A Few New mid September Paintings

Here's a few things I've done in the last week or so.

The first is a small "palette cleanser" using some of the darks and earth tones left on my palette at the end of an evening. Seems I've been painting a lot of pinks and purples recently. And that's fine.

Sunrise in the Hills (6 by 8, oils on canvas panel)

The next is a larger more tropical scene using brighter happier colors.

Tropical Shores (16 by 20, oils on canvas)

The last is a small semi-abstract color study.

Two Trees (8 by 8, oils on canvas panel)

After a year and a half of painting, and copying lots of other artists' styles, I finally feel like I am starting to develop a style of my own. I'm not there yet by any means, but baby steps....

GV Football - Game 4 vs Upper Darby

Garnet Valley football went to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Central League with a 61-12 win over Upper Darby. We have outscored our opponents 199-40.

QB Max Busenkell was 7-7 for 211 yards, 2 TDs and a passing 2 point conversion, all in the first half before being pulled for the second and third string. We've been watching GV football for about a decade now, and I don't ever remember a more consistent and effective passing attack. We generally run. And run. And run. And then run some more. This year we actually throw the ball, and with deadly efficiency.

It also seems like our star running back will be back from injury in the next week or two. He's been out since the second play of week 2.

From the band's perspective, we have now played "When the Saints Go Marching In" a total of 31 times in 4 games (29 TDs and 2 safeties).

Next up is a road game at Strath Haven, also 4-0, which may well be for the Central League title, despite only being week 5 of the season.

Fingers crossed.

Abstract Sunset #1

It's the end of the day and the house is quiet. Grace has had her friends over and they are gone. Julia is done her Penn State football watching, and they won. Amp has watched her US Open women's tennis final. All is right with the world.

Having painted a lot of very small works recently, I wanted to do something larger. So I pulled out an 18 by 24 canvas and painted this. It took perhaps 30 minutes. Probably less.

Abstract Sunset #1 (oils on canvas, 18 by 24)

I think I like it quite a bit.

Squint, and then look closer.

I think I like it even more.

Weekend Painting

Getting home from the GV football win last night required some "cool down" time before going to bed, so I painted a pair of very quick beach studies.

The first is a 6 by 8 canvas panel similar to what we see at the shore in Avalon every year. The shoreline is far too regular, but that can be easily fixed. I'll try to remember to post an "after" picture...

Beach in the Evening (oils on canvas panel, 6 by 8)

The second is a more dramatic 4 by 6 "postcard" of similar theme. I am content with painting similar content multiple times in the hope that I learn something from each effort and get better over time. The wet sand is too dark of a purple color, but in general I like it. I won't ever go back and touch up a 4 by 6.

Beach at Night (oils on canvas panel, 4 by 6)

Today, I started a couple more things, one of which is shown below. It is yet another version of a path through the fields. Again, it's a learning experience. This one was more about painting a foreboding sky that anything else...

The Road Goes Ever On (oils on canvas, 10 by 20)

Eagles season starts tomorrow. The first day of the hopefully-long Jalen Hurts era. We shall see. Go Birds!

GV Football - Game 3 vs Marple Newtown

Our first scheduled home game, but second actual, was against Marple Newtown, who we played (and beat) in last year's abbreviated-season Central League Championship game.

Without our star running back, we were still able to beat the Tigers handily 42-7 in a somewhat dull game. We scored a little over a minute into the game on our first possession, and then allowed penalties and dumb plays to let Marple to take up most of the rest of the first quarter on a very long drive. We scored a couple more times, they scored once, and it was 19-7 at the half (extra points apparently aren't our strength this year...).

In the second half our defense clamped down, our offense was solid but not spectacular, playing mostly backups, and we got the win. I haven't seen the stats posted online yet, but our QB had another ~80 yard TD pass which was the biggest play of the game, and coming early in the second half, pretty much put the game away.

Drum Majors getting some last minute instruction (Grace at right)

This was the first game this year that our band wore their full uniforms and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it gave me a great deal of pride to see Grace in the Drum Majors' dress whites. Proud Papa.

From a football perspective, we are 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Central League, with a combined score of 138-28. From a band parent's perspective, with 6 more TDs and 1 more safety, we have now played "Saints" a total of 22 times in 3 games (20 TDs and 2 safeties). Not bad by either measure...

Shattered Skull Pass

As I've mentioned before, I like to mix in a fantasy painting for our D&D campaign amongst the other stuff that I am working on.

Tonight, I wanted to take one of the cheapo 10 by 20 Michael's brand basic "value" bulk canvases and start a beach scene for practice.

I did this instead.

Berith and Shattered Skull Pass (oils on canvas, 10 by 20)

In our D&D campaign, this is a view westward past the lakeside ruins of Berith toward Shattered Skull Pass and the Orinak Peaks beyond.

