"Taking Out the Goats II"

This one was finished up a few months ago, but I never got around to posting it.
I did a 14" x 18" version of this, but in that one, the guy has a blue shirt. I wondered how it would look if I changed it to red.
I'll post the blue shirt one below too, in case you don't want to click over to compare them.



"Taking Out the Goats II", 24" x 30" oil on canvas, Frank Gardner © 2008
$3,400. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner


Below is a detail of how I massed the most of the goats into one big shape. The silhouette tells the story along with a few single goats along the edges.


Detail of "Taking Out the Goats II" Frank Gardner © 2008


The first one.

"Taking out the Goats" , 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2007

"Heading Home"

After a long day of plowing his fields, this guy and his team of horses is heading home.
He puts the plow up on an old tire and it drags along behind the team. I thought that was pretty clever.



"Heading Home", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner

I always have my camera with me when I go out painting but on this day I was caught without it. My daughter was in a school play that day and my wife had the camera. I was teaching a class and luckily Jane had her camera and took a few shots for me. I don't often paint from someone else's photos but I loved this shot and she was nice enough to let me borrow it for a painting.
Thanks Jane!

"Day's End"

I tried to get the same relaxed peacefulness of the last painting.
Different colors this time, but I think the mood is similar.



"Day's End", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection

"Quiet Passing"

This family with their animals passed by so quietly that I barely knew they were there.
The area is one of my favorite places to go paint. It is very quiet and peaceful, but there is always ambient noise going on in the background. Mexican countryside noise like mooing cows, barking dogs, a radio off in the distance or a passing train. It gets me in the mood to paint.



"Quiet Passing", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


As a side note. This is my 100th blog post on "My Paint Box".
Thanks for being part of it with me.
Your comments count so much and make me keep going.
I have seen a saying on a few blogs that I have visited that says
" Your Comments Feed My Blog".
It is very true.

"Mother Hen" and my palette

It has been a very rainy week here. I am working on several paintings in the studio. Here is one of them.
I was challenged by the subject being all in shadow. There was not a strong pattern of light and shadow to work with.



"Mother Hen", 11" x 14" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection


I enjoy seeing other artists palettes and the way they set them up.
I have shown my Open Box M setup on this blog before, but I dont think that I have shown this larger palette. The mixing surface is about 15" x 15". I use it on a table top in my studio or I can sit it on the drawer of my french easel.

Below is a photo of one of my home made palettes and how I have my paint arranged. I like to line up the colors along the left hand side. Since I am right handed, it is the easiest layout for me to grab paint with my palette knife. I always line my colors up from darkest to lightest. My little pile of phthalo blue is off to the upper right, out of the way, so it does not contaminate any of my other colors. There was not any on my palette when I shot this photo, but you can see the stain where it goes.
When I use liquin, I make a little pile of it at the bottom right.

The two sides are hinged and fold in to cover my extra paint for transport, and to keep it from drying out as fast. I keep my brushes on the tray on the right hand side and paint rags on the left hand side.

I sealed the whole thing with a few coats of tung oil to protect it, and it has a nice patina of oil paint building up on it. It is nice to have all the wood well sealed incase I get caught out in the rain.