Alive with Art!

When Painting, just give me a place to start.

​Most of my art, right now, is working with oil,  and often I start with acrylics to block in the layout of the piece.

I'm not interested in creating an art reproduction of what I see.   Most often I am intrigued by the lights and darks, or color of an image and maybe not so much the image itself.

But I have found that when I am starting a painting I work much better if I start from a reference image (usually a photo) and then take off from there. Sometimes, I am able to lead the painting in a direction that is a complete spin on the reference and sometimes the paint leads me.  
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I have created art that is completely from my head, but starting with a resource works well.  I start painting from an image - and then leave it behind.
Below is an example that shows 2 studies that started with a lovely photo.  I was drawn to the photo, but as is often the case, it takes me a while to understand what made me want to paint it.
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I am intrigued by the barn, but I don't want a painting about a barn. The foreground field is interesting , and I really like the darks in the trees.
These paintings go in my Small Works series.  I laid the paint down entirely with the palette knife . Below are Small Works #7 and Small Works #9.  See them here:
Small Work #9 Oil landscape and Small Work #7 Oil Landscape

Small Work #7 Oil Landscape

Small Work #9 Oil Landscape

The fun begins for me when I can let loose with the color and enjoy mark making.
As it turns out I actually did not leave the subject very far behind but "abstracted" the subject with color and texture. And the palette knife is great fun! I do not force my control on the process.  I steer but reach a place where I know that in order for it to be a successful work of art I have to let the paint and the process be in control.
What do you think? Getting to use the palette knife and the color was my pleasure.
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