Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Paintings in Progress

This is a watercolor that I'm currently working on. I started it on location in La Conner, Washington and am hoping to finish it shortly.
















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.

5 comments:

Nancy Van Blaricom said...

Your La Conner painting looks done to me.... you "do" make it look easy.

I need to lighten up and get loose in my work....... but thank you.

I live in South Sound on a rather large Island called Harstine...(about 10 miles long) just north of Olympia. We moved a couple of years ago after living in the Scappoose/St. Helens area. We just can't stay away from the salt water.

Frank Martens said...

I wish I could be there to see this. Seems it'd be quite entertaining to watch.

Michael said...

Frank, I got to watch the first year I went and if it wasn't so much fun to watch I wounldn't let them talk me into participating in the craziness.

The Armchair Theologian said...

IN ONE HOUR? In one hour the most I could hope to do is eat most of my paint and be half way through getting my stomach pumps in the emergency room.

One day, when I get out of seminary and get some monies, I'll come by and purchase a painting of yours! FO SHO!

Michael said...

Haha, Armchair, I have the same feeling you do when it comes to trying to paint something in an hour. =P They keep talking me into doing the Quick Draw so there must be some sort of entertainment value in watching a really slow painter like myself sweat as I try to pretend like I can paint things as quickly as Bob Ross (the "Happy Tree" painter guy on PBS with the big hair). The event is this Friday night so it should be interesting.