Category Archives: artwork

artwork

Oil Painting: How to Do an Underpainting and Why

Can’t you just paint a canvas without an underpainting, yes, you can but…
there are reasons and things you might miss.

Blue Print of a Painting:

First, an underpainting will give you a sense of layout, color, tone and composition. You may eventually lose the underpainting but the initial process is figuring your place on the canvas, deciding how the elements and colors work together.

Oil Painting: Underpainting and Why you should do it-Original oil of Chickadees and Sunflowers

A Base for a Structure:

Just as you build a foundation for a house, an underpainting will give the paint a structure to adhere to. It fills in the canvas textures to the level you are planning-an underpainting gives a base much like priming a wall.

The difference in priming a wall and painting an underpainting is that the texture and flow of your strokes should begin at this state, it should not be an even paint coverage, it is all dependent on your style and stroke. You can learn alot about your creative vision through the underpainting process.

Magic of Colors:

This is truly the magical part….colors show through depending on your intent. You will lay transparent glazes over the initial underpainting and colors will begin to change.

Nature and painting is all about subtleties of shadows, the flickering of colors that either complement or repel- this subtle manipulation of overlayed colors and underpainting is how you create illusions that vibrate when the viewer sees the painting.

It makes a good painting a great painting because the artist’s soul and intent vibrates with the colors, tones and hidden keys that are all weaved into the overlay.

Enjoy the Process: With Intention

I would teach someone to enjoy the underpainting, it is the most free part of the painting. Try not to muddy it up but use very light and transparent washes of more medium than paint.

In this stage you can adjust, allow yourself the freedom to play, to have expectations of what colors will become when you overlay other washes.
Experiment with the layers of paint, the texture and the consistency of the oil.

The great thing is, it’s an underpainting. It will become whatever you want it to be. The painting is yours and yours alone, don’t fear the process. It should be as creative as the idea that inspired painting in the first place.

My next post will be about Oil Painting- DON’T BE AFRAID- it’s oil, more forgiving than Acryllics and definitely watercolor. YOU GOT THIS.

I have been creating original art in oil on canvas and pastel on paper. I want my students to enjoy the process. Creativity should not be something you have to work hard to be perfect-perfection is allowing yourself the freedom to explore-that’s where brilliance emerges.

For more on Teaching Painting

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New Original Pastels for 2025

An addendum to New original Pastels for 2025- I am a lover and follower of nature-Artbygordon is a celebration of the beauty and mystery-in recent weeks, I am realizing my purpose in creating these pastel pieces.

Aspects I’ve learned about Pastels-

This is a large pastel of the Grand Canyon-it is on white paper but the beginning I was relying more on the memory- I was working on depth and colors but the contrast begins to blend in if you work over the image too much.

My next pastel in the works is a smaller pastel and on red paper-the brightness of the pastel will jump out of the red more and I will be more meticulous in going only once over an area.

The image of spring is more the ideas that I’m planning- the colors are vibrant and immediate-no overworking and blending in-very raw. I’m also planning on an ocean scene on blue or green.

Grand Canyon sketch in Pastel-artbygordon pastels 2025
Grand Canyon Study in Pastel

Spring 2025-Pastel on Paper
Spring pond pastel on paper-Artbygordon

  1. The less you work an image the better: Work from life and get the details together without working up the layers-the tooth of paper takes a certain amount of pastel and then it is hard to overlay color.
  2. Soft pastels can overlay paper that has been overworked: it just takes more work to perfect.
  3. Before you begin a pastel, have a plan: Know where the lights and darks will be and accurately capture how they react by going from life.

A New Series of Pastels 2024-2025

New original pastels for 2025 will be added to the Fine Art America site soon. A new direction in Pastels on paper for Artbygordon: A study of light and shadow. Previous studies in pastel were more for the scene, capturing often an imagined scene or something I wanted to convey of places I had been.

The approach now is more of capturing a technique and taking the approach to see how far I can get adding light to a subject. I want the viewer to look at the work and not understand where the light is coming from. Every time I think I have accomplished this technique, another idea comes to me and I start another pastel.

