A Couple of Apples and a Pear Painting

A Couple of Apples and a Pear

I painted A Couple of Apples and a Pear today alla prima on a 12x12 deep edge canvas.  I really had a grand time with it as I hadn't painted with oils in several weeks and what a pleasure it was.  I paint with acrylics during the fall because of the faster drying time and need the product for our shows.  This little still life is one of several I photographed when I did the set up for the Fruit Under the Lamplight painting.  This is the third painting out of that setting.  I hope you like the results.

Merry Christmas,
Jimmie@jimmiesart.com

The Black Daschund

The Black Daschund is an orinal acrylic painting on a 10x8 inch stretched canvas.   The original is for a good friend of mine, but prints are available.  I have been using red backgrounds for my canine paintings to push the subject forward and be the royalty most of our pets become.  Hope you like the painting.
Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Pears Go Together With Apple

Pears Go Together  With Apple, Acrylic 6x8 Inch Canvas Hardboard

I enjoyed this little painting as it has a nice combination of earth tones and bright color.  This concludes the series of still life settings on the small format of 6x8.  At least for now, as I want to do more still life paintings on larger canvases similar to the scene with the lamp and fruit: "Fruit Under Lamplight" that I did last month.  It is posted on the blog also.  Maybe I can sell it at the show in El Campo this weekend.  I think it would really look good in Mama's kitchen, what do you think?

I hope you like the painting.  Email me if you would like to purchase.  It is easy to do through PayPal.  You don't have to have a PayPal acount to use your credit card for a secure purchase.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Fruit Under The Lamplight, Original Painting

Fruit Under The Lamplight, 20x16  Original Acrylic Painting

Fruit Under The Lamplight a 20x16 painting done in acrylics. The inspiration for this painting is from the Bible verse Galatians 5:22 "...The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..." and the lamp represents God's light.  This is a 20x16 on a gallery wrapped canvas.  The edges are painted for hanging without a frame.  This painting would make be great for your fine art collection or as a gift for someone special.


I set up a small area in the studio to shoot still life scenes to paint from.  I went to the market and bought fruit, scrounged around the house for a platter, and cleaned up the heirloom kerosene lamp and took lots of photos of various singles, doubles, combos, and magnum arrangements  of fruit and the lamp.  It felt  good to plan a scene, set it up, and make it happen.  It was also humbling in that it is like going to the candy store and picking out more than you can eat.  I chose the biggest and most diverse of the scenes which really taxed my painting abilities and it took me much longer than anticipated to finish it.   On the bright side, I learned more color mixing tricks and how to paint clear glass objects.  Challenges are a painters best teacher.  Hope you like the story and the painting.

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

Pelican on the Waterway

SOLD

I finished Pelican on the Waterway today.  It is acrylic 20x16 on a stretched gallery canvas with the edges painted black.  I feel real good about this one.  We took pictures of these fellows last November at the Matagorda, Texas harbour on the inland waterway.  This was another scene I knew I would get on canvas someday.  Eleven months later, here he is.   I could never get all the detail of his plumage like it is in the photo, just tried to make it reasonably close.  Same with the rocks and the nice bit of flowers that he was behind.  The light and shadow is strong in this painting as it was mid day when we took the pictures.  I hope you like this big bird.  I really enjoyed painting him.

Let us pray before we paint,

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Lemons Go With Blue

 Sold

"Lemons Go With Blue" is an orginal acrylic painting I did yesterday on a 8x6 inch archival canvas.  I really enjoy playing with primary colors especially when contrasted against darker earth tones.  This painting also utilizes strong brights and deep shadow to make it pop.  Hope you like it. 

Isn't it great that the Chilean miners have been rescued!  What a miracle.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie
jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Guarding the Nest

Another freestyle painting, no photo, no sketch, just brush it in.  Guarding the Nest is in acrylics on a 8x6 archival canvas panel.  The painting is protected by a clear satin finish top coat.  

The inspiration for this painting is from watching our Red Birds in our yard and observing their habits.  They are a family oriented bird and are very close to each other.  The male is the bright red while the female is not a brilliant in color.  If you see the female on the nest or near by, you can rest assured that the male bird is within several yards hidden in the trees or brush watching over his mate.  We have watched the males feed the female bird many times.  They also have a very pretty song and sharp schrips to call each other with.  They like to build their nest in our brushy foliage in the front flower bed.  They are quite skiddish, especially when we have the camera out.  LOL  We have really enjoyed watching them.  I hope you enjoy the painting and this little tid bit of news about our red birds.

