California Poppies

"California Poppies" by Andrew Daniel

12" x 12" oil on canvas

$400 contact artist

Northcoast Open Studios is June 4,5,11,12. Come on by!

This was my first floral for the spring. I did it in response to an invitation to a themed group show made up of Native Wildflowers. Initially, I had trouble finding a wildflower that had the presence and personality I was looking for, but once I came across some photos of California Poppies, I knew I had met my match! 

This painting was the start of a thematic exploration, that I had mentioned in an earlier post. I'm seeing that the demands of the flower's dynamic shape and delicacy is making it necessary for me to approach paint application in a very different manner. 

Ideally I want the shapes to dance like a free form abstraction, which means that I have to be very conscious of how I manipulate the edge of shapes, so that the eye isn't grabbed too strongly. Also, I have to be selective in how heavy I put down the paint, at times using thick impasto to grab the eye, at other times letting the shape trail off into mystery.

Lazy Bend in the Slough

"Lazy Bend in the Slough" by Andrew Daniel

12" x 12" oil on canvas

This last weekend, was the grand opening event for a new public nature trail at Freshwater Farms. The event was put together by the Northcoast Regional Land Trust and included a whole ton of Plein Air artists working along the trail with over 1000 people attending. The weather was perfect, like it felt like the day would never end, so perfect one felt grace in it. I set up in the shade and got to gander on this beautiful bend in the slough for a few hours while chatting with visitors.

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.

Sweeping View of Trinidad From the South

"Sweeping View of Trinidad from the South" by Andrew Daniel

18" x 24" oil on canvas

Contact artist 

My initial impulse when I looked at this scene was to try and communicate how high up I was above the crashing surf and how far off I could see. So I imagined a bird flying over this sweeping foreground hill side, then out over the surf and across the bay. The huge Trinidad Head in the background appears small in the distance. Also, I was interested in how the colors and plant life were waking up from the dormant tans of winter and various flowers were coming back. The surf was oh so challenging to paint. It needed a sense of movement, a compositional harmony, a graceful gesture and a range of textures to create the volume. This turned out to be a complex puzzle that could only be resolved through several layers, each pulling out more expressive qualities while mellowing out others. I think I might take a few months off of surf paintings now...

Performance Anxiety

"Performance Anxiety" by Andrew Daniel

22" x 18" oil on canvas 

Contact artist

One of the things I enjoy about working in a group to share a model is that I am so often surprised by the result! I was initially looking forward to painting this models tutu. There is something that is so fun about making paint look airy and full of movement. By about half way through her expression had evolved into one of concern, not sure why, her actual expression was much more cheerful. 

Perhaps I had inner worries that were being projected onto her! In a way this could be a self portrait... Myself in a woman's body, dressed up for the big moment but anxious about wether I'll do a good job!

Pointing Wren

"Wren pointing" by Andrew Daniel

5" x 7" oil on wood

Available from the artist

I lived how alert this little guy is!

Tiny Marsh Wren

"Tiny Marsh Wren" by Andrew Daniel

Oil on wood 3.5" x 3.5" 

Contact artist

The cotton candy business died... Long live the artist entrepreneur! 

I've now made enough unsuccessful cotton candy batches that my family has asked me to stop. The organic flavors didn't work at all and the comercial grade machine was way to slow to consider building a business around. At this point, I've realized that I'm relieved to be focusing on my art again. I'm just gonna have to find another occcasionto wear my newly tailored hot pink tuxedo. Art openings?

Meanwhile, as an attempt to make it possible for local folk to afford a piece of my art, I'm doing a series of small to tiny paintings. Northcoast Open Studios is coming up in June and I thought it would be good to get at least 50 of them done.

This little marsh wren was one of my initial paintings in the series. I really enjoy getting involved in all the fluffy textures of the feathers, as well as the tiny birdish expressions. This little guy has a huge personality!

Farm Field Late Season

"Farm Field Late Season" by Andrew Daniel

16" x 20" oil on wood panel

Available through the artist

This piece evolved over several months. I wasn't sure how the foreground field was going to resolve. It ended up requiring several layers of paint, each applied with an eye for leaving the previous marks visable from underneath. 

When I look at fields of grass, especially after their colors have turned toward the browns and wheats of fall, I see a woven tapestry of color. Any section could be blown up into a Jackson Pollack painting. 

So there was no way that I could just simplify the field. 

Also, the layers of detail help to tell the story of distance. I wanted the built up layers of farm buildings in the distance to really feel like they were far away, so it was necessary to have the viewer feel as if they had to walk across the field to get to them. 

The other challenge I was playing with was making the focal point be so far back in the painting. One of the things I like about being outdoors is how far off I can gaze. When we are indoors, we get used to seeing only 20ft in from of us if we happen to be at the end of a hallway.

Once we go outdoors, it gets hard to even measure things in units of feet.

It can be a tricky puzzle, figuring out how to convey that distance with a 16" x 20" rectangle!

Focal points typically have higher contrast both in value and color. But high contrast elements often pop forward. So I had to figure out how to make the distance both interesting to the eye and appear more distant then the foreground fields...