tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49818489473392690622024-03-12T17:52:21.969-07:00Greg LaRock Fine ArtGreg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-28705508816491370372011-08-01T14:30:00.000-07:002011-08-01T15:29:12.310-07:00Step by Step<div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9X6JVTUWJFH3kHRqmoaMyVcCRBIHjWOMFjb431TaSZz9F_Tg-zQBfzUazjEo5cice950KNqZ4w2jrRfF9NuPLkFAstvXrI8fAHrUEObdBJCkZQqjb8Fwb67MWZWARUt4iyhrmMQWnlA/s1600/SeaMoments_blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9X6JVTUWJFH3kHRqmoaMyVcCRBIHjWOMFjb431TaSZz9F_Tg-zQBfzUazjEo5cice950KNqZ4w2jrRfF9NuPLkFAstvXrI8fAHrUEObdBJCkZQqjb8Fwb67MWZWARUt4iyhrmMQWnlA/s400/SeaMoments_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636007360535932450" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px; " /></a></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is a plein air painting I did for the San Clemente show last month (“Sea Moments” 9x12). After a request from Plein Air Magazine to do a step by step sequence of my painting process, I chose this pier and wave scene while I was competing in the competition. This painting and a feature article on me will be in the fall issue of </span><a href="http://www.outdoorpainter.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Plein Air</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When painting the ocean, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, it’s important for me to “select” a moment in time that piques my interest the most. I always enjoy the wave mid-break—you get some of the white foam along with the water lights and shadows created by the cresting wave. Once I’ve selected a spot to paint, I sit and watch many sets roll in to determine the best layout of the wave. So, here is the sequence from start to finish:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ5MnZOQTibfe6wp2tlTqwxx72cnfDMqGHSDnnDwVcHpOIwwyAgOLRPMMqijTPyJkwvJO9wnggzkzXTFUIkR4IWB9WufDeLS3dHF8eOl47LzEMfBfJvUpBVsNM5fD7Z2LI9iGrG_uNoQ/s400/PierSequence_01_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016924973969810" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 1</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is the overall scene before I began, with one of the waves breaking.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOzphc2gWSNT9_ESK_6qf-69AZyyab3IR1l9LRMz4IGxmyLXEc7xUkc00I9Tkp9bAHPeBl3JNVgFJkN2u9pPdAmQax9QLMG8uH60uteZ8oamgkI1fv-cnLxegyDDn65wvK2aMF4wViv8M/s400/PierSequence_02_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016854253657042" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 2</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My initial sketch of the scene. A rough idea of shapes and where I want to put elements.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fzqLGT8EC7i38Hi3cDZpfPHc2cim0KzqXMD4QijDbl7CApMQ-3nZ0qrMQB_kbtvFxoOd9hSz93MP_YW2O0P9kvloDFPMmgbxW1an3O5_maP3KwcAqAb1GeWctM_QF1nVIKupHkmvnz8/s400/PierSequence_03_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016748052861394" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 3</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A block in of the darkest part of the painting. Simplifying the underside of the pier.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilefXd-dKYGCGVmwGAMxgKJOOHs7nuP4kbnjfWywUAdcuLCbvqBsCnSVX-rdlvJJuTMSuwdU71dfWLe9918gcFlfLjCNy0Zj-6AFgFtLrsQfuxNabLtE6dk4IxSO3oqvcsoLywWdAJA_Q/s400/PierSequence_04_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016657902327218" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 4</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Roughed in the top part of the pier and the small structures at the end.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBPOvl6QOReHE7tNLwniqkaVvNrGn5o322R1SLVnroh9YjLHm43XlhTiCJbkRo4z4gxyCfUOCZ0y5XjHCblu7FVq5wMHEC8WlqEXvGbuHqQROzlAxY7mlzmbvaDCAkfjJzFJeYZS9Nzg4/s400/PierSequence_05_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016569505744114" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 5</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Getting the correct color and value for the darkest part of the ocean and shadow of the cresting wave.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUI3vZy8n_enk9LAMie2zrDCzUweU_qOkRWIM0QHHU0N1qqoiomwR79lOWD3Q5-pVvO0LlaG0QLI1_v6IVYY7qzyJvEtnc-UyyvrDCi-QeRUpn0hlisKW5_1bRAgk_SUtQBCoWKJxhX2o/s400/PierSequence_06_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016486371451682" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 6</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Laying in the distant water and where it peeks through the underside of the pier.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqqSv4-2VEYERgvKnZp9D0ehhPtnfVZNL7yahgRgQ_5rAOasNPvBX9fmFChrTvzWtiWPNBY12W6bVWNdC4Dup9i1Zrwqtw5uda9Sncv5tDiYR-4iANQTCLG3JJK_jKXQ7i5yiDyJZrJ8/s400/PierSequence_07_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016281966252450" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 7</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finding the color notes in the white wash area of the wave.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHAoq5JOwlWCFeH567Wm5j4xZxqurjWdfe85z37tlzDnaP9ETvpjA96qRKqK3LUdJU6gi15k9IZm5KwcPIl8cWkp8IGJFGR6PkuLq_qBV-pfHq5JPaGnvmjjmObLYi1az8lP-oRV6Pb4/s400/PierSequence_08_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016205485473874" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 8</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More work in the foam area. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNYlW6udnL0qPEw-INGx8KvQjhZcU5cLKv2qUC1cfGSm60vnNFXxhzKC7xguhr0tOgsMPd2xqISOoe-gcBpyuP_RgdVh6vmwSZhxFpiuCJtWTcjMUqoRxIJEBrANSwtO5SSHhKz0QiW9k/s400/PierSequence_09_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636016051909643954" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 9</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More on the foam, and adjusting the values where it goes into the slight shadow casted from the pier. Also, small color and value nuances are added into the whites.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBd-8tlDnKOWf2jvB3yxEhf9GLQmu-b7mEJn-q32WmyGgI0jOrEQE2q2wCLvLyb2J7gglk6rXTbZ4gv_VuUNkeRgwuttcfC4vkDgBBxfL1fU7vMgew-dzNj1bZ-xRG07cBwKLw-sxWhU/s400/PierSequence_10_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015712097803426" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 10</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had left some white canvas where the foam would appear in the foreground water. I’ve painted in those lighter areas in this step. The final details in the wave foam were completed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDD1y7nrVYq3J1IU8Xp-8BhpioxiHpYctUO92hLEElU3F8vCvCiGPe4jiR5aPumn20L-TKG8imSwtpXAesn7yuA6N5IRZbaUt9MaO42Qh1OJJg5HdJs1LWgk339r0QQzbyB-AxBs3xeg/s400/PierSequence_11_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015578027574482" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 11</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The sky was dropped in next, plus the beginnings of the small wave in the foreground.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpn6CS3w4bQG3dIB0OlHMhMZLg5zF-Sx64i-IqvtD4-qrzUPyOX3RkUkQJFxJfKG4ohmHjuBfGD6-EQO6A5VsEe5PORvnNAGaTuFcDBVRDmIzkVo9Pk4TOmLKo_OGZNm2GEKM0T-Pxmys/s400/PierSequence_12_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015426586807474" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 12</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The wet sand of the foreground is added. I kept the color intense to give it a feeling of closeness to the viewer.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLFkc_3P2aa_3yQd3Vm6WhXvR2Vg45hRy_SxPfNufDXwZMMMqdznUDNssUKGZgCULgt95ub3NgQnkxAxCpRnAwdUPghrlXemyZbjIChCKPE_dx-sAL1F1CJPs162OrGFPgFpK3bowfFQ/s400/PierSequence_13_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015321672264626" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 13</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More details were added in the small foreground wave.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIc2kybksODXRHqv5TK1fjBZw6ScAdzS6bLjrNLGiJ3bJwvlDdfj3OeX6Jki3CiD-cl4mVmhLN7skXL5kGEhJ94I4nRDzq5BO9Aa0bdrwemwWaoMUtfDg9N65NlbqVoSRIEJxO7lUKHNw/s400/PierSequence_14_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015201622020130" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 14</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fixed the “air holes” and adjusted the edges where the sky and water peek through the pier.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Go_pWtfARMKioaawQclGN9XZHkv0i5mEtjL8pBS_yd0D_EOLfp_FQY4a6zf4UmluTJVf6WwcJBwlwJ_W9hMwVmwiDbd61Fk8g573n-nfvzVSTJNtOYfdrc2YN6HKPNo_imfj6u4oRnc/s400/PierSequence_15_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636015091875379842" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 15</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Details on the top of the pier were painted in next. The light posts add a nice vertical to break up the sky. The underside of the pier subtleties were finished too.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eTnH32ixvrgm6F3sxRw0ydewZnn7dxAS7F7Nghg5YfzjL0MCxU0Gq1BCz5MoSjc_B7FWnDwyWuKFL03-PjdZNOe3Qnf0eu_xGX2h-SZG67rbV4LEySgXon4JjhdPSgACkEgIrrUfKrQ/s400/PierSequence_16_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636014924752433346" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 16</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More details in the foreground wave and wet sand. The little dark shadow areas under the wave gave it more dimension.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGQh58eYUgMpi3K-ZgnCy-TjLs9FlACb_9Ub5lM0JzHudT2IWwslNwZLFgxRBSBS3bAt3Bj3k3mxypLml4ASBjiNe1eYOOOry9SvQN0ZIAckiFeVmS4Qm6e67dc41EV0NFMbVSafSIBc/s400/PierSequence_17_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636013977226447746" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 17</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The last of the details were added in the water and this was the final.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9X6JVTUWJFH3kHRqmoaMyVcCRBIHjWOMFjb431TaSZz9F_Tg-zQBfzUazjEo5cice950KNqZ4w2jrRfF9NuPLkFAstvXrI8fAHrUEObdBJCkZQqjb8Fwb67MWZWARUt4iyhrmMQWnlA/s1600/SeaMoments_blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSIV37TzRUz56Tehg1Kf48Rcq9tsRQmUQuNpqQ6353KYKSSo0Sp_mwq9owJUZNRNSFQCB-b30blEycsJJrvNdRhaS9oqG9Y_Pz05Ql1KEDbO_f76xPIHqactY4CoFqy9LTucnEz4L0gg/s400/PierSequence_18_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636013632346677538" style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Step 18</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The final painting and overall scene. If you wish to view this sequence in a slide show click below. Enjoy!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwnZCehJwuImBvp8S5tPLT3VmnJZ64It5o9mNL4InHzpeYiEbzzIMW7RV9ns7Yib3rNOndnXz8USA135VLHBg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-49413259622393564982011-05-16T13:08:00.001-07:002011-05-16T13:10:47.714-07:00Mass-ive<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcrA5lPxj00rOZlRtbLrZAQGJ3wmr1UUsK4hJhHGHF5ReRBYHxA70AqMIeueQoMpmilEGW0270Ki9BL2VFKFc6IjwGrNiCDfX-4YIm8zpiP_r2zyNLgERmI34DIyzMbCgE9GPimit2sQ/s1600/AlongThePath_blog.