Let us pray before we paint,

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Lighthouse Series, Winter

SOLD

Another little lighthouse painting done freestyle: no photo, no sketch, just brush it on.  This one is an acrylic alla prima on a 8x6 inch archival canvas hardboard.  I like doing these small seascapes to experiement with color and depth of the compositions.   Contact me if you would like to purchase a giclee print of this light house.  See more light house paintings.

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Little House on the Creek, Original Acrylic on 8x10

This is another free thought and freehand painting.  I like to do these with a bit of folk art blend.  Peaceful and no barriers.  Just the paint, a little music and me.  This is on an 8x10 canvas and is mounted on one of our floater frames that is also made in our studio shop.  This photo of the framed painting turned out a bit brighter than actual.  Also, the colors seen on different monitors may vary a little from the actual painting.  I hope you enjoy the painting.

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

Little Texas Barn

Original SOLD

This is my first acrylic painting for the year.  Little Texas Barn is a small format alla prima painting of an imaginary field of blue bonnets leading the view up to the barn and windmill.  This is a free hand piece brushed directly on the canvas. No photo or sketch used.  The canvas is a 8x6 inch on archievel hardboard mount.  I used the portrait layout to give the idea of distance for the landscape.

Email me if you want to purchase prints.
jimmie@jimmiesart.com
jimmiesart.com

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

Blue Heron Taking Flight, Original Painting 11x14

This great blue heron is about to take flight in the Matagorda, Texas wet lands next to the Colorado River.  He was well over 100 yards away when I took a chance photoshot and got lucky enough to hit the target.  His image came out fuzzy and very small on the photo.  I enlarged the image and increased the contrast enough to paint from.  This painting was a real drill in painting the light and shadows to create the shapes and make him look realistic and a lot different than a fuzzy spec on a photograph.  There are pros and cons among artists about using photographs to paint from, but I could never have painted this fantastic scene without a camera and also a whole lot of luck.  Taking Flight is on a11x14 stretched canvas.

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

Texas Longhorn in Bluebonnet Field, Original Oil 12x18 Inch Canvas

 This is an original oil painting on a gallery stretched canvas.  I painted a portrait version of this longhorn a few months ago and was wondering what it would have looked like if I had done it in a landscape with bluebonnets.  Since the other painting sold, I figured that was enough incentive to paint him again in the landscape setting.  I used both palette knife and brush to do the painting. I enjoyed painting him.  I hope you like the way it came out.
Sold

Let us pray before we paint,

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Stretching My Wings, Original Oil Painting

 Sold

This is an original oil painting of a hummingbird stretching his wings. My wife took  this unique photo of this little guy playing around in her flower garden.

The hummingbirds are very active at our place.  Carolyn has two feeders in the front flower bed and one in the back yard.  They circle the house at sonic speed and the aerial acrobat antics are so intertaining.  They will migrate next month and we will miss them when they leave and be anxious for their return.
I hope you enjoy the painting.  Please tell your friends about the web site.  They might want to  buy you something for Christmas.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Roseate Spoonbill Party, Original Oil Painting

This oil painting is of Roseate Spoonbills feeding in the wetlands of Matagorda, County Texas.  The painting is on an 8x10 inch stretched gallery canvas.

Roseate Spoonbills are seen frequently along our Texas coastline marshes and usually seen together in groups.  This painting was inspired by a photo taken by an artist friend of mine which gave me several photos of the spoonbills to paint.  These beautiful birds are rather skiddish and he had to crawl through the wet and the weeds to get these great photographs.   I hope you like the painting.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Note:
Also, if you like my painting, I would appreciate it very much, if you would tell your friends about my blog and website.  As you can see, I do not have outside advertizing on my blog and sites.

Somewhere There is a Lighthouse, Original Oil Painting

Somewhere there is a lighthouse.  This oil painting is 6x8 inches and on canvas archival board.  Being an old sailor I love the water and all that goes with it, boats, the fish, beaches and far horizons, and especially lighthouses.  I painted the Hawaii Diamondhead last week and was still in the mood for painting a seascape, so I borrowed a little of the last composition to paint this lighthouse out of my head to put emphasis on the far horizon and more beach.  I had no restrictions, just the paint and brush.  A fun painting.  Hope you like it.  If you wish to purchase email jimmie@jimmiesart.com.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Just as the Lighthouse guides the mariner in the darkest night, our lord and saviour, Jesus Christ is always here to love and guide us.

Meet Monique, Original Oil Portrait

I have been working on this portrait off and on for over a month and finally finished it.  You may want to look back at the previous work in progress posts of this painting to see the stages of progress to get here.  The painting is on a 14x11 stretched canvas.  I hope you like the way she came out.

