June 8th The drawing phase

First part of drawing

Here's the first part of the drawing..  This is drawn based off the original sketch I did.  I was happy with the sketch so I just enlarged it and went for it.  I have a projector that I can use to enlarge my sketches.  The only bad thing about the projector is it needs to be done at night when I can get the studio nice and dark.  When I enlarge the sketch, or whatever, it generally goes fast.  This drawing was just a couple of minutes.  It all free hand so it's messy.  I then take rulers and other tools and create a good drawing.  Once I had this drawing up and going I started to doubt the placement of the whale.  He seemed off balance to me - or as if he doesn't have any room to swim to - he doesn't fit.  I could follow the Fibonacci method and mathematical plot my painting or I could use a lot of other gimmicks to make the perfect composition, but I don't.  The painting's mine and I paint it how I want.  If it doesn't feel right to me then I change it till it does.  Technical stuff - huh?

Moving the whale.

Moving the whale is easy.  I grab a piece of tracing paper and redraw it. I can adjust size if needed too.  Here I'm happy with the size so I just trace him.  Then I can move him about till I feel good about it.  I then grab my trusty old graphite paper (like carbon paper) and use it to transfer the whale down.  This takes maybe 5 minutes.  It's easy when you have the materials on hand to do this. 

Whale is moved

The whale is now moved.  Much better.

If I hadn't been so pleased with my original sketch I would have completed a smaller final drawing on a sheet of regular typing paper.  I would have worked out things on a smaller scale.  I could have then taken this smaller sketch into photoshop (computer editing program) and could have made additional changes - like moving the whale.  I would still have the same  step of enlarging this digitally adjusted sketch up to full size though.  And it never fails - when you draw small like 8 x 10 and enlarge to big like 36x48 there will be things that just don't look right.  But changes are easy, break out the tracing paper and make the changes.

Whale final drawing

Here's the final drawing.  The painting won't look this straight.  I draw it straight so I can mess it up a bit with the paint.  It's funner that way.  Anyone think they know what this painting is about yet?  Any ideas?  I don't have it 100% but it's definitely forming some thoughts.  It's these thoughts that made me add the old Denny's sign, power pole, truck, surfer, and ornate columns.  Hmmm?

I didn't get the 3rd layer on my painting surface today (the black layer).  I'll try and get that on tomorrow.

I do have this, if you're interested.  Someone had asked me to explain what "cradled" meant in relation to my painting panels.  This is what I do to the back of my boards to make them stronger and less prone to bow.  The wood on the edge of the panel that form the frame is what I call a cradle.  I think it's an actual term but not 100% sure.  Here's a picture:

Back side of Painting panel.

What's next?  Need to figure out how I'm going to color this thing.

Tomorrow.

Larry

June 7th. Here we go.

Killer Whale sketch

Here's the the chosen one.  The killer whale.  Anyone have a sense what this image is about, if anything?

Beginning of Killer whale drawing.

I have began to draw the final drawing, full size at 16x24 inches.  The paper I'm using is just some scrap I got when I ordered my last set of prints.  It looked like decent paper so I kept it.  Other paper I use includes the large rolls you can buy at the home centers for masking off windows and such.  Another kind I use is tracing paper.  It doesn't really matter, though.  In a pinch I've taped together plain sheets of typing paper.  These drawing aren't special to me, they're just a step in my process.  They help me focus on what I'm going to do. 

I usually do the sketch with the paper taped to the painting surface.  The paper is flexible and if it's a big painting it just gets way too big for my drafting table.  By using the surface as a "board" I can move it around or just lean it up against a wall if I need to finish something else on my table.

The surface I will be painting on is a wood panel, like a birch panel you buy at Home Depot for building cabinets.  It's good wood.  I take oak wood strips and cradle the back of the panel.  This is simply adding an inside wood frame to the back of the panel witch gives it strength and helps it not to bow.  The panels are always glued to the cradle strips - wouldn't want to nail it then have a need to remove it from the cradle at a later time.  If I need to remove a glued cradle I just run it on the table saw and cut it off.  I usually build the panel and cradle a 1/4 of an inch too big, then I trim it down to proper size.  This gives a very clean edge.  I seal the surface with traditional artists gesso.  For this painting I started with two coats of white gesso.  The next coat will be the house paint / plaster stuff.  I should be able to get this third coat on tomorrow.

