The Forest For The...

...trees! I get to paint trees! It is just a start, and sooner than sooner I will be back painting leaves, but today it is trees!


This is the first to go in, and I will paint in four more that are partially hidden in the back, then reflect on how I can make them better while painting, you guessed it, more leaves.


-jb.

Two Hours In The Studio

Continuing the the cliche of likening painting large to running a marathon, I decided to set up my camera to show some detail in this important milepost, the third corner.


First, I use a straight edge razor to cut the Aspen branches and trunks into semi-channels.


Next, I paint the lightest leaves to use as markers for the general space and shapes.


Then, I switch to the darkest colors of each corresponding section.


To finish off the section, I paint in the mid-tones of color, then go over the dominant individual leaves to soften their edges.


Finally, I go back to the razor to clean out the channels for the branches.


Rinse, repeat...

-jb.

Living In A Tent Sucks.

Living in a tent city sucks even worse. Living in a tent, in a tent city, with a fever, when you are four? Well, you get the idea. But one of my dearest friends is doing something about it, by bringing a traveling art endeavor to the streets of Haiti. The project is fully funded, their bags are being packed, and in these last three days of fundraising, they are using the extra money to buy children's medicine that is in dire short supply. Jenni is one person who can make me wide eyed at what a mix of art and charity can accomplish in the lives of children, when I can pry a story of what she accomplishes stateside out of her. Because she is not at her best when it comes to her own PR, I will say that dollar for dollar, this will be the best aid you can ever provide, and bring color and relief to a place that desperately needs it. So please, become a part of this mission today:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mimicake/hope-art-haiti-operation-peace-endeavor

-jb.