Hi everyone, I've decided to add a link to my blogspot here, instead of trying to keep up two blog sites, as I was previously doing. It was confusing for visitors and time consuming for me. So now in an effort to make things as easy as I can (for both of us), you can click on the above link to be taken to my latest paintings and posts. I try to give more info on why I painted a piece, as well as my thoughts on painting, and the day to day workings of an artist's studio.

Thanks for looking and remember you can click on any image you see while there for a larger higher resolution version. Why not take a moment while there and post a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Steve

Hi All,
I decided to put my painting, Walk Softly against the wall for a while and come back to it with a fresh eye. When I look at something for too long, my perception becomes stale and the problems with the painting are tough to see. Even if the problem is a glaring one, you can miss it. Taking a break allows me to see things much more clearly.
    
When I put the painting back on the easel, I knew what I had to address. The painting was too warm all over, even the greens. There was no difference between the temps in the clearing he was standing in, and the trees behind him. Also, the coloring made the painting too ominous. The subject matter of this weapon is adult enough without playing it up in the colors.

Here is the version before I made any changes



Here it is after I painted in the changes...

...as you can see, the changes are pretty significant. I made the colors more true to life and believable. I also repainted the blades on the warclub. They had grown pretty big as I had painted on them and were out of scale with the weapon. The other thing I was unhappy with was how I had applied the paint. It's now much more painterly and exciting to look at. Now I can say it's finished. It's a perfect example of not rushing a painting out of the studio. If there is ever anything that doesn't please you in your work, give it time to rest and come back to it with a fresh eye. Richard Schmid says to never leave anything on your canvas that you know is wrong. Sage advice to be sure. I would add to that, to make sure to give yourself a little time to live with a painting to find out what those things may be. Sometimes they may not be so obvious at first. Give yourself time to regain your perspective and objectivity and you will be much happier in the long run.

Here is the link to my blog where you can see a much larger version of this image when you click on it:
www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com


Happy Painting, Steve

Hi Everyone,
I finally got around to posting. I've been busy on a large painting and it's taken up most of my painting time. But, thanks to my friend Jacquelyn, who lit a fire under me, I committed to doing a painting for the Zion National Park competition. This is my attempt to convey the grandeur of Zion Canyon. If you look very closely along the shadowed side of the river, you will see three dark figures. Two riders on horseback and their trusty dog. They were added to try to give extra impact to the scale. It was difficult to paint them small enough. I kept having to redo them because they always ended up too big. Everything I did, from the lighting and shadow of the cliff from the opposite canyon wall, to the river and trees are doing everything I can to point you to those tiny tiny figures in this vast landscape. That's also why I've given the painting the name that I have. It lets you know that there's something extra worth looking for.

Thanks for Looking, Steve

The end is in sight! My continuing blog showing my WIP on my painting "Walk Softly..." (formerly known as,"The Warclub"). After my fourth day of painting, it's in a better place. Find out what went into painting this picture and what was the inspiration behind it. Click on the link below to visit my blogspot.

www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone,
I've decided to do something a little different this time. I've had some inquiries about the process I use on my figurative pieces, so I thought it might be fun to do a post which follows along as I work on a painting. I will take a photo at the end of each session of my painting and explain what I've accomplished in each session. I don't know if this piece will be successful, but that's the way it is with every piece that artist's do. There are no guarantees.

follow this link to my Blogspot:

www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com

I've had some beginning painters email me to voice their frustration at how long it takes to become proficient at painting. They've been struggling and never seem to get any better they tell me. When I ask how many hours a week they spend drawing, they tell me none. I think I might know their problem. On my blogspot I've posted some of my sketches from my sketchbooks and talk about the different types of sketching I do and why. On that blog, you are able to click on the images for enlarged views of them. Here's the link to my blogspot. Be sure to bookmark it and subscribe to the RSS feed (see my last post about what RSS Feeds are and why you should care).

www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com

Go ahead an leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are.

Happy painting, Steve

I'm going to veer from talking about painting for this blog, but before you click away to something more ....... visually appealing, let me tell you how you can get an advantage to seeing your favorite artists work before almost anyone else. If you are a collector, you know what a blessing that can be. We've all gone to a favorite artist or gallery website to check on whether there are any new works available by them. And there it is, that one special painting that will haunt you if you don't have it. It's THE one, only to see that it has been sold already. It wasn't even there the last time you checked in? It was only a few days since you checked it, but in the art world, sometimes a few days is a couple of days too late. But who has time every day to jump to their artist's site to check if any new work has been posted. Well now RSS feeds can put you in control. Before I tell you how you can easily set up this feature, let me take a moment to talk about the what question first.

