (my 3rd) for 2018. The process for acceptance to be complete will be around May. If and when that occurs, I will post a painting a week on this site until November. Then you can be the judge of results of these two goals were for 2018.

I was accepted into the Placer Arts Open Studio Tour for 2017. The dates will be November 10-12th, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. At this point it the location will be at my home in Roseville, CA., for my art. I will know more specifics after I attend a few of the orientation meetings. It is possible I may have an additional artist(s) at my home. Less likely although not impossible is that I may be showing at a different location. I'll keep you posted.

Working through old paintings that I started but never finished, I ran across a painting of palm trees that I used masking fluid. Masking fluid, aka frisket, is latex in liquid form used to preserve the white areas of the paper while allowing you to paint next to it. In theory you paint the white spots with masking liquid, then apply your colored paint, when the paint dries you can remove the masking by rubbing it off to expose the white paper. To rub off masking, which like a thick rubber cement, you can use; an eraser, frisket removal tool, or even your fingers. A bit of a pain to deal with and I seldom use masking. However, once in a long while, you just have that painting that would work well with it. So my very detailed drawing and painting of the palm trees seemed to fit the bill.

As I'm painting away at these palm trees, I kept thinking how nice my sparkling preserved whites will be. Until I tried to remove the masking... to no avail. Apparently it continues to slowly cure and harden over a long period of time. Unfortunately for me, this painting had been sitting around for more than a year. Guess I found out there's a limit to how long you can leave masking on watercolor paper before it bonds permanently. The worst thing you can do is to put a hair blower to it because that only makes it bond even firmer...and that I did not do.

My only alternative was to try to remove the masking was to use a razor knife. I was surprised that even that didn't work so well. The elasticity in the masking was gone. It was like cutting hardened plastic. A big lesson learned here. Ideally you don't leave the masking on for longer than a week. Then it works like it should. I remember that for the next time if I ever use masking again.

Meanwhile, I finished the palm trees by use acrylic ink with a dip pen to paint over the masking. Live and learn... the hidden danger unmasked for you.

I begin the new year, 2017. My goal is to see what creating and selling art will accomplish in three years and 2017 will be my 2nd year. I plan to do the Placer Arts open studio tour again in the November 2017, which is the only time I focus on selling my original paintings. Although I can be contacted regarding any of the originals at anytime of the year, I'm just narrowing down a public showing to once a year. I just don't see myself buying a 10' X 10' tent and portable shelving, then lugging my art around for some outdoor sale at a show or fair. There are many many artists that do that and it's a tough way to survive. By the time you figure in the transportation costs and time sitting around hoping for a sales, they probably barely make minimum wage. A sad story, not that I mean to start 2017 that way. It's just a reality that affects my creation of art or eventual demise. I was very lucky in 2016 that I had support from friends and recoup some of my material costs and to be able to continue for another year.

My art plans for this year will be more focused on experimentation and less on quantity. I'm not shooting for a painting every week in 2017 like I did in 2016. They happen when they happen. I over did it last year and it put a strain on my right shoulder area. I will make changes to how I paint, meaning taking more breaks often to avoid repetitive motion injury. I'll try not to sit as long as well. That seems to be the new push for health for non-art tasks like even sitting too long at a computer.

The experimental part of the art is to be more bold in trying different in techniques, subjects, and materials. It's not like I have that all figured out yet what I'm going to do. I'm just being more open to creating in a new way. If I see something that interests me I'll try it. I think that's that might be a path to learning and improvement. A way to keep the art interesting and alive. It is an unknown direction I'm headed. Let's see where 2017 takes me.

I'm still on holiday vacation from art but as the new year approaches it'll be back to the drawing board soon enough. Meanwhile I ponder art. I noticed on this website that I can have a coffee cup with my art on it. So I looked at my various paintings on a cup to see what they would look like. It dawned on me that many of my paintings don't work well with a cup and were never created to do so and on the other hand, a few did work. This is where graphic design comes into play. If I knew ahead of time my art will go on a cup, of course I would make it work. I would look at the shape of the area that needs to be filled and design to work in that shape. The art has to make sense with a cup as well, perhaps making the image more simple to grasp. It could even boil down to almost a logo like image if I really wanted a simple impression of art.

Many ways to create art for the cup but still the art is dictated by the cup. Graphic Design vs Art. The same, yet different. I once heard a well known artist make a comment about a budding art student's work. He said "That's a graphic design not a painting." Back then it was kind of a puzzling statement to me because I thought graphic design and art go hand in hand. Now that statement makes much more sense to me. Graphic design is not any better or worse than traditional art and the two are not exclusive to each other. There is design in art, there is art in design.

The bottom line is that if I want a cup of my art, it'll be much better if I designed the art for the cup from the beginning. It may not be a painting for art's sake. But it might expand my horizons. Plus I'll have something to put my coffee in... So maybe that's one of the many possibilities for 2017, make a cup of art.

Last weekend I held the first open studio tour of my home with two other artists, Noel Sandino and Jeanette Smart. Sandino paints abstracts and Jeanette does a wide range of mediums including oil, acrylics, and watercolor. Together we had about 200 original framed works of art hanging for the show at my house.

Friday and Saturday, the first two days of the weekend open studio tour show were rather dismal. It seemed like only a dozen people came and they were spread out. Meaning 2 or 3 people for one morning then 2 or 3 people for an afternoon. Nothing was selling. The few that came were mostly friends and family. Saturday night after the show I was pondering whether I needed to take up some other activity instead of art as the cost of the art endeavor can not sustain itself.

