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...

Portrait of Ben Derosa

"Portrait of Ben Derosa" by Andrew Daniel

24" x 18" oil on canvas

Ben's father saw that I paint portraits a while back and asked me if I wanted a photo of him to paint. I looked forward to seeing what he brought me, because Ben always shows his moods on his face openly. It was so fun to explore his animated expression, complete with his toothy smile.

Ben is a man who is always in the moment, exhibiting an unfettered joyousness that is infectious!

Susan Neddham recently loaned me three videos of portrait painters, Sherie McGraw, David Laffel, and Jeremy Lipking. Watching these folks paint and talk about their craft opened up some new possibilities that I was eager to try out. Ben's photo, had been carefully wrapped in plastic in my paint box waiting for such an opportunistic moment  to speak up.

I feel the need to apologize for the photo quality, my old iphone has been my only camera for a while. It may be hard to make out what I was doing here.

I took away a couple big lessons form watching Laffel paint. One being you can literally apply the paint as wrecklessly as your whim takes you, scrubbing it, slathering it, and smearing it together. These kind of marks embue the painting with a certain visceral physicality, that makes the piece look more like a painting them a rendering. 

The second thing I wanted to try from Laffel is heightening the level of textural contrast between my foreground (lit) objects and my (unlit) background. Thick texture reflects light, and has a more tangible presence. So you can almost sculpt a shallow bas relief with the paint in order to convey space.

McGraw's video, helped me to see expressive potential in the shape of the head.

Lipking's video invited my to slow down and enjoy the process of rendering each area without feeling rushed to fill the canvas.

Needless to say, I have enough ideas floating around, that I will need to do more then just the one portrait. To explore them. I've reinstated Eureka Figurative Art Group to meet at Michelle Murphy-Fergusen's studio each Thursday afternoon. Contact me if you want to join us. 

If you are interested in having a portrait painted, ask me about my special (in the mood to paint portraits) rate!

Trinidad Beach Rocks

"Trinidad Beach Rocks" by Andrew Daniel 

9" x 12" Oil on canvas

Inquire with artist

So after all of my hemmin and hawin, I'm finally back into painting with a proper amount of enthusiasm.

It was the funniest thing but my frustration, anxiety, and lack of motivation broke like a fever. One hour it was there like a house guest who has overstayed his welcome and the next it was gone; gassed up and drove away! 

I decided to rework the landscape I had started last week and it turned out to be a lot of fun!

This is the one that was telling me to take another 1.5 months off!

Also I've finished another piece that had been hanging around for months of reworks and I've nearly completed a portrait that I just started yesterday.

I mean I actually want to paint! It's not something I "have to do" to make sure I'm a productive citizen of the art world, it's just kind of a fun way to pass the time!

I spoke with Steve Porter last week and he told me taking breaks is actually really helpful for him, he comes back with fresh energy and new ideas. I have to say it helped me too. Finishing paintings is not such a struggle now, it's the best part!

Part of what helped me was calling up my friend John Crater to see if he wanted some company in his studio. I realized that I like painting with people, but I've got a ton of paintings that need finishing, and the rain has not conduced inspiration for outdoor painting.

Hooking up with friends to work on studio paintings turns out to be just as fun as meeting them outdoors!

Typically, I run out to paint with my friends, only to come home with more unfinished pieces to add to my pile. By meeting up to rework some of these paintings, I get to have the double satisfaction of catching up with a friend and finishing work!

Reworking pieces seems to be a process that is a bit slower and more contemplative. Taking lots of breaks is important in order to see the piece with fresh eyes. This is perfect for getting distracted occasionally debating politics and talking art.

Some of you may want an update on the cotton candy circus...

I've made two more batches, they taste good, less burnt, still not getting identifiable flavors, but if you are someone who doesn't need to know what your are eating, this shouldn't be a problem!