Instructional video on methods for drawing your Bonsai
In this video I discuss the 3 types of Bonsai drawings; Symbolic, Imaged and Descriptive. The video uses a Femina Juniper Bonsai as our ‘model’ and discusses the method for drawing in these 3 particular types, as well as the Pros and Cons for these methods.
In drawing a Bonsai Tree (or anything for that matter) we use all three types of drawing in one way or another. This video, and subsequent videos, will show how to recognize your approach and ultimately give you a good understand on how to do your own drawings within your own aesthetics.
My method is to tilted towards the descriptive way of drawing for getting a better understanding of “seeing” and a better method for understanding and visually experiencing your tree. The goal is to increase your appreciation for the beautiful world of Bonsai and help you develop the tool of drawing to increase your experience of Bonsai.
This is a video blog that goes into detail how I approach an etching for my Japanese Garden Series. The video shows how I develop the plate by first etching into it the motif, then to develop the value structure through aqua-tinting.
This is Part 2 of a 2 Part video series (see http://www.reekersart.com/video-blog-prep-work-for-an-etching/
Thank you so much for checking this out. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and be sure to subscribe to my mailing list. If you a interested in purchasing a print please go to http://www.reekersart.com/product-category/prints/
This is an Interview by Diane Pendergast from the SocalPapa Pleinair painting group for an upcoming online show of Back Bay and OC Parks . Each year there is a pop-up show, but due to the corona virus on July 11th to 19th they will have an online show. There is talk of having actual pieces in the show but since the Muth Conservatory is where it is shown, it is high unlikely that it will be available.
The interview is about 7 minutes long and disusses my plienair painting experience, general ideas regarding painting outdoors in Southern California, and the painting that was submitted to the show.
This is a video blog that goes into detail how I approach an etching for my Japanese Garden Series. The video shows how I use photos that my wife or I took of our travels through Japan and how in my sketchbook (along with other sketches) I create a motif. I subsequently transfer that motif to bond paper in order to create a detail pen and ink drawing. The P&I drawing helps me define my line-work and textures that will be drawn on the plate. I then create an ink-wash painting to help me with an “aqua-tinting plan”. The video will describe the medium and tools that are used. From that, all is complete to create the etching motif.
This is Part 1 of a 2 Part video which will cover the actual development of the plate and how I used the prep-work to accomplish it.
Thank you so much for checking this out. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions and be sure to subscribe to my mailing list.
In 2011 I started on a journey that continues to this day. Below is an account of the start of this journey into a life time at the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach
If you are interested in purchasing one of the pleinairs please contact me at reekersart@gmail.com and I let you know availability. Purchase price is $300 with free shipping.
Pleinair setup at Spot 13, sometime in 2011
The conceived of this series as a way to understand how nature changes with time here in Southern California, and how my learning of the scene changes with it. The goal is to have completed a series of 12 paintings that illustrate how art can be used as a learning tool and accomplish great esthetics when one understands and feels a vista. The agenda will be to go out the the Shipley Nature Center in Huntington Beach California and paint a plienaire painting (on-location) every month. It is important to paint from the same spot every time; Spot 13 as disignated by a marker at the Center. My intent is to finish this location completely with studio work to be performed in 2012.
This is a photo of the scene taken in July 2011, it gives you a general idea of the Spot 13. I choose the spot because I wanted a location that was foliage rich and not your ‘traditional’ landscape vista. In this way, I would have to respond to the changing of the natural foliage throughout the year.
January 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
This was the first painting at Shipley. It was an introduction to the scene and place. What I like about this painting is the light moving through the scene and the brushstroke are looser than my past pleinair paintings.
Feburary 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
Trees are beginning to fill out though relatively spares. Some flower’s are beginning to bloom which was exciting and began to saturate my pallet. I like how things are beginning to warm up and those violet flowers.
March 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
A very strange day, the clouds were heavy and there was a constant change in light. The foreground continues to be expressly derived and the middle ground is looking more distinct and integrated.
April 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
This was a very melancholy day and rather dark. It seems the changing of the season is creating a level of anticipation in the plants. I learned a lot on this trip, more what not to do than what to do though. Having been more familiar with the scene I thought that I could blocked in the scene quickly and then free-form on details. I ended up trying not to muddy up the painting from the under paint. In any case I like the energetic mark making.