Sunday was the last day of the show. There was a definite increase in foot traffic. The whole energy and feeling of day changed. Now it seemed like an ongoing party. People were enjoying the art, talking to each other, and seeing of all things some winter melons in my garden as entertainment. Most of the people were still family and friends but now some random people using the free map tour guide as well as a few in the neighborhood meandered in. A friend and old classmate of mine drove from SF to the show just to buy my art. This day was more like what I thought an open studio tour should be. It was like a life line thrown to me while I'm drowning. People were happy and surprised when they saw my art. It did make a difference in their lives and consequently it made it difference to me that I should continue to do art.

In the end, I recovered some of the cost for entering the show and of the materials (paint, frames, matting, etc.) to create art. Noel and Jeanette recovered their entry costs but not much beyond that. Jeanette said she will not do that show next year and Noel was on the fence. I received a message from another seasoned artist in town that did the show last year and he said foot traffic was really low this year.

So what went wrong? Best that we could surmise was that this year a holiday, Veteran's Day, fell on a Friday. Many people will leave town and take vacation trips on a three day weekend. Coupled with the fact that there was record breaking high temperatures in the Sierras (Lake Tahoe) for this time of year, was another incentive to enjoy the last views of the mountains and lakes before snow sets in. Second reason for low turn out was that my specific location had no open studio tour last year. The few that wandered in had no concept of how the open studio tour worked. They were pleasantly surprised when the free map tour guide was shown to them with an explanation. They said they will definitely do it again in next year and tell their friends.

I believe now, there will be more people next year's open studio show. There's also some things I can do to improve my art based on listening to some comments by the visitors. Meaning there were some pieces that were especially liked and I learned why they liked them. Bottom line is that I will continue with art. But I think I'll take some time off to recover and rethink my process. 2017 will be a fresh start and I hope it will even better than 2016.

Last week I attended the Taste of the Tour gallery preview event at the General Gomez Gallery in Auburn, CA. One piece from each of the 77 artists on the Placer Arts Studio Tour was on display and 72 of those artists were able to come that night. I was impressed with the organization and scope of the event which I know took a lot of planning and effort. I arrived at the opening and the very large gallery was already packed. There was live chamber music and two large tables of appetizers. Two bartenders were there to serve wine or beer at another counter.

The best thing for me was the chance to meet 72 artists and talk about their art. It made the whole art community more of a real and human connection. It's one thing to read about other artists but entirely different to talk with them in person. All the artists in the same way have little struggles in common to promote and sell their art.

They also have the same mental process in creating the art regardless of medium. Which reminds me of a conversation with my Sifu (Chinese martial art teacher). Someone asked my Sifu about all the different styles of martials arts and which is better or more effective. My Sifu responded and said their are only so many ways a human can punch. His explanation was that although there were many styles it all boils down to basic elements and basic thoughts. Some of the basic elements of art are shapes, colors, tone values and some of the basic elements of thought are design, relationship of elements, subject matter, etc. In that sense all 72 artists share that common artistic bond.

Having a look around the gallery and seeing the high level of the art work I felt privileged to be part of the Placer Arts Organization. Very creative and professional work by many.

I wrote this blog early because tomorrow, November 11, 2016, will be the first day of the Open Studio Tour and I'll be busy. My gut feeling is that there's going to be a lot of people visiting because the whole event was well organized and promoted by the Placer Arts. Next week I'll write a follow up blog about how it went...

The word "patron" derives from the Latin: 'patronus' ("patron"), one who gives benefits to his clients (like Patronage in ancient Rome). Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists such as musicians, painters, and sculptors. Although it is an ancient concept, it has bearing today.

Creating art takes not only time but materials, which can be an expense that really adds up. Some art forms are more involved with expensive materials than others. Surprisingly, watercolor painting can really add up when you produced a finished framed matted piece of art with museum grade archival materials. I was looking at a painting I did in my first learning period of watercolors in the 90's and thinking about the cost which included a cheap wooden frame from a general membership discount store which used to be called price club. Nothing wrong with the solid wood frame and the matting purchased at a different store was acid free and archival, the pro paint was lightfast and non-fading. The cost back in the 90's was relatively minor. Consequently the price I sold the paintings for was relatively inexpensive compared to today's prices.

Fast forward to 2016 as I restart my watercolor painting after the 17 year absence. A little tube of watercolor paint costs $25. A double acid free and archival mat for a full watercolor sheet (22 X 30) costs over $100. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It would be like comparing the cost of a gallon of gasoline in 1994 which was 1.09 per gallon versus today.

I can now appreciate the value and importance of the Patrons of the Arts more than ever. Without their support, most struggling artists will not survive regardless of their skill. When someone buys a painting directly from the artist, it is like throwing out a life buoy. It warms the artistic soul to have some appreciation for the art and provides the means to continue. But it is not just a one way street because the Patron will own a piece of art to enjoy and others will enjoy it as well. Next week( Nov 11-16, 2016) is my Open Studio event in which I plan to sell my original paintings. Whether or not someone buys a painting, even the participation of a person visiting and enjoying the art is also a life buoy. Support is not only financial it is also in the appreciation of art in the spirit of the viewer. I look forward to seeing the local Patrons of the Arts.

It's funny, during the week sometimes I think of a topics for a blog and when it comes to the actual moment I sit down to write... I just write whatever is on my mind at the time and it often is not what I thought I would write about. I'm in the middle of the process for preparing for the upcoming open studio tour in November 11-13, 2016. I'm doing just about everything except painting... the non-art work.

From the finished watercolor painting to the show a lot of things must be done. First you have to mount the painting to a backing or mount board. I use archival wheat paste and rice paper. Then you have to get a mat cut for the painting and I use acid free archival grade mat boards. Next this must be put in a some kind of frame. Most of the time I build a metal frame from pieces I buy or sometimes I'll buy a finished frame. I get glass cut for the frame from a local glass company in Rocklin, CA. The whole process of putting all together right takes some practice.