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcrA5lPxj00rOZlRtbLrZAQGJ3wmr1UUsK4hJhHGHF5ReRBYHxA70AqMIeueQoMpmilEGW0270Ki9BL2VFKFc6IjwGrNiCDfX-4YIm8zpiP_r2zyNLgERmI34DIyzMbCgE9GPimit2sQ/s400/AlongThePath_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607408554660922930" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, it’s been awhile, but here is a recent painting I completed from the Callaway Gardens plein air show last month out in Georgia. This 9x12 scene, “Along the Path” depicts one of their walking trails through the gardens of blooming azaleas. The color splash was a welcome sight amongst the invasion of Spring greens. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These very complex scenes provide an enjoyable challenge to plein air painting. The dappled light is constantly moving and colors can shift rapidly. With the maze of bushes and trees, It becomes essential to simplify and mass as much as possible. In fact, this entire painting is just an arrangement of massed objects, with relatively little detail. I tried as much as possible to see the simple shapes. Then when it comes together at the end, it feels busy but is still readable without depicting every flower or leaf. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The first thing I did was to break down the distance into three sections: foreground, mid-ground and background. I then determined where each object was and forced it into one of the three depths. This made the painting much simpler to decipher when it came to establishing my values and intensities. I sketched the scene in pencil and made notes to where I wanted the my shadows and lights on the pathway. Next I started in the foreground bushes and found a value and color note of the in-shadow greens. Once I had a note I liked, I expanded on the area by shifting the colors and temperatures, but not value. That “holds” those shadowed green masses forward and creates the feeling of “foreground”. The tree off to the right was also painted in that same value range, as was the two larger tree trunks on the left.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I moved to the mid-ground next which included all of the flowers and the green tree in the middle. I again tried to keep all of my values to fit into this section. It had to be less intense than anything in the foreground but leaving myself room for background values. The distant trees and water (background) were then painted into the open areas of the canvas. These were the coolest and grayest of the painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The pathway was painted last by comparing my values to the foliage next to it as it traveled back into space. I added a figure walking for a touch of the human element. The overall simplicities let the viewer fill in the gaps with their imagination, engaging them to take part in the work. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-29824458123289241652010-11-29T16:22:00.001-08:002010-11-29T16:32:26.368-08:00Growing with the Flow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYx0F74uPik7ecr9ZOjnLLWy2-fcNxGFGvbo95g5kI5dlHbyskaBZjRBl6eHAgADxpjpLlpZJhrxr451SfsXU-P7ZQE4fgDGGZFUMVQp-O6-f-MEXe6zHWzxcJkqh-8zXcqE5p3rbZ_E/s1600/BigRed_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYx0F74uPik7ecr9ZOjnLLWy2-fcNxGFGvbo95g5kI5dlHbyskaBZjRBl6eHAgADxpjpLlpZJhrxr451SfsXU-P7ZQE4fgDGGZFUMVQp-O6-f-MEXe6zHWzxcJkqh-8zXcqE5p3rbZ_E/s400/BigRed_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545132544282419362" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIbC-S2PFTVKZZrEALk6fuAOKEyy-h_nOGIBygaGqhfp_l0P_AHGUp8Ape3pb8KUNzEnWWEJuS9DoFmxmf77VLq9xNUjWZnl4mtWf91QwkwwWFjG-fDrCjaIIWz8y5T_YzED3w7qKi44/s1600/LittleRed_blog.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIbC-S2PFTVKZZrEALk6fuAOKEyy-h_nOGIBygaGqhfp_l0P_AHGUp8Ape3pb8KUNzEnWWEJuS9DoFmxmf77VLq9xNUjWZnl4mtWf91QwkwwWFjG-fDrCjaIIWz8y5T_YzED3w7qKi44/s320/LittleRed_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545132139043305618" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">D</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">uring my participation in the Laguna Beach Invitational last month, I decided to attempt something I haven’t tried before in a painting competition. I thought I’d repeat the exact same scene to see if my outcome could be improved. Originally, I never had this intention but when I reviewed the smaller version the day after it was completed, I saw the opportunity to attempt a larger work that was still fresh on my mind. Plus with a recent marine layer that had moved in over the beach, I knew I could count on this inland location at Black Star Canyon to be sunny. Both of these paintings were painted en plein air during the competition. The larger scene “Big Red” is 18x24 in size and painted two days after the smaller 8x10 work, titled “Little Red” (inset). </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Normally, I don’t do a painting this large outside. Not because I’m unable, but I’ve been trying to spend more time working out my compositions and slowing down in my painting process. For these reasons, the light changes too much over the course of the painting, so I’ve been focusing on smaller scenes I know I can finish in two or three hours. The nice thing about having completed the 8x10 is that the design and composition were already worked out. The larger painting is simply bigger brushes and giving attention the areas I wished to improve on in the smaller work.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Before I began the big painting, these were the items I thought to improve: The warmer rock face on right side needed to be more prominent. The “floor” of the canyon seemed to be lost and I thought it was hard to see that flat expanse that exists between the foreground bushes and the base of the rock formation. And lastly, the distant trees and bushes needed better definition and clarity. Once these issues were addressed, the rest of the painting painted itself. Since I knew the shadows would be lost quickly and this larger work would take more time, I painted all of those first, leaving the lit areas as blank canvas to complete at the end. Whereas the smaller version was painted in my usual manner – simply one section at a time. This was the only difference in my approach.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">With both paintings completed, one of the neat comparisons was to see how I viewed the same scene a few days apart. I did not bring the smaller painting with me when I did the 18x24. When comparing the two, you can see how differently I painted the shapes and where I altered sections. Some of these changes are natural adjustments that go on spontaneously as I try to make the composition work on the fly. Another difference was that the day was sunnier when I painted the smaller scene and how that affects the color in the rocks. Also noticing how much “colder” the distant foliage is on rock face. I think this attributed to the fact that “Big Red” was started a little earlier in the afternoon than the smaller one. Or it simply that tells me how different the light can be on any given day. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-38026013814514934202010-10-10T21:58:00.000-07:002010-10-12T10:59:36.508-07:00Looky Here<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOf9LUtN5a0zp53W9z7H6qkfYgwTg1vvz3PXgZQVk7u_Mws3HOSEUoG7xjMRdwkePAYUNdU8cttRobnv6zndNohWswzFwCVdKXkd7AaJwCmNVZBQuOPk8Ky0v604I2h48KFiC3jwRfwM/s1600/GirlsAtBay_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOf9LUtN5a0zp53W9z7H6qkfYgwTg1vvz3PXgZQVk7u_Mws3HOSEUoG7xjMRdwkePAYUNdU8cttRobnv6zndNohWswzFwCVdKXkd7AaJwCmNVZBQuOPk8Ky0v604I2h48KFiC3jwRfwM/s400/GirlsAtBay_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526649260198047490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxB3mmEis1z9eIN56Xt7IEcWREY7AITKrBCQ7ICq91Nq7hzRTvegfmrqe4SNkX37xOlMFjmlgxVG4fUNp5Vjhbpl4IrayEDG7NABGHbX3XTa4xnCerAt_iO5wU-H-HLpupXBLyfv4wVk/s1600/GirlsAtBay_arrows_blog.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxB3mmEis1z9eIN56Xt7IEcWREY7AITKrBCQ7ICq91Nq7hzRTvegfmrqe4SNkX37xOlMFjmlgxVG4fUNp5Vjhbpl4IrayEDG7NABGHbX3XTa4xnCerAt_iO5wU-H-HLpupXBLyfv4wVk/s320/GirlsAtBay_arrows_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526649030687899602" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Just returned from the San Luis Obispo plein air event that wrapped up last weekend. One of the features during the event was a lecture by Jean Stern, executive director of the </span><a href="http://www.irvinemuseum.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Irvine Museum</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, on “The Art of Looking at Art.” Part of his educational discussion which I found intriguing, was his breakdown of directional eye movement throughout a painting. A thorough example of how artists use shape, line, value and contrast to move you around their compositions. Once he finished, I quickly went to look at my work to see if I accomplished what he was talking about. I was happy to find that (in my humble opinion) I felt I succeeded. Above is one of my paintings from the week-long event and the inset is how I saw the movement within the work.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This 9x12 scene, “Girls at Bay” depicted one of the inlets at the south end of Morro Bay. I loved the colorful buildings and boats in the distance and wanted to make that my focus. Guiding the viewer around your painting and getting them to look at the things you want them to is always one of my main goals. Just like a good author or director guides you through their novel or movie, the same holds true for a painting. As I composed this scene, my objective was to give the viewer a few nuggets of information and the rest of the elements were used to support and guide you along the way. Keeping the foreground simple and minimizing hard edges and high contrasts, allows your eye to “look past” those elements and move up to the structures. The sweep of the shoreline invites the viewer into the scene. I kept the two overturned boat values very similar to the ground color to give them a less important feel. Your eye should move past those and curve around to the left. Once there, you’re in the focus and invited to move between the three circled areas of the harbor, the orange house and the contrast between the brighter boats on the shore with the dark mass of the foreground tree. The tops of the distant trees help guide you back down to the harbor, as does the verticals of the boat masts. The hard-edged arc of the dark foreground tree keeps you from exiting to the right. The little blue boat I felt was the most critical element in the painting. In actuality, it was white and blended in with the large boat behind it. I changed it a dark blue, to give it contrast and used the hard edge and direction of the bow to point you back into the painting instead of letting your eye exit to the left. I kept all of the tree and bush shapes simple to keep you focused on the structural elements. Since my focus is in the mid-ground of the painting, I didn’t add too much detail to the buildings and boats. Just a few hints of windows and things to keep them feeling farther away and yet still describing what they are. This lets the viewer use their imagination to fill in the story instead of painting in every little detail. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Good direction is always key. Although nobody likes to be told what to do, a gentle nudge down the right path never hurts. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-60900278803001618432010-09-01T19:50:00.000-07:002010-09-01T19:59:35.098-07:00Clean and Simple<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv414oRtDQewKHwQjPROW1V7MrxHSxxA7xyEW8NQ9UVAZy1ilaJzLMeHNd-Og6vmDVdAGjYz2IBdOLHfm-A83-jxxBGyiJS8urlAeTuoxUzvwsiqvvpM2s-wfTRpC7YMwpZ9LTea9gOg/s1600/DoubleStop_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 316px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNv414oRtDQewKHwQjPROW1V7MrxHSxxA7xyEW8NQ9UVAZy1ilaJzLMeHNd-Og6vmDVdAGjYz2IBdOLHfm-A83-jxxBGyiJS8urlAeTuoxUzvwsiqvvpM2s-wfTRpC7YMwpZ9LTea9gOg/s400/DoubleStop_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512143540213056818" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is a painting from the “Just Plein Fun” plein air competition I participated in a few weeks ago. My 10x8 scene “Double Stop” was fortunate to received the third place award in the show. When I spotted this alley behind the main bayfront walk, I thought it would make a nice composition, but only if I kept it clean and simple.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’m finding more and more the importance of clean color and simple shapes to drive my point home. By taking extra time in my decision making process, finding the right balance of shapes can truly make a painting sing without having to say everything.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the past, I used to pride myself in how fast I could crank out a painting or that I could just set up anywhere and capture a scene. With those hasty decisions came hit and miss results. Sometimes I’d nail it, but more often they became either average works or fell apart when I reviewed them them the next day. The more I’ve slowed down over the years, the happier I’ve become with my results.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Once I saw that this alley had potential I spent about 20 minutes visually composing it. I moved up and down the alley every 100 feet or so trying to find the right balance of shapes. I narrowed it down to three spots, then spent another 15 minutes reviewing each of those until the above view was chosen. I felt that the combination of the simple concrete foreground making up the bottom third balanced well with the mass of trees and shapes of the homes. By painting the bottom third with very little detail, it lets the eye easily glide up to the trees. Once there, I used the complement of the green trees with the red stop sign for contrast and a focal center. The bottom left shadow was created to slow the eye down as it guides you in along it’s “S” shape. The house details were kept to a minimum, using the “L” shape of the one on the right to hook you in. The second stop sign was added as a supporting focal point as well as the telephone poles. They were both set up to create depth, letting your eye glide back into the scene. As you recede in to the distance, I used the left side home to hold you in. The silhouetted trash can shapes then direct you back to the stop sign and complete a circular loop.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I kept the colors of each area clean by carefully painting individual areas separately, not letting any of the color “mix” on the canvas. I used a soft synthetic flat that held its edge well and took my time with each shape. With this approach, you can say so much with very little. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-4290243609001109052010-08-02T17:18:00.001-07:002010-08-02T17:25:49.708-07:00Fleeting Light<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8EZSnMK74NDholXvFZaHuyVNgX1FF1b3yizEjXK9gNl1BFkdERcRgR5kGY1DryR1_STDHIDrRt62Pgmw-mqfxfcqyhpkUCYKWC8quqEKqyRolVMj9F87_CFv3wQA7iEao_LMxgh4J-Y/s1600/UndertheArch_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8EZSnMK74NDholXvFZaHuyVNgX1FF1b3yizEjXK9gNl1BFkdERcRgR5kGY1DryR1_STDHIDrRt62Pgmw-mqfxfcqyhpkUCYKWC8quqEKqyRolVMj9F87_CFv3wQA7iEao_LMxgh4J-Y/s400/UndertheArch_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500971576394783986" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here’s another Italian scene painted on site near the Arno river in Florence. The above 9x12 painting “Under the Arch” was completed in a little over an hour on the second day that I arrived. I wanted to get the juices flowing after the long flight before I began my week of teaching, so I managed to finish this one just before the bus picked us up for our workshop.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had every intention of doing a painting of bridges and water on the Arno, but when I didn’t find something inspiring, I spotted this view with the tiny sliver of light piercing the shadowed wall. The street and mini archway just spoke of Florence and since time was of the essence, I set up and got busy. To start, my most important element was to capture the shadow value of the building on the right. After a quick sketch of the basic forms, I began concentrating on mixing that tricky green/gold color. Of course, the minute I put the first few strokes down, sunlight started flooding the scene and my wonderful light sliver was lost instantly. I still wanted to continue and thought I’d just remember what it looked like and pressed on. I painted in all of the right side shadow tones and window suggestions, then moved to the archway. In actuality, it was the same color as the building on the right, but I changed the shade slightly, so it wouldn’t appear flat. Next I brushed on the red tones of the left side building, and again, this was much lighter due to the reflected light. When I experimented with establishing the correct tone, it drew too much attention to an unimportant area, so I dropped the value down to the same level as the other shadows and that created a better harmony. I moved to the distant building next, and pushed it’s value lighter to achieve a bit more distance in the scene. I also gave it a pink hue to differentiate it from the other structures. Since the building was quite tall in reality, I cropped it down to allow for that small rectangle of sky which I felt created a better design. The street was painted in after that and people were added to give it life. I kept them minimized and in shadow so they would not take away from the lit areas which were my focus. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; ">Lastly, I painted in all the sunlit areas. The value was there for me, but I had to work from memory of the actual light shape, since the whole right-hand building was now in full light. With some last minute flourishes here and there, my final paint stroke was the sliver of yellow light coming down in the center. Time was now up and I threw my gear together and was off to the bus.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I knew that the painting was missing something, since so much of the light shapes were created from memory but couldn’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t until I returned home and saw my photo of the scene that I figured out what was wrong. I had painted the side of the building to the right of the archway roof completely in shadow, when in reality there was tons of reflected light bouncing off the red roof. I corrected my mistake, adding in the rectangle of light above the thin sliver and suddenly it all came together.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Painting en plein air always has it’s advantages, but a little photo help here and there never hurts! Enjoy.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-28405996093860250682010-06-09T16:00:00.000-07:002010-06-10T15:47:20.713-07:00Chianti Hills<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRLUC2poHgtyZsqja7vQmj9P_IYSPvB713g1R3oGyVBOd1pH7bISr1H9_eyvKCO9ojTSHyCMIphTdzaDPOMXu2rsf6GvI_qX1PV9FCK2OjRbZfw_kvlzn4st1wp6P2WPLo7ECa4Yz80Q/s1600/AboveVagliagli_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihRLUC2poHgtyZsqja7vQmj9P_IYSPvB713g1R3oGyVBOd1pH7bISr1H9_eyvKCO9ojTSHyCMIphTdzaDPOMXu2rsf6GvI_qX1PV9FCK2OjRbZfw_kvlzn4st1wp6P2WPLo7ECa4Yz80Q/s400/AboveVagliagli_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480913210784357138" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">Back in Italy, and I can’t believe it’s been a year since my last visit. Real espresso, fresh herbs, beautiful landscape, people, pasta and of course, plenty of vino ... what’s not to love! We’ve had great weather too, their first warm spell of the year, so I’m told. The only downside is the lack of poppies, with no fields of red to be found in our area. But there is still plenty to paint!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I thought I’d share the scene above. This 9x12, “Above Vagliagli” is an aerial view from the small town close to where we’re staying. (Vagliagli -- valley of the wild garlic -- pronounced val-yal-yee). I loved the way the shapes grouped together nicely and thought I’d be up for the challenge of a complex scene.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I started by rouging in where the town would be positioned on the canvas, beginning only with the basic rectangle shapes of the buildings. I painted in all the shadow sides first of the main structures that I wanted to emphasize, then added the sunlit fronts. Next I put in some roof shapes on top of those and added some of the trees separating the buildings. After that, all of the other structures are just suggestions of roofs, shadowed sides and lighted fronts, using areas in and around the trees. I next added the shadows under the roof eaves and threw in a couple of windows on the main buildings. I added windows only to the ones I wanted the viewer focus on. In the last stage of painting the town, I worked back and forth between the trees and structures, trying to get the feel of a busy scene without overstating my main focus.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lastly, the foreground and far hills were kept simple to support the town.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We’re off to Siena tomorrow and since it’s after midnight, I’ll end this post here! Ciao.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-34423263813100593642010-05-26T12:07:00.000-07:002010-05-26T16:00:09.861-07:00Sonoma Plein Air<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFCCMlPf4hf5PC9EEW-AmiBRMgWWU21vnY1IOVkX2XuqCjNZUVrH-UxXgFC7ktdxsFlo0wsJk_QUYdBCPDYAdINyC5xqUSkwrFkpRpT-Y9l_bLgeTROoJ7JygCr2O2VvPARVnPKgyc8Q/s1600/Doin'Chores_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFCCMlPf4hf5PC9EEW-AmiBRMgWWU21vnY1IOVkX2XuqCjNZUVrH-UxXgFC7ktdxsFlo0wsJk_QUYdBCPDYAdINyC5xqUSkwrFkpRpT-Y9l_bLgeTROoJ7JygCr2O2VvPARVnPKgyc8Q/s400/Doin'Chores_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475657686812547202" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Just returned from the Sonoma Plein Air event last week, and thought I’d share one of my favorites from the week-long painting competition. We had a bit of a challenge with some unseasonably cold weather, wind and rain getting in the way, but like the saying goes: “A bad day painting is better than a good day at the office” (although, technically this IS my office!). The bright side was I hung out with some great artists, met a few new ones and “talked shop” all week, which definitely spurs growth. Plus, realizing that we’re all in the same boat keeps your spirits up and pushes you to focus on your work, not the weather.