The painting board with two coats of gesso

Edges are taped off to keep them clean. (seen with my white drawing paer taped on the front)

Need to get back and get this drawing done!

Other life things for today: Pulled 25 gallons of weeds (5 big paint buckets worth).  Washed my truck.  Messed around in the garden - I'm letting my carrots from last fall go to seed - I pulled a few to give light to the peppers.  Did the dishes after dinner.  Made home made southern ice tea. Had a killer headache, cured it with my wife's essential oils.

Have a good day!

Larry

June 6th. I think I have decided.

Cow Abduction  Oil on panel

I have spent the weekend contemplating.  After much of this I am ready to pick which painting to complete this month.

I chose the killer whale image.  Why?  My sketch for  this painting was pretty much complete, I don't have a lot to work out.  I have painted a killer whale before so this new one would just add to it.  I have the concept brewing and it is on the tip of my tongue.  It's diverse enough to be of interest to most - I think.  I have a surface on hand and it's the right size, ready to go.  All good things.

Why I didn't pick the statue between the column?  I need to work out the statue pose.  The color scheme would not be the most exciting thing to watch me paint.  I would need to create a surface for this one painting.  It just needs a little more TLC.  I think I'll wait.

So, what's next?  I need to start preparing the surface for paint.  It a cradled wood panel so it needs to be sealed.  I also need to work on the final, full size drawing so I can work out some last details.

I'll get started on these and get back to you with my progress!

This weekend I did manage to get a load of bark dust for the yard.  I pulled a ton of weeds.  I took a nap yesterday - a long one.  I made some awesome foods.  We bought a new chair for the living room - a recliner! - gett'in old!  I put the final color on my seated ram painting.  And I worked on the design of two other paintings that I will be working on soon - probably while painting the killer whale.

Life has been good.  I hope it has been good for you too.

Larry

June 5th. It figures.

Figure sketch with stripes

I love painting stripes, especially on clothes.  I just don't do it often enough.  I also like yellow stripes.  Reminds me of caution tape, police lines, road stripes - things you don't want to cross.  But the color yellow is warm and beautiful, very inviting.  It's like a contradiction.

Here's kind of what I was leaning too with this seated figure:

I was thinking something kind of like this painting I did a couple months back.  But I want the new one to be softer and more sensual.  This painting here is too hard and direct.  The posture is tough.

I want to go more ambiguous with the facial features too. I want to larger so I can play with the paint more.  There's a lot of things to work out before I proceed with this one.


 For the back ground I was thinking something like I have been doing with my animals, like in this bear painting:

Can you image it yet?

I really do enjoy painting figures.  Especially females.  I think they (females) are incredibly beautiful. Their hands, necks, ears, everything about them is spot on.  God did a pretty good job when He created Eve.   I don't paint figures very often because I need a model.  Models are hard to find in Yucaipa and they cost money.  My wife doesn't like to model for me and I understand that.  I wish I could draw them off the top of my head, but I can't.  So what do I do when I need a model?  I build them.

The shoulders are different than the red panties.  The foot is different that the blue skirt.  Etc.

 I start out with a decent drawing depicting the pose and stuff I want.  Then I go hunting for the parts to make the model.  The three stages of the built model above are just a few of the stages I went through, definitely more complex than I am showing here.  Below I have taken the finished model and have drawn my figure to be used in a painting.

This painting by the way failed.  It was in the 18x24 range.  I struggled with and eventually destroyed it.  Thinking about it now I should have kept it.  I'm sure if I changed the style of dress and added stripes it would have worked.  But, sometimes it's better to just move on.


