Digital Diversions

I have been trying to keep up with technology by doing digital art. That is, I have been painting on a computer using a pen tool on a tablet or drawing directly on a tablet computer. Above is a painting I did in a computer program called "Painter Elements". It is a painting I did from a memory of walking from the Eiffel Tower to the Arch of Triumph in Paris. I used the smearing acrylic paint brush tool. One thing I like about digital art is I don't have to set up all my paints before I begin. And as long as the computer works I don't run out of paint. The cool thing also is that once I make the painting I can quickly come up with different versions or approaches to the subject. The key to making a good digital painting is knowing how to make a good painting using traditional mediums like watercolor, oil or acrylic. Actually the key to making a good digital piece is understanding the the principles of what makes a good painting. The computer is just a medium. So don't throw away your pencil. Click on image to see a larger version.

Below is another treatment of the same painting. On the menu in the paint program was an option that said "wood cut". I clicked on that option and the filter digitally created the linoleum cut print. Kind of cool. Either of these two Paris images are for sale for $20 US dollars plus $4 shipping. They measure 10" x 12.5". Contact me at ken@kenharris.com.

This "pen and Ink" Drawing I did with My Wacom tablet in Painter Essentials. It is a copy of an etching by Albrecht Dürer. It was a good study.

Also below is a sample of a "profile study" I did from the Artist magazine. An artist gave a demonstration of how to paint a portrait that was back lit. I drew this directly onto the screen of my Motion Computing tablet PC with a computer pen. At the bottom is another "tablet" drawing I did in a waiting room of my health care provider. I finished it up in photshop later. I have learned a lot by copying these exercises in art books or of the old masters. Mary Cassat thought it was invaluable to go to a museum set up your easel and copy the work of the old masters. I recently went to a small Picasso exhibit in LA. Even though I am not a fan of Picasso, I noted and learned something from how he did his brush work. 

2012 Watercolor Appointment Calendar Now Selling

For Larger View Click Ad Above

Sample Page

My new 2012 Appointment Calendar featuring some of my art that is on this blog is now for sale. This year I am giving a 13th month (January 2013) for free. It makes a great Christmas gift. The calendar measures 11" x 17" when hanging on the wall. The squares for writing your daily appointments measure 1 3/8" x 1 3/8" The calendar sells for $12. Add $4 shipping in the USA and $2 for each additional calendar. Quantity discounts are now available for those who have a lot of Christmas cheer or for those who want to give out to clients and vendors as a Christmas gift. We can even put the name of your company and contact information on the bottom of the page of each month. To order your calendar  or to inquire about quantity discounts. click on my email address below.
ken@kenharris.com

Acrylic

Huntington Beach Sunset

This is an acrylic painting I have done recently. Acrylic is an interesting medium. You have to work fast because the paint dries fast. The upside is if you make a mistake wait for the paint to dry, which isn't long, and then repaint over your mistake. This was painted on a 8' x 10' piece of plywood I had primed with with acrylic gesso.

Still Life

The Image above I painted with the class I am teaching at Vanguard University of Southern California. It is a still life made up of elements from my house. A Fiesta Ware pitcher, a pear and a chili and an orange from my yard. The painting is based on a painting by the Spanish painter, Francisco Zurburan (see image below). You can learn a lot as an artist by taking a painting you like from a master and copy the style into one of your own compositions. See link to learn more about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Zurbarán

Lemons by Francisco Zurbaran

New Daze

A few of these paintings I have done recently. The first is of Three roses in our back yard. I painted these early one morning before going to my day job as a graphic designer. I loosely put down color and then started peppering the paper with salt. Lots of salt. It added some texture. I'm going to try it again soon.

The schooner I did atop a 5 story building adjacent to Newport Harbor. I don't like heights. The only way I kept myself from freaking out was to concentrate on the painting. The Horse at Santa Rosa Road in San Luis Opispo County I did a while ago. I did it from a photo I took when I was there years ago. The next painting I did just recently at my brother-in-laws family farm in Dixon, Cailfornia. I saw these two old gum trees in the late morning and just decided to paint them. I took a lunch break and then sat in a green plastic patio chair and painted. It was like going back in time a bit. The weather was beautiful. Not hot. Not cold. It was peacefully quiet. Not something I hear everyday.

