Small Study and moving the Studio

Tennessee Landscape Study

5" x 7" Acrylic on Canvas

$50 Unframed

email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com if interested

This is a small landscape study I did the other day from some pencil sketches and photos from a Tennessee trip. I have been doing a lot of these small studies lately and am working on some larger pieces, but just haven't completed anything lately. I do these small ones just to keep my brushes moving. Been fighting a cold since last week too which has made me feel like lying around instead of painting.

Also, I just recently moved my home studio from a large spare room downstairs to a smaller common area space upstairs. I am moving so we can make the spare room into a playroom for our daughter. The toys and everything keep growing even though we purge items when we can, so we thought giving her a playroom would help with that. I can paint in a smaller space, I am just having to store items like shipping supplies, frames, and canvas in the closet downstairs as I don't have room to keep a large work table set up anymore.

Anyway, I am all set up in the new space and you should be seeing more new work soon!

Quick post today

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

-----Original Message-----
From: paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:29:40
To: <justinholdren.fineart@blogger.com>
Reply-To: paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com
Subject: Quick post today

Just a quick post from the Blackberry today. I am out sketching and looking for new ideas for paintings. Here is the spot I am at right now.
I'll have some new sketches posted by tomorrow.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Painting boats

"Docked at Calabash"

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas

*This one headed to Raleigh Street Gallery soon - email if you are interested*

This is a recently finished painting I did from some sketches and photos I had from a trip this past summer to the Calabash and Ocean Isle area of North Carolina. I have been working on a few different boat paintings and will post them when finished. Boats are challenging! I simplified the ropes and surface details quite a bit - it was all a bit distracting.

This is sort of an unusual composition, but I like the "in your face" aspect of the subject. Painting white boats is often harder than colored boats just because there are so few areas that are pure white because of the shadows and reflected light from the nearby objects. This boat was mostly in shadow on the side facing you, but a little sun was hitting the top front of the boat. I should have pushed the values even more to make the lighting more dramatic, but it's not varnished yet, so I may revisit this one and tweak it a bit.

On a side note, one of my gallery reps just emailed me today and told me they sold one of the new paintings I just took them before it was even hung. Wish that happened every day!

Merry Christmas and the beauty of NC

Believe it or not, I am still alive even though I have not done much blogging in the past month. The last few months have been crazy(broken well pump at home, then totaled my car, etc.), but mostly I have been studying in the studio and just trying to really work hard to produce better, more thought out work.

I had a productive meeting with well known artist William Mangum the first week in December. He gave me an honest critique of my work and showed me areas to work on, one of which I knew he was going to say. I often struggle with composition, and how to place the scene, not so much the drawing and such, but the placement of the elements and lines and values that draw people into the scene. He also suggested that I take more risks, which could lead to better structured paintings. To find out more about him visit http://www.williammangum.com/ .

So, I have been painting a lot, but not posting every little thing that comes off the easel since lately they are mostly studies. I will be posting more often in 2011 as I am working on some new projects that I am excited about. Today I will leave you with some photos I took while painting on a private NC property. North Carolina is an artist's dream to paint.

New paintings

"Marsh Near Calabash"

6" x 6" Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Wired to hang unframed

"Table for Two"

6" x 6" Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Wired and ready to hang unframed

"Winter Pond"

8" x 10" oil on canvas

Framed in Hand carved metal leaf frame

These are some new ones I just finished for the Christmas Invitational Show at the Alamance Arts Council. The bottom one was painted last winter on location in freezing temps. I touched it up some before framing it, and I wanted to refine the frozen pond and grasses even more, but ran out of time. if you are interested in any of these contact the Alamance County Arts Council at 336-226-4495.

I paint water very often in my work, but this frozen pond was quite a challenge as the frozen ice didn't have much reflection like water normally does. I am at that stage lately in my work where I am more critical of every work I do and really have not been happy with the last few paintings, but seasoned professionals tell me this means I am learning more and growing as a painter. It just makes me want to press on even harder to learn more and keep improving my observation skills.

Stokes County Plein Air Piece

"Stokes County View"

8" x 10" Oil on Linen Panel

Unframed

This is a piece I posted before that was done on location but just wanted to let Ebay buyers know that is available as a fixed price Ebay listing. you can view the auction by clicking here.

