The Life of an Airline Pilot

I have to admit that one of the great things about my job is that once I set the parking brake on that big ole' Boeing 777 jet I don't think much about it.   This leaves a nice amount of time to pursue other interests, even while technically "at work."   Plein Air painting while on a layover in Guam today makes an otherwise pleasant and relaxing day something that much more enjoyable and productive.

Even from a hotel room balcony one can paint.

Jeff Legg Taught Me Something Today

Recently I was asked how I learned to paint.  The answer is that I haven't learned to paint, I'm learning to paint which is a lifelong process.  I wish I had started a little earlier but it is what it is.  Having not had the benefit of a formal education in art, and not being geographically located such that I could study with those I'd like to study with, the real answer to the question is; via videos.   It is amazing to think that today we are able to watch and learn from living masters who we can paint along with in the convenience, privacy, and comfort of our own homes.  Imagine if Monet, Rembrant, Manet, Pizarro ... pick your master, could link up with you via video and allow you to paint along with them brush stroke by brush stroke.   That's how I'm learning.  Below is a phot of one my today's masters, Jeff Legg, painting in my studio (sort of) and allowing me to stop him whenever I feel like it so I can learn by mimicking, replicating, feeling, ... painting right along with him.   I'm not sure how Jeff feels about this but what he and about a dozen other artists are doing for me is invaluable.  Clearly I cannot call such a finished painting done in this manner my own.  But I can keep it, learn from it, and study it.   What I do is try to apply the things I learn from working by video with today's masters in my own work, which I have seen evolve and grow since 2009 when I started.  I am nowhere near where I want to be as a painter, not even close.  Most of what I'd like to be doing is being hampered by what I think is probably fear.  Oddly enough, the best paintings I do (in my opinion) are those that I just let go on and try to tap into something that just feels right... but I'm always afraid of screwing something up, of wasting paint, of wasting canvas, of failure.  I know intellectually that I should let that go, but it's there.  I suspect that with time it will get easier.  If you are interested in learning to paint there are so many great artists sharing via videos and DVDs.  They are too numerous to mention but if nothing else I owe a debt of gratitude to them, some are (and this is not an all inclusive list) Kathryn Stats, Jeff Legg, Elizabeth Robbins, Morgan Samuel Price, Mark Carder,  Dan Edmondson, Quang Ho, Joyce Ortner, Buck Paulson, Hall Groat, Matt Smith, Scott Christensen, Richard Schmidt,  David Leffel, Morgan Weistling, Zahoming Wu, and many more.  I have spent time with each of them and appreciate what they are teaching me.  Each has something to offer that will improve your work.   I think we sometime take for granted the privileges that technology can bring us.  There is no way that my work would be 25% of what it is today without having had the benefit of these videos.  Similarly there is so much at our fingertips making almost anything we want to do possible.  I can only imagine it will get better in the future.  So I guess the real answer to the question, how I'm learning to paint is, I study with all of those people listed above.  My hat's off to them.

Nim Liberated

Nim was painted for Bob Ingersoll who was featured in the HBO film PROJECT NIM (which I recommend).  Nim was the chimp who starred in that film.  Bob loved him very much, was one of his caretakers, and he has dedicated his life to improving the lives of primates.  It is Bob's intention to make reproductions of this painting and sell those reproductions to support the work of chimp sanctuaries here in the USA; The Center for Great Apes, Chimp Haven, Save the Chimps, Wildlife Waystation, and Primarily Primates. Bob plans on making giclee prints in both paper and canvas.  He plans to sell them on the store site: www.nimchimpsky.net in the next few months.  Bob is a good man and I salute him.  

 Nim Liberated 

20" x 24"  oil on canvas.  

The actual Nim was a bit larger.

Carrie

Our good friends, Jim and Evelyn Hall recently lost their dog, Carrie.  This painting of her is for them.



Carrie
11" x 14"
oil on linen panel

Avocados, Teapot, and Vase

As I previously mentioned, my mom was ill last year and was taken care of by Dr. Gustavo Fernandez at The University of Miami's Sylvester Cancer Center.  Dr. Fernandez' compassion was only outdone by his Physician's Assistant,  Elizabeth Fontao.  Elizabeth loves avocados so this will be for her.

Avocados, Teapot, and Vase

6" x 8" 

oil on linen panel