This landscape painter usually loves to blog about what's going on in my artist's life... but not so much lately. Been too busy painting.

When painting in the studio, I don't waste time when I paint. By the time I sit down at a fresh canvas the scene I'm after is fully formed in my mind's eye so I can get right to it. At the first sitting the basic layout is roughed in. It's at this point anyone who sees it might say, "what's that?" But all of the blobs of paint and brushstrokes mean something very specific to me... my painting shorthand, if you will. (Does anyone remember shorthand?!)

The next time I sit down to work I start at the sky and work my way down the canvas fleshing out all aspects of the image as I go. This is the step that takes the longest to accomplish. When I reach a stopping point and step back to take it all in, I'll then decide how much of a mess or a success I've got going there;) Sometimes it's almost done and sometimes there are corrections to be made!

I don't see corrections and adjustments as "mistakes". Once had a professor who pointed out that so-called mistakes were just another opportunity to figure out yet another way to get where you want to go. I like that!

The final phase of work on the canvas is a meditation in restraint. I can see other opportunities and other solutions in the work before me but I know that I need to save those for another painting... otherwise I'd end up repainting an almost finished work. Just bring it on home as best I can right now. That's the last step. Tomorrow is another day, and another chance to paint.

Here's some recent work and as you can see I'm still playing in the ocean at sunset.

"Sunset and Surf", 16 by 20 inches, oil on canvas.

"Rolling In", 16 by 20 inches, oil on canvas.

"Sunset and Cliffs", 12 by 24 inches, oil on canvas.

Here's a little note for those nasty people in Turkey and Indonesia: will you quit spamming me and trying to attach spam links to this blog?! For Pete's sake!! We don't need any more Viagra over here, honest!