On the easel:  another small lighthouse, roseate spoonbills, and a longhorn steer.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

A Seagull Moment, Original Oil Painting, 9x12 canvas

This is a plain and simple painting inspired by a picture we took in the marina at Palacious, Texas located on Matagorda Bay.  As you can see, this perching spot is well frequented by the gulls.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Diamondhead Lighthouse, Hawaii Original Oil Painting

This is the lighthouse on Diamondhead volcano in Ohau, Hawaii.  This is an alla prima oil painting on a 8x6 inch archival canvas board.

The inspiration for this painting goes back to my navy days during which we were living in Eva Beach, Ohau.  On one of our exploring trips we went to Diamondhead and took the picture with a cheap box film camera.  I remember having to climb down the side of the valcano to get a good shot of it. The lighthouse turned out very small.  Had no zoom lens.  Well, a young sailor couldn't have afforded one anyway.  Anyway, I first painted the lighthouse in 1974 and still have it today as one of those to look at.  We ran across the photo last week and it had faded a lot.  I scanned it into photoshop to enlarge it enough to work with and used it as reference for this painting.   After I finished painting the lighthouse, I looked it up on the internet and found a lot of information is available about the lighthouses in Hawaii.  I was happy with my work on the painting after looking at the other photos of it on the net.  For the distance away from the lighthouse the old camera picked up enough detail to paint from.  I painted what I saw in light, form, and shadow taking some artistic license with it and I think it came out pretty good.  What do you think?  If you would like to purchase this painting email jimmie@jimmiesart.com .

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Dogwoods in the Night, 12x16 Oil Painting

I posted this painting on April 10, 2010 but recently felt that I hadn't taken the painting far enough, so I broke out the bushes and added some more to the background. I also found a nice frame for it.  jimmie@jimmiesart.com if you would like to purchase this painting or other works.
Contact me at 

Let us pray before we paint,

Jimmie

Finished Sequel Portrait of Damon, 14x11 in Oil

This one of my grandson Damon has been on the shelf for a couple of weeks.  I finally had a chance today to put in the final tweaks and call it finished.  I hope you like the way he came out.  Email me if you would like me to do one of you or your family.

Our fourth of July was great.  We had good food and celebrated our declaration of independence in remembrance of the sacrifices made for us to be and remain a free nation.

God Bless America,

Jimmie

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Damon, Oil Portrait, and Teaching Art

 

Finally finished the demonstration portrait tune-ups.  I had hoped to get it done and posted sooner, but the work I started on my little fishing boat ate up more time than expected.  Also, I have started working on training materials in preparation to teach art classes.  A workshop for learning to paint portraits is in the planning stage.  Hopefully, we can get it started this summer.  I am excited about the possibility of getting to teach art.  I was an instructor for many years when I worked in power plants and I really miss training and helping others learn.

Email me if you are interested in attending a workshop or taking art lessons using oils or acrylics.  jimmie@jimmiesart.com  I hope you like the way the painting came out.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Portrait Demo Pics

Some of the pictures taken by Raymond at the El Campo Art Association Show on June 5, 2010.  These four are typical of the demonstration.  I used a photo of my grandson Damon as a model to paint from.  The first pic is the start adding color to the underpainting sketch.  I started out not noticing I had given him a lazy eye.  It was pointed out to me halfway through the demo, thank goodness.   In pic 2, the group had gotten smaller and became more interactive.  I really enjoyed their enthusiasm.  People browsed the art in the competion and revisited us during demo to see the progress.  We discussed the portrait, paint, brushes, and anything else folks was interested in.  I had planned to be there for one afternoon, but they gave me the opportunity to demonstrate on the next day, so I came back on Sunday.  Pic3, I even changed my shirt for the second day.  LOL Pic 4, this is as far as we got with the portrait.  His lazy eye was fixed and the skin tones reached a reasonable valve at this stage.

Thankyou El Campo Art Association for enviting me to participate in your show. 

Jimmie

Demonstration For El Campo Art Association

This is as far as I got with the portrait demonstration for the El Campo Art Association last weekend.  We had a great time.  The group actively participated with me as I painted.  I also brought some other materials and tools of the trade in which we spent quite a bit of time discussing.  The art submitted in the show competition was exceptional.  I liked all of it.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish the portrait during the demonstation but was able to demonstrate enough technique to show what the basic steps for painting a portrait consists of.  I will continue to work on this painting to make corrections and add layers until it is finished.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