May 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
An absolute beautiful day; the best so far. The flowers buds look happy and ready to bloom, the foliage is filling out and finally the background trees are full and robust. The previous month taught me much about approaching the scene in a holistic manner. I was not worried about blocking in and allowed the under stain to peak through.
June 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
The scene is in full bloom! I was shocked by the growth. The Shipley Nature Center is a tendered preserve and I’m was very happy that nobody has removed any foliage. I’m starting to ‘get’ the background. My approach is becoming more abstract such that the approach is more in tune with values, forms and inter-relationships of color; definitely less than what the object “actual” is. Even though my approach is more abstract I would still like to capture a bit more detail in the foreground.
July 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
A hot and humid day which seems a little early for Huntington Beach, but the plants seem to like it. The scene is fully overgrown, almost to a fault. I would not have picked this spot if I seen what it looks like today. When I first saw the overgrowth, I thought, ‘How am I going to paint this’? In any case it turned out to be one of the most rewarding painting to date. I like to mark making that the scene demanded and rich variety of colors, inter-related shapes an dark deep values. I also like the depth of field.
August 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
This was a very gloomy day, with a heavy layer of fog. I painted from 9:00am to 12:00pm and by the time I was done the overcast had burned off. This presupposes the problem of huge light an color shifts while painting. Monet used to carry more than one canvas at a time to avoid this problem and at the same time capture the mood, but alas I had only one canvas. In any case, I like the distribution color and the force of nature that comes through.
September 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
This was actually a very pleasant date. Though the sun was out it was nice and cool. (a few days later it was very hot). The foliage is overgrown and the middle ground is nearly covered. This forced me to focus a bit more on the foreground objects. The big change continued to be the abstract way I’m approaching the application of paint; it is put on thick and direct. I’m also enjoying the mark making and freedom of the brush stroke. The background interplay between the sky and the trees was a challenge; I now understand the struggle Cezzane continued to work with throughout is life
October 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
This was an extremely hot day and difficult to paint in. I also forgot some items I like to work with, such as latex gloves and a trash bag, so my attitude was a little bent. In any case, the foliage again has grown, but added the challenge of painting objects very close to me as well as the background tree at a distance. The plants have turned a shade of white and there was little ground to be seen. The warmth of the ground helps to balance the coolness of the foliage, so the white had to be used as a warming element. The trees in the background are starting to change color (never changes much in southern California) and are losing their leaves, this allow a lot of light to poke through them causing a provision of lite shadows; beautiful
November 2011 – Pleinair 9″ X 11″ oil
The landscape is coming around full circle now. When I think of my first painting from Spot 13, I remember the redness of the background trees and that is what I’m beginning to see today. The overgrowth is astonishing which is due to the Director letting it grow, (she was aware of my studies here and didn’t let anyone tend it) In any case, I wanted to keep the free brushwork but put a little effort into capturing the foreground details, and I believe I accomplished that goal fairly well. The painting has some interesting colors and the light of the day comes through. It seems a bit unbalanced though, this is due in large part to the concentrated areas versus the abstract areas. This will become very important when I start the studio painting.
I didn’t paint at the Shipley in December, but instead began to layout my large studio painting which I continue in a subsequent blog “Shipley Nature Center Saga – 2012”.
Thank You for reading this feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to purchase any of these paintings.
2012 was a year of visiting Laguna Beach and San Pedro artwalks. This was mainly due to the proximity to Huntington Beach, but it is time to expand, and the Culver City Artwalks of 2013 is the new location to explore. http://www.ccgalleryguide.com/
I received my art education at Cal State Long Beach, and at that time Culver City was, and still is, the buzz of the LA Art scene. The galleries are all concentrated along Washington and La Cienega which makes the walk easy to explore, but what makes the Artwalk worthwhile is what can be described as the three E’s; ‘E’nergy, ‘E’nlightened and ‘E’ncouraging.