Just the simple task of the putting on the wire hanger for example... what kind of knot to use. I've read where they use a "Lark's Head" knot, but I've known it as a "Lark's Foot" but it depends on the gauge of the wire for me if I will use that specific knot. If it's a thin gauge I might do that. Though it's thin, I use stainless steel wire that has a working strength of 108 lbs. However I also have clear plastic clad wire with a working strength of 43 lbs and for that I use a different knot. Having worked as a fireman, I've done a lot of different knots. For the plastic clad (easy on the hands to tie) I use a square knot followed by a half hitch. You do this stuff enough times it gets to be routine and easier.

You now have a ready to hang piece of art... but not done yet. You have to hang that piece somewhere for the show. Drill a screw in the wall in the right place to fit with all the other hanging art. Then you have create a title label and price. Pricing is agonizing but I finally came up with a system that works for me, it's primarily based on size and is simple. But that's not all folks... what do you have to do to sell it. For an original, I have to create a unique Certificate of Authenticity and a way to document that painting and the buyer. So now it's creating paperwork instead of art. Since I'm going to use a credit card system, I'll have to enter this stuff in the software as an item for sale. For the sale I have to document it with a bill of sale and collect sales tax. Ultimately I'll have to report and pay that sales tax. I will also report the income for more taxes. Then you're not going to have buyers unless you promote or advertise the show... more work.

All this to sell the art... it's all Non-Art Work and so much to do. When this show is over, then I can return to being an artist and do Art Work. Pick up a brush and paint.

A short blog for this week as a follow-up to Smile and Say Thank You. I attended the Rocklin IQ preview show for the larger Placer Arts Organization open studio tour which will be during November 11-13th, 2016. A lot of work was put into preparing the show, setting it up, printing postcards and flyers, and distributing and promoting the event. Fourteen artist were in attendance including myself. There was lots of appetizers and drinks which were brought potluck style by all the artists in anticipation of all the guests and visitors that will come. So far, so good...

It became apparently in a short time... there were hardly any people coming to the preview. I know in the first two hours that about six people came and they were either close family or close friends with the artist. I felt sorrow not for myself but for all the people that created the event, the time, effort, and money spent trying to get art fans to come. A few factors contributed to low attendance. The first one was that it was a stormy night, with heavy rains. Secondly, we were in competition of other ongoing events. And third but not least is the location. The gallery sits in the corner of tiny strip mall in an area of town that does not have much activity, especially at night.

The whole experience to me just illustrates how difficult an art business is to survive especially in Placer County. Lucky for me, I'm not dependent upon art for my own survival. For a me whether it is always a positive experience, good or bad. If it comes out good, then that's great inspiration. If it comes out bad, that means I have to try harder. Either way it inspires me to improve my art. I took the time at the gallery show to meet other artists, which was a learning experience. I learned about the history of art in the local area and many facets of other artist's techniques. So I may not have been smiling for people admiring art and still had reason to smile.

Tomorrow I will be at the IQ Gallery in Rocklin for the local Preview Show of some of the artists (including myself) for the Placer Arts Studio Tour 2016. 14 of the 77 artists for the local area (which includes neighboring Roseville where I live) will there for Artist Reception. There will be a much larger preview show with all 77 artist in Auburn, CA but that will start November 4th. Here's what Trisa Swerdlow wrote for the Rocklin IQ Gallery advertisement:

Attention Art Lovers! Want to see a diverse and beautiful sample of some of the amazing artists participating in the tour this year? Here is your chance! Please join us this Saturday, October 15th, from 5-8 pm for an ARTISTS" RECEPTION at Gallery IQ. Featuring 14 different tour artists! Enjoy wine, light apps, and meet the artists! Gallery IQ is at 3700 Midas at Pacific in Rocklin, behind JD's Deli.

I've been painting for two years more or less in isolation but because of the open studio tour I've recently met some local artist and will showing one of my pieces at the IQ Gallery. I have never been to an "Artist Reception." This all new to me. Gini Crepps is the gallery owner and one of the showing artist. Trisa is another showing artist and a great promoter for art events, including the Rocklin Fine Arts group. I told Trisa I have no experience with artist receptions and asked what am I supposed to do. Trisa said "You stand by your art, people will compliment your art, smile, and say Thank You." Okay, sounds like a no brainer... we will see how it goes tomorrow night. Maybe next weeks blog will be about what happened at the artist reception.

This week I attended the Placer Arts Organization pre-tour meeting. We received the street signs to direct visitors to the open studios. Looks like I have a month to prepare for the event. I will be sharing my place with two other artist, Noel Sandino and Jeanette Smart. Noel does abstract art. Jeanette does many mediums for 2 dimensional art and teaches art. Will write more about this in the coming weeks.

This will be my first open studio tour event in my new home, Roseville, CA in Placer County. I will be selling my originals at this event. All the paintings you see in this website.

What distinguishes a watercolor painter from a non-watercolor painter? Lets assume the comparison involves someone who is knowledgeable or intuitive about the basics of art; composition, design, perspective, value, color, etc. My answer would be control of the medium of watercolor paint and a second part I'll get to later. I was trying to teach a friend how to paint in watercolor and was watching the struggle of trying to get the paint on the paper as she had envision the image in her mind... and it was not happening as she expected. This is to be expected for a beginner. I remember studying martial arts and when someone said that it was hard to learn, the answer from the instructors was illuminating. If it was that easy, you would already know it and won't need to be taught.

What happened to my friend's attempt at painting was not completely understanding how the paper, paint, and water interacted. In this case it was mostly too much water and too little paint. I watching someone apply dilute paint on brush to a big puddle of water on the paper and expecting the paint to stay where the brush dipped. Simple hydraulics and chemistry.... it's going to going to go into solution in the puddle and spread out. There are only 4 possibilities with applying watercolor; wet on dry, dry on wet, wet on wet, and wet on dry. How dry and how wet is critical because knowing that will lead to predictable results. This is what practice and experience about.

