Recap of the year 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, here we are in the last days of 2010. If 2009 was the year of plein air painting for me (47 completed in those 12 months), then 2010 was the year of commissions. I completed the church series (5 large oil paintings) for my hometown of Unterwittighausen, then did the teaparty paintings for a local client, one plein air for my parents when they were here, a skateboard, a small watercolor just recently, a zebra portrait, and a couple of days ago I started a large seascape for my very good German friends who recently moved out of the area. Additionally to those 11 commissioned paintings I also completed 20 plein air paintings and did an official demo at a local art club! I am posting the three paintings that are on my easel right now.

Not too shabby.

Okay, hier sind wir in den letzten Tagen des alten Jahres, und ich wollte meine Malerfolge aufzaehlen. So wie 2009 das Jahr fuer Plein Air Malen fuer mich war (47 Gemaelde an Ort und Stelle gemalt), war 2010 das Jahr fuer Auftraege. Ich fing mit den 5 Kirchengemaelden fuer meine Heimatgemeinde Wittighausen an, dann die Teeparty fuer eine lokale Klientin, ein Plein Air fuer meine Eltern, ein Skateboard, ein kleines Aquarell, das Zebraportrait, und vor einigen Tagen fing ich ein grosses Hafengemaelde fuer meine deutschen Freunde an, obig gezeigt in der Mitte als Untermalung, mit 2 anderen, die ich gerade auf meiner Staffelei habe. Im Zusatz zu diesen 11 Gemaelden stellte ich auch noch 20 Plein Air Gemaelde her und malte ein Demo-Gemaelde in einem Kunstclub! Nicht schlecht, gell?

With this I would like to wish everybody a happy new year,

lots of success and happiness with your families.

From my family to yours

Yours, Ruth with Kirsten and Billy

Damit moechte ich euch allen ein frohes neues Jahr wuenschen,

mit viel Erfolg und Zufriedenheit.

Von meiner Familie an eure Familien.

Tschuess

Euere Ruth mit Kirsten und Billy

Commission - Zazu

I finished another commission this week, a zebra portrait for a good friend of mine. They have lots of horses, and also a zebra! It was a pleasure to paint those cool stripes, and to experiment with a little more abstract stuff for the background. My friend was very pleased with the final result. Attached a couple of the steps and the final picture.

Habe diese Woche wieder mal einen Mal-Auftrag fertiggestellt, ein Zebraportrait fuer eine guten Freund. Er hat einige Pferde, und tatsaechlich auch ein Zebra im Stall! Es war supertoll, die Streifen nachzuvollziehen, und auch mal einen abstrakten Hintergrund zu malen. Mein Kunde war sehr erfreut mit dem Endergebnis.

Underpainting.

Main subject finished.

Zazu, oil on panel, 16"x20"

At the Rose Garden

This afternoon I went with my kids to the event at the Rose Garden in downtown Daytona. It was beautiful weather, and we had some people working, weeding, and making new stepping stones. Kirsten and Billy were hard at work weeding and beautifying the area along with the DIG volunteers, while I did a painting looking towards the fire station on Orange Ave. Mark joined me later doing his own painting, and Pat stopped by for a visit too. Thanks to my other friends who visited for a while!

Heute nachmittag waren meine Kinder und ich im Rosengarten in Daytona Beach, wo einige Leute zusammenkamen und den Garten jaeteten, umpflanzten, und einfach gesellig waren. Ich malte die Szene zum Feuerhaus hin, und meine Malfreunde Mark und Pat kamen auch spaeter fuer einen Sprung vorbei.

Pat and I are critiqueing Mark's painting in progress.

My finished painting "At the Rose Garden"

8"x10" oil on panel

Painting event in Downtown Daytona Nov 14

Please see this link for an event at downtown Daytona in 2 weeks. DIG will be working on the rose garden on Beach Street by the river, and they invited plein air artists to paint. I plan on being there and painting, along with some other local artists and fellow artists from the Art Consortium. I also created the flyer. If you haven't checked out my graphics website, please do so at www.krautgraphics.com.

In 2 Wochen ist ein Gaertner-nachmittag in Daytona Beach, wo ich mit anderen Kuenstlern malen werde. Ich habe auch den Flyer (siehe oben) dafuer gestaltet. Falls ihr noch nicht meine Website fuer mein Graphik Design gesehen habt, bitte hier klicken www.krautgraphics.com.

Gregg Kreutz Workshop - Day 3

Gregg started the last day at the marina with a demo of some boats sitting at the dock. It was quite breezy and warm, with the sun hiding periodically behind spectacular clouds. He painted on the board of the first demo that he had scraped down - we were all pretty upset, it was so nice ;-(

Gregg's final painting.