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was a wonder the above 9x16 painting, “Doin’ Chores”, even came to fruition. It was born after a disastrous morning in which I scraped off a not-so-well-thought-out composition at another location. Then, after discovering this scene and setting up my gear, it started to pour. I packed up even before beginning and tried to look for a drier place to paint, but ended up driving around for an hour or so with no luck. After lunch and a break in the weather I checked back and was able to complete the painting before the rain began yet again. What drew me to this scene was its simplicity. I loved the big, simple foreground, tree masses and flat front of the barn. I figured they would complement the small details if I could keep them interesting but not overpowering. Plus there was a nice color harmony created by the gray day. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I began by blocking in all the trees and establishing the behind-the-barn ground color, then moved to the face of the barn to make sure I had the hue correct to go with the background harmony. Next I painted the sides, roof and details in the barn, working to completion. I tackled the entire foreground after that, getting the color intense enough to stay forward in the painting. I used brushwork to create interesting shapes and altered the color here and there for variety. I also added some accent colors in the foreground to move your eye where I wanted and built smaller details to guide you up to the barn. I dropped in the sky next, making sure to use a warm gray and not the same color as the barn roof. Lastly I added a couple of cows laying in the grass before it starting to rain again and I quickly threw all my gear in the car.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Leaving hurriedly, I wasn’t sure I was completely happy with the scene, but chose to wait until the next day to evaluate. Upon review, the cows looked like an afterthought and maybe some farm hands would be better suited. So my thinking was this: paint in a couple of guys working and see if they looked better than the cows. If the figures didn’t work, I could fix up the cow forms to read better. After the two workers were painted in (entirely from my imagination), I felt they told a better story and added a human aspect that I liked. Alas, the cows had to get axed (only in the painting, though!).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Sometimes if I can tell a better story by reworking it a bit, then it’s worth a shot! Enjoy.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-85593766758021100632010-04-19T16:10:00.001-07:002010-04-19T16:18:18.954-07:00Brush-speak<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMDytp_nUN7r0FhJiAVixB0Uwea_MUHaxZkvXL3mkeTuVb1Lmxy9QgDnX-Kp6mD64J8xDkvUs1WpdGk8zI1Rr5AX8B0UH5JPzXcbUXhu8iqzcFNUlGK6R-0akEvaIDC0897Vpu4zH8GY/s1600/CoastalRush_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMDytp_nUN7r0FhJiAVixB0Uwea_MUHaxZkvXL3mkeTuVb1Lmxy9QgDnX-Kp6mD64J8xDkvUs1WpdGk8zI1Rr5AX8B0UH5JPzXcbUXhu8iqzcFNUlGK6R-0akEvaIDC0897Vpu4zH8GY/s400/CoastalRush_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461990068040166962" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Always looking to try something new, this was another experimentation in the studio several weeks ago. While a sea-scape is nothing earth-shattering, the way this little 8x10 painting, “Coastal Rush” was completed was the difference. And it reminds me that expressive passages can lead to pleasing results, while maintaining a freshness that can be forgotten in larger, more methodical works.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The purpose of this painting was to see what the outcome would be without a planned approach or organized design. I normally wouldn’t do this nor recommend it, as I believe a good plan leads to a good painting. But occasionally I’ll find myself painting “stiff” or my design elements and passages will feel “forced”. When this happens, it can be refreshing to let go and try a very free process. Then, blending this in with my normal routine, can help me pull though the stiffness in future paintings.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To start, I decided to tone my canvas with Prussian Blue, a color I never use. I also toned it broadly with dark and light passages without trying to give it an overall uniformity. This toning gave the canvas a “feel” that I used as part of the interpretation of the scene. (In fact, the sky area is just my original toning). Next, I decided on a dark color for the shadow-side of the rocks and roughly painted those in, more on where I felt they should be placed rather than how they appeared in my photo reference. I grayed them a bit as they went back in space for depth. Then I painted the top “in light” color of the rocks where light would hit if it were coming from the top left of my scene. Again the placement was a response to the masses already created. Throughout this painting I kept my emphasis on loose and free brush-work. Never really trying to correct much, but simply responding to the shapes that were being formed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The water was next. I used a combination of Prussian Blue, white and a touch of Viridian for the shadow areas of the water, painting them free and expressively. Then hit the lit foam areas with white and hints of color to give it some vividness. Lastly, I created the back horizon land mass – just a few quick brush strokes as a suggestion – which took all of 30 seconds. After a couple of edges were softened here and there in the distant rocks, the painting was finished. I wasn’t sure what I thought, so I decided to evaluate the next morning.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Upon review, I felt the scene came together and captured a sense of the rushing ocean. But more importantly, I enjoyed the way each brush stoke had a confidence to it, without being over-thought or overworked. I’ll try to remember to add areas like these in future paintings. Sometimes it’s better to let my brush talk, instead of me verbally explaining my intentions! Enjoy.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-67062085773100152962010-03-18T10:58:00.001-07:002010-03-18T11:36:45.911-07:00The Desert Rocks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaVg2BrO8o089vsDWKgzrixwoGVGl4VEugDSeEXARNJjr551qVg3hvuj_y_0WiQOWkmRtFLS0_TyXtuZe1WLVmu4AGgx5PabcS-pyb6yxiw0lcZD25pRX2BXGbP2hG4AhhkMREyLAc3Q/s1600-h/MorningGlorie_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaVg2BrO8o089vsDWKgzrixwoGVGl4VEugDSeEXARNJjr551qVg3hvuj_y_0WiQOWkmRtFLS0_TyXtuZe1WLVmu4AGgx5PabcS-pyb6yxiw0lcZD25pRX2BXGbP2hG4AhhkMREyLAc3Q/s400/MorningGlorie_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450034892426171714" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I’m out here in the Anza-Borrego desert again for their annual Plein Air show. I thought I’d post one of my paintings just completed the other day in Glorietta Canyon. This 9x12 scene, “Morning Glorie” was begun around 8 am after an easy 15 minute off-road drive. I had to lug my gear over boulders and cacti to get this vantage point, but I thought the trek was well worth it once I saw this view out over the desert floor to Salton Sea in the hazy distance.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was drawn to the incredible diversity of rock colors that were present in this canyon. The morning shadows created these vibrant blue and orange casts that complemented nicely with the frosty greens of bushes. With the compelling vista and atmospheric rock formations stepping back, how could you not want to capture this in paint!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I knew my center of interest would be the yellows of the main bush as the sun highlighted it’s rim. This contrasted well with the darker cools in the rocks creating an instant grab for your eye. I started by laying down much of the rock tones as quickly as possible. As the sun was rising, I was losing the harmony in the shadowed mass fast, so getting those color notes down gave me the information needed later as the sun brought them into full light. It was much easier to work the finishing details with my color notes already in place. Next, I began the closer ridge, distant bluffs and desert floor, painting those to completion to finalize my overall atmosphere. Then I went back into the main rock formation, fleshing out the details and nuances from my rough color dabs made earlier. I worked to keep these reading as one unified shape to offset the highlighted bush and flowers. Plus, these rocks ended up giving me weight to create the foundation of my painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another goal this year was to punch more color into my desert scenes. Over the years, as I’ve looked at the exquisite paintings by <a href="http://www.kerckhoffpaintings.com/" target="_blank">Mark Kerckhoff</a>, I’ve noticed the beautiful pigmentation and variety of color he is able to achieve in the desert. So for the above piece I pumped up the chroma a bit, but worked hard to not have it become too garish. This helped me avoid the trap of chalkiness that can ruin the beauty and subtle richness that is all around.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Now if I can just find more shady spots to paint, everything will be cool! Enjoy.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-5044027308519317432010-02-01T19:33:00.000-08:002010-02-01T19:41:25.501-08:00Hierarchy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8emO1HEnKDpUhyZ3ea2xE6RU0uwc91kV1V9wzYn3mhoUuru15dNLpJeLRDqpG4eSevshKQqiCu2RegCUugw7_5HoxFa7-IKfJjBqswRzTgUavXgsQuXIgeYazRTv8ZLfBSBw4hc0olCA/s1600-h/PearlStop_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8emO1HEnKDpUhyZ3ea2xE6RU0uwc91kV1V9wzYn3mhoUuru15dNLpJeLRDqpG4eSevshKQqiCu2RegCUugw7_5HoxFa7-IKfJjBqswRzTgUavXgsQuXIgeYazRTv8ZLfBSBw4hc0olCA/s400/PearlStop_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433484470353012354" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I just finished up a three-day workshop here locally and we were very fortunate to have some beautiful weather wedged between last weeks deluge and the new storm days away. Many thanks to all of you who attended. As is my norm, I’m usually in a reflective mood immediately following the teaching and since my voice is shot, typing seems to be the best way to convey thoughts as of the moment. So this 12 x 20 plein air alley scene above, “Pearl Stop,” will be my subject on focal hierarchy.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of my beliefs in setting up the structure of a painting is the creation of a focal interest and its supporting cast. One way to view this is to imagine a pyramid, with my main subject of the painting being at the apex and my simple, quiet areas forming the base or foundation. Without foundational elements, my focus would topple and without a star element, the work would be unfinished. How much or little I develop these areas depends on the scene, but I’ve noticed that if I construct a poor-quality pyramid, my painting is usually unsuccessful.