Thursday

The family got back from Sweden last night, flight was delayed by an hour so they all seemed very tired.  It's good to have them back, although all of them are out playing with friends now, it would seem the call of peer pressure far exceeds hanging around Dad. They have a lot to catch up on with friends.

I worked on this small painting yesterday and today, another reading pose with Felicia in Sweden. I'll send it off to Mockingbird Gallery once its done. With the crit session tonight I'll hear about any small changes that need to be done and finish it off tomorrow. 

Richard Boyer 

Tuesday

Well I showed the image to the Orthodontist via an email attachment and his feedback was that it needed a few changes to fit in to his childhood memories.  Sometimes these kind of commissions can be a problem, because the memory of the client is never that clear when you are trying to re-live it in a painting. 

He remembers more beach, so I moved the tide out a little to reveal more sand. He also commented on less vegetation on the dunes. I've painted in Denmark before and there is actually quite a bit of dune grass on the hills of sand.  The children are not quite as he remembers with respect to the ages, so I shot back an email requesting the ages of all figures involved.  This might make it easier to work from if I can at least get the sizes of the kids right from the age.

The boat painting is also nearing completion; most likely a couple of days to the side will tell. I'll bring it to the crit session on Thursday and see what they say.

Richard Boyer 

Friday

We had crit session last night and I bought out the Orthodontist painting.  Small changes to the clouds and water were done, a few flowers here and there and some highlights on the grasses. 

Now it would be the time to email the image to his office so he could preview it and maybe give me some feedback on any changes he wants. But alas I forget, he is a successful doctor who doesn't need to work on Fridays. The office is closed, so I will have to wait until Monday.

This other little 9x12 painting I changed a few clouds around to give it more movement in the sky. 

Richard Boyer 

Thursday

It was nice to paint something that didn't require so much careful detail. Trees can go basically any direction and nobody would be the wiser. I'll need to let them dry a day or two before painting all the mast lines in.

Richard Boyer 

Wednesday

Well I survived my birthday, mixed emissions and all about turning older. That and taxes I guess one never avoids. 

This painting I have been working on is turning out to be rather complicated with all the angles in the boats; taking it's time to complete. I'm several days into it now.  Tomorrow I'll start on the background trees which will be a relief from all the detailed work on the sailboats. I should be able to cover more ground as they say. Maybe next month I'll be on to the masts and rigging. 

Richard Boyer 

Sunday

It's my birthday today, "another day older, another day deeper in debt", as the song goes! I guess when you get to my age you wish these damn birthdays would just go away and never happen.  But life goes no and there is nothing I can do about it. 

To celebrate Bastille Day I have some close neighbors organizing a party for me this evening. Along with the country of France, we too will be raising our glasses.

The day before yesterday I started a 24x36 of Wilson Harbor in Western New York, this view I saw with my parents as they showed me the shore of Lake Ontario. And with Southam Gallery on a roll here I figured they could use a new larger boat painting. So I started a loose block in of three boats.

Today I defined the hulls more as they meet the water. One of the key points to a successful painting is how accurately one can capture the angles of the hull as it meets the water and also the top deck. It basically has to be right on or else it will look odd with the boats not sitting well in the water.

Richard Boyer 

Wednesday

We have been having these monsoon rains coming through the valley here in the afternoon, seems around four o'clock the thunderheads build up and let loose a torrent of rain.  Nobody is really complaining much about it since we need the water and it does cool things off a bit. They say its going to dry up here for the next few days with temperatures back up in the triple digits and then the monsoons will come back later in the week.

This morning I finished off the small Wilson Harbor painting I did back in New York; keeping it all rather misty.

On cloudy days you can really push the color on the boats.

Richard Boyer 

Monday, July 8

Today I finished off the one 12x16 I worked on location with artist Caesar Citraro in Michigan. Just a simple boat painting for Southam Gallery. With the recent run on sales they are saying they need more, so its time to get back to work!

I'll take it through the crit session on Thursday to see what they think.  I remember the day we were here it was a little cloudy, so I changed it around a bit and added some sunlight.

Richard Boyer 

Sunday

Rejected from the American Impressionist show in South Carolina.  Once again I didn't make it into the club…maybe next year.  The let down will last a few days and usually forces me to try and get better at painting. 

As if I really have any other choice.

I worked some more on the Orthodontist's painting, blasting in four figures per request. This will need a little more refining during the week and then I could present him with an image to see what he thinks.

Richard Boyer 

Wednesday

I had a spark of interest on this painting I did in Patoskey, a view from Bill's Farm they call the spot. Well a couple were watching me paint it for a bit and requested an image of it when done.  So here it is finished, we will see if they are interested in adding it to their collection. This is one of those "artist favorite painting areas"; Caesar Citraro, the local turned on a bunch to the spot and now many artists have painted this same vantage point.

My version is most likely number 10,000. something!

Richard Boyer 

Tuesday

I'm back in the heat again. There is something a little depressing about record breaking temperatures for the next week. Today is suppose to be 104 with tomorrow at 105 degrees. I could fry chicken on the road here in front of the house!!!

Western New York was struggling to stay in the low 70's

Well I blocked in a new 18x24 beach painting today. This is where the Phycologists steps in to say the artist is just trying to escape form reality by painting a cool beach scene. In this case the piece is actually a trade to my sons Orthodontist for a few years of expensive braces. The painting reminds him of his summer vacations in Denmark as a child, and for me its saving my bank account a few thousand.

Richard Boyer