plein air

  Well, the Storm of the Century made its way down to Georgia yesterday. Things looked really awesome with all the snow. I felt like I was in New Hampshire instead of Atlanta. A lot of it has melted by now, but I was able to go out this afternoon and paint a quick sketch. It was good to work on the structure of trees, although I am eagerly awaiting the leaves to return this Spring. I did this painting at good ol' Freedom Park.

  The last few weeks I've been touching up my Rose Bowl painting. I think I may be done! After I look at it tomorrow, I'll decide whether it needs a couple of additional adjustments, or if it is ready to send on the the printer. I'm very excited about these prints and really enjoyed painting the stadium. There may be a few more stadium paintings in my future in 2010.

If you are interested in ordering a print, click the "Buy This Piece" link below. Even if I make another round of touch-ups, they should be ready to ship in 2-3 weeks.

(Note: I did punch up the colors in this piece, but not as drastically as these two images suggest. The earlier photo is more subduded and this last one is a bit exaggerated. I will have an accurate image from the printer soon.)

 Five-thousand five-hundred thirty-four miles. From Atlanta, Georgia to Pasadena, CA and back. It was our contribution to "The Process" that Coach Nick Saban talks about. My dad and I drove across country to see our alma mater, the University of Alabama, play in the BCS National Championship game at The Rose Bowl. I was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and it felt that way the whole time. Both of us enjoyed surveying the scenery and witnessing the gradual changes as you from state to state.

 For those that may not know, I graduated in '92 from the University of Alabama, and I'm a huge fan of the Crimson Tide. My Dad (UA '68) and I are currently in route via car to Pasadena, CA for the Citi BCS National Championship Game. I Saturday from Atlanta, picked him up in Alabama, and we are now in Twentynine Palms, CA. This morning, we drove from Gallup, NM and visited the Petrified Forest National Park. Petrified Forest exceeded my expectations and we both were fascinated by the scenery and the history behind the petrified wood you see all over the park. I did this painting of The Blue Mesa. I was drawn to the interplay of the snow with the desert and rocks. 

Dad makes a great companion for painting. He loves to drive around and doesn't mind reading and walking around while I work. Tomorrow morning we are going to Joshua Tree National Park.

Oh, and curious about the picture of me there? That is me with the 

Heisman Trophy, taken this November. I think my presence with the trophy brought Mark Ingram some luck. You see, Alabama won the 1964 National Championship when my Dad was in school, and the 1992 National Championship when I was in school. My brother is currently a senior at Alabama and we are playing for the 2009 title Thursday. So obviously we have been good karma for the team. I call it "The Thacker Factor". In this picture I'm wearing my replica of the Crimson Tide's 1931 Rose Bowl uniform. I had it made in 2006 and I've worn it to one game each year. And I'm very excited to actually wear it for the second time this season in the Rose Bowl itself.

The weather was so incredible the last few days, there was no way I could let the weekend go without painting in it. The light, the temperature, everything was fantastic. And it is the last few days of the Fall colors. So I took Illy out to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. At first I was going paint from a similar spot as the work I did during the Paint Out back in August. I was going to paint a fall scene to contrast with the same design with summer greens. But then behind me I saw a view that I've had on my list for a long time - a dense forest with lots of illuminated colors. So I turned my paint box around and painted this hill with the light coming through the trees. Illy was on her best behavior, and I was assuming it was because she was as anxious to see how it turned out as I was. This is the third densely wooded forest piece I've done (the other two being in swamps), and I've learned a lot each time. One important part of landscape painting is to simplify, which is a tough task on such a complex subject. 

"Fall Forest"

10x8 oil on lead primed canvas

SOLD

 Well, maybe it's always sunny in Philadelphia, but here in Atlanta it is dark before 6pm. But I'm not going to let that stop me from plein air painting! Back in May I went to a workshop with Marc Hanson and he told us about how he enjoys nocturnal painting and uses the Mighty Bright to light his canvas and pallette. I gave it a try in downtown Minneapolis later that week, and while the light did its job, I didn't make the right adjustments for the values after dark. Through the summer the days were long enough that I didn't have a good opportunity, but that changed recently with the shift back to standard time. So tonight I went out and stood out in the middle of Freedom Park and painted the waning gibbous behind a big silhouetted tree with some nice street lights in the background. I surprised several night bikers and joggers who didn't expect to see someone off the bike path painting under a set of book lights. There are some good advantages to the night painting. For starters, your lighting conditions don't change (at least not until sunrise). The dark areas are simple and fun to paint and you can really work on mood, edges and making your lights stand out. You also kind of feel like Batman or something, going out into the pitch black and setting up. I'm going to take advantage of the nearly full moon while I can, then next week move to some night street scenes.

"Freedom Park at Night"

9x12 oil on panel

SOLD

  I often feel like the days are too short. There is always so much that I want to do and time seems to fly by. However, today is a bit special, as we shifted our clocks to standard time last night. I have always found it a bit jarring, as you start to notice the autumn days getting slowly shorter, then one day - BAM! - sunset at 5:45. This time of year is very fleeting in many ways. The sunlight is at a premium, and mother nature teases us for a few weeks out of the year with the brilliant colors of the deciduous trees. This afternoon I went about 60 miles north of Atlanta to Dahlonega, GA and painted in the vineyards of the Montaluce Winery. A beautiful place they have with views of the very start of the Appalachian Mountains. It was a great drive and I'm always amazed at the variety of colors in the fall leaves. I picked this spot as I liked the very green tree on the right and the yellow-green vines set against the earthy tones of the surrounding forest. I especially enjoyed how the backlighting brought out those colors.

So about this sunlight thing. I'm actually not as down about it this year as I have been in the past. This summer I was introduced to nocturnal painting at the Marc Hanson workshop I took. However, I have only had a couple of chances to try my hand at it. Now with the time difference, I plan to scout out some good night time scenes in my area. We'll see what happens.

"Montaluce Vines"

oil on lead primed canvas

SOLD

I completed my first online sale on the new site last month! (I have sold items from my blog in the past.) I'm just now announcing it because it was a surprise anniversay gift. My friend Ben Wilson bought the original piece "Bar Harbor" for his wife Rebecca. Congratulations to them both on their anniversay and purchase. A donation of 10% of the sale went to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Ben and Rebecca's donthacker.com statuses have now been upgraded to 'collector'. You might wonder what that means, and I really haven't decided yet. But I do know it will include something special in the future, such as gifts, discounts and collector only editions. Anyone who purchases a piece from the site is automatically upgraded to collector. If you have purchased art from me in the past and would like to be a collector, just send me an email.

"Bar Harbor"

11x14 oil on linen

SOLD

I finished up the Paint Out Thursday and Friday with these two pieces. I chose the first one ("The River ") and the piece I did Wednesday ("Fishin'") to submit to the show. The reception is tonight at the CNREA Island Ford Headquarters from 7:30 to 9:30. There was a ton of artwork there this morning when I dropped my pieces off. It was a lot of fun to meet the other landscape painters and to see what they did.

Yesterday was the first day of the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out, and I went to the Island Ford unit of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. Since the Paint Out is about the river, I chose the river as my point of interest. I really liked how the sky made the water so light and how it contrasted against the trees on the shore. Then about halfway into the painting, I saw a guy out there fishing. It was the perfect thing to throw in to really highlight how cool this river - which is in the Atlanta metro area - is.