Here's another built model:

The early stage is to the left.  Then I changed direction and composition of the painting and so changed the model to match.  The hand holding the brush is actually painted digitally, I couldn't find good reference for it.   I never followed through with this painting.  It was never painted.  She was going to be painting images of animals on a cave wall, like what the archaeologist find from long ago.  Kind of a "tongue in cheek"  answer to who drew these types of images from so long ago.


So after further review and deep thought on this sketch:  I don't think I have the time to sit down and produce a model for this painting and get the painting done in time.  I also don't feel strong with a reason for the painting either.  There's not enough passion to back it up right now.  This is the artist and intuition talking here.  I think I'll save this one for a rainy day.

Now I'm down to two choices...

Larry

A Flash Back

That Pesky Man in Brown  12x16  Mixed Media on Illustration Board 

Hickory Dickory Dare

The pig flew up in the air!

The man in brown soon brought him down,

Hickory Dickory Dare.

An early painting that shows my fondness for stripes.  They sure are fun to paint!

Hope you're all haveing a good weekend.

Larry

June 4th Portland or Bust

Page 2 My City Scape

One option is my city scape...

This would be fun to do.  It would be a challenge.  These are good thoughts.

I have never painted a city scape before.  It would not be the best match for my existing works.  These are not so good thoughts.

It would be a good chance to expand my works, maybe lead me in a new direction.  Hmmmm.  Lets do some color studies:

My City scape color concepts

I did the upper left sketch first.  I did it with oil pastels.  I usually do my color studies with colored pencils, digital, white out, markers, and acrylics.  I don't use oil pastels but I have always kept them in my drawer for "just in case".  I struggled with the first sketch until I figured out how to utilize the pastels.

So I did a second color study - upper right.  This one was funner but it made me think.  Portland has some cool bridges.  It would be cool to incorporate some bridges.  I gotta have Mt. Hood in there.  I grew up with this mountain looming in the distance my entire young life.  To me this is the most beautiful mountain ever.  Of course I gotta paint it.  In this sketch the bridge is taking away from the mountain.  What's my focus here?  The city, the mountain or the bridge.  I'm getting lost.  To add to the confusion I remember Portland with a lot of brick.  I remember it as a red city. I don't know why. I'm not liking the blue tone now. I needed to focus.  Should I paint another sketch?  Na, let's look up some reference pictures of Portland.

This is when I redrew the bottom image.  I'm gett'in the buildings more in line and correct.  But now it looks different.  It's not my impression, it's not my feeling of Portland.  It's just a sketch based off what I see in pictures.   I'm going to Portland to visit old friends and family in July.  Lets wait on this painting.  Let's take our own reference shots, check out the bridges, and see the true color of the city for what it is.  I need to get my impression back on, then I'll come back and paint a dozen pictures of Portland.  Yea. let's do that!  I'm going to Seattle too.  Maybe I'll paint that place too.

I think I'm changing the fate of all my other images I decided to wait on right now.  See how that works?  I just had a new grey hair pop out of my scalp.  Yikes!

Now I'm down to three choices.

Have a good Day!

Larry

June 3rd - A decision is still needed

Chupacabra seeking additional Snickers

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

In my last blog I narrowed the choices down to four.

Page 1, the figure.

Page 2, the city-scape, the killer whale and the calling to the light.

There were other choices but the others are images I have decided to wait on.  Experience and intuition tells me I need to wait on these for various reasons.  This is kind of a gamble because I will most certainly get more ideas this month and then what seemed like a good, rational decision turns into something else or just gets forgotten.  Oh-well.


So let me explain what I have been thinking lately.  I'm kind of hoping that explaining my thoughts  will help me clarify them for myself.  Check this out:

Still life7  mixed media on wood

 It a painting of an apple - again prophetic stuff is rolling of my tongue.  -Sorry about that.

But it's more than just an apple.  It's texture too.  If you have ever seen one of my major works you would know that I like a bit of texture.  I don't like it screaming with texture, I don't like texture that doesn't help the painting but I do like it.  Believe it or not but it is hard to achieve with oils, unless you like having wet oil paint on your surface for a couple of months.  I have tried fast setting oils like alkyds.  I have tried dryers in my oils, I have tried dryers in my Alkyds.  I have tried thickeners - many brands.  I have tried a lot of things over many years.   Here's the outcome:

1) I spend excess money on additives to experiment with and they don't do what I want.

