Old Stage Road

(Bid On This Painting)

This will take you over to eBay

Just about two-miles from The Grand View Ranch is the small town of Weed. It is drastically different from her sister city Mt Shasta, in that it is an old wood-milling town. The history of the area is rich and diverse, and the landscape is dotted with old little farms. This barn is off Old Stage Road and is just about a mile’s drive from us. For the past few months I have been captivated with the landscape and been itching for the snow to melt and let me paint some of the wonderful scenery. Many of the locals are curious to see a painter in the field and stop to chat with me. Although I hear there are many artists in the area, I have not met many painting on location.

Every day you go out to paint, challenge yourself to produce something different, and remember that the art is in the practice not the final result. When a performer practices his craft, he makes many mistakes and the public generally does not see these mishaps. Great artists have piles of paintings that did not work. Mozart and Beethoven both composed some really bad music. Every one knows of Barry Bond’s home run records, but check out how many times he struck out. Don’t worry, you will be known for the homeruns that you produce. The strikeouts will find their way into a garage sale or two.

When painting on location work with careful brushstrokes from the start. Begin by choosing the central point of interest for the painting. In this painting, I chose the barn. Carefully sketch the focal point. Take your time. If you get this accurate, you can leave the rest of the painting to chance. Begin by painting this center of interest first, and then move on to the sky. When painting the sky, apply the color with short vertical strokes and cross strokes, and avoid using horizontal strokes. Then apply tone for the trees and foreground, and use as many different strokes as you can. Notice that the sharp edges and strong colors are on the barn (the focal point), and the rest of the painting is what I would call a “strong brush” painting.

I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.

If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.
I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime.

I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com