Sketching, back to basics

I used to have a daily sketching habit, and due to painting for some recent exhibits and the busy pace of balancing my painting, full time job, and family, I have not been sketching like I used to. I have started again this week and just try to work in charcoal or conte crayon for just a few minutes a day. When I do this, it makes my painting time much more productive because the daily sketching helps to improve your skills... in the drawing area, anyway.

This unfinished conte crayon sketch pictured above was done by a stream on my inlaws' rural property in Siler City. I had my paint box out ready to paint, and ended up just sketching instead. It was a nice change of pace. I sketched enough to use it as reference for a future painting, but quit when my fingers went numb from the cold!

Country club show - one day only!

These are some small pieces that I sent to Raleigh Street Gallery in Siler City, NC. The owner is taking these and some of the gallery's other inventory to a one day exhibit and sale at Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, NC. This event is a ticketed luncheon and sale, so I hope I some of these pieces will move. The gallery suggested sending these smaller pieces because even the country club set have seen their share of financial downturn this year.

If these go unsold, they will be available at Raleigh Street Gallery. You can get their contact info on their website at http://www.raleighstreetgallery.com/ .

Happy Thanksgiving

No paintings today, I am set to enjoy Thanksgiving with family tomorrow. Off Friday to take new work to a gallery for a one day sale/exhibit at a country club. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Thanks to all of those who have purchased paintings and supported my work. I am grateful. I will post some new work on Friday.

Alamance Arts Council Christmas Show

Here is a quick shot of the paintings I sent to the Arts Council Invitational "Christmas at Captain White's" show. I sent small pieces to have some affordable offerings for this show. They have everything at this yearly show from paintings to pottery to anything handmade. Sorry about the sunlight and shadows on this pic, I will post pictures of each piece when I have time. If you're interested in any of these, just call the Alamance Arts Council at 336-229-6995 visit their website at http://www.artsalamance.com/ to get their email address.

Trees Plein Air Study on Ebay

"Backyard Trees"

5 x 7 inches oil on stretched canvas, unframed

Click Here to Bid

A small plein air study done in late fall in my backyard. Enjoy!

FREE PAINTING WINNER

This months drawing was won by Elaine Rothbauer. I hope you enjoy your painting. Keep checking the blog here for more chances to win FREE original art next month. Also, sign up for my e-newsletter by going to www.justinholdren.com and click on "Email Newsletter" to receive my monthly letter by email. I include special offers for my subscribers, so be sure to sign up!

Late night painting in the studio

The main easel area

My acrylic palette during the middle of painting

Up late tonight finishing up a few paintings in the studio. I always finish the small studies in one go, but the larger studio pieces I usually leave and look at awhile and see if there are any adjustments I want to make. The pics above are of my main easel area. Artist Mike Rooney inspired the idea of using pegboard on my studio easel. His is the same way. It is easy to switch out paintings quickly with the hardware, and I can have multiple small paintings on the easel at one time. The pegboard is reinforced on the back with wooden boards so it will hold the weight of the paintings and stand up straight without bending. I works great for me. The idea came from seeing Mike's easel. I can't take credit!

To view Mike's blog, visit http://www.mikerooneystudios.blogspot.com/ . His impressionistic style work is awesome!

Antique Teapot Still Life Painting

"Antique Teapot"

5 x 7 inches

Oil on Stretched Canvas, Unframed

Click Here to bid

I have sold many small studies in past years on Ebay, and list a small painting every now and then to advertise my studio. I generally do not put these smaller ones out in my galleries, and small past sales on Ebay have led to customers buying larger pieces from my website...so I thought it time to list some again.

Monthly FREE PAINTING GIVEAWAY

"Nassau Palms"

5 x 7 inches acrylic on slim gallery wrap canvas

Wired and ready to hang

The image continues around the sides to give you the option of hanging this unframed

Pictured above is the painting in this month's free giveaway. To enter for a chance to win, just email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com with the words "FREE PAINTING" in the body of the email with your name. I will leave it open for entries until midnight on Friday, November 6th. After that, a name will be randomly drawn for the FREE painting. That person will be notified by email and I will mention it here on the blog.

I do these at different times, so to find out when, go to http://www.justinholdren.com/ and click on the "email newsletter" link to sign up for my monthly email newsletter. I also inlcude special deals for my newsletter subscribers. Good Luck!

