Daily Painting Continued...

Well so far so good! I have managed to post something new every day this year ( I know, I know, the year is still young). Today I painted a new pastel of Mount Sopris to put in the Austin Pastel Society Georgetown Library show which we are hanging tomorrow. Talk about last minute. I knew I needed a third painting for the show and since we did not have to submit images, I went ahead and decided on a subject and waited till the day before the show to actually create the piece. Thank goodness that when I went to work this morning on a piece of reddish Windberg paper mounted on some Gatorboard it came out and I was very happy with it. I posted it as my Daily Painting for tomorrow, but if it sells the buyer will need to agree to allow it to hang in the library until the end of February.

"Sopris" 8x10 pastel on Windberg paper

Yesterday was  a beautiful day in Austin (today is too for that matter), so I joined some of my plein air painting friends at Austin Java coffee shop on Barton Springs Road to paint. I sat outside with Johnnie and we both painted competing coffee shop Flipnotics, across the street. Their bright green building with neon orange trim made for an interesting challenge. Johnnies turned out rather better than mine, but most (if not all) of hers do.

"Flipnotics" 8x10 oil on canvas panel/board

The day before yesterday I painted a third small painting in a series pulled from photos taken on a painting trip I took with my mother-in-law in 2007 to Portugal with painter Charles Gruppe. I had a fabulous time on the trip and painted 7 or 8 paintings in various beautiful locations. I have an incredible mother-in-law. Not many people I know, would gladly choose their mother-in-law as a travel partner, but I did. She never once said a word in complaint and I honestly had no idea she did not enjoy the trip as much as I did, until I read her travel journal last year. Her paintings frustrated her and she did not enjoy the food choices available in Portugal. (She's a strict vegetarian and they don't go in much for vegetarian fare in Portugal). Anyway the photos we brought home with us have served me well as painting fodder. Here are the three I painted this week from the photos.

"Schlepping My Art Gear" 6x6 oil on gessoed masonite

This was a photo my mother-in-law took of me schlepping my stuff up a steep, narrow street in Obidos, a beautiful, ancient, walled city in Portugal. It was charming with all the old whitewashed walls and either blue or yellow trim. There were flowering shrubs and window boxes everywhere.

"Sintra Center" 6x8 oil on gessoed masonite

The photo of the center of Sintra was one I did originally on site on a 9x12 canvas. That painting sold in Portugal so I did not get to bring it home with me. So I did it over as a 6x8

"Boat Siesta" 6x6 oil on gessoed masonite

"Seated Man" 6x6 oil on gessoed masonite

The painting of the boats I did originally in pastel and sold it to my old boss at the newspaper. I redid it in pastel for a CTPS show. I still have that second pastel version. This is the first time I tried it in oil. I liked the pastel version better.


This week's DPW Challenge Painting was the seated figure. They provided a photo to use if we chose, or we could use our own photo. I opted to use theirs. This is my interpretation of their photo. I changed the man's hat to red instead of black so it would stand out better and I simplified the background.

All paintings available through Daily Paintworks.

Visit my gallery at www.jfrederickart.com

Tangerine Tango is the "Hot" color for 2012

"Tangerine Tango Poppy" 6x6 oil on masonite 

"Poppy 2" 6x6 oil on masonite

No one is trying to call it the new black, but according to the fashionistas "Tangerine Tango" a brilliant red/orange is the "in" color this year. Last week's DPW challenge, challenged us to paint a painting around that color. I did two paintings of poppies using my closest approximation of that color (after all who's seen a tube of "tangerine tango"). This was fun to play with and a lovely color.

"Grand Canyon" 5x7 pastel on Ampersand board

I also painted a small pastel view of the Grand Canyon - kinda ironic, a tiny painting of the Grand Canyon, isn't it? That I used for my challenge painting at the Central Texas Pastel Society meeting. This month's challenge was to paint one of the National Parks hence the Grand Canyon.





While working on my dog series, I decided to try to paint a dog that belonged to one of my clients. I'm afraid I didn't do a great job of him. I don't think the owners would recognize him, but he does look like a cute dog, so I kept him and didn't wipe him out and start over. I named him "Buzzy" but that's not really who it is.

"Buzzy" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Austin Skyline" 6x6 oil on masonite

An old photo I had taken of the Austin skyline years ago, attracted me. So I did a quick oil sketch of it. Anyone familiar with the skyline will notice several of the newer buildings missing, but it was such a lovely shot I couldn't help painting it.

As usual most paintings are available through www.DailyPaintworks.com

How Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

"Holly" 6x6 pastel (not for sale)

I am so enjoying my retirement. Every day I get to do my favorite thing, which is paint! Some days I have more time than others but so far this year I've managed to complete at least one small painting a day and that makes me really happy. I realized that while I'm having so much fun, I've neglected my blog, so it's time for me to bring you up to date with the work I've been doing. Here goes in no particular order:

"Concentration" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Beach Brollies" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Water Garden" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Bull Creek" 8x8 oil on masonite

"Winter Stowage" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Snowfield, Take 3" 8x10 pastel

"Alley Parking" 10x8 pastel

"Fruit Bowl 2" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Garden of the Gods" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Fruit Bowl" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Basic Breakfast" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Snowfield 2" 6x6 oil on masonite

"Emily" 10x8 oil on canvas panel

"Snowfield" 6x6 oil on masonite

Most of these are available for purchase through Daily Paintworks.
Click here to get more information.