The images of the light are all from one area on Scenic Drive in Rowlett, Texas-the light on Lake Ray Hubbard in the morning lights up the lake and you can barely see because it’s so bright. This intense brightness is what I have worked on creating in the these pastels.

Inspiration for Isolating light-Scenic Drive Rowlett, Texas

I am in the process of reviewing pastel brands.  I’m reviewing on brilliance, permanence and ease of use-Ie Sloppy, clean, soft or too hard.
Check out my blog

 

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2025: Creative changes for 2025

The end of 2024 was full of change, creative changes are in swing for 2025. Lots of elements all coming together with a purpose. I am working on launching a series on Artist to Artist-questions to the creative community from an artist.

I believe we all have a very common mechanism that affects creativity with many intricate differences we could all learn from.

How do you navigate the beauty of seeing the world with sensitivity and a craving for beauty.

Creative changes for 2025: IGhost Cover
Ghost Cover

Not only are there similarities in how we view the world but the feeling of being creative often has the same obstacles and advantages for many and I aim to document this from artists of all mediums, backgrounds and stages of their careers.

R.L. Clayton has published his latest book- IGhost and we have already had two podcasts about our story of working together to create a library of books. See other BookedUp

Another podcast is in the works- and a featured page on Magnificent Authors–

Creative changes for 2025: Featured author spot
Featured Author Spot

I am in the process of bring old pastels and paintings back to life and really enjoying the experience. 2025 looks like it will be a year of growth and change.

 

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Art Happenings Now

Art Happenings Now- a page to share what is in the works- I am excited about joining Biafarin and Cafe as well to showcase my artwork. I am in the process of getting more engaged in the community and have signed up for Artist’s League of Rockwall.

Sketch of horse-original art on paper
sketch of horse

I have just recently participated in the Paint Rowlett Contest and won a third place and purchase award for my laughing gulls. I have been in this competition for the last few years and have previously included sketching and oil paintings. The sketch of the horse won an honorable mention in a previous ceremony.

Laughing gulls in black ink on paper
Original ink on paper of laughing gulls-sold -paint Rowlett

Painting specifically for a contest is a whole new way of creating. I love the difference in how the inspiration develops into original art.

Art Happenings Now - Cancer 2024 never give up

Window of Hope 2024 Pastel on paper- 12x18To Check out the exhibition. Art Happenings Now- what is currently in process for my art, etc.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAl5AbGyNhx

Hi all;

My artwork named ‘Rise from Turbulence: Window of Hope‘. It is now being showcased at Cancer – 2024 exhibition. A show organized by Gallerium and powered by @Biafarin platform.

To learn more, please visit:

@biafarin #biafarin #biafarinart #StevenLinebaugh #Illustration #biafarinonlinesales #onlineartsales #buyartonline #onlineart #artonline #onlineartgallery #sellart #sellartonline #onlineartshop #onlineartstore #onlineartexhibition #onlineartshow #onlineartist #artmarketing #artmarketingservice #Gallerium @galleriumart #galleriumart @linebaughsteven

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Milkweed, Chess, Social Media – LIfe Lessons

 Milkweed, Chess, Social Media – Life Lessons
Milkweed-Chess-Social Media: A pastel from the Desert

Milkweed-Chess-Social Media-Life Lessons

The pastel is a new pastel but the original inspiration was from a cross-country trip to California in 1989. I have two previous pastels of the same area and still have not captured the image I remember.

Often a picture takes a while to form, much like learning certain processes. Self-taught in most of my creative endeavors, it has taken many years to perfect my vision, technique and the ability to capture perspective.

Painting is on hiatus lately, in fact today I tried painting a cardinal Christmas ornament and it was a futile attempt. I believe the in-between time of mental block or lack of creativity is when we are in the valley of the learning process.

First we receive the information, next we digest it, when using the newly found logic, it is awkward and what is usually second nature becomes difficult because of the learning process.