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In “Pearl Stop” I was obviously faced with a busy subject, so my foundational support section had to be made up of smaller elements than usual. But by grouping these together, I was able to create a larger visual shape by painting several items in one consistent value. I combined the far left hedge, closest portion of the street and far right telephone pole into one unit. My base section of the pyramid is now the “U” shaped foreground that’s all in shadow. I minimized detail here to move your eye past this element to my focal apex of the white fence, flowers and umbrella, and thus the completion of my two extremes. As I proceeded with the rest of the painting, all other elements had to fit in between to make the larger to smaller tiers of my pyramid. The next larger section is the red-roofed house and it’s counter-part across the alley. Then the centered tree shape, the distant structures, light bands across the street, smaller details of windows, trash cans, and center puddles, the telephone pole cross-beam areas at upper center and finally the stop sign. The stop sign then became a fun area to play around with. I painted it anchored in the foreground shadow, (my base), but contrasted it in the lighter area of the roof. This created a nice play of a supporting interest, and also forced a sense of depth. Now, I’m sure the actual hierarchy can be debatable person to person and depending on ones interests, but the basic idea should hold up. As your eye moves around the painting it will keep coming back to the more important elements and tend to gloss over the least important or foundational elements. All of this was achieved by working with my hard and soft edges and degrees of contrast.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I think I was able to a create nice composition and stop your eye where necessary, but I do live in California and our stop signs are only a suggestion. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-37906755504231057852010-01-05T17:50:00.001-08:002010-01-05T17:55:57.285-08:00Back to the Gym<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGIvflncLtEK_hkKafjLMQdqeqpoDAJUu9FepDu_Kg8dWVDta5DM8NhfCFF2ExfGhm-P5Z_Vs5P83LrjL7DBeAc4QWy3GFepoji-iEisAz7HrXSaYaZmTFGMS8fSeBtK8VM_SWQaac7g/s1600-h/PartyLife_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGIvflncLtEK_hkKafjLMQdqeqpoDAJUu9FepDu_Kg8dWVDta5DM8NhfCFF2ExfGhm-P5Z_Vs5P83LrjL7DBeAc4QWy3GFepoji-iEisAz7HrXSaYaZmTFGMS8fSeBtK8VM_SWQaac7g/s400/PartyLife_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423438497855874562" /></a><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Happy New Year everyone. I’m well into the “off season” as I like to call it ... no plein air shows to worry about in these winter months. This is my time for reflection, exploration, and working-out some different muscle groups. If we want to stay healthy and keep in shape, exercise is the key, right? One of my choices is figure painting. I’ve studied the figure for as long as I’ve been interested in art, but with my “landscape” career in full swing, I don’t get much of an opportunity from spring to fall. So, winter becomes an excellent time for me to get back into shape. So with the new year upon us, I’ll discuss my approach to self-growth. (also see my entry: And Now for Something Completely Different).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since I don’t have a trainer saying this or that will achieve better color, more interesting compositions, or this certain exercise will hone my brushwork, I’ve had to come up with my own methods. One of them, is exploration in different areas of painting. Growth for me is stumbling across something new by a process of trying different things to see if anything sticks. I’ll try to use different palettes or brand of paint. Paint looser, tone my canvas or maybe just slow down to see if there is some new approach that is appealing in one way or another. Which brings us to the painting above -- “Party Life,” 12x9 in oil -- was an experiment for me on multiple levels.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First, this was a figure painted from a photograph. While I usually only paint figures directly from life as I believe this is the best way to see structure properly, I was curious of my result otherwise. Second, I decided to use a different color palette than my norm. After doing some reading, I came up with a creation of Viridian, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Cad Yellow Light, Naples Yellow, Quinacridone Rose and Titanium White, and my brand was the M. Graham walnut oils. I also used their Walnut/Alkyd as a medium, which is fast drying with a high gloss sheen. Lastly, I decide to use a broader stroke while painting, worrying less on an exact likeness and more on defining planes with brushwork. This resulted in a lush painterly feel, different from some of my past figurative studies which were stiffer and I felt my skin tone choices were too brown. I also enjoyed the fresh, high-key tones from the different color combinations.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All in all, I came away with a couple of nuggets that I will add to my repertoire. Not everything ends up being a success, but discoveries such as these would not happen for me without this exploration. Trying hard now ... getting strong now. Enjoy! </span></div></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-59733620652980976692009-11-16T12:47:00.001-08:002009-11-16T12:52:10.766-08:00It’s All Black and White<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMedLkfr5PjmBmpt24DUXt8qydO7zM_3WDyROKjLaO_KbEXGzF-HLJ0fK4_CtCvL3Vv4Ftby4Og6rNEKh3u7bBu2fjf4o6Cv7Slxg1wfFG32jTBj5bcZ3MjVgadYJqjGS-HITL2T7N498/s1600/TheCherylSea_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMedLkfr5PjmBmpt24DUXt8qydO7zM_3WDyROKjLaO_KbEXGzF-HLJ0fK4_CtCvL3Vv4Ftby4Og6rNEKh3u7bBu2fjf4o6Cv7Slxg1wfFG32jTBj5bcZ3MjVgadYJqjGS-HITL2T7N498/s400/TheCherylSea_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404806294147605954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimdrYvrQzk_s4LoGT-kNxgkpKITtz0tTz-1-ygbDKTD_kjp1vZYIv1P-cjbTvJJcyEvAsA3EDHDuOC6E8mNeLP_EVCkIn0kDBTabWJEV8hwZ-5YqSQruYEYldOEEEIkTTIA_Ck4PuI3c/s1600/TheCherylSea_contrast.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimdrYvrQzk_s4LoGT-kNxgkpKITtz0tTz-1-ygbDKTD_kjp1vZYIv1P-cjbTvJJcyEvAsA3EDHDuOC6E8mNeLP_EVCkIn0kDBTabWJEV8hwZ-5YqSQruYEYldOEEEIkTTIA_Ck4PuI3c/s320/TheCherylSea_contrast.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404806165912970834" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I was finishing up my workshop this past weekend, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the overall abstract shape in a painting. Most of the time, I don’t immediately recognize this or it just comes through naturally, but I find myself drawn to it more and more, especially when I notice it in other artists work. Edgar Payne was a master at composing it, particularly in his boat scenes. And a lot of other great painters utilize this as a foundation for their paintings. So here’s my take on it using a piece completed for the San Luis Obispo plein air event two months ago. The painting above, “The Cheryl Sea” is a 12" x 9" scene in Morro Bay, CA.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How I view the abstract shape is figuring out what the overall image would look like if you stripped it down to a black and white contrast. (I’ve done this to my painting in the insert as an example). When I view the composition in this way, I can visualize the effect of the light and dark relationship and whether it holds an overall dynamic interest. If this shape is pleasing, then the final painting has a good chance of success. I can do this quickly in my sketchbook before I start by blocking in the dark mass and adjusting the composition accordingly. Once completed, I’ll sketch this in on my canvas and position it so my focal area is where I want. As I begin the painting process, keeping my values in the same range will hold this shape together. Then I can simply alter the temperature and colors to define the different elements in the painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While I don’t think this holds true for every painting, looking for it and using it as an option has helped me discover scenes I might normally pass up. Enjoy! </span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-80949430698177522082009-10-31T10:36:00.000-07:002009-10-31T10:44:43.335-07:00And Now for Something Completely Different<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAwHv14OYjDyKNt2gJZxs2Inn-KGuz2x5JZeSBG1b1wwmRrwDOd8b7rcwLETBetBLSbnwb9HYNnEZ6rYg4lqL2KMdBIUJZFZRTD6qwt18IMHJKgT7GRklhf8QMAuXR0_endSh6U_vhyM/s1600-h/ColorForms_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAwHv14OYjDyKNt2gJZxs2Inn-KGuz2x5JZeSBG1b1wwmRrwDOd8b7rcwLETBetBLSbnwb9HYNnEZ6rYg4lqL2KMdBIUJZFZRTD6qwt18IMHJKgT7GRklhf8QMAuXR0_endSh6U_vhyM/s400/ColorForms_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398819693604606562" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Just wrapping up the week here at the Sedona Plein Air Invitational in Arizona. We’ve had an unusual cold snap come through with some freezing painting temperatures. But all have managed to produce nice work despite our numb little fingers and frostbitten noses. Other than this weather anomaly, it’s truly a spectacular place to paint.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For growth as an artist, I feel you need to step out of the box and try something different to spur new ideas on a fairly frequent basis. Since painting is such a solo endeavor, I find this to be vital. No one is looking over my shoulder telling me to do this or that, so these little experiments have taught me a lot. Forcing me to open my eyes and look at things in a new way.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Driving around Sedona admiring these magnificent mountains, sculpted into a myriad of colorful peaks and spires. Their breathtaking beauty gets your mind swimming with ideas for paintings. I’m usually drawn to the shadows in scenes I end up painting, but here I was amazed at the color shifts in a fully lit mesa. Some of these flat lit expanses with very little shadow were intriguing and it got me thinking about color in a single value. I’ve always admired the work of <a href="http://www.danielpinkham.com">Dan Pinkham</a>. His understanding of color is far beyond most artists and yet his work is simply put in a subtly beautiful statement.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Which brought me to the painting above: could I paint a uniformly lit scene in one value step using only color to define depth and form. “Colorforms” above, was my 6x8 plein air attempt at that goal. For better or worse, I was amazed at the difficulty and could see how someone could spend a lifetime studying this approach. But I also gleaned a lot of useful information on how certain colors worked in adjacency to one another. I began with mixing one of the orange colors in the main bluff, trying to find a color that represented the form and yet sat in its place depth-wise. Then throughout the rest of the painting, it was a matter of mixing a color that worked but did not step up or down on the value scale of my original color note. I ended up being oddly pleased with my attempt and utilized some of the green combinations as a solution in my very next painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While I don’t think I’ll go in this direction as a painter, the study and change of pace was refreshing. I believe these exercises can pump new life in ones work. Color can be your friend, but you certainly need to work hard on that relationship. Enjoy! </span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-88313663648450589742009-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:002009-10-19T23:06:29.976-07:00My Wave, Baby<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JYBtqgYIJJmwt6JTw9GkOooEHaVIgElTrtIh5ZEPinJWZNJ83U20q-wALCLefg_N1O-Z1OjR0ifUpNofHY0x8paSwU9XQ2Na4JBT-k1br3czCzoUahQq6jrkOtN_s6bmn58hnLqEXB0/s1600-h/FoamRollers_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JYBtqgYIJJmwt6JTw9GkOooEHaVIgElTrtIh5ZEPinJWZNJ83U20q-wALCLefg_N1O-Z1OjR0ifUpNofHY0x8paSwU9XQ2Na4JBT-k1br3czCzoUahQq6jrkOtN_s6bmn58hnLqEXB0/s400/FoamRollers_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394555268958150034" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My apologies for taking so long to post. This has been an extremely busy time with three plein air shows in a little over a month, commissions to finish, and two good friends staying with us: artists <a href="http://www.kendewaard.com">Ken DeWaard</a> and <a href="http://www.jillcarver.com">Jill Carver</a>. So, I’ve had a few hats to wear!