R. Davies Art

The opening on November 29th went perfectly. I went into the show with three paintings pre sold to a collector who is very shy and asked to visit the studio before the hanging. He was smitten by four paintings, one of which was not to be in the show and purchased them on the spot. Bless him. The night blazed on with an additional eight paintings selling! Eleven out of twenty-five found homes on opening night. Here are a few of the paintings that sold: Birch Trees 9x12 oil on linen mounted on board. Please forgive the quality of the photo. Rainy Douglas 13x 24 oil on linen Sold while my back was turned. Purchased by a poet. Rural Stop 9x12 oil on linen on board This is one of my faves. Summer Light 9x12 oil on linen on board This was done from my porch. The light was fleeting and awesome. Hopper Car 9x12 oil on linen on board Couldn't resist the name. I've been told by an expert in Hopper paintings that my wo...

For a print of this painting click here! Here is the finished piece started in the previous post. This is a particularly striking piece that harkens to French Impressionism. The Orpheum is a wonderful old theater currently under renovation. That process is far enough along for it to host movies, music, and a few live shows. This past weekend, it served as the main stage for the Tallgrass Film Festival. Nothing impresses young filmmakers like an extremely beautiful theater. Built in 1922, it was the second example of the "atmospheric" school of theater construction in the world. The interior is designed to feel like one is in a particular outside setting. In the ceiling of the theater, lights are imbedded to give the effect of stars. The overall effect sought was that of an Andalusian garden. It seats 1200 and the acoustics are perfect. Here is the lobby. Gorgeous. Here it is from the balcony. Another shot from beneath the balcony. ...

The show will be a large one with over thirty pieces. The opening is on October 25 at the Jones Gallery. Part of the proceeds will go to Positive Directions, an AIDs relief organization. This painting is in progress. I've achieved the initial sketch-in and am working it with an eye towards capturing the feel of French Impressionism. It is very small at 10x8. Most of the pieces in the show are similarly small at 9x12. My goal was to produce as many plein air sketches as possible and finish them in the studio. I've not been as good at that as I'd like, but you do what you can. I pretty happy with this one and can't wait to finish it.

Some time ago, I purchased a sketch program for my iPhone called, unambiguously, Sketchbook. While playing around with it, I came up with a strange couple of bunnies who are a bit more bad than one would think possible for cute rabbits. As I continued the series, you can see my increasingly dextrous use of this program. Essentially I drew these little gems, which amuse me endlessly, with my finger. In this first cartoon, the rabbits have kidnapped some fellow. I'm not sure why. As you can see, I'm simply drawing in black and white. Towards the end of the sketch I discovered how to add color, hence the ears. To me, the look of confusion mixed with fear is hilarious especially when juxtaposed with the bunny's dead pan look. The anthropomorphism we thrust on other species is lamentable. We want to see ourselves in our pets and in wild creatures, but if you have spent much time observing animals, their normal non-excited state is one of inscrutable blankness. Then there...

The Anchor 28x26 Oil on linen. --SOLD This lovely painting was fun to produce. It is of a bar located on a fairly busy street and for the angle I wanted, I would have put myself at risk from traffic had I set up my easel where I needed to. So, early on Thanksgiving morning (though this is actually set at sunset), I set up my easel with a large drawing pad in the street. Traffic was nearly non-existent. I drew it sight size, took a few reference photos and later transferred it to the linen in the studio. For the sunset effect, I used a number of reference photos at various times to get the right light for the neon sign. In the process of exploring design and color possibilities, I realized I would need to forge my own sky, and eventually decided that gradating the light from near pinkish-white to a dark evening cast of blue would best convey the brilliance of the sign without losing the impact of the sunset. This had the added effect of creating a path for the eye to follow fr...

Rainy Douglas SOLD There is something positively plaintive about a rainy day. This stretch of shops with its lone car really pulls at my nostalgia thread. The most difficult part is not the wet street; it is the compression of values to be seen in the windows at the left with the warm tones fading into vague structure. Rather than try to exactly represent these, it is best to leave much of that to the imagination. Every person has their very own prop department in their brain. When I say, "fireplace," you conjure up that prop from your back rooms. If I suggest it is large, you fill in the details and make it large. When you have a passage in a painting that is vague, your brain will feel a sense of mystery, a curiosity, and it will figure out what it thinks best represents reality. Almost every passage in a painting that is in shadow or very dim light, needs only the vaguest suggestions to render an image (think of any Rembrandt painting). Remember, at night, our eyes use...

Hilton Head. 16x24. Oil on linen. SOLD. Loved this composition. Getting up to capture the sunrise on Hilton Head is HARD. I am not a morning person. I will say that the diner we stopped at afterwards was amazing. A little place where the locals hang out, they served a wonderfully greasy breakfast. Combined with the jet fuel coffee, I found myself awake and ready to go. Wish they had been open earlier.

Ford Douglas. 30x24. Oil on linen. $1760--SOLD. This painting was one of the hits of the Diver Studio show and sold recently. I really like the combination of realism and sketchy impressionistic techniques which give it a real depth. Most beginning painters feel the need to render each and every part of the painting at the same level of detail. This is always a mistake. The star of the show is the focal point. All else must be subservient to that star. The Ford in this painting is rendered in near photorealism, a technique that is not that hard; whereas, a sketchier rendering is far more difficult because it must look natural and it must convey the sense of the objects in the painting without falling into the uncanny valley. Sounds like an old horror film, doesn't it? The concept of the uncanny valley is that on a sliding scale from completely abstract to exactly realistic, on the side of exact realism there is an area where just being slightly off in drawing or values causes ...

Tanya--24x32--oil on linen--SOLD Here is the latest portrait delivered last week. Tanya is a restauranteur who loves her Olive, the pug in the portrait. As the dog is very old, she decided to get them together in a portrait. It is a good one I think.

Mead's Corner 16x20 Oil on linen. $640--SOLD Is that too simplistic? Art makes me happy? Who cares. I produce art that is original, striking, interesting, and in the tradition of realists such as Hopper and Rembrandt and Courbet. The mere process of painting causes such happiness in my heart that I often think it may be a controlled substance! After peering over my shoulder, I see no drug sniffing dogs and I continue with my bliss. I've been at it since I was 16, producing plein air paintings, portraits, and even the occasional abstract. I've had only three shows in my life. The first was at the Wichita Art Museum. Strange that. I've always managed to sell my art directly. I'd start to build up an inventory in order to seek placement in a gallery and suddenly they would start marching out the door in the hands of happy buyers. A great problem to have. Grant 20x24 Oil on linen. SOLD My portraits have been a staple for me. I love doing them and seem to have ...