February 6, 2008
Hi all:This is my first attempt at WordPress, so I’ll keep it simple.I’m retired and I started painting seriously around 2004. My primary medium is oil on canvas or board.
NOTE: If you want to see the paintings without the spiel (highly recommended for the busy and/or impatient), please click here.
Here’s an example of a still life that I did last year.
A Glass of Wine
I also enjoy landscapes, but I ususally start with a sketch or photograph and finish the work indoors. The next picture show the wash (arroyo) next to my house. it’s usually dry, but when it rains looks like a raging river.
After the Rain
Here’s a scene from Rocky Mountain National Park. The trail to Dream lake can be visually and physically exciting. We were chased by a large bear as we were trying to get back to the parking lot to catch the shuttle bus.
Distant Light
A local area called Sabino Canyon is great for hikes and for painting subject matter. It’s got desert, grasslands, and mountain habitat in close proximity.
Afternoon in Sabino Canyon
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Autumn on Sabino Creek
Three Pools
Here’s another interpretation of the same view of Sabino Canyon – at a different time of day.
Sabino Canyon Afternoon
INFLUENCES – STILL LIFE
A book and DVD by an artist named Gregg Kreutz were very influential in the direction of my painting. I am also influenced, at least in the way I look at the painting process, by an artist named David Leffel. Someday I hope to be as good as they are, but I doubt I will live long enough. Here’s an example of a recent still life.
Black Lamp & White Pitcher
For purposes of comparison, here’s an earlier work:
Brown Jug with Fruit
Can you see a difference? To me it seems huge…
Buddha has been living contentedly in our front yard since we moved to Arizona in October 2005. Spring rains bring out the flowers (spring starts in late February here).
Buddha in the Flowers
SOME LANDSCAPES
We moved to Arizona from Philadelphia. One of the better things about life there was the Fleisher Art Institute, just two blocks down from where we lived, where they offered 13-week art courses for $35! That’s where I got my start, and I recommend it to anyone who moves to Philly.Another nice thing about the city was the annual Cherry Tree Festival, which featured amazing Japanese drummers and dancers – and of course the fabulous cherry trees of Fairmount Park
Cherry Festival
Although I have visited the Maine coast several times, the following painting was based on a photograph taken by my deceased father-in-law. Mike was a fine photographer and he had an excellent eye for composition.
Coast of Maine
When I lived in California, redwood forest were my favorite places to be in touch with nature. Here’s a view of Muir Woods, Marin County, where just being there is an act of meditation.
In the Company of Giants
Further south, in San Francisco, Telegraph Hill is an enchanted neighborhood, with gardens built on steep slopes and houses almost perched on top of one another.I tried to capture some of this essence, but found it rather difficult. Anyone have any ideas how to improve this picture?
Down the Stairs
I mentioned Rocky Mountain National Park earlier. This is a view of Dream Lake, one of many magnificent views along the trail. The orange tree in the foreground in a product of my imagination – how many conifers can you paint before it gets boring?
Dream Lake
PORTFOLIO
This still life was painted in 2004 – given my brief history as an artist that’s an “early work.” It was one of the first of my paintings that I actually liked. It seems kind of primitive and innocent now but I still like it.
Fruit Bowl and Chianti
After studying Gregg Kreutz’s methods for a while I tried a similar subject and came up with this:
Still Life with Fruit and Glass
The more dramatic lighting makes the colors pop, don’t you agree? If you don’t, I’d like to hear that too, and why.
In September 2006, Grace and I visited San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato in Mexico. Wonderful towns and we can’t wait to go back. I wasn’t succesful in painting on the spot but I did bring back some passable photos, and one provided the subject matter for this picture.
Guanajuato Street
It’s possible to find interesting subjects just around the house.
In the Kitchen
Tiger's World
Tiger’s World
Tiger and Apple
This was supposed to be a still life setup, but just as I had the apple placed, Tiger jumped up on the table and promptly went to sleep. What could I do?
Tiger will also be part of the next picture, which is now a work in progress. I have a lot of problems with portraits (seems obvious, right?), so it may take me a couple of months to get this right. However, I do have a great title for it.
Sleepy Grace, Crouching Tiger
You may have noticed a lot of interesting objects in my paintings. This atttests to the amount of time I spend browsing in thrift shops. for example, I got the Japanese vase shown here in the Salvation Army store.
Japanese Vase and Fruit
Two out of three pots in the next one came from the Goodwill store in my neighborhood.