I like most of this as a first layer, with the exception of the woods on the near right side of the rocky ridge in the middle distance.

Running Before the Storm

The following is a picture of stage 1 of a new painting. I intended to start on an alpine landscape. I did this instead. Go figure... It's a 12 by 16 canvas panel done in oils.

Running Before the Storm (oils on canvas panel, 12 by 16)

There will be touch ups needed, especially with the lighthouse. But it's a good beginning.

GV Football - Game 2 vs Conestoga

Last night, GV Football played our second game of the season, beginning our Central League schedule. We were supposed to travel to Conestoga, but in the aftermath of the power outages, flooding, and water supply problems that came with the tail end of Hurricane Ida, it was moved to a GV home game due to issues with the Conestoga field and facilities.

The final score was GV 55, Conestoga 14. Our quarterback, Max Busenkell, had an outstanding game, especially given that we run the ball almost exclusively, completing 12 of 13 passes for 165 yards and 3 TDs (by halftime). That makes him 15 for 18 for over 300 yards and 6 TDs in two games...

Part of this air attack may have been caused by our star running back Shane Reynolds leaving the game after just a few plays with a sprained ankle. News after the games was good: low ankle sprain, no fractures, and expected to miss maybe 3 weeks.

From a pure football perspective, we are 2-0 with a combined score of 96-21. From a band parent's perspective, we play "When the Saints Go Marching In" for every GV score (TD, Field Goal or Safety), and after 2 games we have played "Saints" a total of 15 times (14 TDs and 1 Safety).

Go Jags!

Palette Cleanser 9/4/21

I've posted a few others like this... At the end of an abbreviated painting session tonight, I grabbed a 6 by 6 canvas panel and did the "what's left on my palette" thing.

I had Payne's Gray, yellow, orange, and a Charvin color called "Pink Shade" which is a dark purplish brown.

So...literally 5 minutes, and this is the result. [Try sitting back and squinting...it gets better that way]

Last Light (oils on panel, 6 by 6)

Tomorrow I want to start an alpine mountain scene (with composition planning and everything!).

August Paintings

As my often-impaired attention span dictates, I go through stretches of doing one thing, and then move to another, and another, etc... I had done a lot of painting in late spring/early summer, and then didn't lift a brush in the six weeks or so leading up to our week at the shore in early August. For whatever reason, coming back from the beach inspired me to pull out the paints and brushes, and paint. A lot. Here are a few of the things I have done over the course of the last month. (Another post will have to cover the rest)

The first is a 9 by 12 canvas panel with a scene of a path along a stream. Revised from the version posted a while ago. I try this kind of scene often for a couple of reasons. First, I like the subject matter. Second, I don't do water well. Colors are off, too much blue, and not realistic enough. I am OK with just about everything in this work but the stream, which is pretty important in the composition. Keep practicing... [When this dries, I will have another go at touching it up, and I will post the results to see if I got closer to what I wanted]

Path Along a Stream (oils on canvas panel, 9 by 12)

The second is a 9 by 12 stretched canvas with another scene of a path along the shore of a lake, with distant hills in the background. Also revised from the preliminary version posted earlier. This is...better. I think.

Lakeshore (oils on canvas, 9 by 12)

The third is a 9 by 12 canvas panel indulging my penchant for painting scenes that are evocative of our Dungeons and Dragons RPG games. This is a scene of a vibrant red and orange sunset behind Blackthorn Keep.

Blackthorn Keep (oils on canvas panel, 9 by 12)

Lastly, a tiny 6 by 6 canvas panel of the kind that I often do when I get to the end of a painting session and ask myself "what can I do with the excess paint left on my palette?" The answer is generally something like this, a simple impressionistic sketch done in a matter of minutes. As I have noted before, there is something free and spontaneous about these little sketches that I sometimes find lacking in some of my other paintings.

Distant Lakeshore (oils on canvas panel, 6 by 6)

Anyway... Practice, practice, practice. Be accepting of the fact that you will probably get "meh" more often than you get "I like that!" And don't forget to appreciate the moments when you do get that feeling of "that's pretty good!"

It's a process.

Atmospheric Perspective Study, part 1

I'm not the best planner when it comes to my painting. I sat down Thursday evening to do a simple practice sketch of atmospheric perspective and color mixing. Mountains receding into the distance.

Desert Mountains, block in (oils on canvas, 16 by 20)

Then I got to the point where I realized I should actually try to make a painting out of this since I had used a 16" by 20" canvas (albeit a cheap one).

Desert Mtns, adding foreground (oils on canvas, 16 by 20)

So now I am stuck with trying to figure out how to backfill a composition in the bottom half of the canvas when all I had really paid any attention to was a first layer of blocking in on the top half.