This where the second part of my answer comes in. Even if you know what the paint, water, and paper will do, there is a human element that will screw it up. That is a lack of patience. If you are in a rush to get it done, you keep applying paint (and water) when you shouldn't, you are just making puddles of uncontrollable water on the paper. If you're patient, you would paint in a more manageable fashion (or use a hair dryer to speed up the drying). Instead of rushing to get only one area done, move to another part of the painting while the wet part dries on the first part before additional painting. That's one of the major difference of watercolor versus other mediums... the water. Water will act like water and you have to control of it... and of yourself.

Permanence, what lasts forever? Well, in reality, nothing, not even this planet. So how does permanence relate to watercolor painting? How long do you want your painting to last, two years or a hundred years? If I had a choice, I would pick 100+ years and we do have that choice. First of all, this blog relates only to my personal original paintings does not have anything that Fine Art America produces.

The choices that make a difference are the materials! Paint, paper, mounting board and technique of mounting, matting, framing, and the glass/plastic you choose for the frame. For this blog I'm only going to focus on watercolor paint. The paint you pick probably has the biggest single impact on longevity of your painting. Ever walk by an old poster put on a window shop and notice that all the red color is gone. That is because the UV from the sunlight has altered the chemical in the pigment and caused the paint to fade. The ability of a paint to retain that color is called lightfastness. So how does one know what paint is lightfast or not. Fortunately a group called ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials standard) was established and ratings from this organization represent the most standardized classification in use for artists’ materials.

The paint pigment is tested by ASTM and is done by controlled exposure to sunlight, or to artificial light generated by a xenon arc lamp. After the test the paint is given a rating of I, II, II, or IV. I is Excellent lightfastness meaning the paint pigment will remain remain unchanged for more than 100 years of light exposure with proper mounting and display. II. Very good lightfastness. The pigment will remain unchanged for 50 to 100 years of light exposure with proper mounting and display. III. Fair lightfastness (Impermanent). The pigment will remain unchanged for 15 to 50 years with proper mounting and display. IV. Poor lightfastness (Fugitive). The pigment begins to fade in 2 to 15 years, even with proper mounting and display. In 2016 ASTM tested some new pigments and retested some other pigments and have in many cases increased the lightfastness rating. Daniel Smith Artist Materials do their own testing and by their rating system, a II is 100 years and a I is 100+ years.

Daniel Smith is one of the paints I use frequently. I only use professional quality paint, never student grade. Regardless of the manufacturer, I only use paint that has an ASTM of I or II. I want my painting to last your lifetime and it will probably seen by your great grandkids.

What amazed me this year is that I met a professional artist and started talking about watercolor paint. She had no knowledge about lightfastness and was using the original alizarin crimson pigment rated at IV, which means it could start fading in 2 years. With newer pigments they have alternatives that can duplicate that color and still be lightfastness. It just blew my mind that someone would pick a fading paint and that they would sell that painting to someone. I would guess it just something that artist never thought about or learned. I take great pride in picking the most archival, acid-free, and lightfast materials so that I can produce a painting that will last a lifetime, maybe two.

As I typically do on my Friday morning dog walk, I ponder what I will write about for the weekly blog. My latest art post was of the nearest street corner, titled $245 Mendota. The street I'm on is Mendota Way and that is the intersection of Mendota Way and Corin Drive. As I stated in the painting description it probably has no commercial value. What does that mean?... Here's the underlying meaning and question, what is the purpose of art and painting. There are multiple reasons for art and really depends on the person's perspective and experience as to their answer.

I would say for myself that I paint to either share something that would interesting universally or else I painting something for myself. In painting for myself, it is to capture an experience, memory, moment in time, people, that have some personal meaning to me and quite possibly no one else. The only people that I can imagine that would like that painting of the street corner are people that live on my block. To any one else, the painting has no meaning but it still has elements of art like color and design in forming a picture. Painting is an investment of time and materials. The decision has to be made to what end. The choices are either for yourself and for others, or both.

Painting for the universe is often both. Because I'm looking for something that I appreciate and I'm sure that there is an audience for the same image beyond myself. When you paint for the universe, it is a more commercial end product, something that maybe someone will buy and which will compensate for art supplies and time. Some thought has to go into picking the subject because it may have a narrow or wide audience or in the worst case no audience. I could paint a picture of a garbage can or a beautiful flower and I know which would be more likely to sell. The next question is if you only paint for profit, then are you less of an artist? I have no absolute answer to that and everyone has different opinions but the "why" of art. Just something to ponder.

In conclusion, it's all about balance and just how I feel at the time. Most of the time I paint universally and sometimes, it's about me. Like that #245 Mendota or any future painting of a garbage can I might paint, because I just need to paint it. :)

I had a visitor recently who asked me about the toxicity of my paint, something most people don't think about it. It was an interesting question for me since in my past career one of my job specialties was being a certified Hazardous Materials Specialist. We had training to respond to chemical emergencies and which involved mitigating leaks of deadly materials or rescuing people that were in the disaster. Part of the training was learning chemistry with a focus on what was hazardous.

Back to the subject of paint. Yes, some of them are health risk. For the most part, you would have to practically eat a lot of paint to get any kind of immediate or acute health risk, because the general risk is rather low and many paints are non-toxic. However, that does not mean you can totally ignore the risk. Cancer causing agents are usually a chronic exposure risk. Chronic meaning you have constant repeated contact with the agent over a long time period even though it is in minuscule doses. What is not apparent immediately just might show up a few years down the line. I'm cognizant of this chronic risk when I paint.

