Along the Klamath River

103107 Artist Kenneth John KEN

this scene reminds me of being in northern california years ago, along the coast, with it's many river inlets and coves.

22x28", titanium white, cobalt blue, sap green, yellow ochre, cadium red and yellow pale.

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Paint Fruit with Painting Knives

103007 Artist Kenneth John KEN

If you want to learn how to oil paint with palette and painting knives, i have authored 4 how to instructional dvd video's on oil painting. shows my techniques of using the knives. you can see some short clips of these video's at you tube or on my website.

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Limit Your Palette to Discover Colors

102907 Artist Kenneth John KEN

over the weekend, i painted these two impression paintings, one a still life and the other a seascape. painted them both with cobalt blue, cadium red deep, cadium yellow pale, sap green and titanium white. limiting your colors palette to the 3 primaries and green (there are some theorys that green is the the 4th primary) will allow you examine how the other tones of colors are made and why they appear as they do, especially the greens.

the main difference in greens is whether they lean towards yellow or lean towards blue. sap green leans towards yellow, viridian green leans towards blue. once you determine that, then they change tones by adding the complement.

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Realism Seascape Oil Paintings

102607 Artist Kenneth John KEN

if you want to sell more paintings, realism paintings are still the big sellers and i guess will always be. i have much more fun doing my impression paintings, but to make a few more coins, i paint my realism seascape paintings. you will use your earthtone colors a lot more when you want to paint realism. here i tone the blue down with raw umber and use yellow ochre with cadium red deep, cobalt blue.

compare this work with some of my prior impression paintings, like yesterday.

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Still Life Impressionism

102507 Artist Kenneth John KEN

Bucket of Oranges - cadium yellow pale, cadium red, sap green, cobalt blue, raw umber

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California Wildfires

102507 Artist Kenneth John KEN

have been watching and thinking about all the fires in southern california. i lived in san diego for many years, have friends and relatives still there, i travel to san diego about 4 times a year and paint it's beaches a lot. i couldn't help but think about the northeast part of san diego county, rancho bernardo, escondido, fallbrook, poway, etc. i used to own a home in scripps ranch, which took some severe damage in the last major fires a couple of years ago.

in the northeast traveling up i15 north is a lot of avacado groves on the hillside with some homes tucked inbetween the groves and the mountains, i hope some are still there, but according to the news, it's pretty wiped out.

i painted my intepretation of those groves and homes and their helplessness against the fires.

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Using Painting and Palette Knives for Seascapes

Using Painting and Palette Knives Seascape Oil Painting

102307 Artist Kenneth John KEN

i pretty much use one painting knive to do most my paintings. i use the top palette knive to clean my glass palette and sometimes if i need a long staight line. the second large knive i use for very big paintings. and the small one for some of my real small paintings.

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Adobe Color Scheme Application / Tool

101807 Artist Kenneth John KEN

i came across this adobe.com labs tool called kuler (a web hosted application). will help you with finding, create and checking color schemes for your graphics or art. for graphic designers, illustrators, computer graphics users, web designers, and traditional artists.

it does require the latest shockwave player, you should probably go first to the adobe flash shockwave install page first to see if you have the new update, it only takes a minute or so to get the update.

http://kuler.adobe.com/#

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Small Sailboat Paintings

101707 Artist Kenneth John KEN

i was reading a walter foster book called "small paintings that sell". so i did a few small sailboat paintings that sell. 5x7", 6x8" on canvas. no panel or stretched. the thick impasto paint drys very solid after a few months and the stiffness allows these paintings to be put in any frame and they will stay stiff enough on their own, this way, you can put them in any photo frame. ultramarine blue, cadium yellow pale, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, titanium white

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Making 2D Computer Animation

101507 Artist Kenneth John KEN

there is two types of 2D animation that you will deal with. first, if you are going to deliver you finished product over the web, you will use adobe / macromedia flash software to prepare your end product (adobe systems bought out macromedia products). other software that you will use to build the end product will be adobe illustrator and adobe photoshop and an html editor like adobe / macromedia dreamweaver. flash produces a compressed file for the internet, called a shockwave file, that plays like movies or you can also make it interactive for your user, using a program scripting language called actionscript.

the second area of 2D animation is delivery on a digital dvd or tv analog signal. the industry standard for preparing these type files is adobe after effects, which is a 2D animation compiler and visual effects software for video editing. you will also use adobe photoshop and illustrator to make some of your objects in the movie.

all this software is fairly expensive. so invest in the right products the first time. these are the industry standard now and have been for quite awhile.

ps - learn to use a graphic tablet!!!

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Complements - Violet and Yellow

101407 Artist Kenneth John KEN

making a complementary color scheme with violet and yellow is sometimes difficult. the contrasts are very extreme. the values are the biggest contrast on the color wheel, the violet is the darkest and the yellow is the lightest. usually the primary yellow works better in a split complementary color scheme, using it with blue-violet and red-violet. be careful of using your bright yellow paints, they can become too rich.