Desert Mountains, sunset sky (oils on canvas, 16 by 20)

Not sure where this will end up, but I may be able to salvage something out of this. More to come...

The Last of Its Kind

For pretty much all of both girls' school years, we have had a tradition of taking a picture in the kitchen on the first day of school right before they leave for the school bus (or to drive in these days).

There is a front shot.

Grace, Fall 2012, 3rd grade

And a side shot.

Grace, Fall 2012, 3rd grade

Julia is done school and this is Grace's senior year. So for one final time...

There is a front shot.

Grace, Fall 2021, Senior Year

And a side shot.

Grace, Fall 2021, Senior Year

I'm not sure if it makes me more happy or sad to see them grow up. Happy. I guess.

Marching Band (Football) Season Begins!

Last night the Garnet Valley football team (and marching band) kicked off Grace's senior season.

We always begin the season with our one non-Central League game, and Coach Ricci likes to schedule the toughest competition he can find in order to test our team, which for much of the last decade has been the cream of the Central League. Downingtown West (DW) has been on the schedule several times recently, being consistently one of the best programs in southeastern PA over the last bunch of years. They routinely have a number of division 1 recruits, which is something we don't. In 2019 we opened with DW and hung tough for a while before their combo of a division 1 quarterback and division 1 receiver put the game away. We then went undefeated through the rest of the season and (I think) three rounds into the playoffs before losing to DW again in the divisional finals.

Drum Majors' addresses, last night of band camp

So this year, we were scheduled to start with an away game at Downingtown West... We went into the game with the knowledge that we were believed to have the best team we have had in years, maybe ever, but we were still not expected to win the game. DW is huge, with 4 of their 5 offensive linemen over 6'4" tall and 250 pounds. We just don't have that kind of size.

What we do have is tremendous coaching, a great system, and a whole lot of heart.

Loading the band buses, game 1

We took the opening kickoff, ran 3 plays for a first down, and then broke a Shane Reynolds 61-yard run off right tackle for a touchdown one minute into the game. He simply outran the field. We kicked off, and on DW's first play we tipped a pass attempt straight up into the air as it left the quarterback's hand, picked it off and ran it back for a touchdown. 14-0 good guys 97 seconds in.

We run the ball. A lot. But in the second quarter, our QB completed 3 passes (out of 5 attempts for the game). These 3 passes happened to be touchdowns to Sean Gallagher of 76, 24 and 52 yards. [Our QB's final stat line for the game was 3 for 5 for 152 yards and 3 TDs - not a bad average of 51 yards per completion...]

It got real quiet in the stadium with our Jaguars dominating every phase of the game, and leading 34-0 at the half.

Then came the good stuff. The band. We are a smallish band of ~105 members (including color guard) this year, and aim to be as good as we can be without being fanatically serious about it. We welcome all...

It's hard to describe the pride that I felt as the band marched onto the field for their first abbreviated halftime performance with Grace as one of the three drum majors. In the picture below she is the taller girl on the viewer's right as they march onto the field (among the 3 in white socks and shoes). [Some day I'll learn how to edit the video to make it fit the upload limits...] It's early in the season and ridiculously hot and humid. We will wear the casual uniform of show shirt, khaki shorts, black socks and black marching shoes for the first 2 or 3 games, heat depending, before we go to the full uniform. Drum majors have white shoes and socks.

Garnet Valley HS Marching Band takes the field

The second half was fun. We scored on another Shane Reynolds TD run in the 3rd quarter to go up 41-0 before our backups allowed a garbage TD early in the 4th quarter, and then holding the ball on a 9+ minute drive to grind out the clock.

I'm still basking in the afterglow of the win. DW was considered to be the number 1 team in the whole area going into the season, and we completely dominated them in every aspect of the game. Hopefully we can stay healthy and continue to play well. I don't think motivation will be an issue. Coach Ricci, who has been our coach for a long time and is a GV institution/legend (for building us into the program we are) has announced his retirement following this season. So this is his last team. I think they will maintain their focus.

As for the band, we have second and third movements to add to the show. Nine more games. Hopefully playoffs. Three competitions. Hershey at the end of the year. It should be fun.

There is also the ever-present reminder in this as to how fast time is passing. Grace and her best friend took this picture in 9th grade. A freshman saxophone and a freshman clarinet...

Grace and BF, 9th grade

...And then recreated the same picture last week, as a senior Field Major and a senior Drum Major.

Field Major and Drum Major

She's enjoying it. But I'm not 100% sure I am ready for this and all that will come throughout the year. The last high school everything for our little girl...

Tonalist Landscape

It's been busy these days with work, two weeks of band camp, and other assorted obligations, but I have managed to find the time every now and then to squeeze in some painting time. This evening I took a break from attending band camp and helping out, and did this tonalist landscape after dinner.

