Portrait of Randy and a landscape of the Mad by Andrew Daniel

"Portrait of Randy Stadler Solving a Sudoku"

Oil on Canvas 12" x 9" by Andrew Daniel

In the collection of Randy Stadler

This is a portrait I created, of my Brother in Law Randy Stadler. He posed twice during Christmas vacation over the course of two evenings after our daughters had gone to sleep. He is a master of the Sudoku, as well as a fan of the greatest Beatle ever, John Lennon, as evidenced by his t-shirt.

There were so many  challenges in this piece that were new to me. The t-shirt portrait, the reflected scene in the window, the face turned away from the viewer and the glasses. I just kept putting paint down and hoping for the best. As a teacher friend of mine Josh Arbaugh is fond of saying.... "It's time to step out of the comfort zone, and into the learning zone!"

"Mad River in Blue Lake, CA"

Oil on Baltic Birch Panel 8" x 10" by Andrew Daniel

 This painting is available in my online shop.

John Crater and I tried to escape the coastal fog by heading into Blue Lake for some paintings of the Mad River. Instead of the fog, we were accompanied by a frigid North Wind. John loaned me his fingerless gloves and we joked of getting hypothermia!  That day the fall earth tones were uniformly muted. It was a challenge make the space believable and the canvas interesting for me. But no day spent outside painting is a wasted day!

Abby and Farm House Two Paintings by Andrew Daniel

 "Abby with Roses" by Andrew Daniel 

20" x 16"(50cm x 40cm) oil on canvas board

Not For Sale

My daughter Abby is always playing in our garden picking roses, from this bush and scattering the petals all around the porch or bringing them in and putting them in little glass bottles. I thought it would be fun to create a piece that would help me remember her at this age.

 "Farm House in the Arcata Bottoms" by Andrew Daniel

5" x 7"(13cm x 18cm) oil on wood

When I started this small painting, I was interested in all of the lines coming together at right angles from the telephone poles, roads, and fences. Also I liked the color in the morning sky!

The bottom piece is available in my online shop.

Both Pieces are on Display at Los Bagels in Eureka until the end of January. 

"On Top of the Dune" by Jim McVicker

 "On Top of the Dune" by Jim McVicker 

approx. 9" x 12" (30cm x 40cm) oil on wood panel

This painting by Jim McVicker is a depiction of Rick Tulley (seated) and myself (standing).  Jim painted it in about an hour as we worked on our landscapes yesterday morning. I think we look especially heroic being painted up on high in this manner!

Over the last two weeks I have been able to meet up several times with Jim, as well as Rick and John Crater to do some landscape painting from the Manila Dunes, looking back at Arcata. It has been a great pleasure getting to spend so much time with these guys, making art is so often a solitary endeavor.

Jim McVicker has long been one of my favorite landscape painters. Over the last few years, as I have been trying to learn Plein Air painting, I have studied his works often to see how he solves some of the many issues that come up. I have especially admired how he handles the atmosphere that is always present in our coastal region. Another thing he manages to do, is use colors that appear to be saturated and vibrant, but also nuanced and realistic to the time of day.  

Painting next to him has been inspiring and humbling, he has shown me a wider vocabulary of mark making and color then I think I was directly aware of. I joked with him that I whenever I didn't know the answer to a particular problem, I could just use his painting as a "cheat sheet" to find a good answer. Needless to say, I have learned about a years worth of painting lessons in the past two weeks!

Here are some links to his website and blog. I especially recommend that you check out the movie on his website that documents his painting process.

http://www.jimmcvickerpaints.com/

http://mcvickerpaintings.blogspot.com/

 

His work is also available at George Stern Fine Arts

http://store.sternfinearts.com/jimmcvicker.html

Two Portraits of Chelsea by Andrew Daniel

"Chelsea in Red" oil on canvas 9" x 12"

This was the first painting I made of Chelsea at a figure group. It was a lot of fun painting her red dress. I rarely do figurative portraits, but I had just gotten some small brushes I wanted to play with and the dress she showed up in was quite special. So I had to give it a try!

"Chelsea" oil on wood panel 10" x 8"

This is the second of two portraits I created at a figure group that was meeting Fran Kuta's studio. I was playing around with saturating the colors to create bold form and strong shadows. It was really fun to paint in with these thick brush strokes and I was surprised by the result!

You can find these as well as others in my online shop.

Roadside Turnout Kneeland painting by Andrew Daniel

Last month I headed up Kneeland Road in hopes that I might get a view of Humboldt Bay. This was the first spot I found where the crowded trees let up enough to see anything.

This piece is featured in my solo show at Los Bagels restaurant in Eureka, CA.

It is an original oil painting on plywood, measuring 8" x 10" (20cm x 25cm).

You can find this and other paintings in my online store.