Afterwards he let us loose again and we painted till lunch, most of us staying at the marina, painting something similar, and after lunch we painted again, while he went around on his bicycle visiting everyone at their different spots and offering insight and critiques. All around it was an awesome learning experience, and if anybody has the chance, sign up for his workshops.

He said he was planning on doing a mixed workshop (still life, portrait and plein air) around Feb 2011 in Mt. Dora again. He also signed my book (Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz), which is an excellent book all around - I can only recommend it. In addition he let us read some excerpts from the new plein air book he is currently working on. Looks like a good one already! Thanks, Gregg!!!!!!

My Workshop Paintings!

Okay, here I am showcasing the paintings I did during the Kreutz workshop. I completed 2 paintings per day, and only one was a dud (I'm not showing it!). I am very pleased with all my efforts, and let me tell you, it was a tour de force! Doing 2 paintings a day for 3 days is really exhausting. But also fun!!!!!

Hier sind die Gemaelde, die ich waehrend des Kreutz Workshop's angefertigt habe. 2 Gemaelde pro Tag, also sechs insgesamt, wovon nur eines nicht vorzeigbar ist. Ich bin total zufrieden mit was ich gelernt habe, und wieviel ich an den 3 Tagen gemalt habe. Es machte soviel Spass!

Morning Alley, 10"x8", oil on panel.

This was my first one, where I put to the test some of his techniques of blending the sky from yellow to blue, and focusing on one area of highlights.

Around The Bend, 10"x8", oil on panel

Painted in the afternoon of the first day, same spot as his demo.

After Gregg's 3rd demo I painted the famous Donelly house, which appears on probably hundreds of artists' canvases. I focused on the morning light hitting the front of the house. I went bigger than my usual canvas size this time. This was done in about one hour. I am again very pleased with it.

Donnelly Light, 11"x14", oil on panel

Day 3, morning effort, same spot as his demo painting.

Mt. Dora Marina, 11"x14", oil on panel

Lakeview Inn, 8"x10", oil on panel

Thanks, Sharon, for being my painting buddy. I had a great time with you, as usual. And thanks for being so brazen and playing city worker by moving a cone to a parking spot. Someone was trying to park in front of my alley scene as soon as I had my very first brush stroke in! It's always fun!

Gregg Kreutz Workshop - Day 2

On Day Two we met early for another demo, this time Gregg painted a sidewalk scene. The sidewalk was going down, then after a dip back up. Also, the sky was cloudy and the sun was coming and going - very difficult. He focused on a swath of light at the far end of the buildings, and really pulled it together. We were all fascinated.

Gregg's final painting. Again - awesome!

After lunch at a Thai place Gregg painted the Donnelly house. He went from this...

to this in less than 2 hours!

Gregg's final painting. They just keep getting better!

We had lots of interested onlookers.

My afternoon painting did not turn out well at all, I was physically and mentally exhausted. Lots to digest, plus the weather was unusually warm... actually hot.

Gregg Kreutz Workshop - Day 1

I am in Mt. Dora this week for a 3-day workshop with artist Gregg Kreutz! It is such an honor, and he is the nicest, most humble, and personable teacher, while being a wonderful and gifted artist. We are about 7 students, and at the same time there is a plein air paintout going on. Please check out his website at www.greggkreutz.com

Diese Woche bin ich in Mt. Dora, um an einem Workshop mit Gregg Kreutz teilzunehmen. www.greggkreutz.com Er ist ein toller Lehrer und sehr talentierter Kuenstler. Er lehrt in der Student Art League in NYC. Ich denke, die Bilder sprechen fuer sich, und die wenigen Deutschen Leser, die echt am technischen Detail interessiert sind, koennen das Englische verstehen.... Tut mir leid, keine Uebersetzungen diesesmal. Ich habe jeden Tag 2 Bilder gemalt, waehrend Gregg 2 Demos am Tag gelehrt hat. Ich werde meine eigenen Gemaelde im 4. Blogpost zeigen, also Geduld...

Day One Gregg started with a demo in the morning, just setting up on the sidewalk and painting a street scene. With his gracious permission I am posting some of his progress shots, and some things we learned.

First Demo with some of us watching intently.

Gregg is a fast painter, and can (and will) make things up on the fly, and they always work! He blocks in on a slightly toned panel ("Innerglow" panels) with a papertowel and burnt sienna, just indicating anything that's not sky.

He then develops the main area and / or main colors, and just goes from there. Note that the sky goes from white+yellow to blue.

Above is the next step, big shapes going into detail. He has a finished painting in the first 30 minutes. He then fiddles around with a palette knife and smaller brushes to develop more details and little flecks of highlights (not shown here, he actually scraped this first demo down and painted over it on Day 3...).

After each demo, which lasted about 1-1.5 hours each, he let us loose and we painted, sometimes the same scene, sometimes any of the other great scenes around this lovely town.