This is an oil portrait of my lovely wife Carolyn.  It is painted on a 14x11 stretched canvas.  I plan to paint another one on a 20x16 if I can get her to sit for me rather than use a cropped photo for reference.  I know absolutely nothing about how a woman combs their hair.  I just tried to go with the flow I saw in a couple of photos and hope for a soft realistic look.  She is ok with it, that is what counts.  As you would expect, I spent extra time on this one.  The blouse and jewelery were done more impressionistically.  I did go back and brighten the eye lights a bit more after this photo was taken.  I hope you enjoy the painting of my lady.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Work In Progress, Oil Painting of Damon

I got this far today on a 14x11 work in progress of my grandson Damon.   The work was wet on wet and needs a bit of drying time before finishing.  This is one of two that I will be using Saturday for a demonstration session at the EL Campo Art Association show.  It will be open to the public from 2pm to 6pm at the Civic Center on North Hwy 71.  I will be painting in the room next to the art exhibit.  I will start another painting of Damon in another pose to show a start and use this one to show a finish.  Anyway,  thats the plan.  LOL  I hope you like the progress on this one.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie Bartlett

Memorial Portrait Finished of SnoJo McCall

I finished the portrait of my wifes's sister, Snojo McCall.  The painting is in oil on a 14x11 inch stretched canvas.  I tried to capture her liveliness in this painting.

SnoJo McCall that passed away four years ago.  Snojo is a Christian and was a very dynamic person as she made an impact upon all who knew her.  She tutored and encouraged students to learn to read and created a special program for those needing help in learning to read.  After her death, the B.F. Terry High Scholl of Rosenberg, Texas kept the program going and in her honor named it the Sno McCall Project.  Sno's reading program is still at work today.

I hope you like the painting.

Jimmie

Portrait of Sarafin, 12x12 Oils

I made more progress on the portrait of Sarafin today than I thought I would.  This was a fun on to work on as I wanted to keep the mood of the painting upbeat to match his personality.  The painting was done alla prima  and I hope he will like it.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Portrait of My Grandson

The portrait of Dane is finished.  The final tuneups do not show up significantly on this photo, maybe that is just as well.  By request, his curly hair in front was put in.  And, some skin tone shadows were fixed.  I like the way he came out.  I plan to paint him again, maybe for graduation.  Thanks for looking.

Let us pray before we paint,
Jimmie

Work In Progress, Portrait of My Grandson

This is an update of the progress of the painting I am currently working on.  Portraits are so neat to work on.  So much to learn.  There are many small differences in people's faces that make us all unique.

I am getting closer to finishing him.  Right now I am zeroing in on making the eyes and lips as accurate as I can get them.  Also a few areas on the face need work to correct my mistakes and correct values of the skin tones.  I don't like the left chin shadow.  Gotta fix that.  I like the back ground and will probably leave the t-shirt as is.  Comments are welcome.  What do you think of this?

Tomorrow, God willing, another day in the studio.

Jimmie

Work In Progress, WIP Portrait Study of My Grandson

I thought you might like to see a couple of stages of a work in progress.  This is an oil portrait on a 14x11 canvas that I started a couple of weeks ago and have been working on it in intervals with other paintings.  After sketching an outline lightly with pencil on the canvas, I used a thin mixture of burnt umber and turpenoid to build a grisaille monotone image using a large filbert.  I call it a rough in.  This is the first time I did a grisaille to this degree.  Usually, just outline the main features and hair, then start painting.  Building the monotone was fun and familiarizes the painter with the image features. It also provides foundation to yield a likeness quickly when the paint is applied.  I am still working the painting with layers of flesh tones and improving errors on the features.  I call these opportunities.  I see one already in  the lips.  It's easier to see errors sometimes when the photos are lined up side by side.  This is an easy correction I can do next session.

I will post the finished painting, hopefully soon.

Jimmie

Countryside Church, Original Palette Knife Oil Painting

This is one of my first attempts using a pallet knife to paint with.  Countryside Church is 14x18 on stretched canvas and heavily textured.  I used a palette knife to spread paint for the sky and then used a blender brush to smooth the sky somewhat.  The rest of the painting is entirely done with the knife.  I got real excited when I saw how smoothing the sky in the background really made the rest of the textured painting pop forward.  Email jimmie@jimmiesart.com to check availability/purchase via secure transaction using online PayPal. 

jimmie@jimmiesart.com

The Light House, An Original Oil Palette Knife Painting, Alla Prima

I painted this little scene today in about 3 hours on a 6x8 inch gesso'd masonite board with a palette knives.  This is no particular light house, just a derivative from my mind.  It reminds me of the lights of harbors that I saw when I was in the navy.

