View of the Lost Coast

"View of the Lost Coast" by Andrew Daniel

10" x 10" Oil on canvas

North Coast Open Studios is June 4,5,11,12!

This is a little 10" x10" painting I did with friends on the Lost Coast last weekend. We spent the day driving down the road and stopping at different outlooks. This was the third and final spot, which had a nice view looking up North along the coast with Sugarloaf rock far off in the distance. The painting came together really quickly in the field. I was able to put some embellishments on it at home this week. In the process, I had a nice break through about being more confident, trusting my brush and my personal calligraphic style. Paul wanted me to stop when it was only 40 minutes in. I chose to keep going and lost a lot of the spontaneity. Ended up having to use a different set of skills to finish than just bold spontaneity. Maybe next time I'll try and stop earlier!

Poppies in the Sun

Poppies in the Sun by Andrew Daniel

12" x 12" oil on canvas

Contact artist

This month I participated in a group show at Upstairs Gallery at Umpqua Bank in Arcata. Initially I really struggled with coming up with the right source photo, but finally settled on Poppies because they have such vibrant colors and make such interesting compositions when their shapes interact. I showed up an hour late to the hanging with a painting that was crazy with wet spackled on paint everywhere. 

Trying to nail on a homemade frame to a wet painting like this was no easy task! 

Anyway, the painting seemed to open up some sense of direction that I wanted to explore. It had been very narrow in it's color range, mostly yellows and sky blue.

Sorry I don't have a picture, I was in too much of a hurry to drop it off.

I had made a dynamic composition, with lots of movement and texture, but ultimately, I just wanted something more. 

So I painted this piece. I started with a bright pink gesso layer, so that I could have more colors showing, as they come through the paint. I then focused on bring more economical with my brushwork so that I could allow more pinks to show. Also I had chosen a source that had more colors to start with and as I painted it, I focused on mixing lots of warm and cool versions of each color. 

The piece evolved very quickly and I got really excited, thinking I could replicate and expand on what I had learned, I tried a new one straight off. However that one bombed...

Baker Beach and Trinidad Bay

"Baker Beach and Trinidad Bay" by Andrew Daniel

9" x 12" oil on canvas

available from the artist

This was a painting I did during one of my Wednesday morning ongoing classes as a demonstration. It was a lot of fun. My intent was to work against my typical mode, which is to work and rework the image until the spontaneity is buried under distractingly thick impasto paint. Boy it was fun! And the end product feels like it has a lot more energy and vibrant colors.