Shasta Barn Opus 3

(Bid On This Painting)
This will take you over to eBay

Painting expands our intelligence and develops sensitivity to all things in the world. Our curiosity about everything is awakened. Every day experience is enhanced when you explore the world around you and share it with others on canvas. Painting can create a record of your life, lived.

Just down the road from The Grand View Ranch is the Hoy Ranch. This 2,000-acre farm has an extraordinary view of Mt Shasta. I painted this fabulous barn on the Hoy ranch to add to my “The Barns of Mt Shasta” series. This spring when I give my on-location painting workshops in Mt Shasta, we will paint this awesome location.

The artist is a juggler trying to keep many balls in the air. This is especially true on location when every moment is part of the experience, and the painting. There are vast amounts of information about the subject matter to see and sense about what you are painting. One’s senses are filled with smells, noise, wind, bugs, tourists, exhaust, warm sunrays, and cold feet. It is a wonder that we can keep our wits about us to do the task-at-hand.

As you begin, you must focus and imagine the concept of what you want to paint before painting the first brush stroke on the canvas. Then, with eyes wide-open, look at the subject before you, and see color, composition, light, shadows, form, dimension, atmosphere, prospective, values, weight, movement, balance, rhythm, and the subject itself. Then, you make important choices; what the painting will include and exclude, what time of day, where the focal point will be, and so on. Choosing is a very powerful and essential part of successfully developing and portraying what you feel about the subject or place. This is where all great works of art begins.

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