I am a watercolorist from the Pacific Northwest. I tend to post painting studies, sketches, photos and occasionally studio pieces in progress. To see my completed work you can visit my watercolor website at www.michaeldavidsorensen.com
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Deception Pass
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Old Art Class Work Vol. 1
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Discussing the Meaning of Life on a Cannon Beach Roof Top
My thanks to the person that suggested adding Haystack Rock, the trademark giant monolith protruding out of the beach indicating that this picture is in fact of
Monday, November 06, 2006
Stormy Weather in Oregon
True to the festival's name, it proved to be quite a stormy weekend complete with our signature Oregon "sideways falling" rain. The turbulent Pacific was quite entertaining to watch and no doubt would have been even more entertaining to watch through a window while one was eating clam chowder. There were lots of artists and festival-goers in town and overall it was a great weekend! =)
Pictured: Me participating in the Quick Draw event Friday night to kick off the festival.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Tyee Lodge from Agate Beach
This is a commissioned painting I just finished of Tyee Lodge Bed and Breakfast in
Friday, October 27, 2006
Tyee Lodge Bed and Breakfast, Newport, Oregon
More importantly, however, who is the neighbor with the green Volkswagen van and is that truly a ’78? Does he have the Westfalia camping kit option complete with a stove and fridge? Has he invested in a high quality stereo that produces truer sound than the original speakers that beautifully covers the noisy VW engine sound?
Top: Detail of "A Yet Unnamed Painting of Tyee Lodge Bed and Breakfast" 22" x 30" Watercolor
Below: "A Yet Unnamed Painting of Tyee Lodge Bed and Breakfast"
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Seagulls
"Seagulls in Repose" 7" x 10 3/4" Watercolor
Seagulls are characters. Living near a major river and not far from the ocean, seagulls are commonly seen creatures in my world. Despite the fact that they eat trash, they give every impression of being very intelligent and always appear to be “up to something.”
In this scene we find our feisty, feathered friends hanging out in what appears to be an urban setting not too far from the coast. Here they act as though every bit of human handiwork was contrived solely for their benefit. It is anyone’s guess in what employment of mischief and mayhem these seagulls plan for the remainder of this otherwise peaceful late afternoon.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Flowers and sunlight
Its been a long time since I painted flowers. I've painted a few pictures with flowers in them, but haven't just painted flowers for a long time. My guess is the last time I painted or drew such a subject was in high school when no doubt the motivation was to win the heart of a fair young female that I fancied. At any rate I was yet again experimenting for the Quick Draw™ and decided to give roses a shot.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Yesterday's Quick Draw
Produced with the influence of French Impressionism as applied to Volkswagon busses, the distinct toaster-shape of the volkswagons are hinted at by areas of pure color freely mixing together on wet paper accompanied by strong brush strokes allowing your eyes to render the impression of Volkswagons.
Ok, ok, so maybe I just made that last part up and was merely having fun painting one of my favorite subjects with a 2 inch brush while doing a one hour painting practice for the upcoming "quick draw " event I'm taking part in. Either way, I'm still going to consider that "high Art". =)
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Paintings in Progress
It's amazing how very little one can paint in an hour. I'm getting ready for the "Quick Draw" at Cannon Beach next month during the Stormy Weather Arts Festival™. At the Quick Draw we artists have one hour to produce a finished piece of art (in front of a couple hundred people).
The picture above is today's experiment with what exactly I can paint in one hour. Naturally I had planned to paint in more trees, a pathway, a small cottage in the background, a kid and his dog walking down the path and a staircase going down to the ocean below, but I ran out of time after partially painting a couple trees.
It would, of course, save time during the quick draw if I were to sketch a subject on my paper ahead of time, but there's no challenge in that! It's fun to go to the Quick Draw™ to watch artists pull out the biggest piece of blank paper or canvas they can find and produce a masterpiece in an hour, all the while making it look easy. Luckily for me I've already got the "make it look easy" part down. You just have to swing the brush around like you mean it and try not to say the words "whoops" or "shoot!" very often and people will say "Wow, he's making it look easy". So now all I have to learn is how to paint a masterpiece on the biggest piece of blank paper I can find in an hour in front of a couple hundred people by next month. Easy!
The Stormy Weather Arts Festival is in Cannon Beach, Oregon November 3, 4 &5. (The Quick Draw is the 3rd and you have to get tickets ahead of time) For more information go here.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Accordian Art
This is one of the characters I came up with when working on ideas for the Stormy Weather Arts Festival poster. I had originally thought to put a few musicians in my poster as well seeing that there are always lots of musicians playing at the festival, but sadly I ran out of room.