Back to my Ebay roots - Outer Banks NC Painting

"Ocracoke Beach"

5" x 7" Acrylic on Raymar Canvas Panel

Click here to view on Ebay or place a bid

As many of you know, a few years back I used to sell my really small paintings on Ebay. I have sold to buyers across the country this way and I have many small ones lying around since I paint so many studies, so I am going to list some of them on Ebay again from time to time.

These will be mostly small paintings that I usually don't sell in galleries, so they will be a great way for someone to start collecting original art at an affordable price.

A whirlwind month

So far November is turning out to be one hectic month! This past Saturday I attended well known NC artist William Mangum's Open house at his gallery in Greensboro, NC. Got to talk with him and received a signed complimentary print. You can find out more about him at www.williammangum.com .

Sunday afternoon I headed to the Art Link Gallery at the Historic Chinqua Penn Plantation in Reidsville, NC to switch out some paintings of mine. There are some shots of the gallery below.

Now I am finishing a deadline this week for the Alamance Arts Council's Christmas Invitational show amidst my full time job and other responsibilities. One busy month so far!

Be looking at the blog here to find out about a solo exhibition I am planning for 2011. Stay tuned!

Main Exhibition room at Art Link Gallery

Another shot of the gallery - can you see the still life painting on the right in the gold leafed frame? That is one of mine.

Life's little problems

Well I am posting from the Blackberry tonight so this will be brief.
I have new paintings to show you soon but life has thrown some problems my way this week that have kept me from posting.
We live in the country and have well water and came home Monday to a broken well pump. After manually pulling 350 feet of line we replaced the pump only to discover after lowering it that the wire has a short also.
So out comes the pump again. Hope to have the wire replaced tomorrow and have water again. I hope so because I have show deadlines next week and I need to get back in our house!

Coastal Landscape

"Intracoastal Backyard"

16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas

$350 Unframed or $400 Framed

contact me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com if interested(Sorry for the picture quality, will try to reshoot it in better light and repost it)

This is a piece I did recently in the studio from some sketches and photographs made near Calabash, NC from a recent trip. This was the scene behind one of those houses that sit on the intracoastal waterway. The sun was at sort of high and at a back angle to these trees making these great patterns of light and shadow.

More coastal paintings are on the way, just been extremely busy between work, painting, and family time. I have many in progress around the studio that need to be finished up. I have also been playing with some still life paintings, which I usually don't do very many of, so check back to see those as well.

Labor Day Plein Air Study

"Afternoon Reflections"

7" x 5" Oil on Stretched Canvas

$50 unframed or $100 Framed

$5.00 Shipping

Email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com if interested. I can email you a paypal invoice to pay with credit card if you wish.

Went out to my inlaws' rural property in Siler City, NC on Labor Day, but only had time to do this small study down by the pond. I like the compostion, so I may develop this into a larger piece that is a bit more refined.

The bushes and trees along the shoreline were lit in certain areas by the sun as it went down, and I liked the reflection patterns in the water. I love trying to capture all of the nuances of color in water, which changes all the time depending on what's around the water.

I also started an 8 x 10 study and got it blocked in, but didn't finish it. Will post the start of that one tomorrow.

Back with a new look!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted! Any of you out there that have kids in school will understand.
I have been working and painting like crazy and did a recent weekend exhibit, but haven't posted due to our hectic schedule in the past month. Our daughter started K-3 preschool, and we have been getting her ready for her move into big girl school, so I promise I will be posting some new work soon once I get it photographed.
I gave the blog here a little facelift with a new look because I thought it was about time. I was tired of the old design. I will still be playing around with images and sizes for the header, but it is mostly done. I have some exciting upcoming projects to share with you, so stay tuned!

Intracoastal Acrylic work in Progress

Acrylic Painting in progess on the easel (Sorry for the quick photo -will post again when it's finished)

Here one of many paintings I am working on. I am painting this from a color sketch and photo from my trip to Ocean Isle beach back in June. I was out doing my "painting crawl" one morning(looking for subjects to paint), and I saw this scene. It was a back property line on the Intracoastal Waterway, and I could see it from the road, but it was behind a home and on private property, so I had to do a quick color sketch from the car and take a quick photo.

