Catching up on Commissions oil painting

The last month or so I have been working hard to catch up all the commission paintings that have accumulated. I have them listed on a board. Two more to go! This represents my biggest challenge so far ....a 60x40 canvas of Seattle city, down by the waterfront. It is still in progress but I am feeling pretty good about the overall composition.

Some may recognize this scene, as I have done it before..I don't always have success repainting prior work but this turned out okay. 15x8 oil on canvas..."Green Pastures"

Same with "The Puzzled Cow"...think I have painted this guy about four times now....sheesh!..People love him...and so do I!.....9x12 oil on canvas

I don't get to do many pet paintings...not really my forte' ....but I had fun doing "Merlin" in watercolor....12x9, W/C

Another painting of the mouth of the Dungeness river....for the same gentleman who has commissioned the rest of my river paintings......God bless him!

These paintings are all sold.......contact robinweiss@earthlink.net for available work

"Other World Abstraction" oil painting

My son Maury is attending The Art Institute of Seattle, taking game design and working on some concept art.....I painted this one for him......My lame attempt at concept art.....But it's fun!!

NFS

"Mount Rainier from the Bainbridge Ferry" oil landscape painting

This painting was done from a photo I took off the deck of the Bainbridge Island to Seattle ferry on a beautiful clear day . I was on my way to Alki Arts, the new gallery that is showing my work on Alki Beach. You can just see a bit of Alki though the trees and across the water of Puget Sound.
11x14 oil on canvas panel

"Take me to Pike Place" Seattle City oil painting

Pike Place market in Seattle is one of my favorite spots for gathering images of city scenes and the people who live, work and shop there...especially on rainy days....This painting was a view up Pike towards the convention center on a blustery day in November.

16x20 oil on canvas sold

"Grand Entry" Yakima Pow Wow dancer, oil painting

My friend and founder of Sacred Road Ministries, Chris Granberry, took the photo I used as reference for this painting. This young Yakima native is doing the Fancy Dance at a Pow Wow from this summer on the reservation. If you are interested in purchasing this painting, half the proceeds will be donated to Sacred Road ministries.
For info email robinweiss@earthlink.net 16x20 oil on canvas

Thought I would show the progression of this painting.....sometimes it is really hard to know when to stop, especially when a painting is going really good from the start......you just have to use your instincts as an artist..........but I really liked the painting at this stage!

Here I sketched the image out on the canvas with a "drawing brush" and a little cad orange with ultramarine blue.

The concept sketch from my sketchbook.

The finished painting will be available at Knowles Studio this Saturday the 4th of Dec for our second annual Oasis charity art show. 50% of the proceeds of art sales will be donated to Oasis, an outreach ministry to the victims of sex trafficking in the U.S. and many other countries.

"Pike Place Flowers" Seattle cityscape, oil painting

If you're tired of mall shopping and you live in the Seattle area, why not stop by the studio on Sat.Visit the artists, have a cup of coffee or tea and take advantage of some great deals on local art for that personal gift......and support your local small business!!..=]

12x9 oil on panel sold

"Seattle Rain Parade" Seattle cityscape, oil painting

Still working on studies for the "The Big One". I got off track a little with this because I liked the composition but it is a bit complicated for what I'm trying to do with the larger canvas
9x12 oil on panel   sold

"Bring flowers" Seattle city scape oil painting

I may have mentioned a large commission painting that I am working on.....this little 6x8 is one of the studies I am working on for that job. The final work will be 40x60 so I want to have a pretty good idea of what will take up all that space before I get started.  sold

"Sunset at Pioneer Square" oil cityscape for Arts in the Woods

I have recently been working on studies for a large 40x60 commission of Seattle city. From the images I have been taking of the city came this 16x20 oil on canvas of Pioneer Square. The commission will not be in this area of the city....but when I get excited about an image I have to paint it! This painting and many more recent works will be available at this years Arts in the Woods Studio Tour in Poulsbo, WA. sold

I will be at the Knowles Studio along with five other artists;

Leigh Metteer Knowles, with Printmaking and Paintings in Acrylic. http://knowlesstudio.com/

Jessica McGreal, with Prints and Encaustic. www.jessicamcgreal.com

Jennifer Umphress, with Glass Art http://www.jenniferumphress.com/

Amy Weber with Natural Dye Textiles

Robin Weiss with Landscape, Cityscape and Still life Paintings in Oil.

If you live in our area come on out and support your local artists, many who work hard in our community to stimulate the economy, mentor young people and improve our culture.

"In Flight on the Dungeness" oil landscape painting

The wildlife, especially the different birds were amazing at the mouth of the Dungeness. The caretakers of this beautiful wetland marsh do a good job managing the resource. This was a smaller study from the images I got there.