I find it inconceivable that it has been over a month since my last post. It's not that I haven't been painting just that I have neglected to post to my blog. December is always busy but that's not my excuse. My first priority has been posting paintings to the Daily Paintworks. After doing that my intent is to post to the blog but that often falls to the way side. Good intentions etc...

Anyway we are in Colorado for the holidays and I have been busy either painting outdoors when the weather permitted or indoors looking out the picture windows at my mother-in-law's cabin near Glenwood Springs. More to come, but this is what I've done so far on this trip.

"Snowy View" 6x6 oil on masonite SOLD

"Mountain Snows" 6x6 oil on masonite
DPW auction click here

"Snowy Peaks" 6x6 oil on masonite
DPW auction click here

"Western Light" 6x6 oil on masonite
DPW auction click here

"Glimpse of 'Sunlight'" 6x8 oil on canvas panel
DPW auction click here

In the Mood...

I really got in the mood to paint after my success with "Standing Guard". Since there was still time to spare and I really didn't want to venture out into the Black Friday madness I just kept going. My next painting was a potential contender for this year's Christmas Card "Christmas Cardinal". By the time I finished that and cleaned up it was time for dinner.

"Christmas Cardinal" 6"x6" oil on masonite available thru DPW click here for more info

Today after sitting down to write our annual Christmas newsletter (yes, we are those kind of people - we like to let folks know what we've been up to and some actually want to know), I sat decided to try a still life using a brass vase and some sunflower-ish flowers I had on hand. It was another fun one to paint. I seem to be enjoying the process more and more on each painting. I wonder why?

"Sunny Posy" 6" x 6" oil on masonite will be available thru DPW tomorrow.

Visible Improvement

Sometimes you just paint along and it's hard to tell if you're really getting anywhere. Anyway today I picked out an old photo to paint from and realized it is one I had attempted "en plein air" during a workshop a few years ago at a friend's hill country ranch. The painting I ended up with the first time did not work. I never even finished it since the start of it was so dismal. With lots of practice behind me and a better feel for what I wanted to do, I tried the same scene again this time from a photo in the studio. This time the painting I ended up with was one I was proud of and very happy with. Putting the two paintings side by side is the best illustration of how far I've come as a painter in the last few years. It's good to see that you are making progress.

"Standing Guard" 6"x6" oil on board $35 available through my gallery on Daily Paintworks click here

On Wednesday I had fun with a photo I took downtown on 6th Street while out painting with Plein Air Austin. The photo showed some historic buildings on 6th Street (our entertainment/clubs district) and the skyscrapers including the Frost Bank Tower behind them. The buildings were challenging, but I really enjoyed trying to render them in paint.

"Sixth Street" 6"x6" oil on board available through DPW auction click here for details

On Saturday I went to a mini workshop with Susan Carlin at the Windberg Art Center. It was put on by Central Texas Pastel Society. Susan did a demo in the morning during our regular CTPS meeting and those who chose to pay a nominal fee could stay to do the workshop in the afternoon. The idea was to paint a simple still life with just one fruit or veggie as a subject. I found that the hardest part was to try to represent the fabric we used to drape our still life boxes. I managed to do two pieces, my pomegranate and the persimmon I borrowed from a friend. I was pleased with both pieces and found the workshop very helpful.

"Pomegranate" 8"x8" pastel on Wallis paper/board available through DPW auction click here for details

"Persimmon" 6" x8" pastel on Wallis paper/board available through DPW auction click here for details

Come See Me At E.A.S.T. on Sunday at Stop #71

I'm so pleased to have confirmed a booth space this Sunday at the East Austin Studio Tour. It's at the Clay  River Studio EAST stop #71 at 906 Koerner Lane just off Bolm near Airport Blvd. It's just behind Big Medium. I will be there from 11 to 6 on Sunday November 20th showing my work and selling my new 2012 Art Calendars. Come visit with me and I can show you what I've been up to over the past few months.

Today I met with friends and we painted at Bull Creek again, only this time we painted the other side of Loop 360. There was a lovely little pool of water below a cliff of big bolders. The fall leaf colors were lovely. It was a cloudy overcast day, I'm sure it would have been even more lovely in brighter light. I called the painting "Peaceful Reflections" however the three little girls there on a rock hunt were shrieking and making it anything but peaceful for much of the time we were there.

"Peaceful Reflections" 8"x 8" oil on board.  Listed for auction at DPW. Click here for details

On Tuesday I hosted a paint out for Plein Air Williamson (County). Naturally it was the day we finally got some rain. No sooner than I arrived it started to rain. Only two other intrepid painters showed up and one got called away on an emergency so the two of us remaining set up under the railway bridge to shelter from the rain and made the best of it. It was really nice to finally see a little rain around here. Kinda wish there had been more of it.

"Rainy Day at the Park"  8" x 8" oil on board. Listed for auction at DPW. Click here for details.