Though there are so many good galleries, the three that we will focus on here are Cherry and Martin, Samuel Freeman and Think Space
Cherry and Martin http://www.cherryandmartin.com/ has what I would describe as a minimalist show with a concentrated focus on material and space. These are ‘aha moment’ works by Robert Overby, Erik Frydenborg, John Henderson, and Noam Rappaport, which challenges what the beholder views as art. The materials make us take a moment and pause to look deeply into what the artist found to be important, such as a latex casting of a corner of a brick building, or the plasticity of an object casted and place within a frame, and even the gradient glow of a florescent light. In this eclectic time of art the artist of yesterday reminds us that ‘art’ is all around us, and that the beholder can grow esthetical by opening themselves up to the elements and the visual phenomenon of experiencing those materials.
Samuel Freeman Gallery http://www.samuelfreeman.com/ has an exhibition which in many ways echoes Cherry and Martin. In this show, by Stephanie Taylor, there is again an emphasis on material, but I surmised that the goal of the show was more about successful story telling sculpture object, than material by itself. Particularly moving is a long rope sculpture that looks like rigging from a ship and a large blue form that my friend and I figured out is the English Channel (we didn’t look at the title or read the Artist Statement until after looking at the show). I’m not sure it is all successful though. The eclectic nature of the objects and lack of continuity from one art object to other is confusing and does not make me wanted to understand the story more. All in all, it is a thought a provoking show which gave our group a lot to talk about.
Last, butcertainly not least, is the Think Space http://thinkspacegallery.com/ which had this fantastic show of fantasy art by Kelly Vivanco http://www.kellyvivanco.com/ . I can tend to take myself way to serious when it comes to art criticism, but when I get blown away with a beautifully whimsical show like this one, it brings me back to why I’ve spent a life time loving art. This show is just fun! The beauty of the artwork extenuates a world of mystery and delight, with its wonderful drawings of fantasy scenes and beautifully rendered ethereal landscapes. One becomes engrossed in the imagery and begins to wonder what it all means. By the time you are done looking at the pieces you wonderfully rewarded by the quality of the work and how kitsch can be elevated to such a high fine art status.
Finally, this is a good time to spend with friends and people who are passionate about art. This artwalk will be long remembered, and we are ‘E’xcited to continue this exploration in 2013…God willing.
A friend of mine and I attended the Art Walk in San Pedro last Thursday night (2/2/2012) and I was compelled to write this blog. I write this not because of the Artwalk itself; though it was an eclectic mix of contemporary, folk and decorative arts was worth the effort. I’m not writing because of the rich cultural diversity of the art where combinations of Latino, Asian and European art can be found if searched for, and oh yes, I’m not writing about a lifestyle that was inspiring to see as Artist make their way in the art-world through loft living, studio working spaces and commitment to their vision. What I’m writing about is this gem of an Artist whose use of mixed media materials are above all interesting and whose skill in three-dimensional work is admired by my friend and me. The Artist’s name is Hiroko, and her Gallery is at 382 W. 7th St, San Pedro www.hiroko.us.com . In my eyes she is a deeply visceral Artist whose human figures exemplify our contemporary angst. The elegance of the figure’s posture as it iseither fighting to free itself from some known or unknown constraint, or introverting within as the figure is burdened by an object’s weight or rope, speaks volumes for our times. I’m embarrassed to say that this is the first San Pedro Artwalk for my friend and I, but after this discovery (and many other) it will not be our last.
It was revealing to revisit and display the collaborative between Tsubasa Berg, Ryan Melchor and myself completed a few years back. These three collaborations documented relationships of new and old forces contributed to by “bouncing” off the other’s contributions. Some obstacles were presented and interesting solution was found during this time. Equally interesting was remembering how we came to those solutions through a process of integration. As a result, we came together to build up each painting with layers of different ideas that work within a cohesive motif. We all banded together to create three major themes: the rite of passage, the forces of nature and the power of the painted surface. We grew through this experience and the work stands on its own as a testament to collaborations.
Though the collaborative were the main focus of the show additional work was shown. Some of these paintings were painting by Ryan or me as a direct compliment to the collaborative, while other sexplored science as art. The complimentary nature of this worked add to the interest in the show.
These paintings were shown one night only, but are available for showing on request. Please sue the contact information and feel free to ask questions or request a personal showing.
SYNERGIZING IMAGES a collaboration of three Artists