Peaches and Pots
Bookman’s bookstore is also a great place to find stuff. I got the white bowl in the next picture for only $3. The mums were $3.95 at Wild Oats. The apples and oranges we were going to eat anyway so they don’t count in the cost of the painting.
Mums and Fruit
A recent trip to Pima Canyon resulted in lots of material. The trail was full of interesting scenery, crossing a stream three times before we turned back.
Pima Canyon Rocks
Red Kettle
The cream pitcher in the left background is supposed to be in deep shadow. This picture is definitely not a success. It would have been a lot easier with a darker subject.
I enjoy doing roses, even though it’s hard work getting the complexities right. The little saki pitcher and the blue vase are more Goodwill items.
Red Roses and Blue Vase
The object in this next setup was to have the light rush out from the left and explode on the last lemon.
Turkish Pot with Lemons
APRIL 27, 2008
Well, I’ve been pretty busy since the last time i worked on this post. This next one came out of Madera Canyon – about 35 miles south of Tucson – where we like to go especially for the birdwatching. They are visited regularly by 14 species of hummingbird.
Rocks at Madera Canyon
Another visit to Sabino Canyon brought back several new images. While there is no flaming autumn here as there is in the northeast, nevertheless you can sometimes see very interesting color changes with the seasons.
Autumn on Sabino Creek
Fall Color, Sabino Creek
Back in the studio:
Grapes and Japanese Pitcher
The next few pictures are all in progress. The first two are memories of Prince Edward island in eastern Canada, one of the most spiritually relaxing places I’ve ever been to.
Fishing Harbor, P.E.I.
I thought it might be interesting to follow these pictures as they progress to completion (whatever that is).
Charlottetown, P.E.I.
I’m not quite sure where the next one is going. It’s a scene from the old cross-state road in Florida that was replaced by Alligator Alley. Very abandoned, although nice people still live there (along with others who secrete themselves behind tall barbed wire cyclone fences with huge snarling dogs).
LP Gas Service
(Remember these paintings are all unfinished, so you may be seeing some pretty rough work!)
At certain times in Arizona the wildflower blooms can be spectacular.
Hillside with Poppies
Thanks for all the friendly and helpful comments. Stay in touch…
RECENT AND CURRENT WORK: July 3, 2008
Thanks to my recently joining the Southwestern League of Fine Arts (a highfalutin’ name for a bunch of people who like to draw, paint, make pottery, etc.), I now have painting hanging in three different shows. One is a bank, another a county Council ward office, and the last a cardiology practice. Who knows, somebody may buy one someday, although I’m not holding my breath.
Anyway, here’s a picture I completed recently. It’s a view from Hoover Dam as the sun is setting.
Evening at Hoover Dam
Another sunset, this time from a trip to the Berkshires in Massachussetts.
Over the years I’ve take many trips to the Florida Everglades, which in the winter is the premier spot for seeing wading and water birds. This next picture is based on one of those visits.
Snowy Egret
Whenever I feel I’m losing my direction in painting I go back to still life, where I feel more confident in drawing and color.
Still Life with Beer Bottle
Grace and I recently did a two-week tour around New York State, seeing lots of beautiful and fascinating things and places. Along the canal in Seneca Falls this abandoned factory building caught my eye one late afternoon.
The Old factory - Seneca Falls, NY
After months of thought, I realized what was wrong with my “Down the Stairs” painting (see above) – way too dark and not enough color. So, although the new version does not replicate the original scene so well, I still like it a lot better.
Nob Hill - Down the Stairs
I also straightened out some of the perspective that was distorted in the original by the camera’s eye.
RECENT AND CURRENT WORK: July 27, 2008
Many years ago – late 1960s perhaps? – I visited a place called Tintern Abbey in the south of England.This place, from which Wordsworth took the title of one of his great poems, was the site of a Catholic monastery in the 15th century. However, King Henry VIII, noted for his rash marital (and divorce) decisions, became enraged at the Pope’s reluctance to allow him to divorce his first wife, and thereupon decided to raze all the Catholic institutions in the country.
Fromp photographs I took at the time i reconstructed this painting, which includes my daughter, who was three years old at the time.
Tintern Abbey
One of the few places where I think the term “awesome” is appropriate.
Recently Grace and I went on a 19-day tour through New York State, starting in New York City, going all the way to Niagara Falls (we stayed on the Canadian side), and back again, stopping at beautiful places along the way.
