June 2009

In Search of Better Values

Submitted by donthacker on Sun, 2009-06-07 18:15

I went out painting this weekend and did a couple of exercises recommened by Marc Hason (see previous two posts). I have also posted these items over on The Black & White Painting Challenge blog, which was setup by Jan Norsetter, who also took Marc's workshop. Jan invited all the students from the workshop to add content to this blog, and it started as a challenge to do 7 of these exercises in a week. While few took on the challenge, some of the folks have continued to complete several of these exercises. Check out the blog and be sure to look at the Comments. Marc has kindly commented on several of the works, continuing his instruction for us.

Pooch in the Hooch

Submitted by donthacker on Sun, 2009-06-14 14:52

One of the many fine things about the Chattahooche River is that you get to call it "The Hooch". You also can enjoy it within the Perimeter of Atlanta (I-285). Today was a great day to be out there. Kate and our bluetick Illy joined me for a fun day hanging on a little beach area in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. There were several families and dozens of dogs for Illy to meet and charm with her easy going hound dog personality. I was able to catch her in a typical pose of hers while wading around. "On the Scent" 8x10 oil on lead primed linen

Wedding Day Painting

Submitted by donthacker on Sun, 2009-06-21 17:25

I got married yesterday! And during the day beforehand, I got to hang out on the square in Madison, GA with Dorian and do a plein air piece. It was a lot of fun getting to paint with him again, and many of the guests of the wedding stopped by to hang out with us. The wedding turned out perfect and now I'm very happy to have Kate as my beautiful wife. The painting is of some storefronts on the town square. The warm light that hit the building really caught my eye. This is the first realy cityscape I've painted and I need to do more as Georgia has some great old towns. And Dorian was kind enough to give us this piece as a wedding present!

Hana-moon

Submitted by donthacker on Tue, 2009-06-23 22:52

Kate and I are currently in Hana, Hawaii which is on the island of Maui. Yesterday was a long day as we flew from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, then to Maui. Then we rented a car and did the 3 hour drive to Hana. It is a famous drive, as it is only 44 miles, yet takes a few hours even if you don't stop. It winds around like a sidewinder and parts of it narrow down to one lane. Needless to say, we were pretty tired when we finally go to our hotel. So this morning, we took it easy and as Kate laid out on the beach I did this painting. It is of Homoa Beach, which James Michener called the only beach in the North Pacific that looked like the beaches in the South Pacific. Homoa Beach 8x10 oil on hardboard

Maui-d Life

Submitted by donthacker on Fri, 2009-06-26 19:47

Well, another day here is paradise. Literally. Yesterday I planned to paint in Haleakala National Park. However, Kate and I did a horseback ride into the crater -which was awesome - and on the way back the clouds came in and you couldn't see a thing. A couple of pics from the ride below. Today we just hung out at the beach outside our hotel. While Kate read the second Twilight book, I painted with a few snorkeling breaks thrown in. Makena Beach 8x10 oil on lead primed linen

Last Night In Maui

Submitted by donthacker on Sat, 2009-06-27 22:16

Off to the Big Isle tomorrow. Finished the afternoon with another painting from Makena Beach. In the distance are the West Maui Mountains and the boat is the Kai Kanani II, which we went out on this morning. It took us out to Molokini for some awesome snorkeling and we got to see a huge turtle up close. I did run into a few new plein air challenges with this one. The first was sand. Toward the end of my painting, the wind blew over my can of paint brushes and caked them with sand. Then a bit later, Kate stood up to walk in the ocean, and a fine mist of grain splattered my palette and painting. At this point I had to accept that this painting, like my underwear this trip, would just have sand in it. So whoever buys this original will actually own some of Maui. The second challenge - the tide! Now normally, I'm all for the Tide Rolling, but I was under the gun on this piece with the waves hitting my toes at the end. Kate scooted our bags up the beach and I made sure not to have anything on the ground. I managed to finish up before any waves got to my tripod. Kai Kanani II 8x10 oil on lead primed linen

Paniolo Country

Submitted by donthacker on Mon, 2009-06-29 23:56

Even though Maui is spectacular, The Big Island is more my type of place. Rugged, open, and paniolo country. Paniolo is Hawaiian for cowboy. Yes, The Big Island is the Texas of the Pacific islands. The island of Hawaii is twice as big as the other islands combined, yet only has 170,000 inhabitants. So it has a much more rural and local feel to it, at least when you venture outside the resort areas. But even the resort areas have a different overall tone, much more laid back and casual than Maui. I did this painting off Waikoloa Road, near Waimea which bills itself as one of the main paniolo towns in Hawaii. I had intended to paint Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in Hawaii (the state), but it was obscured by the vog which is basically smoke from the volcano. So instead, I picked this nice set of trees with the Kohala Mountains as my backdrop.

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