Only after the knowledge and technique becomes second-nature does it turn into instinct instead of learning, this is when we have accomplished understanding.

Playing Chess: Learning Curves:

I have been playing chess and have been losing terribly to even players with smaller ratings and yet I lose miserably. I believe it is because the knowledge of new moves and understanding has to be perfected in the mind before it becomes second nature.

FIrst you question, then you experiment with what you think is the answer and only after the answer is engrained in your instinct is it actually a learned process.

The Process of Falling Down, Learning, Repeat

Some of the best lessons are learned from failing, trying again, failing again and only then realizing the process. I have been growing Milkweed from seed, first I failed with the seedlings until I learned what was killing them, than I failed the secondary plants that grew from the seedlings-I am just now realizing the process and understanding the why’s and how’s of gardening from seed, milkweed can be quite finicky.

Learning is a process, it can’t be rushed, it must be met with patience and a desire for the final outcome. Once we understand our failure, only then can we find the greatest success.

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A Lesson In Art and Perspective

A Lesson in Art: Distance and Perspective: There’s a cavern in California called the Moaning Caverns. My son and I explored it on a trip to California,  when him and I were much younger. So what does the cavern have to do with a lesson in art and Perspective?

You can fit the Statue of Liberty-minus the pedestal- in the first and largest single cavern space in California but looking up you would never have imagined the space to be so large.

Lake Texoma: Distance and perspective
Lake Texoma: Distance and perspective

What is missing is perspective, large to small rocks, colors, etc-you know the distance is there but there are no cues to prove it to your eye. In creating art with depth, you also have no cues to explain  distance and allow the viewer to truly experience the space you’ve created because it is on a flat dimension.

Have you ever photographed a great expanse of a landscape and you couldn’t understand why the results were less than spectacular compared to how it  looked? It all has to do with cues that explain distance and perspective.

Pastel on Paper: Rowlett Texas
Pastel on Paper: Rowlett Texas

Art Lesson: Visual Cues act as Tools

In art you have several tools to explain to the viewer what you are trying to describe:

Color: The change in color denotes distance.

Value: The shades of color, intensity, etc. all show the viewer there is distance and gives the image its perspective.

Perspective: The eye sees images that get smaller as they sit further back into the distance, giving these cues give the viewer the dimension that is really just an illusion on a flat canvas.

Converging elements: To further support perspective-a line that moves through your image allows the viewers’ eye to go where you intend them to go and experience the image and the artists’ intention of space.

A work of art is much like an illusion a magician creates, the control and the process in which the Artist leads the viewer through the flat image will allow the viewer to experience a painting as it was intended.

HOMEWORK: Photograph an expansive landscape with no thought of perspective or color, etc. Next photograph the same landscape only instead choose  a dominant image to showcase and allow that image to lead the viewers eye into the photo-make a note of the difference in the final product and share your experience.

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From a Canvas: Getting Back to Painting

Getting Back to the Canvas

A Disturbance of Birds

A painting about a suicide in a field. I wanted the sudden disturbance of the birds to be a warning. I am still working on finishing this piece.

From a Canvas: Back to Painting – I wouldn’t trade being creative for anything but there are parts that can be a curse. If you approach it with the wrong attitude, it can be frustrating. I am writing a book about the process of finding happiness and contentment when brain chemistry has a mind of its own.

My biggest obstacle is knowing where to start. Do you write poetry, prose, paint something or go disappear and photograph for a while. The problem is the desire to do which doesn’t always align with inspiration.

Pastels Just Beginning Again

Sometimes the image happens. There isn’t always a clear and perfect image in mind and that’s okay. This pastel is of the city at early evening. I wanted the lights reflecting in Lake Ray Hubbard to show  movement.

Lake at night

Creating without inspiration is like painting a wall. Push the paint back and forth, end up with a solid color with no intricate shadows and detail; not exactly creative.

When the inspiration meets the desire, suddenly the paint does its own thing, you can be in another room if it weren’t for the hand being your vehicle for painting. The photograph finds its own light and models itself a composition that was already in place before you found it.