Fading Light (12" by 12" oils on canvas panel)

Once again, the photo doesn't really do it justice, but I'm pretty happy with the painting. It's a 12 inch by 12 inch canvas panel, painted in about an hour with a limited range of Charvin Fine Oils.

My hope was that this would give an impression of a landscape in fading light, leading to a distant body of water under a dramatic sky. It got at least somewhat there, I think....

Two Small Sketches

The first is a desert trail scene (at left). 4by 8 inches on a canvas panel, in oils.

Desert Trail (4 by 8)

The second is an abstract landscape, 4 by 6 on a canvas panel in oils.

Abstract Landscape (4 by 6)

Both were fun and took less than 10 minutes each. I didn't have much more time than this, but at least I got to play with paint... 

Mid-August Update

Lots of stuff going on these days, and not much time to keep the blog up to date. That being said...a quick mid-August update. For those few who stumble upon it...

For our first out-of-the-house vacation in two years, we spent a Monday to Friday at the Windrift in Avalon, NJ, a place we have been to a half dozen or so times in the past. The kids liked the beach and the pool. I liked that it was cooler and more overcast than usual.

Avalon NJ beach at evening

Two weeks of band camp commence this coming Monday, and with Grace being a Drum Major, I am very much looking forward to Grace's senior year in high school. And dreading it at the same time. My baby girl is on the verge of going to college... Sigh. But I am jumping ahead.

As far as painting goes, after six weeks or so of lethargy, I have begun painting again. This feels good. The following are all first-pass works in progress, with more layers to come once the first layers dry. Be kind...they are works in process. Also, I am still struggling with the "too good" camera issue, but I am too lazy to put much time into figuring it out...

A lake through the trees. 8 by 10 stretched canvas in oils. [in process]

Lake through the trees (8 by 10)

A stream through the fields. 9 by 12 canvas panel. [in process]

Stream through the fields (9 by 12)

Sunset behind the trees. 5 by 7 "postcard" canvas panel. Painted as a practice exercise limiting myself to a 5 minute sketch. These quick exercises don't always produce the best results, but are valuable in terms of trying to focus on colors, forms and overall impression.

Sunset behind the trees (5 by 7 "postcard" in 5 minutes)

Maybe I will add some commentary on the cluster-f%&$ that is the US peoples' response to Covid. Or maybe not. Suffice to say, working in healthcare, I find myself shaking my head many times each day when reflecting on the situation we continue to face. We have effective vaccines and many people not willing to take them. So we all continue to suffer. And likely will for some time. I selfishly hope that none of this prevents Grace from having a somewhat normal senior year, but.... Let's hope for the best.

Saint Zantil's Monastery

Every now and then, I like to take a break from trying to paint a "serious" picture and take the time to paint a fantasy scene; generally something related to a Dungeons and Dragons campaign location.

Saint Zantil's Monastery (work in process)

In the semi-post-pandemic era, a few of us have started to gather and play an in-person D&D game, and after returning from a week in Avalon NJ  yesterday, I painted a few shore scenes (more on that later), and then felt like painting something fantastic. So this is that. A location in our game that the players have not been to yet, but may have reason to go to in the near future. Or not. Either way, it was a fun and quick little painting. [12" by 16" in Charvin oils]

When the base layer dries I have some touch up and detail work left to do...

Tidal Flats

The below is a 12" by 16" canvas panel depicting a view across reed fields and tidal flats to the distant treeline beyond.

Tidal Flats

I've been enamored with pink and purple evening skies recently...

George N Parks Drum Major Academy

For four days this week, Grace was fortunate to be able to attend the George N Parks Drum Major Academy at West Chester University. This is a nationally renowned drum major and band leadership course that just happens to be 15 minutes from home. Our band parents association sends our drum majors to this camp every year, and fortunately this year they were able to conduct the camp in person. Last year's drum majors weren't so lucky...

Grace (far right), drum majors, percussion student, and our Director

There were kids from schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Virginia, California and many other states.

These were long days, starting at 8:30am and running until 8:30pm or later.

Grace met kids from a bunch of different places and made friends with drum majors from several different states, including her squad of 6 people, which won a conducting competition in her grouping of a dozen squads.

I'm very much looking forward to this marching band season...

Home Renovations

For over a year, we haven't gone anywhere, or done anything. On the one hand, this sucks. On the other hand, we have saved enough money to do something we have wanted to do for a long time: replace the flooring in the remainder of the 1st floor with hardwood. So that's what we are doing.

Fireplace...Before

We have torn out the old brick fireplace surround and replaced it with a simpler slate surround. This is in preparation for hardwooding the rest of the 1st floor.

Fireplace (after), with new flooring

The flooring project, scheduled to take 3 days, is moving along on schedule. It's nice to finally do some of the things we have been wanting to do for a long time...