2) The paint sets up on the surface but underneath can be wet for months.  This is bad for those times I want to sand down my painting for additional texture - I know, not the best technique for a slow drying medium like oil paint.

3) I like starting with a dark surface.  Blacks tend to be slow drying, complicating things even worse.  I've tried mixing my blacks with Burnt Umber and Ultramarine - two paints that dry relatively quickly- in oil terms.  The results are same as #2.  Sanding down a painting and revealing bold white of the gesso beneath is like staring into the sun.  I really want to see the black or some other dark color.

4) I've tried black gesso.  It's too thin. I've tried adding plaster to it but it tends to crack.  I can hold it together with added latex medium but now the mixture is getting quite expensive.  And I think there is a better solution - read on!

5) When thick oil paint is drying it tends to be very shiny or glossy, especially Ivory black.  Other layers of paint do not like to stick to shiny surfaces.  It would take this thick paint years to dry to the point it is not shiny but it will always be a surface that other layers will not cling to.  This is why they teach thick over lean.  The lean or thinned paint goes on first and then you should get progressively thicker (and oilier) with every new layer of paint.  - I almost put myself to sleep on that one.

6) Some dryers thin the paint down so much texture just won't show.  Thicker dryers actually increase the transparency of the paint - both not ideal for what I want.

7) In all my trials I have been able to get textures but in some cases not enough, in others too much.  It is frustrating and exciting all in one,

Then along came the apple:

apple is enlarged to show texture.  - Just like on the cereal boxes!

What this apple is doing for me:

I bought the best brand of exterior flat acrylic house paint I could find.  I had it tinted black.  There's a lot of debate over using house paints in fine art.  Some say it will flake off just like it does your house others say it is just as good as any artist colors.  There are many top notch artist using house paints in the world - I won't name names but I know you're out there.  Here's the thing - if you take a painting outside that is done in top quality oil paints it will fade and begin to deteriorate in just a year's time.  How do I know this?  Because I have one outside hanging on the back of my house right now.  It's not even in direct sun light but it is starting to look it age.  If I would have painted this with a moderate exterior house paint it probably would still be looking good - after all there is a ten year warranty on the stuff - right? I have another painting hanging outside, in direct sun and it was painted with interior house paint.  This one has lasted about six years.  Yes it's peeling, but thats expected right? It's interior house paint hanging outside!  So what if I take the best exterior house paint and put it on a stable surface and hang it is a temperature controlled environment and keep it out of direct sun.  I'll let the the conservators worry about in about a hundred years. ----Right!

So I got me the best brand of black, flat, exterior house paint money could buy.  I mixed this with some plaster and I have instant texture that I can control the thickness on.  I can sand it.  It is flat and porous like gesso so additional layers of paint stick to it.  It dries over night.  It is dark colored all the way through.  If I keep the ratio of plaster to paint at a good mix I can apply this mixture to canvas and it will be flexible (I won't be able to roll the canvas for shipping though - it will need to be shipped flat on stretcher bars.)  I'll solve this though - later.

So, with this apple in mind I am going to try this stuff on a new painting. I'm going to try it this month with ya'll watching.  I'm ready to move past the small studies that I have been experimenting with.  It's time to move on and go for the big dog.  Taking this into mind I want to paint something epic, but not so epic I go into a panic attack when I can't achieve what I want with this new process.  I need to set myself up for failure and for a win.  I need to be ready.

So here we go...

And just so you know - I'm rambling tonight because I got nothing done.  It's that thing called life.  I watched a movie and ate pizza with my family.  I loved it!  The movie was lousy but the company was good - wouldn't miss it for the world.


Larry

June 2nd. Still trying to choose but I know my options.

Page 1

What do we have here? Do you really want to know - don't answer that cause I'm gonna tell ya' anyway.