Upcoming events, fighting a cold

Hello everyone. Well, I have been busy painting, but slack about posting to the blog here. We had a major fundraising banquet at work last week, and there were months of preparation before that. I am participating in 2 Christmas exhibitions and have been working on those, so I promise you will see some of those in upcoming posts.

Here are some upcoming events that I am preparing for:

Christmas at Captain White's
This is the annual Christmas exhibition at the Alamance County Arts Council and Picasso' s Gallery(Their gallery and gift shop). The beautiful Victorian mansion is decked out for Christmas and there are paintings, pottery, hand blown glass, and many other things to look at. For more info, visit the arts council's website at http://www.artsalamance.com/ - they should have the info up soon.

Sherry's Shopping spree at Starmount Forest Country Club - Greensboro, NC
The gallery that represents me in Siler city will be taking a huge amount of inventory to the Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, NC on December 2 from 1-5pm. This is a ticketed ladies luncheon, and I will be there with the gallery owner to sell my work and she will have work by many others as well.

All of this to do, and I am fighting a bad cold. Hope I feel better soon. Need to get in the studio and get cracking on some new work!
Stay tuned for some new paintings!

Painting at Cedar Cliff Farm

I was invited, along with other artists, to paint at Cedar Cliff Farm in Graham, NC today. Every year, the owners always have the artists there to paint all day and then they have a large group of friends over to celebrate their anniversary in the evening. They congregate outside at the original homestead cabin and eat and listen to live music. I couldn't stay for the celebration this year, but I did get some small paintings done and took lots of photos. I will post the paintings tomorrow when I can get a better picture of them.

Back view of the house

Front of the house

The original homestead cabin

The barn

Working away and some excitement

Sorry not to be posting lately, but I have been working I assure you. I haven't been posting many small works to the blog here because I have been getting ready for two invitational Christmas exhibits and a solo exhibition for March and April of 2010. Add to all of that the fun of a huge tree coming down in our yard from a storm and one of our cars running over it, and this week gets even better. I just thank God that no one was hurt. So after dealing with the insurance company and getting the car fixed, I will be back with more paintings.

Smoky Mountain Farm land

"Farm Near Pigeon Forge"

12 x 12 inches, oil on birch panel

Work in progress

Email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com if interested in this one.

Sorry for the glare on this pic. I will re-shoot and repost when I have more time. This is a spot I saw when traveling near Pigeon Forge, TN. I have not decided if I am calling this one done. I wanted a loose, impressionistic approach, but I'm not sure the foreground doesn't need some changes. The foreground had cast shadows across it from a nearby grove of trees, but i'm not sure it reads as shadow. Maybe I''l tweak the color in the shadows.

This was a beautiful place, and I only had time to capture some photos from a moving car. This farm land was all lit up with afternoon sun, with patches of treeline here and there. I will have to visit the area again when I have more time to complete some studies of the area.

White Lake Sunrise Study and an Adventure

White Lake Sunrise, 7 x 5 inches, Acrylic on canvas on panel

If you are interested in this study, it will be $50 unframed, but I have to touch it up first because of the adventure I had with this one. Just email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com if you want it.

I painted this study early one morning at white lake during sunrise. I was working quickly to capture the light and the acrylics fought me a little more than my oils - They dry fast, so little time to blend, etc. I finished this up and had lost the sunrise, so I took it back out the next day to add more passages of paint.

Well, I was walking down the boat dock and the winds were intense because of a coming storm and this little painting blew out of my hand right into the water! Without thinking I just jumped down the dock steps into the freezing water to save this one! It's not that it's a masterpiece of mine, but I wanted to use it for reference for a larger painting.....so I rescued it, and it only got a scratch. These Raymar, museum quality canvas panels are tough! I will post some more studies tomorrow, and then hopefully the larger gallery works I did from them.

Off on another trip, paintings to follow

My trusty travel companion for small paintings

Well, I am off again with Lucinda and Sophia. This time we are headed to White Lake with her family for a relaxing weekend. Since we have limited space (we are bringing food to cook), I am bringing along my smallest paintbox and hope to get small studies done. I doubt I will have time to get any finished pieces done, but I hope to at least get some studies done to use for reference as I work on paintings for my upcoming show in Asheboro.

