Under The Big Oak, Version 2

I stood under The Big Oak and painted this painting. A beautiful hot day spent in the shade of a magnificent spreading Live Oak tree.

The Big Oak is in Thomasville, Georgia and is a revered landmark for the town. Well over 300 years old, it spreads out over a huge area. They have built a park around the tree and it is now well cared for. Whenever I see this painting I remember a fine day with this great tree. I also think about my Mom, who grew up in Thomasville. My grandfather grew up right across the street from the Big Oak and climbed in it as a child. You could say that my attachment to this tree goes back over a century.

Of course I still do figure drawings & paintings.

At least a few times a month I attend a figure drawing group. One group in Atlanta, the other in Chattanooga. The artists all contribute to pay the model, usually for a three hour session. One group I attend does short poses, about 10 or 12 during the session. The other group has one pose for three hours (with breaks for the model)

This continues to be the best artistic practice that I know of. Have a look at my galleries of figurative and nudes. You'll find the links at the top of the page. 

I also sell some of my nudes and figurative work. Click the ArtFinder link in the column on the right of this page. You can follow all my works there.

Follow me on Artfinder!

Please visit my art sales gallery at Artfinder. Just click the link on the right side column on this page and follow me there. I hope you will. It's free! If you do follow me, you'll get notice when I list new works.
Of course, you don't have to follow or join Artfinder. They put up a "join up page" when you click, but you can bypass it by clicking the x in the top right corner, and go right to my gallery pages.
Whether or not you join, there's over a hundred pieces of my art there for you, so enjoy!

Around The Studio

I've been rooting around the studio, picking out paintings and drawings to add to my online sales site. This is a field study from a painting trip to Arizona some years ago. I haven't ever shown it or put it up for sale before now. It will soon be available, along with many others, here at my online gallery page. I hope you'll visit and have a look. Join up! Costs nothing and you'll get notice when I add new work.

By the way, you don't have to sign up to look. They hit you with a sign-up page right off, but just click the x in the upper right corner and it goes away. Then you can look all you want.
I really don't like that they do this. I think it chases people away. But it's their site, so it's their rules.

Plenty of new art coming to my online gallery pages!

Follow me on artfinder. Click the link at the top of the column on the right.

Thanks!

Metal Cans

My artist friends will identify with this. Last week I bought a can of French Market coffee with chicory. I bought it solely because it comes in an all metal can, and metal coffee cans are very useful in the studio. I have a pile of them and just can't do without them. Almost no coffee comes in these indispensable cans anymore.
The best thing is that when you CAN find them, they're filled with coffee! Turns out the French Market brand is really good, at least to my taste. I'll definitely buy it again.

New Laptop, New Posts

Hopefully, new posts will be coming along soon. I just got a new laptop, and will be using it to do all my internet work. That's been "a thing" in the past, but the new one should clear that barrier. Theoretically. 😐

Oak Trees In South Georgia

A south Georgia pastel. The trees are Scrub Oaks, as they call them. They grow wild and are tough as nails. Some of the farmers leave them as wind breaks between their fields. Very dense and solid trees that are characteristic of the area.

I love the farm areas of south Georgia. Some of the prettiest landscape anywhere.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

This from a few years back, my easel set up on Pearl Buck's back porch on what was once her dairy farm. There had been an early snow storm, first week in October, and there was still a bit of snow on the ground. Power was out  and travel was limited, so I just decided to make the best of the morning.

The ground had been frosty when I started, and that accounts for the greyish color of the grass in the painting. By the time I shot the pic, the frost had burned off and the horses had moved on.

Getting new paintings ready to photograph, so I can sell them (the paintings, that is) online.

The artist Mary Whyte has said that an artist needs three things in order to BE an artist:

Something to say
    The ability to say it
    The courage to do it

Some Detail

 

From a painting I made last fall. I'm getting the photos ready to upload to my ArtFinder online sales gallery, and sometimes I take close-up details like this. Sometimes I think the detail would stand on its own as a painting.

 

Here's the whole painting.

And here I am working in "my office" on the bank of the Little River last fall.

Photo courtesy of a very nice fellow who was passing by with his brand new camera.

Cleaning Up

Every so often the studio just HAS to be cleaned up. What I do is move everything into one end, so that I can clean up the other end. Then reverse the process and clean up this end. Anything over a few pounds is on casters, so it's not as hard as it used to be.

Cheers.

OK

Some time on the heating pad, a few tylenol, a couple of beers and a good shot of rum and now my back doesn't hurt so much.
Back to work!  👍👍

Back In The Studio

New year. New ideas. New inspirations. New attitude.

Another Year

Ending the year finishing up paintings. Some that I've just started, some lingering projects. Some new (for me) techniques I'm trying, and some new themes.
A good part of the new year will be devoted to photographing work to list for sale online. It's grunt work but has to be done.

Bird Talk

Cape Elizabeth
Watercolor on paper.

Sitting with my watercolors on the rocks by the Ocean at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The rocks are generally a tan slate color as I showed them. There was this one huge black rock that seemed to cut through the others like a whale.

While I painted, a curious seagull landed in front of that big black rock. He studied me for a while.

Seagull: "Well.........Aren't you gonna put ME in your painting?"
Me: "OK."

I had this small watercolor matted by a gallery. The image size is 5 x 8 inches, with a three inch mat and foam core backing. I'm throwing the mat and backing in for free, because it really makes the painting look nice. The outside demensions of the mat are 10.75 x 13.75 inches. Acid free.

Initialed by me, lower right (on the rock)

Always happy to receive your comments or questions, just click the link.

Cheers,
rick

The painting.

Available at artfinder.com/rick-paller

(my online shop)

Today's a bit unusual. All the paintings I have currently working are at the point where they need to dry and cure before I can move on with them. I guess I get the rest of the day off. See ya. 

On The Easel

This is on the easel at present. An unfinished oil painting of a favorite view of Lake Allatoona, near Red Top Mountain in north Georgia. A fair amount left to do before this one is finished. I want to bring the sky colors down into the water and then see where to go with it. I'll post the finished piece when it's ready.

Photographing some art from the racks.

 

Photographing some art from "the racks," to put them online for sale.

When I get these photos shot, edited, and written up I will load them to my ArtFinder page and they can be purchased online from anywhere in the world. Cool.

My ArtFinder home page can be accessed by the link on the right. I know, shameless promotion. Just trying to make a living.

There's 30 pieces online now, and I hope to have 100 more by this time next year. Honestly, selling art is more work than making art.

I was going to title this blog entry  "Shooting A Cow," because it's about photos I'm shooting, but I thought better of it.

So click the link already :-)