15x9 oil on canvas

"At The Mouth of the Dungeness" oil landscape painting

It's hard to tell the scale of paintings on this blog but this one is 48x24. It is the largest canvas I have attempted so far and it is for a commission project that I received a few months ago. I spent a couple days scouting, sketching and painting the Dungeness river while camping out in the parking lot of the Three Crabs restaurant. When I got back with all my reference stuff I went to work on this large canvas. The mouth of the Dungeness is property owned by a duck hunting club and I had to get special permission to access the site, which I did thanks to Matt the caretaker...I really appreciate him taking the time to hear me out and then graciously allow me to roam the wetlands freely..What a spot!!
48x24 oil on stretched canvas   sold

"Res Dog" paintings from the Ned Mueller workshop

sold

Okay, Wow,... it's been awhile since I updated my blog....but a lot has been happening....good stuff!! .., I took a trip to White Swan, Washington to help out Sacred Road Ministries for a project on the Yakima Indian Reservation,...I have several commission projects in the works, and in the middle of all that I took a workshop from artist Ned Mueller. Ned helped us with painting from photos,..emphasizing composition using your photo just as limited reference....which helped me a lot since I tend to rely too much on the photo. The top painting was done entirely by me ....as you scroll down, the paintings have more of Neds work in them as he is one of those instructors who likes to show you what needs fixing by actually going into your painting and fixing it.

Ned added a few touches to this one darkening the trees behind the house to define it better.

Here is Ned working on a demo at Rockwater Art Center where we took the workshop.

Ned worked more into this one using his extensive background in illustration to proportion the figure to work better as a painting.....wish I had a pic of the painting as I had it before Ned worked on it, to show the difference.

This beach scene was completely wiped out by Ned as I had it painted....the figures brought more into the forground , the horizon, softened , and the color unified.....Over all I learned a lot and see how far on the journey I have to go!.....Brush miles!

"Quilcene Trucks" oil landscape painting ,

A painting from the images I took in Quilcene while scouting locations for a commission piece of the Big Quilcene river. I used my pallette knife for most of the paint application..

I am entering this in the Bold Brush painting competition and would appreciate your help by clicking the like button after going HERE



16x20 oil on canvas.

"You are my Sunshine" sunflower oil painting,

I have been working hard on several commission paintings but still can't resist the sunflowers!

6x10 oil on panel sold

"Yellow Joy" sunflower oil painting,

It's sunflower season!!!!..I can't resist painting them!.....and the fall light is amazing this year......stay tuned I will be posting more of these...=]

6x8 oil on panel sold

"Fall Flower Garden" oil landscape painting, flowers

It's the time of year when Leigh's Fall flowers start blooming in the garden....I can't resist the color as the beautiful late season light hits the reds and yellows......I painted this very same scene in 2008 when there was a lot more sunflowers in it(click here to view). The two paintings are similar yet very different. It is interesting to see the progression of style and paint application.

16x20 oil on canvas sold

To view my entire gallery of paintings on Daily Painters go to http://www.dailypainters.com/artists/artist_gallery/570/Robin-Weiss

"Umbrella Man" rainy day in Seattle, oil cityscape, figurative, painting

Typical scene in Seattle these days.. I love the rainy days as much as the sunny days and wait for them to go over and shoot photos in the city.

6x10 oil on panel. sold

"Mission" oil cityscape, Seattle, Washington

This is a view of the Bread of Life Mission in Seattle. I have heard they are expanding services to the poor and are looking for more volunteers. If you are interested in helping click here

6x8 oil on panel   sold

To view my entire gallery of paintings on Daily Painters go
to http://www.dailypainters.com/artists/artist_gallery/570/Robin-Weiss

"Garden Chairs" oil, plein air, garden painting.

Leigh and Jim purchased a few of these vintage garden chairs to put under the apple tree in the vegetable garden.........I immediately saw their potential for painting purposes and finally got out of the studio to paint them on a nice sunny afternoon...

8x10 oil on panel  sold

"Little Quilcene view" landscape oil painting

When I had the frames made up for my Cascade series , one of them was miscut the wrong size....never wanting to waste any resources I painted this landscape to fit the reject frame.

From my photos of the river trip ...10x15 oil on canvas.

"J&M Cafe " Seattle City Scenes, urban landscape,oil painting

I've been painting in the studio lately trying to get ready for Arts in the Woods coming up November 12,13 and 14th. the studio will be decked out with great artwork and there will be a Jazz Canvas on Saturday night so if you live in the area mark your calender!

20x16 oil on canvas sold

"Big Quilcene Cascade" oil landscape painting, Olympic National Park

This is a studio painting done from images I took while plein air painting in Falls View Canyon. It will be the last in my "Cascade" series and is on display with my other plein air paintings of the Quilcene and Elwha rivers, at Alki Arts in West Seattle. If you get a chance to get over to Alki beach , check into the beautiful new space that Diane Venti has turned into a vibrant community arts center and gallery.