This painting sat on my easel for quite a while. I just recently finished it and it will be a news item soon. I have had a very intense and productive pastel series in recent months.

Even more interesting is how words create their own, without thinking of the right word or seeking a rhyme-it just writes itself. The feeling is euphoric and being unable to get into that feeling is where depression, mental block and so much frustration begins.

Allow the Inspiration to Grow

The way I handle this process is to realize you are exactly where you need to be at any given time, what needs to be written, painted, etc. has not formed yet. The panic you feel is you’ll never have that amazing feeling again and a hopelessness grows.

Realize depression, anxiety and frustration are all part of the process of discovering the next work and it will be already developed because through all the empty moments, it was slowly developing itself.

If you consider yourself just a lightning rod to the inspiration and a humble steward to explain that which might be as simple as a flower or something that could potentially change the world or at least the world of an audience that receives it, you may find hope in the darkness.

Tan Dog

I believe creativity is a great burden that we are given to explain things in a different way-there goes my humility, but I do feel we have a responsibility to be true to the vision, honest with its execution and without preconceive intention.

That which we create is no longer ours, it is the property of the viewer. The audience, will discover it and make it their own from their own experiences, I don’t believe the creative needs to explain their intention unless the viewer wants more background, art is in the viewers eyes.

City lights

It’s been a long time, I feel like I’ve been knocked down, floundering on a canvas, this is my moment of getting back, picking up my tools and describing what has been developing for far too long.

 

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First Published on 12/12/12: Sunflowers: Inspiration

Sunflowers pastel

Inspiration : Evening Sunflowers
What I loved about this pastel is that the image was almost directly from memory but it was so clear. I saw it and created it quickly. I don’t often get that satisfaction to create with spontanaety.
Sunflowers are a favorite flower of mine. I have raised them for many years, they are very photographic and bold. I need to do a post on sunflowers-photos and paintings. Standby.
Sunflowers on Fence
This is a large pastel inspired by the image of a single light illuminating an upstairs room at a nearby townhouse in Rowlett-actually the scene was pretty much unchanged only simplified.
I felt a feeling of haunting when I first saw it. I wanted the viewer to question the scene-who’s in the room?-there is a mystery about a window in the darkness. The sunflowers brings your attention in and lead your eye along the fence.
 
Sometimes images create themselves and all the artist does is capture what they see-parts of the scene are simplified or exaggerated for the effect and to control the eye of the viewer and how they perceive the scene.

What the Artist Sees and Shows the Viewer

What is obvious to the artist is not always what the viewer will see-they make their own impression from the image and hopefully a hint of what the artist inspiration remains in the final rendering.
 
Below is the second in the series, again a very large pastel. Each of these include plants that are my favorites in the garden, the sunflower and the passionvine-each are symbolic in their own right and although I don’t often paint flowers, the ones I choose tend to be significant to me-either I have them in my wildlife garden or they have a symbolic meaning to them.

Passionvine is Another Favorite Flower

The passionvine represents Christ, although there is nothing specifically religious about the bottom painting, I like the passionvine for its uniqueness and symbolism.
 
I still feel like both of these will probably be revamped as paintings. My initial image of the bottom pastel was originally darker and the passionvines stood out larger and more vibrant. I kind of got lost in the clouds, I will paint probably a smaller version of it with larger flowers, a less awkward smaller house and a late evening time frame.
The following images are more sunflower paintings that have been created since this initial group of paintings.

Blogger article on Sunflower Painting

Here are some photographs of the sunflowers, both in my garden and on the road.

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2018 a Productive Year

Many new avenues of creativity

 

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Original photography by artbygordon and text by artbygordon-image from Lake Ray Hubbard

It’s been a productive year but it’s also been very stressful. Chasing after your passion can be very intimidating, it is not the norm and it doesn’t fit into the stereotypical life.

Many times you are out on the limb but actually you are doing what you always said you would: daring to embrace the extraordinary life. The freedoms I have experienced this year have allowed me to find great bits of nature all around the DFW area.

