The Art of David Boyd, Jr.

8/31/2015 10:26:14 AM

Tomorrow I start the 30 in 30 Painting Challenge started by Leslie Saeta. This is the second time I have participated with artists from all over the world in this event, but I have done it on my own accord several times. You can click on the link above to participate with us or see the interactive map of artists all across the country who are painting along.

I use these challenges to do just that, lay down a challenge. Last time it was just to do 30 small 5x7 paintings. It was a raging success and they all sold. This time I am challenging myself to do 30 plein air paintings in 30 days. I have a few locations planned out and I am hoping to do several pieces a day starting tomorrow, so they may not be posted every single day during the 30 in 30 unless a get a great start tomorrow. All of the pieces will be for sale, so keep an eye out, they move fast!

The 30 in 30 is for everyone... you don't have to sell your pieces, you don't have to post them, you don't even have to finish all 30! Maybe you have never painted 5 paintings in a month, much less 30... then set YOUR goal to do more than 5! 

Every time I do this challenge, something shakes loose... I learn something, or figure something out... but mostly I am just proud of setting a goal and finishing it AND having a fat stack of paintings when I am done!

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8/24/2015 9:22:10 AM

I am teaching a color theory and mixing class this weekend at my new "school." This is a trial run but hope to announce soon the the Studio School at Three Hearts Farm outside of Chattahoochee Hills will become a reality and we can host and teach workshops on painting, drawing, photography and writing... or whatever we want!

This is my studio palette (before and painting). If I can remember, I will post a photo AFTER a painting. I cleaned up nothing, it is what it is. I have an old desk and covered it with a custom piece of glass, 1/4", polished. That is sitting on masonite which gives it a nice warm brown color to mix on. I love mixing on glass and it is easy to scrape dry paint off of. If you have never mixed on glass... YOU SHOULD!

I don't always have all of these colors out at one time, I prefer to limit my palette as much as I can, but I have built in room for expansion... obviously.

Here are the color details: (L to R)

Warm White

Titanium Buff 

Radiant Blue

Kings Blue

Radiant Red

Flesh

Naples Yellow Light

Radiant yellow

as for the radiants, I either lean to the pure color radiants or I lean towards the other grayed mixtures like kings blue, flesh and naples yellow.

Cad Yellow Lemon

Cad Yellow Medium

(I usually have the earths at the far right, but sometimes I insert for convenience)

Yellow Ochre Pale

Raw Sienna

Some type of orange... tubed or mixed

Permanent or Cad Red

Transparent Oxide Red

Alizarin Permanent

Cobalt or Dioxazine Violet or a mixture

Cerulean Blue Hue

Ultramarine Blue

Permanent Green light or a mixture

Warm and cool gray plus my gray pile

Black

Raw Umber

Burnt Umber

Transparent Oxide Red

Raw Sienna

Yellow Ochre Pale

As you can see, I use a lot of palette knives, but I lean towards a few favorites. 

My solvent is always Gamsol by Gamblin and 99.9% of my brushes are Rosemary, but I have a few Escoda and Silver Grand Prix mixed into the batch.

As for brands of paint, I use them all (maybe another blog post about specifics!) My main pigments are Winsor and Newton, Gamblin, Michael Harding, Williamsburg and Utrecht. I also love Vasari, Rembrandt and Lucas for specific pigments.

There she is in a nutshell, let me know if you have any questions, I love to answer them!

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8/20/2015 10:20:08 AM

At the beginning of our summer trip up the east coast to beat the heat, one of our first stops was a few nights with two amazing ladies that Julie and I hold in very high esteem. They invited us to come stay for a couple of nights at their hideaway on Martha's Vineyard. Their hideaway is a longstanding summer recharge for these two who spend their days writing, reading and enjoying all that the island has to offer. We were honored to be invited to encroach and enjoyed every second of their island.

Our first day was spent at Manemsha... the ladies sat on the beach and I did my usual bumbling around until I stumbled upon something that grabbed me by the booboo. I wasn't super happy with this piece until this week. I unearthed it in a pile of paintings from the summer and sat it out and it kinda grew on me. I felt like it needed to be shared!

Hope you enjoy!

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8/16/2015 10:54:48 AM

I like pretty much love fog any time any where. I like how it amplifies the space between objects in a way that we don't often get to see. It was more captivating in Maine for many reasons, but the biggest being in the shapes of the trees... not in this particular painting, but ones to come. This is also the first in a series of small studies and larger studio pieces to be inspired by the road... quite literally.

There are times when certain subjects speak to me and I am really only interested in exploring that subject... obssesively. The theme of "roads" seems to be the flavor of the month for me. Meditating on this theme, I can think of many reasons why this visual may be in the forefront of my mind... because we drove to Maine and back? Probably. Because I have semi-retired from teaching full time to begin a full time art career? Perhaps. Because We are expecting the birth of our first child and everything is going to change? Most likely.

Day in and day out for almost 18 years my life has been about the same things, but not any more. A new path has emerged and I cannot wait to see where it goes. After all, it is all about the journey, not the destination. Here's to the open road!

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8/15/2015 10:22:14 AM

Julie and I spent 3 glorious weeks in New England, 2 of them were spent in Port Clyde, Maine. Every sunny day was spent outside painting. This piece was done around the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse and painted en plein air. I love painting these 1:2 ration canvases. It really mimics the way we see as humans but you still have to be careful not to paint 2 painting on one canvas. I have done it several times!

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