1) Search and Rescue - Litter attendant is getting ready to go over the side.  The three legged thing (can't ever seem to remember the technical names) is set to get our ropes off the ground. NO

2) Written Notes - Kevin MacPherson's limited pallet ( http://kevinmacpherson.com/)  NO

3)Figure painting - background abstract-ish similar to another I have recently done. I like the pose. Maybe

4)Figure Painting - She looks like an 80's style pose.  not sensual.  NO

5) Figure Painting - calmly sitting - shirt would be crazy flower print, can't make out detail in face. A little on the boring side though.  Probably a NO.

6) Figure in rain - The painting would be about the yellow boots.  Everything else grayed out, except the umbrella.  Like concept but the composition is not even close to being worthy of paint - NO

7) Mom and Daughter with feet up on wall.  I love this one but I'm not ready to paint it yet.  Just doesn't fit yet.  I love the kids legs personality verses the moms.  I totally see my wife and daughter here.  Yes, but Later

8) Redlands Train Station - I will paint this later.  I need more than a month and I don't want to be side tracked with having to blog during this epic painting.  I have a dozen other sketches for this one where I'm working out the composition.  This is not the best drawing or composition. - Yes, but Later

9) Swinging - this one will be awesome but way to quick of a painting to stretch over a month.  Maybe, but Later

10) Plane.  I love planes.  I worked at Fed Ex for a while in my past, at the airport.  It was here working around the big planes that I got to really imagine the scales of things (Big things with itsy bitsy people in my paintings).  Planes look small from the terminal or from the ground.  When your standing under one of these or leaning up against the tires you really get a sense of how big some of these suckers are.  This is not the one to paint it was just a thought - I have a group of other planes to paint later though.  Hopefully for a gallery show.  So for now -NO

Page two

Page Two:

1) Figure pulling on net.  Goes with a Psalm.  Still developing it so - Yes, but later.

2) The floating whale.  I was looking at another artist work - Forgot who- but it really touched me.  I like the killer whales best so I sketched the killer whale in the same position, below.  This sketch led to #6.  Not this one - NO

3)  The bridge in front of Seven Oaks Dam.  Just a thought.  Probably paint it someday, just not now with this composition.  NO

4) Sketch of Portland, Oregon.  Maybe

5) This is my daughters drawing of a truck.  She takes over my sketch book sometimes. Doesn't count

6) Killer whale. The whales are like airplanes in the ocean to me.  They're big.  The ocean scares me, a lot.  Probably why I'm so fascinated with ocean elements.   Maybe.

7) Another bridge.  No

8) Another airplane.  Thought about putting an airplane in the scene instead of the whale - Nope.

9) Calling to the light.  Definitely a front runner.  Statue between two columns, crazy small people below.  I love the calm warmth this painting will have.  I already see it.   To the right I'm messing around with color options.  I will paint this, just not sure if I want to do it now, so - Maybe

Here's a reality check.  I'm only analyzing two pages from my sketch book here.  When I decide to paint what I call a Major Work I generally skim through all of my sketch book's.  When I speak of a Major Work I am referring to a painting that will be in the 30 x 40inch minimum size range.  The largest I have worked was 48 x 72 inch.  It takes money and a lot of time to complete one of these.  Working on the larger sizes you quickly realize just how small that $10 tube of paint really was.  In addition, to the $ and time I really need to make sure that I am happy with my decision and be sure that the painting will eventually fit in with my other works and compliment them.  I can ponder over this for a good week narrowing down my choices to the top three, and so on.  It's nerve racking sometimes.  For this month's painting I am tending toward  the two foot size range.  I want to make something sizable but I also want to be able to control it as I blog.  a lot of my recent work has been in the 6x6 or 6x12 size range.  This is small.  I'm getting it out of my system and getting ready to go big again,

Back to present day - To add them all up I have 10 No's, 4 Maybe's and 4 Yes but Later's.  So I am still left pondering - Which one to choose......

I need to think about this more.  Let me know which one you think I should paint!

Larry
http://www.larryreinhart.com/

June 1st, round two. What to choose...