Answer
It's short for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary",  this handy service is revolutionizing the way we search for content. There's nothing complicated about RSS; just think of it as a way that websites come to you, the reader, with their content, instead of you having to check up on them. Every time content is updated by your chosen website, a "feed" is activated, and then you can view these "feeds" (it's just a fancy way of saying content) in a Feed Reader. It's kind of like subscribing to a newspaper. Website feeds get delivered to you in your RSS reader, and you get to read them (We'll get to Feed Readers in just a minute!).

RSS feeds benefit artists like me too, since I can get my new work and new blogs to eager subscribers, like you, fast, by submitting feeds to various RSS directories (such as Google Reader).

What does this mean for you? Sure, that sounds interesting, but why is it for me?

Answer
Simply put, it means that you are in control and informed about any new paintings that are loaded. Also, if you RSS subscribe to my blog (musings), you will know as soon as I put up an new post of my ramblings ( I usually do talk about art, honest). When I post it, you'll know it. Simple as that. OK, says you, I'm an artformation junkie and that sounds like it's for me. What do I do next? Luckily that's simple too. Let's talk about RSS readers.

What Are RSS Readers? What are RSS Readers, how do they play into this, and do I need one?

Answer
Basically, RSS Readers are the programs used to view your RSS feed subscriptions. In other words, it's a way to clump all your RSS feeds from various websites, like all your favorite artists, into one handy dandy little interface. For example, the web browser I use is Firefox and when I subscribe to a RSS feed, it automatically shows up in my bookmark menu. Most people however, use a different browser, and don't have that available to them, so they have to use a stand alone program. There are many Readers available out there, some better than others. To make this really simple I'll use Google Reader as an example, since it's the one I'm most familiar with, though there are many readers available. I like Google Reader, because there is nothing to download and best of all, it's FREE!

To be able use Google Reader, you'll need a Google account. Easy enough to set up, just answer a few questions and you have your account. Once you've signed in, you can access all the other nifty Google services such as Froogle,  GMail. Here is a quick and easy link you can use to sign up at Google to begin using your Google Reader.
Google Account sign up.

Once you have your account, you can begin using your Reader to access all those websites that have feeds which sound interesting to you. You will find the reader on Google's main page under the "more" menu bar. By the way, RSS feeds are great for your favorite news sites too. Now you can be the one to announce to the rest of the office that Paris was arrested again, or that there's a rumor that Britney was seen coming out of Chuck E Cheese in Boca Raton. Imagine the possiblilities! While you're at it, don't forget to add your favorite artist's sites.

Enjoy, Steve


...what do you mean Britney's lawyers are on the phone? I didn't start that rumor.

I've been meaning to post my photos and share my wonderful evening at this year's Bosque Conservatory Art Classic show in Clifton, Texas. This show was incredibly special to me and I can't tell you how much fun it was. I'm usually headed for the door the moment I get to a show. I'm just not that comfortable being there. I know most artist's I talk to feel the same. But this show was something quite special. I  posted the photos on my painting blog. It's as easy as clicking on the link below....


www.steveatkinsonstudio.blogspot.com

 














Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,   
And sorry I could not travel both   
And be one traveler, long I stood   
And looked down one as far as I could   
To where it bent in the undergrowth;    

Then took the other, as just as fair,   
And having perhaps the better claim,   
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;   
Though as for that the passing there   
Had worn them really about the same,         
 
And both that morning equally lay   
In leaves no step had trodden black.   
Oh, I kept the first for another day!   
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,   
I doubted if I should ever come back.
 
I shall be telling this with a sigh   
Somewhere ages and ages hence:   
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—   
I took the one less traveled by,   
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost


Let's talk about the life of a painter. What would ever possess someone to take up a profession that they know, probably, will offer them a life of hard work, long hours, solitude, little to no chance of retirement, all for very little in the way of monetary rewards? I'm not talking about someone who just goes along in life and ambles their way from one job to another. No, I'm talking about those of us who have gone to school, or worked to become a fine artist. People who's goal is to paint for a living, knowing that there are many jobs waiting for them which will pay far more than they could make as an artist. What on earth are they thinking? Are they even thinking at all? Joe Innes in his wonderful book, "How to become a Famous Artist and Still Paint Pictures", tells the prospective artist to lock himself up in a room or a cabin.  Somewhere, far from any TV, books or distractions of any kind and just think. Think about your dream. Try to picture your life as an artist. Not just the fun stuff, but the business side of things too. Ask yourself the question as to why you want to do this. Imagine all the road blocks and difficulties you will encounter in your journey. Things like schmoozing clients and galleries. Attending show openings. Ordering frames and framing your pieces. Attending paintouts. Marketing and self promotion. Doing the books. Paying taxes. That's if you make enough money to even pay taxes. Do this until you have turned it over and over in your mind forwards and backwards. When you've done this, and not until you've done this, ask the important question- Do I Want To Be A Painter? If your answer is no, go home and don't ever let it trouble you again. You can still paint, have a hobby. No harm no foul. You just don't have what it takes to make it your profession. If yes, go home and work with all your might to get there. Do not let anything stand in your way. If you have children, the process will take longer, perhaps much longer, but you can still do it.