I wanted to try the knife on a small piece of work and this came to mind.  I had some paint left on my pallet from this weeks work, so I used what I had plus a bit more white.  I used the larger knife to spread out the sky and water to establish the horizon and switched to small knife for the detailing.  6x8 inches is a small area for me to paint, much less using stiff knives.  Although the small knife blade is the same thickness as the larger knives, it felt stiff due to it's short length and was harder to control.  Had more tendency to cut through the layers enstead of floating and blending.  I switched back to the larger knife whenever I could.  After I thought I was finished with the painting, I realized there were no birds in it!  We can't have a seascape without birds, so one more trip back to the easel for the birds.

It is going to take longer for this painting to dry because it is layered with thick textures, so I will not post it on ebay or take it to shows until it is ready to handle.  It is for sale.  Email me at jimmie@jimmiesart.com to check for availability.

The light houses guided lost ships to safe harbors.  Jesus Christ is my guiding light.

Jimmie

Dogwoods In The Night, Original Oil Painting

Dogwoods In The Night

This is an original oil painting on 12 x 16 inch canvas that I worked on today.  The background is a black green with some lighter greens blended in.  The canvas was still wet when I took the photo of the painting so some extra glare is evident in the picture.

The inspiration for the painting started several years ago when we traveled to Canton, Texas every month for the First Monday of the Month Trade Show.  The dogwoods are plentiful there and bloom early in the spring.  There is an artesian water well, just outside Canton on a country road, famous for its taste and is free to the public (was at that time).  Anyway, we would go get water there and the view of the dogwoods in bloom in the woods was beautiful.  We took several pictures of the trees and blossoms and I finally got around to painting them after four years.

Also, there is a legend that the dogwood was once large, but after being used to make the cross Jesus Christ was crucified on, it no longer grows to be a big tree.  The blossoms are cross shaped with two opposing petals shorter than the longer petals and the petal tips have a small red spot signifying Jesus's blood.  This is a shortened version of the legend, as I remember it, but you can find much more by googling the legend of the dogwood on the internet.

We did the Canton show for about eight years and stopped in 2006 when we started building a house.  We miss doing that market and have ambitions to go back sometime soon.   I hope you like this painting.

God Bless You,

Jimmie Bartlett

Brazos River Bait Camp, Original Oil Painting (Alla Prima)

This is an oil painting I did today of the Brazos River Bait Camp.  It is painted on a 6x8 gesso'd masonite board.  The camp is located in a bayou off the Brazos River in Coastal Texas.  There are many birds in the coastal wet lands of Texas.  Herons and egrets are plentiful and we often see other species such as the roseate spoonbill.  Farther down the coast in the Aransas Pass Refuge you might get lucky and see a whooping crane.  Also there is a new nature center near Bay City, Texas that has a lot of wildlife and birds which is frequented by bird watchers, photographers, and painters.  I hope you like this little painting of a piece of Texas.

Jimmie Bartlett

Flight Over Carancahua Bay, Original Oil Painting by Jimmie Bartlett

This is an alla prima oil painting of a Roseate Spoonbill flying over the wetlands of Carancahua Bay just off Texas Highway 35.  I painted the scene wet on wet technique on a 8x6 inch gesso'd masonite board yesterday.

Doing this painting brought back memories of when I was a kid fishing with my Dad in this very same spot.  We fished out of a little wooden boat with an old Johnson outboard on back. There wasn't any houses on the shoreline back then.  I haven't been fishing in several years but, Carolyn and I go down to the coast all the time, with cameras at the ready, and have just as much fun.  Sometimes we get lucky enough to capture something like a Roseate Spoonbill for me to paint. 

The painting has SOLD, but prints are available.  jimmie@jimmiesart.com .

I hope you enjoy the painting.

Jimmie Bartlett

Paintings of my Daughters

Oil Paintings of my Daughters, 14x11 Canvas,  Private Collection

I am a lucky man to have two beautiful daughters.  They took after their mother.

Jimmie

Texas Barn

Texas Barn, 24x36 Inches on Canvas

I painted this scene several years ago.  It has a bit of Texas Pride and of course, lots of blue bonnets.  I think I will paint some more flowers this spring.  Ya' think?  Anyway, giclee prints are available.

Blue Bonnet Farm

Blue Bonnet Farm

This is a section of the larger painting I did several years ago Blue Bonnet Farm.  This portion of the painting makes a nice smaller print.  I have giclee prints available.

Blue Bonnets Will Be Here Soon

Portrait of a Blue Bonnet

I am always anxious to see the Blue Bonnets in the spring.  This one was painted last year in oils on a 14 x 18 canvas.  Prints are available. 

A Red Rose for Valentine's Day

One of my favorite oil paintings on a 16x12 canvas.


Jimmie@jimmiesart.com

Go Paint,
Jimmie