Sitting Ram painting standing vertical, drying.  About 95% complete

So what to choose......Cont.

To understand what to choose you must first understand why to choose.  Right now I only have six paintings in progress - this is actually low number for me.   In progress means I have paint on the surface but the image is not complete.  I also have four other paintings ready to start.  Ready to start means I have the drawings complete, the reference, if needed, is out, and the surface that I will be painting it on is set to go.  In addition to these, I have six or eight painting surfaces ready to go but nothing in mind for them yet.  That's a lot in the works.  The sad thing is I'm not in the mood for any of them right now.  I want something new and exciting.  This is one of the perils of not having enough time.  Painting can sometimes drag on over weeks, then they become unexciting for me.  What I need is more time to work on them in a day (longer painting sessions).  I wonder if this lack of excitement shows in my work?  I don't think so because as I get closer to the end of a major work I tend to get excited again - my painting sessions tend to go into the whee ours of the night as well and then I struggle through the next day trying to stay awake at my other job.  Sometimes it's kind of funny what I do and what I put myself through.  To be honest, I wouldn't know what else to do with myself if I didn't have my art.

So, the Ram painting at the top of this page is almost complete, another evening and it will be done.  I have a small lion painting going that just needs an hour or so to complete.  I have a horse painting that will need a couple of weeks.  A figure painting that will need about a week.  A city-scape (landscape of a city) that will need about three days. And the last one is an abstract that I have lost all hope for and is just sitting on the painting rail staring at me (I built 2" shelves in the studio that I can set wet painting on to dry.  These allow me to keep them safe while I work on other things - as apposed to lying flat on a table to get splattered on or propped on the wall at the floor to be kicked or dripped on).  Except for the Ram above the zest for these paintings just isn't here right now.

To get back to the why I need to choose - As I was lying there, my life flashing before me, Chupacabra gnawing on my leg I thought "Let's paint something new and document the process!"  Prophetic huh?  Like I said, it's kind of funny what I put myself through.

So here I am asking - What to choose.  Lets get it over with and choose!

Page 1

Page 2

 Would love to hear your comments on which one to choose.

Have a good night,

Larry

June 1st - The Creative Spark

Chupacabra sighting near Big Bear, Ca

Hello Ya'll.  Happy June!

This last weekend I spent some time with the family camping in the wilds of California.  It was a time for us all to relax and spend some quality family time together.  My wife asked me a couple of times if I was able to relax yet and I had to admit that wasn't until the end of the third day that I finally felt a release of tension.  All was good, then this happened -  I almost lost my life during a one-on-one confrontation with the local Chupacabra - (  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra ).  I was violently attacked but survived with only minor mental injuries, let me explain:  During this outburst of violence I got to revisit my entire life as an artist in the few seconds while the Chupacabra was gnawing on my lower leg bone. This life flash has left me more scared then the actual attach.  I haven't figured out if this is a good thing or not. As for the Chupacabra - I fed it a Snickers candy bar and it went away. (Poking fun at the TV commercials) Do you all know who the Chupacabra was?

With my new outlook on life I came up with a Grand Plan.  Maybe not really grand but it is a plan.  The plan involves me blogging everyday for the month of June, or longer, while I complete a painting.  Why you might ask?  If you didn't ask, I sure did - asked myself a few times!  Here's what I was thinking:  Many times people have asked me how long it takes to complete a larger painting.  I don't really have an answer because I do other things in life and I can't seem to sit down and paint a painting from start to end without life's little interruptions (these interruptions are mostly cause by me and my rambling mind).  So, I thought blogging about the process would help me focus, and help you find the answer to this 40 year old question (I started drawing when I was four, I think).  There are other things I hope to tackle as well - I heard great feedback from when I blogged everyday in January and I hope to do this again.  I hope to show everyone how I paint.  You get to see something come to life from initial concept to final, hang on the wall, art.  You'll get to see what inspires me, what hurts me, etc.  I'll try and bare my soul here. It should be fun.  Ultimately, I would really like to give you all a true glimpse into my artistic life.  I hope to do this as fun, as informative and as blunt as I can. (If I get too blunt let me know, I do have experience with this and may need to reign it in a bit.)