Any paints with metals for example; chromium, cadmium, barium, etc. are generally toxic. On the other hand the earth pigments like ocher, umber, sienna, etc. are basically iron oxide (rust) in earth (dirt) and are generally non-toxic. There's a whole gamut of pigments (chemicals) for all the paints and often there are non-toxic choices for the same color, but not always. Since paint is in solid, gel, or in a liquid solution there's not much of an inhalation hazard. The exposure will be primarily through your skin. Ingestion if not going to happen unless you're really really strange.

So how do I handle the toxicity problem. Here are my basic rules.
1. I use a separate utility sink for washing my palette and brushes which is never used for any food prep.
2. I scrub the palette with a long handle bristle brush and do not use my hands to wipe paint off of anything.
3. I avoid getting paint on my hands as many chemicals can be absorbed through the skin.
4. When choosing paint, if the color is the same take the non-toxic alternative if there is one.

Reality check... a little bit of toxic paint on your fingers for a brief time won't be a problem. Bottom line is that although it is of some concern, it's a minimal concern. Use common sense like I do with my basic rules and you don't have to worry about it.

I'm behind in blogging... totally forgot about it, until this Sunday morning when the coffee must have jogged my brain. First thought that came to mind is my work space. I'm lucky in that I have a dedicated area for my art which would have been a den otherwise. I say lucky because some artists have limited space and have put away their material when not painting each and every time. I know because I've been there and done that. My work space now consists of a table, tool box, drawers, and lamp. I will elaborate on each because there's obviously more to it for this blog and over the years I tried to be more efficient and effective with my space.

Table. I have a old wooden dining room table that's about 55" X 33". My trick here was to have custom piece of thick glass cut at a glazier to cover that top surface. Now I have a perfectly smooth surface that is water proof. Spills, accidents, splattered pain is no problem and very easy to clean. The size of the table will easily accommodate a full sheet of watercolor (22" X 30") with room for brushes, water, and palette.

Tool Box. I was walking though a large retailer's hardware section and noticed a big rolling metal tool chest that was on a clearance sale. It was 33" tall and 30" wide and about 21" deep. The top surface had multiple wells for tools and there were several drawers. It also had a tool hanger and extension cord to power a few outlets too! After getting it home, I put all my watercolor paints sorted by general color in the top wells. The paint was easy to see and at a level a bit above the table and convenient to get to. I put a hair dryer in the side tool holder that was plugged into the tool chest outlet (to speed dry my watercolor if I need to). My essential tools for mounting/framing/measuring along with my colored inks were in the drawers. A few times I had to rearrange the furniture in the room, it was easy to roll my art gear to a new location. It was one the best buys I made for art gear and definitely made my painting more efficient.

Drawers. I used to live in Silicon Valley and one the major companies was getting rid of old office furniture at a bargain price (almost free). An item I acquired was a metal cabinet that was about 3' high and about 31" wide. It had 9 rows of 3 drawers and metal pull handles for each drawer. The cabinet was painted in an ugly office color and had some chips and rust spots. I cleaned it up and repainted it in gloss black. Each drawer had a slot for putting in a label card. All of my remaining art gear went to those drawers. Stuff like erasers, pencils, pens, clips, tape, small tools, cutting implements, etc. Although this is not as movable as the rolling tool chest, it's strength was the clear and clean organization of 27 drawers full of items.

Lamp. When watercolor painting it was useful to be able to detect wet areas on the surface. I got a floor lamp (at a Swedish furniture store) and put in a LED equivalent of a 100 watt light. The lamp has a articulating arm so I can place the light anywhere and at any angle for the table surface. I always have that lamp on when I paint and the light comes in from the upper corner of the painting. When I need to check the surface for wetness I just look across the surface at an low angle to look for shiny spots. Additionally I put in four 100 watt equivalent lights in the ceiling to light up the whole room. For me, more light equals less eye strain.

Those four items are key to keeping my art work space organized, efficient, and effective. They were not particularly expensive as some dedicated "Art Furniture" might be. Maybe one or more of these items will work for you too... just a thought... another blog.

Recently I was helping a person start a watercolor painting and I was watching how she went about the process. I had a few visitors yesterday that were inquiring about watercolor painting because one of them was interested in learning to watercolor. As I was explaining the process, I thought about how a new painter I had just seen someone approach a painting. Then it dawned on me that some people go about creating art as if were a paint by the numbers. Which is both true and false. Most if not nearly all watercolor painters will sketch out a painting before they actually paint. It could be done very minimally or with great detail. Many will use a pencil and some will sketch with light watercolor brushwork. This creates the shapes and composition to filled in or completed with watercolor paint. The completed sketched paper will look like a "paint by the numbers" kit minus the numbers.

The impulse with beginners is to just fill in the shape with the right color. Which in the end, you will end up creating a painting with it. It'll also look like a paint by the numbers painting or style that has distinctive blots of color. It is what it is, neither bad nor good... just is, some artist like that look and style. However that may not be what the beginning artist really wanted when they envisioned the painting.

What elevates the process? For me, those outlined shapes are guidelines for an area. In real life most shapes are a subtle blend of color and value, not just one value and one color. In the case of my visitors, the inquiry was about skin tone. You can sketch out little shapes of different colors on a human face. If you paint it like a paint by the numbers kit, you'll end up with a blotchy face. If want to make a face look old, the blotchy look is the way to go because you'll create all these wrinkles and skin markings. I bet you can a make baby look like senior citizen. The reality is that face and all the variations you see on the skin are blended so smoothly that there are no lines to see. Yes, one outlined shaped area is darker than another but it is only a guideline. One common technique for me is blending the edges with plain water if I want to eliminate hard edges. If you saw me do it, like my guests did, it makes immediate sense but it doesn't translate easily with words. Or you could blend one color/value into another with other techniques as well.