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Puddle outside in April: Original photography by Artbygordon

2018 I feel like I have truly found my niche. Nature has always been my inspiration but I am find more options for not only the light interaction but abstract patterns. April brought the rain and I was out finding images to capture.

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Original photograph from Parkhill Prairie in Blue Ridge by Artbygordon

I have truly become a solo hiker and have spent much time finding excuses to go back to the places where I used to run insurance appointments. It is a liberating feeling to be able to photograph and explore alone and having much time to reflect on what exactly a photo by Artbygordon looks like.

Light and Describing Its Intricacies

I am increasing my interest in finding light in the bleakest days. There is no time or place where the richness of light speaks to me than when it is unexpected.

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I finally made it to the Frank Buck Zoo. I’ve also had many trips to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, Parkhill Prairie, Sulphur River and the Caddo Grasslands in northeast Texas.

Every place I visit I find new nature subjects and learn more about their habits. I watched cliff swallows dig for mud on the sulphur river and watched them build their nests while I searched for fossil Belemites.

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Sulphur River from the river bottoms, original photography by artbygordon

This whole year has been a learning and growing experience for me, staying up to date with video, graphics and even 3D imaging, I continue to grow my craft while exploring avenues in Photography.

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I Illustrated my first children’s book with R.L. Clayton. I have also worked with a local leader to get her marketing materials for her new church she is gathering: It has truly been a blessing as I continue to grow my small but loyal group of clients.

Blue Bonnets in the Spring

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Ennis Bluebonnet Festival original photography by artbygordon

I got back to the Bluebonnet trails in Ennis and the bluebonnets were quite amazing. It’s amazing how many people go down to see the spectacle, the hardest task was not to let the people steal the show. It was a wonderful afternoon.

April and May were busy as I continued to work freelance while traveling to places to gather photography. The brand is growing and I am developing the look and feel of the site.

Nature Remains my Muse

The one thing that has never changed and will never change is my interest and passion for nature. It is my solace and keeps me grounded. I am planning on traveling much more in 2019.

Featured image

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Random acts of creativity: Where Inspiration meets kinetic

Spider web February 1, 2019-I celebrate the intricacies of nature and artists creating beautiful things Artbygordon copyright 2019

Random acts of creativity: Picture the most euphoric state you can imagine; the birth of a child, flying down a ski slope or a rollercoaster or the view of an awe-inspiring sunset and realize how transient that state is. This is what creativity is for me.

It is when everything aligns naturally and suddenly the strange riddle you’ve been deciphering becomes completely discernible. The riddle is inspiration-I equate it to craving something to eat but not quite able to decide what you are craving.

Honey Bee January 19, 2019-I love how light isolates and creates a moment in nature- Artbygordon copyright 2019

Photography: I have experienced this state of clarity in each medium I work with. My photography used to be, a love of landscapes which weren’t always available to shoot depending on the quality of light and time of day.

I would find an abstract pattern in nature but the image never quite meshed. In a landscape, you can plan for shapes and composition allowing lines to create depth and dimension for the viewer but how do you explain objects and make them have interest to the viewer.

Redbud February 1, 2018-I celebrate the intricacies of nature and artists creating beautiful things Artbygordon copyright 2019

So many attempts failed because I was missing the crucial aspect of the image-it wasn’t the shape, it wasn’t the color, instead it was how it interacted with light.

you just know you’ve captured something beautiful and the excitement is that transient state of seeing what’s invisible and showing it to the viewer.

Artbygordon 2019
Duck January 2019- This is from a series of images that shows loneliness and solitude-Artbygordon copyright 2019

As I continue to see nature beyond the larger scope of a landscape, the isolated image becomes more clear. I find myself noticing, even in the flattest, blandest afternoon light how something evokes an emotion or at least interest from a chaos of details.

After I shoot a landscape or an object, sometimes you just know you’ve captured something and the excitement is that transient state of seeing what’s invisible and capturing it for the viewer.

NEXT Post Creativity in Painting: Pushing Paint