I'm heading to Gig Harbor, Washington later today so I can do a painting demonstration there tomorrow. I should be there between about 11 AM and 4 PM (Saturday October 7) so if you're in the area stop by and say hi. My Apologies in advance for the cloudy weather that we will no doubt have up there tomorrow. Without fail, when ever I go to Gig Harbor it always turns out cloudy and my guess is its because I'm dying to see a Gig Harbor sunrise where I can actually see Mount Rainier, but I always seem to bring the clouds instead. Ah, well. Regardless of one's ability to see a Mount Rainier sunrise reflecting amazingly on the harbor, its always a lot of fun to go up there to paint and chat with everyone.
The address of the Preuit Collection Gallery where I will be is:
3115 Harborview Drive,
Gig Harbor, Washington 98335
253-851-3792
So stop by and blame me for the clouds. ;)
Monday, September 18, 2006
Painting and travelling
My brother and I went to
You can see more pictures of our trip and various other outings hiking, camping and exploring at my brother’s Flickr™ photo site.
Atop
As it turned out, I was the only kayaker that day paddling around
Friday, September 08, 2006
Stormy Weather Arts Festival Poster
Here is my newly finished poster for the Stormy Weather Arts Festival November 3-5 in
Saturday and Sunday there will be many artists around town painting, sketching and chatting with people or given half the chance, napping on the beach. Note: "napping on the beach" is sometimes referred to by us artists as "studying our subject matter". Although to the untrained eye it may appear that an artist is merely sitting in a lounge chair by the beach with sunglasses and an iced tea, the reality is that this is an important function of art, wherein an artist can take in a scene and "study their subject matter". ;)
A variety of musicians play live music throughout the weekend and all over town. Hors d’oeuvres are often served by many of the shops in the evenings and overall it’s quite a fun and festive weekend. I would, however, recommend that you get reservations for lodging ahead of time.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Dancing the Argentine Tango to the Light of a '78 Volkswagen
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Painting in Cannon Beach
I will be painting at Haystack Gallery in
2 1/2 weeks ago at soccer I managed to sprain my ankle pretty badly and haven’t been able to walk without crutches or drive since. Today is the first day since then that I’ve been able to start putting weight on my injured foot, so hopefully I’ll be able to walk without crutches by the weekend. I’ve always stood while painting so it’s been a bit tricky learning how to sit and paint the last couple weeks.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
The Columbia River Gorge
Waterfalls can be seen in the hills across the river, trains traveling up river look like toys nearly 3000 feet below and the fact the little hill next to us is called "Wind Mountain" should have clued me into the fact that I needed to bring a coat to the top. =P (It was quite windy up there. Dog mountain is located right by Hood River, Oregon- the wind surfing capital of the Northwest)
I'm trying to figure out how to drag my easel and watercolors to top of the mountain to do some painting on location, but I'm afraid that may require a pack animal.
Above (from left): Me, Adam and Seth
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Bridges of Deception Pass
Above: Detail of Deception Pass
Above: Me posing for the camera while out hiking near Deception Pass.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Painting at Haystack Gallery July 8-9
Below: Mount Neahkahnie from Cape Falcon in Oswald West State Park.
Above: Early morning sunrays at Hug Point, just South of Cannon Beach.
Above: Me very intensely painting seagulls in Haystack Gallery. Picture of me courtesy of Jill Slansky. Thanks for stopping by and chatting Jill. =)
Friday, July 21, 2006
My 1st Watercolor Canvas Painting
This, so far unnamed, painting is 9" x 12". I wanted to try a small canvas to see if I liked it before getting a big one. Now I'm dying to see how a very large canvas would work. Over all I highly recommend this product. It's a lot of fun to use, but it does take a little getting used to.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Pictures from Mount Hebo, Oregon
The last three weekends I've been busy painting in galleries, hiking, camping, exploring and getting new ideas for paintings. Here are some photos from my trip to Dancing Coyote Gallery in
(Above) Tillimoook is below the clouds to the left.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Painting at the beach
Monday, June 05, 2006
Painting in progress: Latourell Falls
Currently I’m working on a painting of
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Exploring Oregon
I’ve been doing some exploring, hiking and sketching in
Here are a few photos from my recent exploration of Oregon:
Above: Detroit Lake, central Oregon at about 5:15 AM. This was a great place to camp. I camped right next to the lake and had half of the campground to myself. Ducks desided to wake me up by walking right by my tent at 5 AM quacking at the top of their lungs.Below: Mt Hood from Larch Mountain, Oregon. I did some sketching of Mount Hood from the top of this dormant volcano and currently have a painting in progress from the sketches I did here.
Below: Sahalie Falls in central Oregon drops 120 feet from a ledge created by a lava flow a few thousand years ago.