Paint by the numbers is easy because you don't have to think to much about it. The higher level is you do think about it and carefully observed that drawn shape for the variation changes of color and value and how it interacts with neighboring shapes before you touch that paper with your brush. You then apply whatever technique it will take to recreate what you now know defines that shape. As I said before it is still a matter of style and choice, whether paint by the numbers only or add a little more thought to the process and only use the lines as a guideline and in the end you will still get a painting. If you're disappointed with the results, then learn to do the latter. Watercolor isn't all mechanical, it is thinking game.

My very first painting was of the nearest street corner to my house in Sunnyvale, CA. This year I painted the nearest corner to my house in Roseville. The corner is what I see almost every day of my life so if there is a single painting subject that can bring back a lot of memories, the corner would be it. The reference photo for my painting was taken in October 2015 and the painting was done in June 2016. Many things have already changed in that short time. Some trees were replanted, a red umbrella in a side yard is gone, even the color of the street had changed from newer black asphalt to slightly weathered grayer asphalt. Which got me thinking this morning about a concept that revolves around the corner subject.

Cezanne for three years of his life walked in his area and painted multiple versions of the same mountain that he saw everyday, a view of Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Even though it is the same mountain no two paintings are identical. The mountain was his street corner. The mountain looks different from different angles, time of the day, season, and even the weather can make dramatic changes to the resulting painting. It really is no different for a modern city street corner. Your viewpoint or angle is most simple way to change the composition. Time of the day will change the shadows and that will constantly change around the year because the sun is in a slightly different place daily too.

In my concept, you could be at a fixed position, same time, same clear blue skies and it will still change the picture. The biggest change will anything organic, like trees and shrubs, because they continue to grow or die. Anything that people can manipulate will change. In the case of my street corner painting, I painted it on a garbage day so the garbage cans are out on the street. People can park or move cars. Those things that are positioned by people will never all be precisely in the exact same spot again. A bird can fly through or land on a limb to make a change. Inorganic changes could be the weather. In my street painting, I liked that particular day because of the arrangement of the clouds. If there no organic objects in the photo then you still have inorganic processes. Erosion, weathering, and rust come to mind. The last element is the artist, the human element. It would be impossible for every dipping of brush into paint mixes, every brush stroke, and entire composition to be identical because we are not machines.

When I first read about Cezanne painting the same mountain for three years, I thought wow, that's a serious rut. But maybe he figured out that it was more about subtle change and to seek those tiny nuances or differences to make a totally different painting each time. I should learn to be so discerning. Sometimes I think about that when I leave my house.... and turn the corner.

I had shared a painting I did on my Facebook page. One of my friends said they instantly recognized the style out of all the art postings on his page and knew it was mine. The comment just struck me because I've never thought of myself with any particular style. It also made me think, is that bad or good thiing? I mentioned this to an artist friend and she said that was a good thing and don't try to change it. So I started to ponder this question of style.

Some of the famous artists went through periods of style, like Picasso with the; blue period, rose period, cubism, neo-classicism, and surrealism. Whereas other artist have less pronounced periods and are more consistent style like Van Gogh. Which makes me wonder about myself, do I have just one period or will I change. When I was told that I have a style, it made me think I was in a rut. I do like to change things up once in awhile. At the moment I'm cranking out paintings once a week so that I have stuff to show for the November 2016 Open Studios Tour. I'm less prone to experiment, opting for the easy path of doing what comes natural. That does not mean I'm stuck forever because I've been thinking about new paths or techniques. I want to get out of my rut for 2017. Not that it is really a true rut, only a notion that exists in my mind.

Probably better to just paint and don't think about style at all. Whatever happens will happen. I believe style is just like your signature. You learned how to write in elementary school and eventually a signature evolved by the time your're an adult. It was not a contrived thought out process, it just happened. People recognize your signature, it is not good nor bad, just human. Imagine a kid learning to write and trying to create a signature. With that perspective you know that signature will be unnatural and there will be a lot of wasted effort on the kids part. Okay, I'll just accept that I have a signature or style and it really is of no consequence to me. It might change or it might not, I'll just keep painting.

Watercolor paper comes in three textures; Hot Press, Cold Press (Also known as "Not"), and Rough. Why Not? The term Not means the paper did Not go through the extra processing of additional hot pressing. Hot pressing for a final finish creates a smoother surfaced paper, cold press has a medium texture with dimpling on the surface, and rough has more significant and deeper dimples. There are a lot of factors in picking watercolor paper besides texture like weight (thickness), color, quality of material, and sizing which is somewhat variable by manufacturers. Of all the factors, texture is the most critical visibly.

Contrary to what you might think, a smooth surface doesn't mean an easier control surface to create precise lines and shapes of watercolor. Hot press paper lends itself for a more uncontrolled loose painting because the watercolor tends to flow loosely on the flat surface. Whereas a textured dimpled surface holds the paint in place better, like miniature dams, as you paint. Rough paper really controls the flow and on the flip side it might give unintended texture to some strokes and shape. I read somewhere that 90% of watercolor paper sold is cold press, the most common watercolor paper texture. For good reason too, as it is in the middle for paint control which leads to predictable results.

So which paper do I use? For most paintings I use cold press. However when I want to mix things up I will also use hot press or rough. Rough to me is not much different than cold press. I will seek rough if I think for some reason that particular painting subject will lend itself to more textured techniques. Rough would be a poor choice if I was using an ink pen or pencil because the pen or pencil tip will snag, dip, or skip along the rough dimpled surface. Hot press is very distinctive too and for me it is the most challenging surface. The paint doesn't want to stay in place on a smooth surface, it comes runny and blending and mixing can end being something you didn't plan. After painting with hot press I'm happy to get back to my cold press but I do appreciate a break from a rut and the forced challenge of a different surface. For the blog title, Not is the answer.