The next Painting I started on location as well in New Hampshire. I was standing by the creek and it was starting to rain. I used this painting as a demonstration at a Christian high school and finished it when I got back to California. The final painting I painted at a local historic park near where I live. It is an old California farm water tower minus the water tank and windmill which should be on the roof.

New and Old

Here is some new paintings and some old paintings. It is interesting how we grow in our thoughts and attitudes not only as a person but as an artist as well. The top painting I just finished. Once again it is a street scene in Aix-en-Provence. I'm not sure whether I am finished with the painting. I may or may put in some more foliage at the top of the painting to kind of "frame" the composition. The Sunset at Northern California Beach I painted about three weeks ago. It already has sold, but cards are always available. The second painting is a painting I did on location. It is from the "wedge" in Newport Beach, CA. I finished it my studio. The next painting, below, is once again painted from a photo I took in Aix-en-Provence. I finished it today. I call it Les Rues D'Aix. I keep wanting to paint France. Speaking of France the final painting has been painted by many artist. It is Sainte-Victoire painted by Cézanne a few times. Sainte-Victoire is right outside of Aix. The bottom painting is of the San Juan Capistrano Mission which is near where I live in Southern California. I painted that about 5 years ago. Double click on any painting to see a larger version.

As the paintings on my blog are for sale (unless they have already been sold). Prints are available as well as note cards that come 8 in a box for $12. I also do commissions. If you are interested you can contact me at: ken@kenharris.com.

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Re-Run?

Cassis Harbor, Provence

Many Artist paint the same subject more than once; in fact many times. For example Cézanne painted The Card Players five times (see sample below). It is normal for an artist to "study" a subject. Explore the subject by drawing or painting it several times. Many times a painting is better because it was done more than once. Sometimes the artist gets it right the first time. Some initial sketches seem to have more life, in my opinion, than the "finished and polished" piece. Above is my second painting of Cassis. If you go back through my blog you will see a smaller version, 11" x 15". This version is 18" x 24" on D'Arches cold pressed watercolor paper. Note to those who enjoy this blog. Most of my paintings here are available in card sets of 8 with envelopes. They are note card size. Contact me at  ken@kenharris.com and I can make you a set of cards. They are $12 dollars plus shipping.    


Below The Cézanne painting, The Card Players" Is another re-run that I did of Aix entitled, Les Rue D'Aix. I painted this in horizontal first. Remember? See an earlier post I made on this blog. Now I made it a strong vertical format. I hope you enjoy it. If you see a painting you would like to own contact me via email.

The Card Players, Paul Cézanne

   Les Rue D'Aix

Provence

Aix Street

Aix summer early evening

Restaurant in Saint-Marc Jaumegarde

It has been a year since we went to Provence. Wish I can go back soon. I also wish it wasn't such a big deal to get there. Anyway here are some of my latest paintings of Provence. More will follow soon. I have been doing a lot of watercolors adding pen and ink lately. I like the effect. I can do these paintings rather quickly which helps me to concentrate on the idea and total composition of the painting.  I see the painting as a whole. What I like about the Provençal restaurant is that not only is the food good, you have to go up a small dirt road to get to it. The Square in Aix is around dinner time. I would say 7:00 PM (19;00hrs). In the summer the sun doesn’t go down till about 9:45 PM . Finally the first painting, top, is a street scene. The morning light is coming from the east and is starting to creep down the walls on the building on the right. Double click any painting to see a larger view.

ART UPDATE

Tomorrow June 4 I will be in an art show in Irvine. This is my fourth year. So if you see this blog and you don't live in France or Sacramento come on down and see all the art. It is always fun. I think we take art for granted. Just think if there was no art in the world. Or the world was like the moon one color, grey scale. Everything we have around us man made from the design of your car to the junk mail coupons you get was designed by some human that liked to draw in school more than others. It gets crazy when you look at Rubens' paintings or the St. Remy paintings by Van Gogh. (too much pastis?) Man communicates through the visual arts, verse and song. It is universal. Here are a few painting more to share. Some old. Some new.