I would love to hear all of your feed back.  If there are questions I'll see about answering them on the following days blog.  Perhaps you all can be inspired by what I am doing and go out and analyze your own life and make a change, take a risk,  be inspired, or something.  (This is the "Grand" part of my idea that may not pan out to be so grand.  We'll see.)  If there is someone in your life or in your neighborhood who is a budding artist, an art lover or just seems to be the creative type, please share the link to my blog with them ( http://larryreinhart.blogspot.com/ ).  I would love to extend my audience.

So, to get started:

What to paint?

Sketch book 1

Here's a few sketches from just one page of my sketch book. (I have three sketch books right now)  These are not master drawings, they are just quick ideas I have and want to record.  This is the real deal here.  On this page I see six images that I could easily pursue if I had unlimited time in my life.  But I don't, so I need to choose - but wait there's more...

Sketch book 2

Here's the next page in my sketch book.  Here I see four ideas I would love to chase.  That's a total of ten really recent sketches that I would love to work on but I must choose to chase just one.  This is one of the parts in my life that really tears me up.  I wish I could choose them all, but I just don't have the time.  And to boot, in a couple more weeks I'll have another dozen ideas.  I truly believe this is one of the things that can drive an artist nuts.

Which image will make me grow as an artist?  Which image will add to my current work, but still allow me to grow? Which image will fill me with joy?  Which image will hold my attention for the next month?  Which image will touch the audience the most?  Questions and questions and more questions.

So back to the initial question:  Which one to choose? .......

Cheers,

Larry
http://www.larryreinhart.com/

A Night Party

Night Party  6x6 Oil on Panel

Haven't done this in a while - post a blog.  It's about time I start doing it again!

What do you feel when you see this image?  Does it remind you of anything?

For me, I was thinking about a late night party filled with friends on the outskirts of town.  Been eat'in, drink'n and danc'n with my girl.  A slow song comes on and we dance real close.  We're hav'in fun.  She asks if I want to go for a walk.  "Sure, Let's go. "

This is where we are at in this painting.  The lights don't stretch out too far, making the party seem smaller than it is, but bright enough to make the nearby trees glow, the music and laughter are muffled.  My girl with her sweet perfume is by my side and says "this was a pretty fun night."

Yes indeed.

This painting is available, framed with a rustic reclaimed wood framed.  $65

Another Flash Back Friday

Bang 15x20  Mixed Media on Illustration Board

This piece was created back in the college days.  It was actually a pivotal piece art for me. I was perfecting my "style" of my work.  The use of subtle colors, the dry brushing, the color pallet, etc.  It was all coming together and I was really enjoying the creation my work.

There were a couple of images before this one that got some mixed reviews from the college staff.  After creating one of these pieces I was told my art was too decorative and pretty and that I needed to include a little bit more about me and my personality in my work.  I needed to make my art more real and gritty.  My first response was that no one wants to see what's in my head, but the teacher taunted or encouraged me (depends on how you saw it) to create something more.

In another piece before this painting a different teacher asked me what the texture means in my work. I responded that it was just texture and I put it in there just because, it was to satisfy me and meant nothing to the image.  He thought that was lame and went on to explain me that everything I do in a painting will be judged differently by different people so I should really think before I do something.  Doing this, would take my art to the next level and become "deeper".

So with new thoughts in my head, I created this piece.  It was a break through, believe it or not. Along with thinking about what the teachers had recommended, this was the first painting I signed with my LR instead of my name.  This was the first time I included text within the art.  I mixed in a bit of my personality to the art.  I even got in my skivvy's and modeled for it.  It was fun.

The Latin words translates into :But it looks so impressive".

The art itself related to an article about toy gun control and how toy manufacturers needed to take realistic guns off the market so innocent people wouldn't get fooled or hurt.  Now we have bright orange colored gun toys and they all have bright orange caps at the end.  Progress for the human race.  I definitely feel safer now, do you?

Larry