Lower Summit Lake Stage 5

Stage 5 Lower Summit Lake 18 x 36 oil on canvas - 

Completed the background mid hills with all the fall colors today.  Great fun lots of small strokes of broken color to let the eye blend together and tell the story.  Next will be the midground trees in the back(dark color for the moment) then work my way forward.  Had a great weekend painting really enjoyed myself and the painting process.
 

Sunday Fun

Two small 5x7 & 7x5 paintings I did on Sunday.  Decided the skies would be the focal point in each painting.  One winter night and the other summer sunset.  In the first painting Winter Light I painted a remote Cabin and the Northern Lights.  Our artic winter can challenge the best of us, but one of the joys of winter is the Aurora light show any dark and clear night.  Always different and incredible to watch.   In the second painting Susitna Sunset 4 in the summer we have 20 hours of daylight, awesome, and the sunsets are slow and amazing.  This is the 4th in a series of them I have done, and many more to go.  Because the sun takes so long to set we have a incredible display on light at sunset.  A artists dream.

Sense of Vastness

I have a First Friday Art Show at Stephan's Fine Art Gallery  in the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage Alaska the First Friday of April.  The title of the show is  Sense of Vastness.  I will be having around 15 new paintings, they will be highlighting the Vastness of Alaska.  Alaska has over 5000 miles of coastline and if placed in the continental US it would stretch from the east coast to the west coast.  The incredible beauty and different types of climates is amazing.  Come to my show to learn more about my artwork and say "hi".

Nymph's Prayer at Wonder Lake

NYMPH'S PRAYER AT WONDER LAKE - 20" X 10" Oil on Canvas.  Finished it this morning.   Have to let it dry.  Will take another look to  re-evaluate it in a week to see if I am still happy with it.  I have had this painting in my head for over 2 years now.  My daughter Christina suggested the flower pedals (thanks Christina), that was the perfect addition to the painting.

Nymphs, Nixies are spirits of Nature, they represent fertility.  They also personify the dangerous undercurrents of the depths below.

You will need to visit Denali National Park in Alaska and take the all day bus ride to Wonder Lake, and just maybe you will be lucky enough to spy the Nymph of Wonder Lake.

Winters Kiss

W

Winters Kiss 9 x 6 Oil on Richeson Panel - Small little oil painting.  I really had fun playing with purples, oranges and pinks in this painting.  Captured the mood I was looking for...cold, isolation and a peaceful snug warm cabin in the wilderness. I will more then likely do a larger major painting of this in the future after the holiday shows are over.

Kenai Painting Step 5

Kenai Painting Step 5 - block in base of foreground

Okay I laid in the underwater foreground, basically pushing paint around until I got what I wanted. I will TONE it down later. Letting it dry so I can paint over it, will bring in the shadows of the tall trees on the left and then add all the sky colors over top of the water. I will end up painting out a lot of what I did today, but I wanted to put it in, so I could have it there when i paint over it and not worry about going back and trying to add the dead fall under the water. So far this has been a fun painting. After the water is done I will be adding some foreground foliage, no sure how much yet.

2 Paintings In Progress

2 Paintings In Progress - Raven Moon 8x6 Oil & Portrait Study From a Portraiture Class -

On Friday I was fighting off a head cold. And it reflected my mood in the this little Night Raven piece. Not really sure where the idea came from. But it is different then what I usually paint thats for sure.

The second painting is a from a portraiture class I am taking from Linda Infante Lyons at the Anchorage Museum. I have been struggling with this one. Will take it to class for critique.

ADDENDUM: I got some wonderful suggestions from my class teacher. I made some dramatic changes to the portrait. Will finish it this weekend, and post a picture for you to compare with this one I took before my class.

Final Stage of Mountain Lake?

Mountain Lake - I went back to this painting this morning and added some white with a touch or cadnium orange to the sky and distant water, added more life to the scene. Also started to bring the reflected light over top of the rocks. Decided not to do to much to it, looks pretty good as is. I did also go back to the treeline and brought some dappled light through the top of the treeline. A nice 2 day painting.

Fall Pallet Of Alaska

ALASKAS FALL PALLET OF COLOR -

Color is changing in Alaska, as fall starts to make itself felt here. So I load my plein air easel, with Naples Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Cad Yellow, Indian Yellow, Cad Red Light, Aliz Crimson, Indian Red, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Sap Green, Azo Green, Ultramarine Blue, Paynes Grey, White and Ivory Black.

Will be heading out this weekend to paint the color of Alaska. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!

The Progress Of Creating A Painting

Drafted Some paintings today - Thought I would post the progress from the photo's I took to sketching them out on the Canvas Panels.
I sketched out 6 paintings I have 4 here to demonstrate my process. I will be using oils to create these paintings.

Ron Rencher Workshop

Ron Rencher Plein Air Art Workshop - We had a great 4 days painting outside and learning from Texas Artist Ron Rencher. Have to say I learned a lot, and am rethinking how I paint. Weather was mostly great. The only bad day was extremely windy, the rest sunny. 15 people signed up for the workshop, and we all got our moneys worth.