I painted an alley way near the Arts Center in the morning, and then his same scene of the train station of the afternoon. I am very very pleased with both my efforts, which I am going to show in a separate blog post later...

In the afternoon he painted the train station, here are some of the shots.

Scene and Blockin

Sky and more painting...

Almost done..

And here is Gregg's final painting! Awesome...

A little commission

I was asked to finish this tribute to a local skateboarder that the original artist never finished. It is his portrait painted on a skateboard. I had to add the neck, shirt, clouds and writing. The customer was very, very happy with it.

Ich bekam einen kleinen Auftrag, ein Skateboard mit dem Portrait des jungen Mannes fertigzustellen, da der Kunde mit der originalen Kuenstlerin nicht zufrieden war. Ich malte den Hals, Shirt, Wolken und Text dazu. Der Kunde war sehr, sehr begeistert.

Before the Air Show

Before the Air Show 8"x10", oil on masonite

This morning I set up at Sun Splash Park at the beach with Pat and Mark. It was a beautiful start of the day, and we had lots of people there, setting up their chairs and spots for the coming air show. I painted the Main Street Pier in the distance, with the waves coming in beautifully.

Heute morgen malten Pat, Mark, und ich in einem Park am Strand. Es waren viele Leute da, die ihre Stuehle und Decken aufsetzten, um einen guten Platz fuer die spaetere Air-Show zu bekommen. Ich malte die Main Street Pier im Hintergrund, mit hohen Wellen, die an den ruhigen Strand spuelten. Wie ihr seht, haben wir immer noch tolles Wetter, jedoch weniger Schwuele, zum Glueck!

Demo Painting finished

I worked on the demo painting from last Friday, and added some flags, wires (anybody who knows me knows that I love wires in paintings!), and people. I'll let it sit for a while to see if I need to add anything else... I like it now.

Ich malte ein paar neue Sachen in mein Demo-Gemaelde vom letzten Freitag: einige Fahnen/Flaggen, Draehte (jeder, der mich kennt, weiss, dass ich gerne Leitungen und Draehte in Gemaelden habe!), und ein paar Leute. Werde es fuer ein paar Tage sitzenlassen, bis ich sehe, ob es auch nun wirklich sonst nichts mehr braucht... Aber ich mag es bis jetzt.

Fourth of July, 14"x11", oil on masonite. $400.

Painting Demo in DeLand

A few weeks ago I was asked to do a demo at the art league in DeLand for their monthly meeting. Today I went there and painted an oil painting from one of my photos in front of the assembled members. It was a lot of fun, and I believe that everybody got something out of it. I enjoyed it very much, and was able to talk and teach and answer questions while producing a finished painting in a little over an hour.

Vor einigen Wochen wurde ich angefragt, ob ich eine Maldemonstration fuer die Mitglieder des Kunstclubs in DeLand machen wuerde. Heute nachmittag fand die Demo statt, und ich malte ein groesseres Gemaelde von einem meiner Photos vor der versammelten Mitgliedschaft (ca. 13 Personen). Es machte viel Spass, und ich glaube, dass jeder was Gutes davon mitheimtragen konnte. Ich konnte tatsaechlich fast nonstop sprechen und lehren und Fragen beantworten, waehrend ich was ziemlich tolles produzierte.

Here I am with the start of my painting. I used my usual plein-aire setup since no easels were available. It worked out very nicely.

Hier bin ich mit meinem angefangenen Gemaelde. Ich benutzte mein Setup fuer Plein Air, da keine Staffeleien vorhanden waren.

Here is the progression of my steps, from underpainting of shadows, to highlights and addition of colors. I painted with 3 colors plus white on a 14"x11" masonite board.

Hier sind meine Mal-Schritte, von Untermalung der Schatten, zu den Highlights, zur eigentlichen "Bemalung".

My captive audience. Mein aufmerksames Publikum.

My setup, with some of my other paintings I brought along on the right.

Mein Setup, mit einigen meiner Gemaelde, die ich mitgebracht hatte.

4th of July 14"x11"

I believe I will add some people and an American flag to the painting in the following days, since it will enliven the painting. I did not have time to do that at the demo, and it looks a bit empty. Will show it in another post once done...

Ich glaube, in den naechsten paar Tagen werde ich ein paar Leute und die Am. Fahne hinzufuegen, was ich eigentlich machen wollte, jedoch dann keine Zeit mehr dafuer hatte. Ich glaube, das wird das Gemaelde ein bisschen mehr beleben. Werde es euch dann ganz fertig wieder hier zeigen...

Thanks to Larry for setting this up, and for Carol to invite me and make it happen! Thanks to Pat for shooting the photos! And thanks to everybody for coming!