Link for Irvine show: Click Here

 Marche Provençal

 Allan's Truck

 Alabama Chicken Coup


Alabama Trees

Newport Harbor

Recent Paintings

 Some of the paintings below will be in my now extended show April 16 & 17. You'll have to come to the show to see which ones will be there. We went to Arizona a few weekends ago and I painted 4 small paintings. The painting of two cactus I did as a card for my wife Connie's birthday. The desert is much different than painting in California where I live. A watercolorist from the Tuscon area, who by the way does beautiful desert renditions, told me the secret to painting in the desert is understanding the light. That was a good tip. The desert is filled with stunning value contrast if we take the time to look. The last painting is another one from France that I did from a photo I took last summer. It is of the Mediterranean sea side town of Cassis. I rendered it a bit in ink first, then painted watercolor on top of that. Problem was the ink wasn't waterproof, but it did ad an effect. Hope you enjoy these paintings. Double click on any painting to see a larger version.

Spring Art Show

I will be having an art show in my house again Saturday April 16, 1-5 PM. This will be the second time I have had a show in my home. These shows are a lot of work for me, but also a lot of fun. It is amazing how art has a way of bringing people together. I am honored by all the people that come. This painting I did because I wanted to try paint all the piers in Orange county. This pier is the Balboa Pier down on Balboa Island. Below are more paintings that I will have in the show. 

The Second painting is from a painting in nearby Mile Square Park in Fountain valley where I live. At the time I painted it I wasn't sure if I liked it. But I pulled it out of storage and I actually like the tree because I achieved what I set out to do, which was to create a sense of space in the painting. I liked also the afternoon sun lighting up the trunk of the tree. 

The next painting below is a re-run. I painted it once before but on location on two separate occasions. It is a fountain at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, which is also in Southern California. The next painting down is the San Juan Mission. The place where the swallows go. Finally a little bit of fun in a painting entitled "Praise". I painted this for a painting class I took. I got my inspiration from Diego Rivera the Mexican Muralist. I was intrigued with the way Rivera described form by employing horizontal lines to represent the "core shadow".  I painted it with no direction or plan, only a concept and listened to Classical music. I hope you can come to my show.

  

Two Paintings

Here are two paintings I have recently completed. The first painting, Fontaine à Aix, I started last summer. I sketched in the design but debated whether I should put in figures. It sat unpainted for 6 months. I finally decided a month ago to place 5 figures to the right of the fountain. That did not work. The figures were competing with the fountain which I intended as the center of interest. So the viewer thought what is this a story about? is it about a lonely, serene fountain or a bunch of Italian tourists? Finally I  washed out four of the figures.

The still life I did with Chardin in mind. He was a French painter who is notable for his still life paintings. This was a project for my watercolor workshop at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California. 


DOUBLE CLICK the photos to see larger renditions. to see more work go to www.kenharris.com

Out of the Archives

Above are some oldies, but paintings I personally like. They were painted a couple of years ago. The Arno rover painting is painted on Yupo, a synthetic plastic paper designed for printing. Yet it does watercolor kind of cool. The painting of the park in Huntington Beach is one of many that I have done. I like the old gum trees (eucalyptus) there. They have such character and charm. And finally a small acrylic painting I did on plywood (8" x 10"). It is from the Cinque Terra region of Italy. My son (or daughter-in-law) took both of the photos in Italy which were the basis for the two paintings above. The park picture I most likely did on location. If you are interested in buying any of my paintings and they have not already been sold email me at: ken@kenharris.com. If you want to see a larger version of any of the paintings on this blog double click that painting.

Quick Watercolor Sketches

Above are some of my latest more abstract watercolors. Two of the paintings Crystal Cove and Cape Porpoise were painted from from photos I had taken on location. The painting of Mile Square Park At Dusk was painted on location last December. I was there with the class that I teach at Vanguard University.  It was cold and foggy. I was putting on the paint thick and it was not drying. I figured I would finish it at home later. Suddenly my easel collapsed and the water can that was attached to my easel spilled completely on the painting. It actually looked better. So I continued to work on it and did finish it at home. It was a good lesson for me to think about color and abstract patterns. I will discuss abstract patterns and what it means to a painting in a later blog. Double click on any image to see a larger version of the painting.