Flat Top Mountain painting progression

Chugach Park Flat Top Mountaing 20x30 Oil on Canvas - Well finally got back to working on this painting.  As you can see from the last post 2 weeks ago, I first blocked in the base colors, they worked up the mountain and its detail, then added the blocked in trees in the midground and foreground.  Went back and finished off the trees in the midground.  Then the trees in the foreground and added brush and shadows.   Finally went back to the midground area and added a lighter highlight to the snow.  Will let this sit for 2 weeks before I decide if I am done or not.  All comments are appreciated.

Energized and Excited

Golden Crown - Oil 8x10 on Canvas Panel - Available for Sale -  For the last 2 days I attended the Alaska Arts & Cultural Conference in Anchorage Alaska.   I can sum it up in one word "Awesome".   I do not know the attendance figures, but I do know it was standing room only.  The energy level was incredibly high, everyone was excited and thrilled to be there, speakers and attendee's were feeding off each others emotions and energy.   The conference covered information for Artists, Educators in Art and Art Organizations.   The conference sessions were very well thought out, there was information for all the different groups.   The willingness of the speakers to share their knowledge with us was incredible.   One aspect of the conference that I was thrilled to see, was that we had attendees from all over the State of Alaska, from the major cities to the smaller rural areas.   No one left early at the end of the conference, we all did not want it to end, but as all good things do it must.   The rally cry at the end was "Lets not wait another 10 years for another conference."   I came home energized, excited and thrilled to be apart of the art world in Alaska, what a great group. 

When I got home I wanted to jump in the studio and paint, but realities of life, I had to snowplow away the 18" of snow we had the day before out of the driveway and off the roof of the house.   But today even though the Super Bowl is on, I hear the Studio whispering in my ear, so..............................

Sleeping Lady

Sleeping Lady - Mt Susitna - What a wonderful morning this was to paint. The view of Mt Susitna (The Sleeping Lady) is from Westend of Anchorage at Point Worzonoff. The legend of the Sleeping Lady says a Indian Maiden laid down to wait for her Warrior Husband to come back from a war, and waits for him to this day.

One of my favorite things to do is to Plein Air paint with the Alaska Plein Air painters every Friday morning. We all meet and paint together, weather permitting. In the winter months we meet indoor and paint from projected slides. It is a great group of friends and artists. We all really enjoy one another. Couldn't ask for a better group to associate with.

Smalls Things

High Mountain Bluebells - 6 x 8 Oil on Canvas Panel - This small painting is available for sale for $150.00 just email me if you are interested jacobsonart@gci.net

One of my most treasured possessions is a small little tin airplane about the size of a quarter I was given by my children a very long time ago. The gift was a expression of their love, knowing how much I love airplanes also. Over the years the gifts from my 4 children are more important to me then any of the more expensive items in the house. When I look at the different gifts from them I remember very clearly when they gave them to me. Each of the four children have no idea how much they have enriched my life over the years. Now that they are young adults and someday parents I look forward to Grandchildren and sharing their experience as new parents and the joys they will discover when that time comes. Justin, Christina, Shaunna and Ryan, thank you for the pleasure of being your parent, and I luckily your friend also. Through the happy fun times, through the tough times, it has been a wonderful experience. Donna and I love you all, and are very proud of our Children.

Nature's Cycle

Nature's Cycle - 11 x 14 Oil on Canvas - This painting is available at Stephan Fine Art Gallery

Walking my dog this evening it is blowing out tonight and I was watching the yellow leaves starting to fall from the trees. We had the 3rd coldest summer on record this year. Seems like somehow summer slipped by us unseen and unheard somehow.
I have all these paintings in my head that I want to paint, and somehow time slips by and some of them never are brought to life. No matter how often I paint and how many paintings come to life, there will always be paintings that never get the chance to come alive and have their beauty grace the world. I am always thrilled with each new painting I do, but also I know that there are so many that I want to do that I don't get time to do, it is a mixed bag of emotions.
People always comment to me "It must be so relaxing to paint." I smile and tell them I love it, and I do. But "relaxing" no, some paintings are a battle, some create so much inner turmoil and anguish when painting them. And a very few that just flow out and are "relaxing". To be honest the old saying "good things don't come easy" is very true. Some of my best paintings, have come from moments of trial and stress. In 1995 I shattered my wrist, I had to have it rebuilt and still have a metal T-plate in my wrist to this day. It was a really bad injury, I thought being totally right handed, that I might have lost ability to draw and paint forever. It took me 18 months to fully get my wrist back. The first painting I did afterwards, when I decided it was time to see what I could do, was a Nude pastel painting. I can not tell you the emotions and fear that was inside me as I created this painting. As it turned out, it is one of the best I have ever done, and it hangs in my home. I will never sell this painting, it means to much to me. It also serves as a reminder, of what I came close to loosing, my ability to paint. I love to paint, I love the feel of the paintbrush in my fingers, the smell of the paint. I don't just paint because I want to -- I paint because I have to. There is a inner drive that I will always have that forces me to paint. I get "edgy" if I have not painted for a few days, ask my wife. Which reminds me, "Donna, you are a incredible wife! I know how difficult it is being a artist's spouse, the sacrifices you make for me to spend the hours alone in my studio. And I really am fortunate to have a wife who will live the Artist's Life with me."