Gouache sketch

Here’s an 8×10 sketch using gouache in a more transparent technique.  It’s kind of fun to do a quick pencil sketch, then work over it with gouache.

“Weeds and Rust”

It was hard to tell if this was a house or a barn.  When I spotted it, we were too far away to get a good look.  This was somewhere between Kentucky and Ohio, and a house would have had a fireplace, but the chimney could have been on the other side, and fallen away over time.  I like to think it was a house.  While I was painting it, my imagination could hear children playing, and the rasp of a saw ripping wood nearby.  This is gouache on cold press Crescent board, 8×10.

Article in the Houston Examiner

A nice feature by Susanne Buckland of Houston’s Examiner.com…

http://www.examiner.com/x-26700-Houston-Art-Examiner~y2009m11d12-Ralph-Parker-Gouache-painter-comes-home-to-Houston

Thanks Susanne!

November 7th First Saturday Arts Market Recap

What a delight it is when a buyer from a previous show seeks you out to tell you how much she loves her painting.  And when another buyer says they saw your work online, was disappointed that their favorite painting had sold, but they buy another one at the show.  Those are a couple of the highlights of this most recent show, and tell us we must be doing something right.

This was a good show for us.  Beautiful weather, a decent crowd, a great corner spot… and sales.  We voluntary took a chance on an overflow spot around the corner from the main show venue.  It turned out to be a good decision.  We got to see many of the visitors twice as they came and went from one of the main parking lots.  It was the first time we’ve had a corner booth, and now we know why it’s prime real estate.  It gave us a chance to set up in a new configuration, and get lots of very open exposure.  We were also able to park very close for setup and teardown, which was a big plus as well.  Note to Mitch Cohen, Market Manager (I know you’ll read this):  We will gladly “anchor” the show from that spot all the time.  Unfortunately, while I did charge the camera before leaving home, I neglected to put a memory stick in it, so I have no photos of this setup.  Duh.

A couple of other artists sought us out specifically, one who had visited the show previously, and had a booth for the first time, and another who is primarily a watercolor artist, but is also working with gouache.  He had found me online and came to the show to meet and say hello.  I really enjoyed visiting with him, but (note to other show artists) I must remember next time that customers come first and visitors (especially other artists) must take a back seat when customers enter the booth.  Fortunately, Nell was there to help greet them and answer questions but I need to be more careful of that in the future.  Another note to other artists:  never, ever give your business card to a customer when you are in another artists booth, especially if no one asked you for it.  It happened, and I let it pass, but I won’t next time.  My booth.  My customer.  Period.  End of discussion.

We were delighted with the sales.  Keep in mind, that since my prices are low, a good show for us might be peanuts for others, but we are accomplishing our personal mission, our long range plan is on track, and we are being profitable.  What more can one ask?  We sold three of my landscapes and one of Nell’s mini florals.  Dollar-wise, it was our best First Saturday so far, and regardless of how we do at the December show, we will end the year with a show profit.  Not bad when you understand that we really expected a loss for our first year doing art festivals.

Interesting Statistics Which Probably Mean Absolutely Nothing:  Of the three landscapes that sold, all were Texas landscapes.  Two of them were my most recent work, done in the last month.  One of the pieces that sold was “Morning Reds”, which was featured in the most recent wetcanvas.com newsletter.  I knew that piece would sell, but didn’t expect it to be so quick.

So, overall, a very good, enjoyable show.  The five hour one-way drive takes its toll, but we really enjoy doing this show, and from conversations with our buyers, we feel we may be seeing the beginnings of a collector base in the Houston area.  We will do the December 5th show, then lay off during January and February, returning to the Market for the March show.

5 small studies

After doing the painting of Carousel Mountain, I took a break and did a series of little 5×7 studies.  I marked off a 16×20 board, and then, working from the laptop next to my easel, I went through a couple of CDs of reference photos, making quick selections, sketching the scene quickly with a brush, and jumping right in.  I believe most of these are either west Texas, or along I45 between Dallas and Houston.  When I’m in the zone, I end up with some pretty satisfying images.  When I’m not, I wonder why I wasted all that board on such crap.  This time, I think, I was in the zone.  I ended up with nine studies, some of which I’m happy with, and some that could use some tweaking.  Maybe I’ll tweak, and maybe not.

Some of these look kind of cool in frames, so I think they will go with us this weekend to Houston for the monthly First Saturday Arts market.

The intent was to play with loose brushwork and color variations.  Several of them were laid in with grays, and then I worked color over and into the grays.  That’s a process I may spend a bit more time with.  Two or three of these might become larger paintings.  The grays were produced with cobalt blue, burnt umber and titanium white.  I only use DaVinci Gouache, and the palette for all of these was cobalt blue, medium yellow, yellow ochre, red, venetian red, burnt sienna and burnt umber.

Below is a photo of the board before I did some last minute touchups and cut the pieces down to size, followed by five of my favorites from this exercise.  All are 5×7, gouache on cold press Crescent board.

 

Carousel Mountain, Big Bend, Texas

I’ve been trying some new subject matter, and this one is a real departure for me.  My dear friend, Mary Grace Bartoo, provided me with some photos from a trip to Big Bend National Park in far west Texas.  Being a real glutton for punishment, I chose this one to try first.  I figured I may as well push myself a little.  This is Carousel Mountain, in the Chisos Mountains, near the Texas-Mexico border.  It was the unusual shape that grabbed me.  Easy to see how it got its name.

This is 16×20, Gouache on cold press Crescent board

Recognition on wetcanvas.com

I was pleased to have one of my recent paintings featured in the latest wetcanvas.com newsletter.  The focus for the month was gouache.  It was the first of the “Two from Texas” posted here recently, which I’ve since titled “Morning Reds”.

Two from west Texas

Here are a couple of new ones.  Both are west Texas, near San Angelo.  The morning sun hitting the red cliff face was a striking image, and I had to try it.  Both of these are 9×12, gouache on cold press Crescent board.

(Update:  Both of these sold at the November First Saturday Arts Market in Houston.)

Farm

Here’s a new one with a bit stronger color than is usual for me.  It’s 8×10, Gouache on cold press Crescent board.

Derelict

Years ago, I did a painting of an old deteriorating wagon.  It was one of a half dozen or so acrylics, and I had no clue what I was doing.  The landscape part was awful, but I liked the wagon, and that painting has been hanging on my studio wall for a long time.  I decided to paint the wagon again, in gouache, just to see what I could do with it.  Here’s the result:

11×14 ~ Gouache on cold press Crescent board