"Walter", charcoal

Painting is always a balance between what you see and what you express. This is at the very essence of all kinds of art, be it painting, sculpting, character design, animating, whatever.

Artists have a whole world to choose from. Sometimes there is so much information in what you are observing that it's hard to pick and choose what to put into your work. But this is what makes all art interesting...how we as individuals choose to interpret what we see. A lot of artists look to other artists for ideas, which is fine, but only as a jumping off point for inspiration. Over a lifetime, it's important to find your own personal vision. This is really hard to do, especially when you're young and heavily influenced by the artists that taught you. For me, it's only now (at 37) that I am finding my way into my own individuality. But that's part of what makes it challenging. Personal growth is a path that leads us to good things and keeps life interesting, regardless if you are an artist or not.

Painting in Zion





Here are three of the one hour studies i did on the trails. My dad carried my 30 pound backpack that had my paint box and supplies. He was my sherpa basically. What a great thing to have a dad like that, huh? Anyway, we'd stop after a few hours of hiking, I'd set up my stuff, paint for an hour, clean up, and then we'd hike back. At night we'd sit around the campfire at my dad's campsite and chat about the day. The desert is a very healing place. It's amazing. I can honestly say I feel like a chapter in my life has been closed and I'm about to write a new one. Hopefully the new chapter will involve me being who I am and not just dreaming of who I could be.

"Azevedo Ranch Chickens, Rio Vista",

these chickens are on Azevedo Ranch, my stepmother's family farm. I love the way the light was coming in through the chicken wire. Not sure I captured what I was seeing, as the darks are too flat. When you paint dark values too thick they don't reflect light back and can make the painting look flat and dull. I think that happened here.  Posted by Picasa