24x24 oil on canvas   sold

"Row Boats on Clear Lake" oil landscape painting, White Pass, Washington

From the images I took at Clear Lake during Camp High Rock. These are the row boats that the kids got to take out on the lake....They had so much fun! I was inspired by the morning light and the reflections in the mirror surface of the water.
15x12 oil on canvas sold

"Claudia's Flower Jungle" plein air landscape painting, Bainbridge Island, Washington

Searching Bainbridge Island for a good painting location I ended up at my friend and fellow painter, Claudia McKinstry's house. This is the inviting entry way to the front door. Delicious smells seem to always be coming from the kitchen. Thanks for letting me hang out Claudia!

12x9 oil on panel NFS

"Bumbershoot" Seattle rain shade, figurative oil painting

As a warm-up, diversionary excercise I quickly blocked in this small painting from a discarded image on my desk. Funny how these studies can often times be the freshest and most interesting work.
6x8 oil on panel sold

"River Bend" Elwha river valley. plein air, landscape oil painting

The next day everyone exited the camp ground and I was able to park my van close to this spot on the Elwha and try a 12 x 16. My goal was to get the distant mountain to fade in the distance and also to render the reflection of the trees in the moving water. It's tricky because not only does the water reflect the light from the trees but also the light hitting the bottom of the shallow rapids.
16x12 oil on canvas panel Sold

"Elwha River Valley" plein air oil landscape painting

After the Quilcene trip I camped over night in the Elwha river valley at Altair campground. I found out it is a destination for extreme kayakers! I did this 8x10 the first night after a lot of scouting around for good painting spots.
10x8 oil on panel sold

"River Mist" Big Quilcene river at Falls View Canyon, plein air landscape, oil painting

The second painting that I did of the Big Quilcene river in Falls View Canyon



10x8 oil on panel

I had my trusty back pack easel set up literally in the river at the base of this cascade. A beautiful spot!....But lots of mosquitoes!!....Good thing I had the bug spray that I took to Africa with me!!....100% Deet....the only way to go!

Big Quilcene River at Falls View Canyon, plein air painting

I'm still behind in my posting because I have been spending a lot of time in the field PA painting while the weather holds. That includes a lot of hiking down into river valleys and canyons. I'm hoping to be able to translate these small studies into larger studio paintings this winter. My easel was literally set up in the river for this one!

10x6 oil on panel Sold

"Little Quilcene River" oil landscape painting

I have received two commissions from the new gallery, Alki Arts for a client. One of the Quilcene river and one of the Elwha. Monday I drove to Quilcene and set up down by a nice little bend of the river and did this 9x12 painting....later on in the day I found out from a local that I had painted the Little Quil. river, so I headed back out to scout a spot on the Big Quil.

The Little Quilcene River.

"Eglon Beach" Jim Lamb workshop, pleinair landscape painting,

Third day of the workshop we got down to a great location by the water on a little out of the way beach with a view of Mt. Rainier. Jim emphasized again the importance of designing your space and unifying the composition with color and value. We started out with a two hour demo and I did my best to apply what I learned. Basically I painted the same scene in the same manner that Jim did. (His was a lot better). His suggestion to me was to push the color which I did and I think that improved the work.

Jim's starting to block in his under-painting for the demonstration.

The gang watching the progress....I think we all learned that you need patience to produce a good painting.

"Living Water Farm" Jim Lamb workshop,plein air landscape painting

The second day of the Jim Lamb workshop was on location at Living Water Farm in Poulsbo, WA. It was another fantastic day with temps in the 80s and intense sunlight casting rich shadows. Jim wanted us to focus on designing our composition to allow the eye to enter the scene, linger at the focal point and then provide an exit leading out. Not sure if I achieved the objective, but I had fun trying!

10x6 oil on panel

This is the view I chose for my morning effort. The paint box seems to be working okay but my idea for attaching a roll of paper towels to my easel didn't work so good. If I was not paying attention the wind would catch the end of the roll and string it out across the field like a prayer flag!

"The Butterfly Bush" oil landscape, plein air painting with Jim Lamb

I recently took a plein air painting workshop with internationally known artist, Jim Lamb. It was great to get to know Jim and a pleasure and privilege to attend his workshop. The event was hosted by Rockwater Art Center, a new venue for art education and promotion here in Poulsbo.

My first days effort....8x10 oil on panel sold

Fellow student, Sharron set up in the shade right in my scene!(don't blame her a bit!) so I just put her in my painting and I think that added a lot of interest.

Jim started out the day with a demonstration. We learned about keeping it simple, edges, designing your space, what you can do with a limited palette, mixing your mother load and lots of other cool stuff!