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With the close of the Laguna Invitational event yesterday mixed with spotty weather, I thought I’d discuss my approach to the beach and waves. Since I’m near the ocean, painting at the beach is a popular subject for me. But even as I’ve done my share, the ocean and its waves are endlessly challenging. The above scene, titled “Foam Rollers” was one of my Laguna entries, a 9x12 plein air painting on our first sunny afternoon late in the week. I usually prefer the afternoon here on the west coast as you get some nice shadows on the crashing waves. And with that, here’s my take on painting waves.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First up is composition: I like the juxtaposed angle of the incoming waves as opposed to the angle of the bluffs, if I have that scenery option. Both are little wedges that lead the eye into one another and that creates a natural “S” composition, which is the solution above. Next up is observation and study of the wave sets to choose what I want in my painting. There are several sea “events”: flat ocean, the start of a cresting wave, the wave just beginning to break, half breaking/cresting and a fully broken wave with a roll of whitewash. Once I’ve chosen (I mostly go with a mix of breaking and cresting) I sketch in my placement of the wave(s). Planning is critical for me to end up with good results. Next is understanding the shape. When you watch the ocean, it’s usually a jumbled mess. There are so many lights and shadows happening that it doesn’t seem to make sense. To simplify the process, I try to visualize the wave as a cylinder and how the angle of sunlight will create a highlight at the top, putting the whole side in shadow. I then observe a middle shadow color for the foam and paint it in. This unifies the shape without getting confused by the action of the surf. I’ll vary the blueish whites and purple notes to give it interest, then hit the top of the wave with a yellow/white highlight to create the top of the “cylinder”. Same goes for the cresting part, but I'll add a dash of lighter water color at the tip to give the appearance of light penetrating the wave. I also make sure the foam rushing in on the wet sand has a “thickness” to it by painting a shadow at the base. Adding touches of yellow and/or viridian in the whitewash helps keep the whites more interesting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This approach to painting waves has given me better success in believability. Thinking of it as a basic shape keeps it simple, but I’ll spend a lot of time working on the little color and edge nuances to make it look and feel complex. Enjoy! </span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-85681673355434995312009-09-15T13:56:00.001-07:002009-09-15T14:07:32.199-07:00Decisions Decisions<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQNcnal1VcH4D1mhpXY_qBUdHh1nsEquZMS0NTkgsjnNW1jr2EyoT5MnS9oK13NmKG9vvwuQnZSF4rLKn66I3LhvvR_8zfxLf2OdG2TmynHnpoSg2gw32d4rbf25IbuMmu_wVz5_1olI/s1600-h/breakfastgoers_blog"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 362px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQNcnal1VcH4D1mhpXY_qBUdHh1nsEquZMS0NTkgsjnNW1jr2EyoT5MnS9oK13NmKG9vvwuQnZSF4rLKn66I3LhvvR_8zfxLf2OdG2TmynHnpoSg2gw32d4rbf25IbuMmu_wVz5_1olI/s400/breakfastgoers_blog" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381801498105021746" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK4IkMXz59AMbg_szgfp5AGsarT4fAE0m2kNzDarJvsad91wajO1yJR4LytIBNLb8rJGF0P4pZN1YXm-JEv7BvqKukhskRcDlRpiicZqCXEQGt0uXUsDdpSZbgdGxKWUKYH3TSBU3ylM0/s1600-h/BG_orig_photo.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK4IkMXz59AMbg_szgfp5AGsarT4fAE0m2kNzDarJvsad91wajO1yJR4LytIBNLb8rJGF0P4pZN1YXm-JEv7BvqKukhskRcDlRpiicZqCXEQGt0uXUsDdpSZbgdGxKWUKYH3TSBU3ylM0/s200/BG_orig_photo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381801127211777762" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since people have commented on how much they enjoyed seeing the original photo as compared to the final painting and hearing the thinking process … here is another. This 12x11 studio painting, “The Breakfast Goers” was created from a poor image taken on my cell phone camera (left). While eating an early breakfast on a painting trip, I noticed the intriguing light quality, backlit figures and my thinking that I could do something with it. It would be a bit different than my usual landscape, but that was also the appeal.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I usually start composing a painting with the question “what to keep in” and “what to change” instead of “what will I delete.” After the keepers are chosen, the rest is omitted. Kind of like picking fruit at the store, you choose a select few and move on instead of sorting though the entire bin, setting the bad ones aside and seeing what your left with. My thought process went like this: Keep the figures, a few items on the table to tell the story and dramatically simplify the background so it highlights the figures. Next, I analyzed the people to see what made sense. When I’m working with figures, what they are doing has to feel right as a painting, and not just a depiction “as-is” in the photograph. So, with the man on the left, I positioned his arm on the table, instead of leaving it mid-air and made sure the bill of his hat and glassed contrasted in the light coming through the window. Next to him, the person is turned and facial features are unseen, so I painted it as if they were looking forward. The distant center figure is being lost in the wood around the window, so I moved that person forward slightly. And, lastly the man’s arm on the right seemed odd. Having him hold a mug of coffee felt more believable.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">With the background, the figures on the left are sitting with their backs to a mirrored wall, this would be difficult to portray, especially with the poor information in the photo. So, I painted the windows in a simple flat wall mass. I also made the wall cooler in color so it sat well in the distance. I only kept the items on the table that would read well or broke up other shapes, but enhanced the coffee carafe because that was important to the story. I kept the table color warm to keep it in the foreground and created my own light reflections based on the where the windows were positioned. I cropped the bottom of the painting so you only saw a slight edge of the dish, keeping the utensil to point into the painting. If I used the whole bowl and made the painting taller, my focal point figures would be pushed up too high in the scene. I utilized the foreground coffee mug for its size, perspective and the way it broke up the dark area under the table (great tips from <a href="http://www.greggkreutz.com/index.htm">Gregg Kreutz’s</a> book). It also leads your eye upward, and I added a hint of a handle to make it clearly a mug. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I rather liked the fact that none of figures were interacting. It gave it that Hopper-esque feeling of loneliness that seemed to compliment well with my minimalist colors. Enjoy! </span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-82777961479108302882009-09-02T16:24:00.000-07:002009-09-02T16:29:52.017-07:00Depth and Atmosphere<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWHVLBFjXh_YnM1_26jQqCfLRJx1Gixqi4F6NN4g4z-xkZFgbllDMFLBElWuhwua0aoE63a7cvzLqpxph9fPNYas1M3OX_odLjimR6nULHae2nnrSA9XhjphE0T0WIl-tsniI0FAtDwo/s1600-h/Crystal+Rocks_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJWHVLBFjXh_YnM1_26jQqCfLRJx1Gixqi4F6NN4g4z-xkZFgbllDMFLBElWuhwua0aoE63a7cvzLqpxph9fPNYas1M3OX_odLjimR6nULHae2nnrSA9XhjphE0T0WIl-tsniI0FAtDwo/s400/Crystal+Rocks_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377015279609767298" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Above was my award-winning painting from the San Clemente show two months ago. This 11x14 plein air scene, “Crystal Rocks,” was painted down at Crystal Cove beach in Laguna in the late afternoon. I love the great atmosphere that can pick up at this time of day. And if you hit a low tide too, the rocks can give you wonderful compositional choices.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The challenge for me is trying to capture the shear depth of the beach and bluffs. I love the golden haze, but it’s usually not that hazy in actuality. Value stepping and edge work becomes critical here. Making sure I get the right amount of hard to soft balances and utilizing a full value scale can make or break the illusion of distance. I started with a pencil map of where I wanted my rocks placed. In reality, they were pretty much as shown, but actual size, shape, distances between and whether they overlap were all adjusted slightly. I did this to eliminate repetitive shapes but also to create visual contrasts. For instance, the closest large rock on the left was enlarged so I could create the top white highlight and have it contrast with the dark rock behind it. Also, the second rock was raised a bit so the small wave behind it was visually “broken” and I could further contrast the whitewash with the right side of the rock. This gave me some nice focal points, plus created a sweeping arc that leads your eye up to the main splash on the rocks behind.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the painting process, once I established my values in the foreground rocks, I made sure to make the mid-ground rocks lighter, and the far bluff even lighter than that. These conditions existed, but I pushed the values to create greater depth in the painting. Ditto for the sand and water. With the far bluff, I began on the right side, established a value I felt appropriate, and then gradually lightened it as I proceeded to the left and most distant part of the scene. The structures were painted as shadow and highlighted sides to suggest buildings but not drawing your eye there directly. I added the slightly darker cloud shapes in the upper left to force your eye back in the painting and lastly a handful of figures to complete the story.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Even in plein air, I find you need to adjust everything a bit to make a painting sing. