Friday, August 21, 2009

The Road Back Home

Finished

Here's one I started tonight. A big one for me, 30" x 40" on a linen canvas I stretched today. I've been stretching on 1 1/2" stretcher bars and like the sturdiness it gives.

I like how this painting is progressing, although I'm not painting in my usual way. For one, I usually paint alla prima, in one sitting/session. But not tonight for a couple of reasons... a) I'm tired and my elbow hurts. b) I want this first night's effort to dry a bit before I start adding color tomorrow. The ground is thin, and the darks are thinned Burnt Umber, so both should be good by the time get back to it.

The other difference is the use of a small brush at the beginning stage. Normally I'll use a big 1 1/2" or 2" bristle brush to throw down some big shapes quickly. Well, with this one I felt the need to slow down and get my center of interest correctly drawn and in the right place on the canvas before doing anything else. After I got the COI drawn I continued with the small brush, a #1 bristle, and sketched with it only, to the point you see here.

If someone could please play taps for my little brush I'd appreciate it. Or, you could call the cops on me, 'cause I killed it. It's a nub. But it did the job it was meant to do.

Now, it will be interesting to see if little nubbie died in vain. ;)

To be continued...





27 comments:

Jason said...

Cool drawings. You are very good. I like realistic landscapes, but not too photographic.

Valerie 007 said...

My 16 year old Kaylee is an artist and i find it very interesting how you showed the progression of this piece. Your paintings are lovely congrats on blog of note.

Art with Liz said...

This has all the hallmarks of a great painting!

Anonymous said...

Just beautiful!

Analisa said...

Love the layered textures or the illusion of texture the piece has. The trees and house remind me a little of a sketch done in ink. Lovely.

Swetha said...

The painting is beautiful!! I loved the yellow color as the background!!

Katherine Kean said...

Wonderful. Thanks for showing us your progress - and it's safe to say that little nubbie did not die in vain! Can't wait to see what's next.

D.S. Williamson said...

You are very talented, but I am sure you have heard that before! :-) But thank you for sharing your talent with us all. DS Williamson

KS said...

Wow - that's gorgeous! Hey, how do you get the pictures of your work up on here? I am new to the blog so maybe I'll discover the answer to this next question, but is any of it for sale??

Analisa said...

Love the finished picture.

Coco Gabriella Justice Bech said...

love the way it looks before its done too :)
great work, keep it up.

<3//Coco

Billy Guffey said...

Thanks for all the comments everyone! This painting was fun, but BIG. Actually got a pretty good workout while painting it. ;-)

Billy Guffey said...

and to Karen Siddiqi...

To post pics on your blog you must first save them to your computer, then when posting to your blog you simply click the little "add image" icon next to the "abc" icon on the row of options next to your font choice. Navigate to your saved image through the "browse" option that will pop up. Then click "upload image".

As for the paintings, they are all for sale. ;) You can contact me through my website, www.bnguffey.com, for prices on specific pieces.

indrablog said...

Great photos - the three photos chart the progress of your pictures. Your blog is always ver refreshing to visit.

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Killer blog. ;) Check out my web traffic blog. Great tips and resources are there for getting more people to your blog or website. See you there. It is VERY helpful.

zoey blogs said...

i love your work! congrats on getting blog of note =0)

groupbuyer.net said...

Great! It is so beautiful!
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Unknown said...

hai..bill.... u got something superb....i like these paintings..u know i have a story to tell...4 years ago when i was in 10 standard....can you guess i scored lowest marks in which subject???...arts..till my 9th standerd i thought i was master in drawings but when i got 47 out of 100 i felt so bad about myself..and i started making paintings at home .i made many wall paintings ..let me get my day will show you my work hope you appreciate it..take care

EL said...

I dont know about painting....but I love to see great painting.... This one is dangerously beautiful!!!

Aaron Marcelli said...

This is really cool Bill. Glad I stumbled upon your site.

coelha said...

are you the paint?
Amazing!

William Wren said...

such an inspiration

The Black Widow said...

Bill: Very cool paintings. My site is more about fantasy hunting but to be honest I love ART>>>>>>yours is very good.


I'm going to take a look around for some country photos..

The Black Widow (Wisconsin)

Naarya said...

wow!

Billy Guffey said...

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate all the comments.

Anonymous said...

Great Job man.
Brilliant

Free Clip of Tips said...

Great job! Very-very good painting. Thank's for sharing.