The great thing about painting when I travel is that I really get to observe a place and soak it in while I paint, rather than just quickly snapping photos. I do use my photos, but feel I produce a better painting when I have time to also make sketches on site.
This has been a whirlwind year, and I hope it will slow down before Christmas. It can be really difficult at times to juggle family, a full time job, church involvement, and my art business at the same time, but the Lord has blessed me with a fulfilling life and a wonderful wife and family who support me.

I won't have access to Wi Fi while there, so I will resume my blog posts next week and will post pictures when I return.

Last day for FREE PAINTING

Tonight at midnight is the deadline to enter for the "FREE PAINTING." Just shoot me an email at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com with the word "FREE PAINTING" in it and your name. This was mentioned a week ago in my email newsletter. To sign up for future info on the FREE paintings, go to www.justinholdren.com and click on the email newsletter link. Good Luck!

Ocracoke Beach & Painting at 2 AM

"Ocracoke Beach"

5 x 7 inches, Acrylic on Archival Canvas Panel

$50 Unframed

To purchase, send me an email at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com and I will invoice you through Paypal.

Painted this at 2am this morning from memory of a trip to Ocracoke Island. The color in the pic is a little off, but I didn't feel like Photoshopping it anymore at 3 am. Why painting such crazy hours? Well sometimes, when I can't sleep, I just get inspired to do a quick study like this. Hope you like it!

2009 Studio Sale & August Newsletter

Justin Holdren Fine Art Studio
Studio Newsletter August 2009
www.justinholdren.com - Justin’s website
www.justinholdren.blogspot.com - Justin’s blog

2009 Studio Sale!
I am working on a large body of new work, so I really need space in the studio. This means a great deal for you! I have put up a STUDIO SALE portfolio on my website at www.justinholdren.com . These are small plein air studies or larger, older work that has not sold after making the rounds. I am willing to let people “steal” them to get them out of the studio. Be sure to check them out! All of them have FREE SHIPPING, and if you live in Alamance County, NC I will deliver them.
PLEASE NOTE: As a general rule, I usually sell all of my work at the same price it is sold for in galleries. I do not undercut my galleries. The only difference in price is if a work is not sold with a frame as it is in a gallery. The only exception is a studio sale of this sort where the inventory is older or it is non-gallery ready work.

Monthly Free painting
My monthly painting giveaway starts tomorrow. The painting being given away is shown below. To enter, just shoot me an email with your name and the words “FREE PAINTING” in the email. I will leave the entry time open until Wednesday, Sept. 3 at midnight. Then a name from the entries will be randomly drawn. Good luck!

Visit my blog
Many of you visit my website, but be sure to check out my blog too. I post paintings there that sometimes aren’t put on the website. I also post pictures from my travels, and things about the life I lead as an artist. Check it out at www.justinholdren.blogspot.com .

Thanks to all who have supported my work as an artist by purchasing. I do not take it for granted!

Justin

Cleaning out studio - Items for sale!

I am doing the "not so fun" task of cleaning out my studio. I have some art books that I have gotten my use out of and want to sell. The books I have right now to sell are:

• The Big book of painting nature in oil (Allen Schaeffer) - Excellent book on painting landscapes step by step - Paid 29.95, will sell for 15.00
• Fill your oil paintings with light and color ( Kevin Macpherson) - Wonderful book on painting with a limited palette and tons of helpful techniques - Paid 19.95, will sell for 10.00
• Helen Van Wyks Favorite Color Recipes (Helen Van Wyk) - Great book on color recipes and palette strategies on all subjects . Packed full of info! - Paid 19.95 on sale, will sell for $10.00
• The big book of Art materials - A great guide to art materials and techniques for every medium, Full of great info. - Paid 24.95, will sell for 12.00

All of these books will ship free! I just want my studio cleaned out. I might have more for sale soon! Keep checking!

These items go to the first person to email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com

Hectic week!

Hello all. No new paintings to post today, although I do have some completed I just haven't photographed yet. It has been a hectic couple of weeks! My daughter was in summer playschool, I have been getting new work done and sent to galleries, working on marketing and my web site, the list goes on and on.... New work coming tomorrow, hopefully!