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-67585938178875075562009-08-19T11:53:00.001-07:002009-08-19T12:00:03.302-07:00Big Bottoms<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xAISjosRjT5bcrCtXIOcVlXyJkJ2-xOL5YiqUVuaV48Fx-EYutGSGljLHqwWZfyeJZyuNV_9YCY7lzRrnFAlyDDrtbv7fo1SuHpRP1aMFpxEPnrKYFMV0d8-07zc-7-XMXDo-ZDFoR0/s1600-h/Boats_dbl_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2xAISjosRjT5bcrCtXIOcVlXyJkJ2-xOL5YiqUVuaV48Fx-EYutGSGljLHqwWZfyeJZyuNV_9YCY7lzRrnFAlyDDrtbv7fo1SuHpRP1aMFpxEPnrKYFMV0d8-07zc-7-XMXDo-ZDFoR0/s400/Boats_dbl_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371750828294001122" /></a><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fresh off the Just Plein Fun show plus wrapping up my three-day workshop. I’ve noticed my appeal of a large simple weight at the bottom of a painting. As I study my contemporaries and look for my own compositions, this area interests me more and more as solution to not having a piece feel “top heavy.” I touched upon it briefly when teaching and thought I’d share my thinking.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While I enjoy low horizons in other artists works, I rarely find them appealing myself. I usually like to put my horizon in the upper half of the painting and use the weight of the land as an anchor. This has some built-in benefits that immediately work: One, the large shape gives the scene a simple bottom mass to rest upon (think of a matted painting .... the mat is usually cut with a thicker bottom width than the top and sides). And two, it creates a nice, easy entry up to the focus. I like to use some simple brush work or a directional line such as the buoy rope or mast reflection in the above two paintings to move your eye in. For me, this also creates a smaller focal area to worry about and plenty of breathing room around the subject. In the paintings above, it helped me from getting the boats too big and crowding the edges. It also allowed plenty of space for other items to support the boats, such as buoys, buoy lines, masts and rigging lines. I felt that including these better told the story especially when my subject matter was so simple.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In these two 12x9 paintings completed at the Just Plein Fun event, I tried not to get carried away with detail in the bottom portions. Trying to add temperature changes instead of value changes in the one with the large sand mass. On the single boat, I needed a bit more interest in the water since the boat was so subdued. I added a couple of highlights on the water ripples for added interest and eye movement.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, in honor of Spinal Tap’s 25th anniversary ... “Big Bottoms, My Works Got ’Em.” Enjoy! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Next week: Paintings that go to eleven.</span></div></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-59278263948043788142009-08-08T15:19:00.001-07:002009-08-08T15:25:26.574-07:00Compositional Placement<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIV_JUGHqnqE8FIYTjYD4KhfRsi9em5it_jyla-FSJJ8aFPyG7GDJPvBtjaziiDq0NlIdQTctjU9msUU9WzNVLhHPRD9c17TzxtOv1Fqrz9NE8hfeg1O23e2VMZ0MYF3bpHb-LlPKMwI/s1600-h/InCircles_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihIV_JUGHqnqE8FIYTjYD4KhfRsi9em5it_jyla-FSJJ8aFPyG7GDJPvBtjaziiDq0NlIdQTctjU9msUU9WzNVLhHPRD9c17TzxtOv1Fqrz9NE8hfeg1O23e2VMZ0MYF3bpHb-LlPKMwI/s400/InCircles_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367721342865506562" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I recently completed a small series of koi paintings that always interest me for the opportunity to push color and explore compositional design. This was one of a couple of studio pieces compiled from a series of images I took at the Mission in San Juan Capistrano when their lily pond was in bloom. The above painting “In Circles” is 16x12 in size and I chose the vertical format for a different feel.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The fun thing about these paintings was that this scene is entirely invented. I used multiple photos with different elements and placed them compositionally where I wanted them. This provides many possibilities and is a nice change to all the plein air work I do. So, for this one, I chose to play up the circular elements, since everything is a circle in these scenes. I began by sketching in the lilies and started working them in an arc on the left side of the painting. I made sure to overlap some here and there for variety and also used the little V-shaped stem areas to direct your eye. I placed the main lily flower in the upper “golden” third quadrant as a focal statement. I then drew in the large black koi in the bottom right to curve you back into the lily pads. I also enjoy the fact that you don’t see this fish upon first glance or from a distance, once you get up to the painting, this koi becomes apparent. The other two koi were placed to complete the swimming circle. These two were just invented from memory. Next were the water reflections. The blue of the sky was to be my main weight at the bottom, then I wanted to create a greenish brown foliage reflection to diagonally come down the right side and create a complimentary arc there that opposes the lilies. All the vertical reflections were added to break up the circles. And lastly planned was the water ripple to complete the theme.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The painting basically painted itself. I just tried to keep everything simple in the beginning and added detail towards the end. I pumped up the foreground color for extra drama and made sure to gray out the lilies as they receded in space. I was conscious of my edges to give focus where needed, soft in the distance and harder in front. Lastly were a couple of small color splashes for little bits of matter that are always floating on the surface. I used this for my secondary eye movement.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sometimes it feels good not to be such a square. Enjoy! </span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-4241311650259362892009-07-30T17:16:00.001-07:002009-07-30T17:34:20.853-07:00Editing Confusion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1w6EMRNwoPFQVDQ2ELyqScM9wpHKMq2to5uoVHCCnuDyRBHFndrXw21TTk3lGfknSt8AZ_qk8DPNZCUS22JVVNTUIzG3QDnq4BLZRFu3di01emCe-9qHrjE2dymfSP9rJLhWTnoNhtrY/s1600-h/mildred_belle_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1w6EMRNwoPFQVDQ2ELyqScM9wpHKMq2to5uoVHCCnuDyRBHFndrXw21TTk3lGfknSt8AZ_qk8DPNZCUS22JVVNTUIzG3QDnq4BLZRFu3di01emCe-9qHrjE2dymfSP9rJLhWTnoNhtrY/s400/mildred_belle_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364413031061554802" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZNYIT2H0pMII3U-1TH83vs9_LzS8ndF9YrAeNxgA0rFi9qL_7Z8naGwqBJfmJWRu0_WDbfed5s3yeTpG9BRzATyo6fmrKkpODzhJNEX423B0bhS_KjyTEm-BQAVMqBnRdAn4ub8XSb8/s1600-h/mildred_photo_blog.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZNYIT2H0pMII3U-1TH83vs9_LzS8ndF9YrAeNxgA0rFi9qL_7Z8naGwqBJfmJWRu0_WDbfed5s3yeTpG9BRzATyo6fmrKkpODzhJNEX423B0bhS_KjyTEm-BQAVMqBnRdAn4ub8XSb8/s200/mildred_photo_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364412835529566098" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Just returned from the always fun Easton Plein Air event out in Maryland. Above is one of my entries for the competition, “The Mildred Belle”, a 9x16 painting of a historic Chesapeake Bay “Buy Boat” that caught my eye on this overcast morning during the event. This boat was used as a middle-man for oyster and crab fishermen to bring their catch to market in the early 1950s. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was drawn to the wonderful cool whites against the gray blue water and was interested in seeing if I could capture that effect. The trick was eliminating all of the confusing background that competed with the boat itself. I’ve attached my photo of the scene so you can see what was omitted. (This piece was painted entirely in plein air and my photo was only for documentation.) Good editing is always needed in any painting, but I had to be much more inventive for this one. The large lighthouse that was behind the boat was virtually the same color, limiting my impact of whites to contrast the boat. I deleted that entirely and used the red building behind it as a better shape. Its deeper rust color helped that small white piece of the bow to pop. I had to walk around the lighthouse, catch a glimpse of the red structure, then painted that in loosely from memory. It was the same on the left side of the scene with the other large boats directly behind. I deleted those too, but needed something in the distance to suggest the harbor, so I painted the two distant boats from a couple that were much farther to the left. I continued the green tree mass behind everything for added simplicity. Now I had a quieter, complementary background to support my main interest. I painted the Belle next but further omitted small, unsightly items such as the orange cooler and aft canopy, plus a few ropes and other items that were unnecessary. I added the American flag on the back and few more rust streaks, but pretty much stayed true to the ship.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The result was this simple portrait instead of a confusing mess of shapes. If we can’t see the forest for the trees, sometimes a beautiful scene can be overlooked. This was one time I didn’t mind that the sun never appeared. Enjoy! </span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-88145877314253091542009-07-12T22:38:00.000-07:002009-07-12T22:50:10.334-07:00Italian Reds<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcHo6q8dgODD3wFgnRYGs789vIzclopTqUCY2OfkTWSp0uDSy3OZGWhlANluM7T9mEko16pUXEFdSUMXkvhhoptOUJ5e8UGPc_7p8QsQ6UIl9mIWpr1hSRrrOi81nxHJ3VLjlgRRcnc8/s1600-h/ItalianReds_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwcHo6q8dgODD3wFgnRYGs789vIzclopTqUCY2OfkTWSp0uDSy3OZGWhlANluM7T9mEko16pUXEFdSUMXkvhhoptOUJ5e8UGPc_7p8QsQ6UIl9mIWpr1hSRrrOi81nxHJ3VLjlgRRcnc8/s400/ItalianReds_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357816557912996066" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since I loved painting in Italy so much and thought the subject matter was intriguing, I thought I’d do something big for the <a href="http://www.foapom.com">Festival of Arts</a> this year in Laguna Beach, CA. Above is my main show piece “Italian Reds,” a 48” x 36” studio version of my original plein air work posted before.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This painting was completed over three days in mid June using my photo references in addition to the on-site work. I decided to handle the approach similarly to the way I painted it before, by painting the cypress, distant trees and hills first. I broke out the big brushes for this one to achieve the fresh, painterly feel I felt I conveyed in the original 12 x 9. Once I had the depth, I proceeded to the poppy fields working back to front. I kept the distant flowers as a mass and balanced the reds and green in a harmonious fashion to read as a segue from the foreground to background. Next was the main focus area. I wanted a feeling of power and punch without describing every flower, so I loosely painted in general areas of red where the groupings were to be featured. I then went back into the green stem areas and cut into the reds trying to develop interesting shapes as I proceeded. I added the darker shadows to the underside of the flowers next to complete the forms. The poppies at the very bottom of the canvas were kept very simple and in shadow to support what’s above them and not to distract. Next was developing the focal flowers further by punching in some darks, and adding more variety and nuances to the colors. I introduced a secondary eye-movement by adding in the violet flowers. Last was the sparkle of highlights in yellow and other bright dashes to catch your eye.