"glare path " palette- ultramarine blue, cadium red deep, cadium yellow pale, cadium yellow deep, titanium white.

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Mixing Colors and Reducing Paints

101307 Artist Kenneth John KEN

when you reduce or tone down blue with it's complement orange, it gives you a beautiful gray. i usually use a red and yellow mix (don't overmix) to reduce it because it leaves little streaks of each color in the paint that your viewer can't see unless they look really close, but those streaks really make your paintings vibrant. also, you can control the warm and cool scheme a lot better and lean your hues one way or another on the color wheel.

for example, if i want i grayish tint that leans toward green, i use a little more yellow in the mix. if i want the gray to lean towards violet, i put a little more red in the mix. if i use a straight cadium orange for instance, to reduce the blue, i only can get a orange tint to the gray. which for a very large painting or if you want perfectly consistant color, this might be the way to go.

"park regatta" palette- ultramarine blue, cadium red deep, viridian green, cadium yellow pale.

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Using Prussian Blue

10117 Artist Kenneth John KEN

my first official oil painting in december of 1998, i tried to paint a seascape and my blue was prussian blue. my goodness, what a mess, not only the painting of course, but the cleanup and everything around it. reminds me of the scene you see on tv, someone who cooks for the first time and the kitchen ends up being a complete mess, the food too.

prussian blue is the neatest and prettiest of all the blues, makes the neatest greens and browns. van gogh used it a lot. when it is mixed with white, it is very similar to cobalt blue. but cobalt blue has it's limitations, because it is not very dark in value. same as cerulean blue. ultramarine blue is dark enough, but too cool and not warm.

so why not use prussian blue all the time? because it is so powerful as a paint, that it takes over your whole palette. it is almost like using a thick ink, it has that much staining power. it takes a lot of courage to put it on your palette. if your using brushes, forget about using that brush with anything else. your yellows are instantly turned to green. you have to isolate it or even put it on another palette and use a separate brush. most artists are scared to death of it.

but it is such a beautiful color. and mixing your yellows with it, create some beautiful greens you can't get out of any tube of green. the best reducer of prussian blue is cadium orange, it makes the neatest brown-gray. add a touch of alizarin crimson and you basically have black. try it out, and you will get a love-hate relationship with it. good luck, and have plenty of solvent for clean up!

"orange dusk" palette-prussian blue, cadium yellow pale, cadium red, titanium white

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Horizon Vanishing Points

101107 Artist Kenneth John KEN

your picture plane will have a horizon line, the one that is level from your viewer's eyes into the far distance. then all objects can be created with that in mind. especially parallel lines. parallel lines converge into one vp on the horizon line. the horizon line is established about a third of the way up on the roof. the parallel lines for the roof, the top one goes down to the horizon and the bottom goes up to the horizon. the vanishing point does not have to be in the picture plane, it can be to the far left outside the picture plane. if you make your vanishing points inside the picture plane, the angles are going to be very sharp.

11x14" "high desert housing" painted with titanium white, cobalt blue, viridian green, cadium red, yellow ochre and cadium yellow light.

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A Painting Knive Technique

101007 Artist Kenneth John KEN

16x20" groundCover

ultramarine blue, cadium yellow deep and pale, cadium red deep, alizarin crimson, titanium white. the edges of some of the flowers were painted upside down, because it is easier to pull the painting knive down, out and away, vice up, out and away.

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Learning To Draw

100907 Artist Kenneth John KEN

are you just starting out in art and are a little nervous about how to get started? you have been told that you are very creative, but you look at the people and artist's that have crossed your path and you just can't see yourself drawing as well as they can? They are just naturals you say. Some of course take to it faster then others, but if you have a will there is a way. Drawing well can be 90% learning the mechanics of drawing. I have taught many folks over the years how to draw, i get the biggest kick out of the folks who tell me they can't draw very well at first.

start with the mechanics. most people jump right into drawing faces and figures and/or a busy, complicated landscape and give up very shortly. with drawing you have to walk before you can run. you have to learn two things to start. perspective drawing and putting values on your objects. perspective drawing is how draftsman and architects draw. it's very mechanical, the objects close to you are bigger and they all resede into the horizon. value is the object's light and shade it receives. both of these are what makes something you are drawing on a 2D plane, look like it is in a 3D world or the real world.

you will be amazed at how you can make things look so real with just a few simple tricks. and learning perspective and value drawing will be the basics for the rest of your art career. i made a dvd of the lecture and demonstration that i have given to all my students through the years, in my graphic design, illustration and computer animation classes. it will get you going and give you the confidence to move on to faces, figures, complicated landscapes and still lifes.

the rest is simple. practice, practice, practice employing the mechanics and soon, people will be saying you are a natural too!!!