Vielen Dank an Larry, Carol und Pat, und alle, die kamen!

Tranquil Waters

Tranquil Waters, 5"x7", oil on masonite

Here's a little 5x7 from the Daytona Marina this morning. The sun was hiding behind clouds and peeked out once in a while, so I decided to just do a small one to get it down quickly. It was hot and steamy by the water, but I'm glad we got out again to paint.

Hier ist ein kleines Bildchen vom Bootsanlegeplatz in Daytona. Es war sehr heiss und schwuel, und die Sonne versteckte sich oefters, deswegen nahm ich das kleinere Format, um die Szene schneller einzufangen.

At The Lighthouse

One of the nice things with the bad economy is that since my work hours are cut, I get to go out more to paint. I met Mark in Ponce Inlet and together we painted some of the houses and buildings surrounding the lighthouse. After an initial downpour we had great weather and came home with some pretty good efforts.

Here is Mark with his GoBox Easel, while I am using my own setup/self-made pochade box.

Eines der guten Seiten der schlechten Wirtschaftslage ist, dass ich durch meine verkuerzten Arbeitsstunden mehr zum malen komme. Heute malte ich mit Mark in Ponce Inlet, einige der Gebaeude, die den Leuchtturm dort umgeben. Nach einem tollen Regenguss kam die Sonne raus und wir konnten beide mit guten Gemaelden heimkehren.

At the Lighthouse. 8"x10" oil on masonite.

Drastic changes

Thanks to everybody for the comments on my latest painting and the votes. I agreed that the palm tree had to go, so here is the final fixed version, with the tree on the right having better foliage, too. I really like it now and it's definitely framable!

Vielen Dank fuer die vielen Kommentare und Ideen. Ich fand nun auch nach einigem Ueberlegen, dass die Palme nicht gut sass, und habe sie gestern abend uebermalt, und auch den Baum rechts ein bisschen verbessert. Nun ist das Bild echt toll und kann in einen Rahmen kommen.

Usually I don't go home and fiddle or fix a painting, but since I had the brushes out, I also looked at the boat painting I did last weekend and decided to overpaint that a bit too. I still struggled with the canvas texture, but I punched up the values, and unified the colors. The coloring is better now, but the composition is still lacking. The boat sits dead center, the horizon line is boring and pretty much in the middle, 2 big no-no's - so this one is going in the sketch pile.

Normalerweise male ich nie an einem Bild weiter, das ich draussen anfing, doch da ich nach der obigen Reparatur noch in der Stimmung war, uebermalte ich das Bootgemaelde von letzter Woche ein bisschen. Die Tonwerte sind nun kraeftiger, die Farben ein bisschen uebereinstimmend, doch leider ist die Komposition nicht besser: das Boot total in der Mitte des Bildformats, die Horizontlinie ist langweilig und auch in der Mitte, 2 grosse Fehler. Dieses Bild wird keinen Rahmen kriegen...

Just wanted to point out that when you paint plein air, there is just so much to think about in the time frame of 1-2 hours, that not every effort is a winner. We had heat, good conversation, some interested people, limited time frame, sun going in and out. You have to choose your colors, brushes, and make decisions about values, colors, placement etc. It also shows, that even though the colors and values are right, if the composition/placement is boring, then nothing can bring that back...

Wenn man draussen malt, gibt es halt viel zu viele Stoerungen und zu viel zu ueberlegen, um alles richtig hinzukriegen. Und wenn die Komposition nicht gleich stimmt, dann koennen weder die richtigen Farben noch Tonwerte das Bild retten...

Gemini Springs II

I only worked half a day today, so on my way home I stopped at the park of Gemini Springs and painted the red barn next to the caretaker's house that I had painted last year in the summer. It was very hot and I had to stand in the full sun for the best view, but I believe it was worth it. I used my own smooth masonite panels, and ahh, what a difference. One of the groundskeepers stopped to take a peek and commented on how nice it was for me to use the park in such a way. A little over an hour, 5 colors plus white, 2 brushes used. I might do some "landscaping" and remove that very light palm tree in the center, I'll think about it for a couple of days,, not sure yet...

Heute durfte ich nur halbtags arbeiten, und zum Glueck hatte ich meine Malsachen im Kofferraum. Auf dem Heimweg fuhr ich in den Gemini Springs Park, wo ich letztes Jahr schon das alte Haus gemalt hatte. Nun kam die rote Scheune nebendort dran. Ich musste leider in der prallen heissen Sonne stehen, doch ich glaube, dass es das wert war. Ich malte auf meinem eigenen superglatten Malgrund, und ahh, was fuer ein Unterschied. Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit dem Gemaelde, und bekam auch schoene Komplimente von einem der Parkwaechter.

Gemini Springs, 10"x8", oil on masonite