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This piece came together surprisingly smooth, but I think since I had a successful study to begin with, it made the large work fall into place readily. It was fun to have a piece with so much bright color, plus it contrasted nicely with the deep atmosphere. Now I can sit back and breath easy it with a glass of wine in hand. And as most Italians will tell you in regards to their drink preferences, “the best whites are red.” Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-38923737640880615602009-07-07T12:17:00.000-07:002009-07-07T12:24:30.020-07:00Revisiting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHo62fXePLfwSdB4QVZ54VGgOOFE_UN2q9yr5QZ5aQ-kGgwB92cUe7Kn3YcWz5-LtLG25OkZP1sJb7lffT2lkL31PKSuJhnRlevLZ9aeVf-s2nmiqGT2WpqND4hoIbiW7wq8WCbR6b-k/s1600-h/EightOClockAlley_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfHo62fXePLfwSdB4QVZ54VGgOOFE_UN2q9yr5QZ5aQ-kGgwB92cUe7Kn3YcWz5-LtLG25OkZP1sJb7lffT2lkL31PKSuJhnRlevLZ9aeVf-s2nmiqGT2WpqND4hoIbiW7wq8WCbR6b-k/s400/EightOClockAlley_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355799776607035714" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Just returned from a successful Telluride, Colorado plein air show. It turned out nice since the torrential thunderstorms thankfully abated for the three days we had to paint, plus the two-day outdoor sale. In the short time we had, I was curious to find the scene from the front of my web site titled “<a href="http://www.greglarock.com">Los Gatos</a>.”</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Normally, I first paint on location, then do studio pieces using the plein air versions as reference. This time it was the reverse. The painting “Los Gatos” was done from photos taken two years ago in Telluride. I thought it would be interesting to see how this would develop in plein air. Finally finding the alley after driving around for a while, I realized the light was all wrong. I spent the morning and afternoon doing two other paintings waiting for my alley to play out. At about 6pm the light was starting to rake across the structures and those cool shadow areas of the gravel and weeds were becoming wonderfully luminous. This painting is all about those strips of light, so I began by massing in the shadows that were already appearing. As the light began to diminish and hit the focal areas, I indicated those highlight color notes quickly. I wanted to make sure I knew the values before they disappeared. I finished off the shadows next, keeping them simple and then returned to the highlights to complete the painting around 8:30pm. In my original piece, I added the cats to finish a scene that seemed to need a bit more interest. In “Eight O’Clock Alley” above, the light contrasted so well, I felt the painting made the statement I wanted. That’s usually how I determine if a work is finished. Adding people or animals to this piece would take away from the beautiful light qualities that developed. In “Los Gatos” the highlights were more minimal and adding some cats gave the focal interest to lead your eye around.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In revisiting this scene, I chose a slightly different angle and canvas size so as not to just duplicate what was done before. I feel a painting has to be new and fresh each time, painted for the right reasons and not simply trying to relive past glories. Enjoy!</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-61326790467098120652009-06-29T22:44:00.000-07:002009-06-30T09:27:41.009-07:00Quick Draw<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg019hPsjmaMWYlzJek6nkB82Q0kz_V0u2aDzcu29XX0mf5OHkqs0oSVx6LXnBl1AnwwqfuLYA3VwbCAuuDn6e99Kz5StB4CDU8cOphSiJa_rUF8MmL8-TsZAOQf3CY5tGZVrDfjMthDAI/s1600-h/ChanceofRain_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg019hPsjmaMWYlzJek6nkB82Q0kz_V0u2aDzcu29XX0mf5OHkqs0oSVx6LXnBl1AnwwqfuLYA3VwbCAuuDn6e99Kz5StB4CDU8cOphSiJa_rUF8MmL8-TsZAOQf3CY5tGZVrDfjMthDAI/s400/ChanceofRain_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352992704921144706" /></a><br /><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I apologize for the delay in posts. Been busy after my return from Italy getting things ready for the <a href="http://foapom.com/">Festival of Arts</a> in Laguna this summer, <a href="http://www.telluridepleinair.org/">Telluride Plein Air</a>, commission finalization, etc. (It’s good to be busy ... I think!)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This past week was the local Paint San Clemente competition and above was my winning painting from the Quick Draw that started off the week. Since they extended the duration of the quick draw to 3 hours this year, I used the extra time to get down to their local pier and set up. And the threat of rain kept the normally crowded beach parking manageable.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When faced with such a complex subject as an old wooden pier, the most important thing is simplicity. First, I try to set up at an angle where all the pier pylons appear as a mass instead of from the side where they look equally spaced. This eliminates the temptation to paint them all the same size and distance apart which is not very dynamic. Then I massed in a general pylon color for the middle to distant underside of the pier gradually moving forward in space and intensifying my colors. I pulled down dark suggestions of where I wanted the closer pylons, rather than trying to draw exactly what was there. The idea is to get a good “feeling” of the pier rather than attempting to paint in every piece of wood. After the whole pier was massed in loosely, I moved to the water and sky. I painted in a rough aqua color for the water leaving the white wash areas for later in the painting. The sky was painted next as it appears with no revisions. Now that the canvas was filled, the trick to making it look believable without being overworked is a slow building process of nuances, varying the temperature and not the value in the large masses of the water and pier underside. The only real details in the pier are the just the small edge highlights. I finished with the whitewash of the waves making sure I carried them through the pylons and keeping the shadows more purple. Lastly, I added the side support planks that nicely move your eye down the length of the pier. With some light poles and suggestions of people along the top, the painting was finished.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">These old structures can be challenging, but they make a great subject if you succeed. Enjoy!</span></div></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-14655290568207729002009-06-07T16:39:00.000-07:002009-06-07T16:53:26.989-07:00Seeing Red<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhALK98Jh_F9piHyxouLGxGRH-uAGEhJ2_5z55msN_v7FH_G4C1pg_GMzPPQdscLK_Hy5flEP65MwHATnuNSp34B2dJytLoT7w-nDu-65zAJbw_wn5tDyl-5O5wiR47yEty6L735N1wo/s1600-h/TheRedSea_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhALK98Jh_F9piHyxouLGxGRH-uAGEhJ2_5z55msN_v7FH_G4C1pg_GMzPPQdscLK_Hy5flEP65MwHATnuNSp34B2dJytLoT7w-nDu-65zAJbw_wn5tDyl-5O5wiR47yEty6L735N1wo/s400/TheRedSea_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344734736708504594" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Friday, we happened across an amazing field of poppies that put the prior one to shame. It was as if the ground opened up and oozed lava over the entire area. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture this onto canvas -- a nice treat for our last day of painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I normally don’t sit when I paint, but in this scene the best view was when you crouched down and immersed yourself in the crimson pool. I wanted to show the layers of depth, not just in the field, but also in the distant hills. With so many flowers, I felt my best approach would be to invent a pleasing pattern inspired by the red. I started this painting by completing all of the far trees, hills and cypress first. Then I proceeded top to bottom with the poppies, choosing a grayish red for the back and intensifying as I moved forward in space. I varied the colors from red to orange to purple to give it a nice variety. Then, as that became more of a foundational color, I used bits of white and yellow to move your eye around, fading it as it recedes. To show the far village in the distance, I re-introduced a reddish tint to give a hint of warmth in the upper part of the painting.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Note: Using your drying box as a stool is not advisable if you enjoy circulation in your legs. Ciao.</span></div>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4981848947339269062.post-5186494651424079972009-06-05T15:31:00.000-07:002009-06-05T23:04:40.779-07:00Entry ... Italian Style<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFzelC4M2LpV248bHivmhlAWGeRvxv2IxIaycuwuNlOa1h78Br2wX8Sszl3LxypVwOZAzSRYC8H67RIkP2GzQCvcD8W5Z44lMW_iDFQ7WYEuB7SpJcR2frg7dL5jbQq3ZrlOqpHJdVJQ/s1600-h/ItalianGate_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 333px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFzelC4M2LpV248bHivmhlAWGeRvxv2IxIaycuwuNlOa1h78Br2wX8Sszl3LxypVwOZAzSRYC8H67RIkP2GzQCvcD8W5Z44lMW_iDFQ7WYEuB7SpJcR2frg7dL5jbQq3ZrlOqpHJdVJQ/s400/ItalianGate_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343976111842453810" /></a><div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here is an Italian-style entry gate that seem to be very popular in this region. Some are quite ordinary, but others such as this one above, seem ancient and are truly beautiful. They have interesting stone-work and feature decorative plaques, wrought iron rings and other adornments. As far as I could tell, they serve no purpose other than to mark the driveway to a sprawling property or maybe just to one-up the neighbor.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Since the entire gate is the main focus, I kept the other elements at a minimum. There were some complex trees, and an entire horse stable in the background which I eliminated. It was difficult to see the light direction on the form because of the stone color, so I forced the issue by painting a simple blocked in shadow on the front side and then a lighter color for the “sunny” side. It was only after these two colors were massed in, did I get involved with the subtle color shifts and textures. The iron rings were added last, but kept very close in value, so you’ll only see them on closer inspection. Good drawing was key to pulling this one off, plus a variety of edges.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Below is our group at another incredible dinner. Smiles everyone! Ciao.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNSZMh2fqc6ZPCo4YgBGmW8FIBGaFSGCKFnqOXSxwDZxAN9MfpSv0IcD_fDZRETbx3vEfvDXdOPMezQ3eRYY_h3pHqP0XaQHwiH9S19rYotAulQ05vR65wmspt4Wlp-twWBY16jmQ0Wo/s1600-h/ilchiostrogroup_blog.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNSZMh2fqc6ZPCo4YgBGmW8FIBGaFSGCKFnqOXSxwDZxAN9MfpSv0IcD_fDZRETbx3vEfvDXdOPMezQ3eRYY_h3pHqP0XaQHwiH9S19rYotAulQ05vR65wmspt4Wlp-twWBY16jmQ0Wo/s320/ilchiostrogroup_blog.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343975125138376418" /></a>Greg LaRockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14973678436566731614noreply@blogger.com2