I was complaining to Kira, my daughter, about the cost of matting and framing. She suggested to me that I go a certain Swedish furniture store (starts with the letter 'I") and find frame bargains. So I went to the nearest store in West Sacramento and looked at their frames. I noticed that the proportions and mat opening sizes didn't work with any of the standard watercolor paper size. The most common watercolor paper size is a 22" X 30" sheet, which you can tear in half for 15" X 22", or another split down to 11" X 15". Hence the standard watercolor sizes of full, half, and quarter sheets. Nowadays I tend to use 12" X 16" blocks (glued stacks on a stiff board) so I don't have to deal with stretching the paper if I want something around a quarter sheet size.

Anyway back to the Swedish frames... I looked online and discovered that standard frames in Europe are different sizes than standard frames in the U.S. There's a myriad of sizes in both standards, but the only one with a consistent ratio as the size increased that was the "A" size system (example A4 is 297mm X 210 mm for a ratio of 1.41). All "A" sized paper big or small ran with a ratio of about 1.4. Which got me thinking about ratios. The ratio of 22 X 30 is very close to 3/4, in fact a 12 X 16 is exactly 3/4. 3 to 4 ratio is what the old television standard was for a picture shape.

Today everything is about High Definition of which there are different qualities by the number pixels when you consider 4K as the newer better quality vs 1920x1080. Regardless of pixels, the thing that remains the same is the picture shape ratio. The picture shape will still be 16 to 9 (16/9) meaning the width will 16 in relationship to the height of 9. So if we were to paint in high definition (shape not actual pixel quality) then we have to use new paper sizes and new shaped frames. I know it's a weird thought but as people get used to seeing photos, TV, and movies in this format it has become the new standard, should we change the painting size accordingly?

They don't make watercolor paper in that shape. In order to paint in HD you would have to crop or cut the paper to fit that 16/9 ratio. Unfortunately that wastes paper which isn't cheap but there's no other way. I figure the new modern HD paper sizes after cropping would be 16.85" X 30" from a full sheet. I could take a 12" X 16" block and reduce it to 9" X 16" to for a quarter sheet equivalent. Then you'll have to deal with odd frame and mat sizes. Am I seeing the possible future shape of art or just having random thoughts about ratios. Only time will tell, and that would be years before any change because traditional is hard to change. Who knows, I might on a whim someday, just try to paint in HD to see what it looks it.

Prior to the 19th century, that could be a true statement. I have used in recent paintings probably the paint pigment with the most peculiar origin. Caput Mortuum is a brownish purple red pigment. Caput mortuum (plural capita mortua) is a Latin term whose literal meaning is "dead head" or "worthless remains." Caput mortuum is also sometimes used as an alternative name for mummy brown (alternatively Egyptian brown), a pigment that was originally made in the 16th and 17th centuries from ground-up mummies, and whose use was discontinued in the 19th century when artists became aware of its ingredients. By 1915, one London colourman claimed that he could satisfy the demands of his customers for twenty years from one Egyptian mummy. Mummy Brown eventually ceased being produced in its traditional form later in the 20th century when the supply of available mummies was exhausted.

Reading about the history of the pigment I had to get a tube to try it out. They don't use mummies anymore. The modern pigment sold as "Mummy Brown" is composed of a mixture of kaolin, quartz, goethite and hematite, It works in certain reddish shadow areas, but I wouldn't say it's a color to die for... :) .

I just posted #219 Beach at Pudding Creek which is a seascape that had me thinking about the topic of painting water. If you ask a non painter what is the color of water in painting it's very common for blue to be the answer. You can almost imagine some art company coming out with a tube of paint that's blue labeled water. Painting water would be so simple, wouldn't it, just grab that tube of water color...

In reality water is quite complicated and it can be any color. Water has reflective properties like a mirror so it can be the color of anything in the background or above; sky, buildings, shrubs, trees, hillsides. How much it reflects depends how still the water is. Very still water is like a mirror, rough moving water is not. Then to complicate things even more, the water itself can have coloring agents like pollution, mud, minerals, leaves, algae, or the bottom color showing up through the water. Finally a third complicating factor, waves which can generate small ripples up to huge frothy waves. So how do you paint water. The answer is actually very simple even though water is complex. And this answer really applies to any representational art, - Paint what you see not what you think you see. Give a kid some crayons and tell them to paint water and they will grab blue to color in a shape where the water is... because they are painting what they think they see, not what is actually before their eyes. Look carefully the water your want to portray and analyse what do your eyes see in detailed reality; what is reflected, what are the waves doing, what is the color of the water and bottom. PIck apart what is before your eyes and only then will your water look like real water.

This blog is about #27 High Hand Koi 2 and how disaster can become a success.

When I quit painting in 1998, I had a full watercolor sheet stretched and mounted to a plywood board which went into storage... for 17+ years. When I started to paint again in 2015, I discovered the long forgotten paper and board in box inthen my garage storage. I pencil sketched out a drawing of Koi and was going to use watercolor to paint with. The moment I put the brush to the paper I noticed something was horribly awry, the paint and water would just disappear and it would not leave much pigment on the surface. I tried repeatedly on the same spot and it would barely leave paint and have a very dull appearance. Like trying to paint on cotton ball. Then it dawned on me, the sizing was gone, a disaster. Sizing is a starch like substance that is applied to the paper by the maker which helps control the flow of water, slow the rate of absorption, and basically makes the watercolor paper handle like it should for painting. It could be that I had over-soaked it before stretching and or the storage for a few decades caused the problem. My first thought was, oh well... this is ruined and I'll have to just toss it. But, on the other hand, I have nothing to lose by playing with the paper.