I still have quite a few more layers to add to this piece. The sun was at a back angle, just grazing the side of the trunks of these palm trees, and casting shadows on the grass. This person's yard ended right at the grasses along the Intracoastal. It was an awesome scene, and I just knew that I had to paint it. I will post the finished piece in a few days.

Back to blogging

"Calabash Marsh"

8" x 10" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

$200 Framed in Solid Wood Gold Metal Leafed Frame

Will be available at Raleigh Street Gallery

"Summer at Ocracoke"
16" x 20" Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
$400 Framed in Antiqued Brown and Gold Leafed trim frame
Will be available at Raleigh Street Gallery

These are two recent paintings done in the studio from sketches I did on location in Ocracoke and in Calabash, NC. I will have a whole series of coastal paintings available soon.

The top painting I actually started on location but couldn't finish it in time because the light had changed so dramatically. I complete many of my paintings in the studio from sketches made on location and photos that I take for detail, but there is nothing like standing in front of nature and painting and observing. I remember starting this piece from the docks at Calabash in early morning, with the shrimp boats getting ready to depart. It was a great day to be painting.

The Start of a Painting

Charcoal study sketch for a painting

I have been painting, just not posting very much. I am trying to wrap up a few pieces that are sitting in the studio in various stages of completion.

Some of you have asked how I start painting. When I am painting on location or in the studio, I usually just start with a sketchy drawing in thin paint to lay out the composition, then start blocking in the painting. I first plan out what I want to do before that step with sketches or color studies, but usually don't do an actual detailed "drawing" on the canvas unless I am painting things like people, buildings, or still life objects.

The sketch above was done as a study for a painting because I am including the boat, which I feel needs to be well drawn, even if I stay loose with the painting itself. For that reason I drew this study to get a feel for the composition.

I will post the paintings I am working on when finished.

Calabash and Ocean Isle Sketches

These are a few studies I did on location in Ocean Isle and Calabash. I also did some pencil sketches and watercolor sketches that are not for sale, but I will post them here soon. I will use these images and all the photos I took to create a series of coastal paintings. Be on the lookout for them! These acrylic studies are small and super affordable! Follow the links to purchase or email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com .

"Intracoastal Marsh"

4" x 6" Acrylic on Canvas on Panel

Purchase at my website here

"Docked at Calabash"
4" x 6"
Acrylic on Canvas on Panel
Purchase at my website here


"Ocean Isle Beach"
4" x 6" Acrylic on Canvas on Panel
Purchase at my website here

New paintings and Beach trip

Just got back from a week at Ocean Isle, Nc with the family and inlaws. I did paint some small studies that I will post soon after I tweak them a little. I also took tons of photos of the marshes, docks at Calabash, and many other places. I will be doing some larger paintings in the studio from the sketches and photos, so keep checking back here and at my website at www.justinholdren.com .

The working boat docks at Calabash, NC - Seafood capital of the coast

Couldn't resist a close up of this shrimp boat

The pier at Ocean Isle Beach

Painting the Carolina Coast

I am painting on location on the soiuthern coast of North Carolina. I will return to the blog soon with pictures of the sketches and studies from the trip.

Plein Air Painting at the De St. Aubin home

Painted last weekend with our plein air group at the De St. Aubin home in Siler City , NC. It is a large beautiful property with pasture land and a large pond and beautiful gardens. I will be doing more paintings in the studio from the sketches and photos I took.

Well known North Carolina artist Rebecca Patman Chandler painted with us too. I have always loved her work. Sorry for the grainy scans here. I scan small pieces and lately my scanner isn't filtering out the texture of the panel.

"Pond Reflections"

8" x 6" Arylic on Panel

Purchase at my website here

"Summer Haybales"

6" x 8" Acrylic on Panel

Purchase at my website here

Quick Rural plein air study

"Reidsville Farm"

6" x 8" Acrylic on Panel

Purchase at my website here

Did this quick study by the side of the road the other week when I was in Reidsville delivering paintings to a gallery. I didn't have much time because they were mowing along the side of the road. Sorry for the quality of the scan. I will shoot a pic with my camera and repost later. The scanner seems to be picking up on the texture of the panel.