Red Storm, 18x24, Oil on Canvas, Auction Item (retail $1830)
It's that time of year again! The (Fred) Oldfield Show is happening this weekend at the Puyallup Fairgrounds.
The red tulip at the top of this post (Red Storm) is slotted for the Major Piece Auction. You may have seen me working on it during last years show as my "demo". That was me starting a painting, showing a "bit" of the process at a public event.
What you didnt see was the work that followed in the privacy of my studio. Since I started this piece from a photo (rarely done except for public demos where a live set up is.. uh.. inconvenient) I had to re create what I could in order to regain authenticity - or at least, my perception of authenticity.
Painting from a photo is not breaking any rules, as far as I'm concerned. A lot of artists use photos and do it well. And I take photos of all my set ups that I'm painting because, inevitably, flowers will wilt, or brown, or something will happen that will give me grief and the photo will help answer a few questions if the painting process outlasts the floral arrangement.
However, I dislike painting start to finish from photos. It just feels inauthentic. Like I'm making the whole thing up. Which should be okay, as it is a creative process... but it's not. It feels like I'm faking it at that point. So I like to paint from life as much as possible.
This piece - Red Storm - is a compilation of several set ups that I photographed. That's how I came up with the composition. So painting from life after the show was something to contend with. Nothing was exactly where it is in the painting, so the trick was to translate what I saw in front of me to what was already on the canvas.
I'm happy with the finished piece. I hope you can come to see it at the show this weekend and if you are so inclined - BID!
Red Storm is one of many new pieces this year. I've been working hard to prepare for this show and I have plenty of new pieces to show you. :)
Here's a small sampling of what you can see in person at the show or better yet, just click to my website and check out all my paintings!