The only poem which I have committed to memory (and can share with you here on this public blog) waaay back in junior high and retained ever since, was Robert Frost's The Road Less Traveled, or The Road Not Taken. Something about it resonated deep inside me, even at that young age. Looking back, I believe I understood that that would be me. Or that I wanted it to be me. Or just maybe, everyone wants to be that traveler. In any case, for those readers of this blog who have never had the fortune to read it, or who read it so long ago that it's just a distant memory, I included it above. If you just skipped over it because, well....it's a poem by gawd, and I don't do poetry, allow me the indulgence to share it with you now. Yep, even real men read poetry from time to time. Cowboy poetry is still very popular out west. You gonna tell them cowboys they ain't manly? I thought not. Go ahead and read it. I promise it won't hurt, and I won't tell anybody. Don't worry , I'll wait...




Not too shabby huh?

Of course the poem is not just about making the choice between the path to the right or the left. It's ultimately about the big life choices, and how, once they are made, you can't or won't turn back. I imagine there aren't many artist's alive, who don't see themselves as the mysterious traveler. So what makes us do it? Why would otherwise rational fully functioning, live-by-the-book, gotta cut the grass on Saturday, God Country and Apple pie, common sense kinda people throw that sense right out the window and paint anyway? I can answer for myself only. For me it was always a question of Music or Art (...Both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black). Some kind of creative career. I could have, and probably would have been a musician, except for a single event back in high school. I went to a State music competition and figuratively choked when I had to perform my competition piece in front of the Judges and a room full of musical directors from a number of colleges from across the country. I had gotten cocky and not prepared as well as I should and froze like a deer in the headlights. Devastated and embarrassed at the time, I looked toward my art, which I told myself, I could do in private, work out all the problems, and only then show it. No performance anxiety. Problem solved, There's my path. Of course, the very next year, during my summer break from College,  I was working at an amusement park, airbrushing t shirts in front of thousands of people each day. So much for not having to perform in front of people. Thanks to that gig, I got over the working in "front of people" jitters in a hurry.

After college, I was working my way up the commercial art ladder. First as a storyboard/comp artist at an advertising agency, and later at an illustration studio. Then as a freelancer and finally as the lead illustrator for a package design studio. Life was good. Bought a house and fell in love. I got married to the love of my life. Then we went on our Honeymoon (great timing huh?), and that's when I found myself standing smack dab in the middle of that dang poem. I had always wanted to paint, but was always too busy to try it. That week, in northern Minnesota, at the peak of the fall colors and my new wife by my side, I had my calling. Something told me it was time to start. It wasn't a midlife crisis. I understood that it was just time. I was standing at that divided path. I had a choice to make. I could let it go, no harm no foul. Or I could commit to making my dream a reality.  Of course I made the choice to follow that less traveled path and there's no turning back. Painting is the second most important thing in my life. That tells you how I got to painting, but not why I have to paint. When I ask other artists this question, most will tell you, "Because I have to". It's something we are compelled to do by something so deep within us, I believe it's close to what only can be described as Instinct. Many will tell you it's about leaving a legacy. Something that will last longer than the memory of who we were that lingers in the minds and hearts of those who knew and loved us. We have something to say that simply has to be said in paint. I suppose it's my way of leaving my mark that says, "I existed. And I did something to try to make other people happy. This is my small gift to the world." All of that is true. But for me there is one more reason why I paint. It's also about the joy of getting to be creative everyday. And that when I'm creating, I feel closer to God and his power and beauty than at any other time. It's about feeling his power and gift flow through me. In short, I'm happier when I'm painting and feeling in some small way a part of it all, than at just about any other time in my life. And that has made all the difference.


 Happy Painting, Steve

Steve Atkinson Studio Blogspot

Hi Everyone.

I've had some requests to post a plein air demo on my website. As much as I would like to post one here, there are limitations as to the number of photos I can use in each blog. And since the whole reason for a demo is to have a generous number of photos, with explanations to accompany each of these photos, I have provided a link to one of my demos on a plein air forum to which I contribute regularly. I hope you enjoy it! If you have any comments or questons, come on back and post them here and I'll be sure to answer. Thanks for looking...

Steve






Plein Air Demo link