Niagara is of course another truly “awesome” place. In addition to doing the maid of the Mist boat tour and drenching, we went for a walk along the Niagara River and I came back with this.
Bridge over Niagara River
The picture does little to capture the excitement of the river, but I’m only a painter after all…
Another place I recommend wholeheartedly for a visit is Letchworth State Park in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Sometimes called the Grand Canyon of the East, this section of the Genessee River has steep canyons, three major waterfalls, and enough hiking and scenery for half a lifetime. I thought it would be useless to try to duplicate the beauty of the park in paint, but a little scene there on a rainy day caught my eye.
Rainy Day, Letchworth Park
Whoever these folks were, they weren’t going to let a little rain spoil the beauty of the place for them.
In Seneca Falls, NY, I gathered a lot of images and brought them home to work on in the studio. We visited Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw a bald eagle, but no picture…
Trinity Church - Seneca Falls, NY
Someday I’d like to go back and paint this church at different times of day and in different weather.
The “Old Factory” painting above also came from Seneca Falls.
Somewhere along the road we came on this little rustic scene. Of course it was summer, not fall, so i had to imagine what the tree would look like in glorious autumn colors. They always tell you to paint what you see, but still…
Barn by the Roadside
Once in a while I stumble on an irresistible piece of nature, such as a field full of wildflowers. There were so many in this spot that I was forced to concentrate on just a few.
Field of Cosmos
Once I spent a whole day sitting in a little shopping plaza in Tucson, trying to sell some paintings. this was the entire result:
Plaza Palomino
New Work August 29, 2008
This next painting is based on a photograph I took on the seashore near Beaufort, North Carolina. As I wa exploring the salt marshes and mud flats, and elderly man dressed in waders was busy raking clams in the flats. At one point he took a break from his labors and sat down on his clam bucket. I asked if it was all right to take his photo. He replied in a language that I did not fully understand, but his answer was clearly yes.
Clam-digger
Since our meeting took place about 35 years ago, I doubt very much if this gentleman is still alive. Maybe someone in his family will see this picture and recognize it as a tribute to him.
Here’s a little still life I finished a week ago. The challenge was to make the glass vase convincing. I’m not completely convinced but it’s a good effort.
Glass Vase with Flowers
And another one…
Sunflowers and Fruit
At the moment I’m working on a picture of a fabulous, old, pink house we came across in upper New York State on the summer vacation. I feel in love with the architecture, the trim, and the color. Unfortunately, there’s so much detail involved that it will probably take me months to complete. Next post I’ll let you look at the work in progress.
Stay well,
Julius
October 11, 2008
Well, here’s the picture I promised the last time I logged in. It took me quite a while, but I was rather pleased with the outcome. Ironicall, I may have to do it all over again, because an accident at an outdoor showing put a nice big tear in the canvas.
Pink House on the Hill
In a similar vein, I did this next one, which is based on a magazine advertisement… I like it well enough to turn into a large painting someday (when we have some money again?).
View from the Porch
And finally, I ‘m working on my first portrait, of a Pasqua Yaqui woman I met at a recent Native American festival in Tucson. To me it looks kind of lifeless – which is why you are not seeing it here, and why I am out looking for someone to help me with my work.
November 1, 2008
I’m trying a new painting technique, which consists of doing an underpainting in black, white and gray, applying the color as a transparent glaze over the underpainting. I’m working on a couple of scenes at the moment, and here’s the first one in its black and white version:
January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
Here’s my first attempt at applying color to the last painting shown. This is done by glazing – laying a thin, relatively transparent layer of paint over the black-and-white image. Obviously it needs a lot more work.
I’ve tried more pictures using glazes, with a lot of frustration and little success. To relieve some of the stress I went back to a little landscape. This was inspired by a visit to Tucson Art Musesum, which had an exhibit of the southwest landscape painter, Maynard Dixon.
Finally, I am thinking of starting a series on birds, following up on the Snowy Egret you saw earlier. The following is of a Louisiana Heron (now called a Tricolor Heron, but I’m sticking with its old name). The picture is nearly complete, but I’m not happy with the awkward look of the leg on the bird’s left side (the painting’s right side). I believe I can correct this easily.
For those interested in natural history: the Lousiana Heron spreads its wings this way in an attempt to scare up little fish, which then swim into the “safety” of the bird’s shadow, making it easier for the heron to pick them off.
The next one in the series will probably be a great egret in the process of grooming its feathers.
Great Egret Grooming
Paintings by Julius 