Also damaged by decades of storage were a few bottles of ink. One bottle had turned a peculiar blue-black gray and had gunk which had precipitated out of the liquid. Whatever chemical reaction occurred, it had now reached a state of equilibrium. I was planning to toss that bottle. Hmm... bad ink and bad paper, good match. So I took the ink and started to work on the background between the koi, thinking in my mind there are patterns to nature and patterns to this water. I just had to repeat the concepts of that pattern as I painted. I just doodled away in an uncharacteristic painting mode. Luckily the ink left more of a mark than the watercolor on the bad paper. In short order the background was done because you have to work quickly with ink, can't let it dry on the brush or pallette. Then I had bottles of good colored ink to paint the koi with. I was happy the color was still intense with the flawed paper. I went back into the painting with watercolor in areas that were more subtle as best as the paper would allow. When I was done, I thought wow, this ended up being a viable painting when it could have very easily ended in the garbage.

There are some lessons out of this experience.

1. Never give up. Paint till your done. Even in the worst case you still get more experience out of it.

2. Paint like no is looking. When I knew the paper was disaster, I painted more freely because I thought it was going to be thrown away. With that frame of mind, I actually painted looser than normal, unlike my usual tight analytical frame of mind (aka stiff) and achieved better results.

3. Experiment. I tried odd techniques and materials and learned new tricks to add to my art.

Disaster can be become a success but only if you keep trying.

The latest image I posted is of a theater in Roseville, CA that was first opened in 1940. Often when I wander through towns or visit museums it makes me want to know what my eyes are taking it. I see an old building, bird in a nest, or a peculiar name of a geographic feature makes me want to research those objects.. Several of the paintings I made this year often have a back story behind them. So far I posted the Borne Cottage, Donner Summit, Union Pacific Trains and the Tower Theater. I will add to the description of the painting some of that historical information points. I forgot to mention the Donner Party for the Donner Summit painting, the stranded group of pioneers that ended up eating humans. That peaceful snowy landscape at some point in history was a trap for those unprepared travelers. When I look at those paintings, I know there is more to subject than meets the eye. The paintings just jog my mind to what that place was in the past and often I know how it came to be or what species and habits of the animal I'm painting. Understanding that information adds a depth to the painting that I can appreciate. Like they say, It's not just a pretty picture. I may just be peculiar in that way, wanting to constantly learn about things. But I do hope that something I paint or write will motivate someone to learn something about that subject that they did not know before. There is so much in life to learn about and a picture is worth 1,000 words to start that journey.

I was accepted as one of the artists for the Placer Arts Organization's Open Studio Tour for 2016. The tour will be for the weekend of November 11-13th. For those who are not familiar with Open Studio Tours I'll try to describe them. The first time I went to an Open Studio tour was in Santa Clara County back in the '90s. You're provided with a free catalog and map (available at public locations). You look through the catalog to find the artists you might be interested in viewing and they are sorted in various ways like geographically or by medium. For example you may want to only see sculptures and oil paintings or you may want only see those in your local neighborhood. All artists in the catalog are fair game for your visit on that weekend during the tour hours scheduled.

I decided to try and see as many watercolor artist as I could during that weekend so I picked out about 60 artists that I found interesting regardless of location. Then charted a route on the map that will take me to their studios which could be their home, workshop, or a collective. Some artists group together in a old building or re-purposed commercial building to form a group of artists working at a single location.

When the weekend came, I started my journey visiting the various studios. It was a fascinating experience. The studios were as unique as the artists. Where they create art could be as simple as a desk in a family room or it could a building designed to be a art studio. It could neat and organized or a complete mess (my cousin said the best artists are naturally messy). Regardless of the appearance, you could see how that artist created in that environment and what tools they were using to make art. Not only can you see the working studio but best of all you can ask questions; what kind of paint do you use?, where do you get materials from?, how do you do this or that? It was a fun learning experience and on top of that, you get to meet the artist on a personal basis. All this... and it's free. If you have any interest in art, I can't imagine not taking that opportunity for an entertaining and educational weekend.

My latest post of painting #213 Train 1004 is the focus of this blog topic, painting with ink. Sometime in the late '90s I had purchased some bottles of colored ink because my daughters and I were experimenting with calligraphy. I had the Speeball points with metal nibs in different shapes and sizes that you used to dip into the ink bottle. When I quit painting in 1998, those bottles went into storage. Fast forward to the present time and my rebirth of watercolor painting, I was finding that I was using multiple layers to get the intensity of color or darkness I wanted with watercolor paint. Then I stumbled upon the box of ink bottles in storage. Hmm... wonder if I could paint with ink,

This is how this train painting experiment got started. I wasn't going to risk damage to my nice kolinsky sable watercolor brushes so I bought a relatively inexpensive synthetic brushes made with nylon bristles. I put a few drops of ink on my palette and started to paint. Two things I discovered immediately, first ink dries quickly on the painting, brush, and palette and secondly it doesn't mix or blend as well as watercolor. Meaning you can easily mix and blend tones and gradations of two or more pigments because you don't have the quantity (puddle versus a drop) nor the time (fast drying). On the flip side of the coin, the intensity of color was quite noticeable, far richer and deeper than watercolor pigment. On top of that, you could actually paint white to some degree over a colored area. Some inks were transparent meaning the underlying color would show through and other's were more opaque, blocking the color underneath. The painting went fairly quickly and for some portions of the painting where I wanted more blending and smoother transitions I used watercolor, like the sky and clouds for example,

The bottom line is in some ways painting with ink is more challenging but the reward is a more brilliant colored painting. I think I need more experimenting...

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.