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Sport Artist Leroy Neiman

100807 Artist Kenneth John KEN

i love sports and always have. growing up, i played them constantly and followed sports daily. i still do. i believe that being involved in sports has helped me understand certain mechanics in art, such as rhythm, balance, flow, movement and when learning the colors in the beginning, i would relate those colors to the team colors. like learning complement colors, for example, the denver broncos are blue-orange, the los angeles lakers are violet-yellow, and other color schemes.

one of my favorite artists is Leroy Neiman, the famous sport and leisure activitty artist. his work is so magical, the rhythm and flow, but the color is what really makes his work masterpieces! check it out on his website. What art style would you call his work???

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Expression Still Life Flowers

100607 Artist Kenneth John KEN

Flowers Anyone??? shake rattle and roll, i like to paint expression style and use vibrant colors. here's my interpretations of a "vase of flowers".

alizarin crimson, cadium red, orange and yellow pale, prussian blue (be very careful with this paint, stains everything), viridian and chromium oxide greens, dioxazine purple and titanium white.

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Changing Art Mechanics

100507 Artist Kenneth John KEN

for the past 6 years, i have painted almost exclusively with painting knives. they work really well for me in painting seascapes. but at some point, you have to improve some things that you are struggling with or no longer accept. last year i ditched the brown earth tone colors such as raw and burnt umber, raw and burnt sienna, and began mixing all my browns from the 3 primaries. i have been very happy with the way the color has improved this year.

to improve as a painter, i have to start painting more with brushes. when you make major changes to your style of art, it always means the old "two steps back to get one step ahead" formula. which is fearful of the unknown, specially when you have had a fair amount of success doing something one way. is it the comfort zone or the growth zone? you have to make a choice.

here is my first attempt with the brushes in years.

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The Florida Highwaymen

100407 Artist Kenneth John KEN

the original florida highwaymen are a group of black artists who painted along the beaches, rivers and causeways around indian river and brevard counties and other areas of florida. on the east coast, half way between jacksonville and miami. some of the cities along the coast are vero beach, melbourne and cocoa beach. south of cape canaveral where the space program is housed and the rockets launched. i grew up in this area, moved to indialantic florida in 1958.

these painters, particularily harold newton are a big influence on my paintings. impressionistic style and he really exaggerated the colors, sunsets and moon scapes. the below painting, 24x48" was purchased in 1964 by my mother at a drugstore in indialantic on the beach for $75. the highwayman painted these scenes and they crafted their own frames, which are actually crown moulding that was white washed. he used brushes and painting knives. the painting still hangs as the main center piece in my mother's living room.

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Lazy Hazy Day

100307 Artist Kenneth John KEN

just a lazy hazy day in the studio, so i painted my mode at the beach. small calm waves, haze and slighty cloudy, with sun trying to come out!

12x16-titanium white, cobalt blue, cadium red, cadium yellow deep

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Computer Graphics - Bitmap versus Vector

100207 Artist Kenneth John KEN

there are two types of digital graphics. bitmap or raster graphics and vector graphics. bitmap is a grid (raster) of square units or pixels put into a rectanglular dimensional picture plane. each pixel represents a certain color and can be many colors, depending on the number of filters or bit depth of the picture plane. vector graphics are individual objects that are made by the computer using mathematics, specifically calculus. they have a math formula that makes a boundary area called a stroke, into any shape, open or closed and then tells the shape to fill or be empty with a color.

bitmaps are generally used for photographs and art that has many gradiations that produce zillions of colors. when the original graphic is computerized or made digital (camera or scanning), the number of pixels is determined by the user, called resolution. the higher the number of pixels per inch makes the graphic sharper and more clear. the downfall is that the file size gets real big and hard to work with. The bigger downfall with bitmap graphics is that each pixel is a square, so that when a circle or something at a 45 degree angle, close up or at low graphic resolution (required for web production), you can have what is called the jaggies or rough edges. to compensate for this, a good computer graphic program will anti-alias the contrast, meaning it takes the edges and blends them together by taking several pixels between the edges, and averages them out in color and value between the two contrasts or differences, so that it looks natural. of course the higher resolution the graphic is, the less you will see of this. the problem is when you try to increase the physical size of a pre-sized picture plane, the resolution gets lower and the bigger pixels gets magnified to see these edges. you can resize the picture plane to smaller dimensions fairly easy.

vector graphics are great for illustrations, text and graphics that do not look like a photograph or a realism piece of art. as i stated before, it's all done on the computer using math. each object is stacked on top of each other, blocking out the lower one or not and each shape can be reordered or stacked in anyway. vector graphics are viewed on the computer monitor in a bitmap way, but when they print, you get very sharp lines and curves. they can be resized with no distortion. the computer just substitutes new numbers into the math formula that makes that certain shape. the disadvantage of vector graphics is all detail has to be an individual shape and has to be made. vector graphics look a bit cartoony, not realistic, great for illustration, graphic design or something with limited colors. 3d computer graphics are all vector made.

the industry standard for bitmap graphics is adobe photoshop. the industry standard for vector graphics adobe illustrator.

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