"Seattle Waterfront" The Argosy, Seattle city painting by Robin Weiss

You may remember this scene from a few months ago. I did a small quick sketch in oil (10x6) which sold quickly and generated a lot response. There are often difficult challenges in trying to enlarge paintings that worked well as small studies. I thought this composition would be a good candidate because of the strong focal point and large divisions of space created by the structures and shadow areas.
 Anyone who has been to Seattle will recognize  this scene along the waterfront on their way to Ivars Fish House for a bowl of clam chowder!
36x22 oil on canvas.sold

"Seattle City Street" cityscape oil painting by Robin Weiss

Looking east on Occidental Way as the sun sets over Elliott Bay. The buildings lit up by the late afternoon sun caught my eye.  This is not an iconic view of Seattle but still recognizable to the people who live and walk around the Pioneer Square area of the city.  I chose to work large with this piece giving the ordinary scene a sense of grandeur.
48x36  oil on canvas.Sold

Black History Month at Alki Arts, oil figurative painting by Robin Weiss

Things have been frantically busy around here as usual!  I am posting a picture of my painting "The Runner" before I had finished it. I have since fixed the runners neck so that it doesn't look so stiff! .....and then rushed the painting off to Alki Arts for the Black History Month Show before I remembered to take an updated photo! The "runner" is my friend Patrick and the scene is from camp last year where we both served as camp counselors. 16x20 oil on canvas

 I also framed and brought over my painting "Brothers" for the show. These two guys were talking in Seattle when I candidly shot the photo ref.
 6x8 oil on panelsold

The opening was a fun party with live jazz music and a big turnout !  Selling a painting topped off a great night!

"Mt. Baker Farm" oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Mt. Baker Farm" 18x36 oil on canvas   SOLD

I had a tough time getting a good photograph of this painting.  That happens sometimes with the larger work since it is harder for me to control the lighting. We found this scene on the way back from Vancouver, BC. It is near Lynden on the border of Washington state.
18x36 oil on canvas

"Four Cows" cow,landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Four Cows" 8x10 oil on panel  SOLD

Here's to all the cow fans out there..and I know you're out there!...These guys are hanging out in the pasture with the honey bee hives.
8x10 oil on panel.

"White Face" cow, landscape painting by Robin Weiss

I have this thing for cows...I keep going back to them for subject matter. Some people ask me why I never paint horses......I'm not sure...I like horses....I just think cows are cool...
 Sometimes you can execute an entire landscape with mood and design and all it needs is that hint of a cow to add that spark of interest......Just sayin.
8x10 oil on panel

"Crossing over to Marrowstone Island" oil landscape painting .

"Crossing over to Marrowstone" 6x10 oil on panel  sold

There is a spit of land that you cross on the way to Marrowstone Island that affords many painterly views. I like this one....Also Lagoon beach is nearby. Another great spot!
10x6 oil on panel

"Palette Knife" Artists tool, still life, oil painting by Robin Weiss

These are kinda fun......
6x10 oil on panel

"Mop Brush" Artist tool, still life, painting by Robin Weiss

I received a great response from the last chip brush study I did as a warm up exercise and it served as a good way to loosen up the hand before starting the days painting......so I did a few more! This is an easy way to do a quick study from life with out a lot of set up time.

Plein Air Painting magazine is doing an artical featuring  messy palettes and are asking for painters to send in pictures....I've been considering it!  They're going to receive a lot of pictures!

  I have been working on large canvases lately...and that is my excuse this time, for not posting as often.... But I paint every day!  I finally finished my home studio and am using it for working large...I still work and teach mostly at the Knowles studio with my buddy and colleague Leigh Knowles Metteer, but it helps to have a space I can get "in the zone" without a lot of distractions.

Speaking of Leigh,..she has just started a blog of her unique and stunning, monotype prints! Check it out HERE  

"Night Alley" Seattle alley oil painting by Robin Weiss

A few days ago I spent nine hours sitting at my computer, organizing my images into folders for the new year!..and I'm still not done yet! Although this is a tedious, time consuming job , it really pays off down the line when I am searching for an image for a show or publication,or reference. This is my last painting to post of paintings done last year, and now I will have a blog book made as a hard copy of my painting journey in 2011. There is a great site called Blog-to-Print that will import all your blog posts into a neat little book....Oh,.. and then to complete the deal I down load all the images onto a remote hard drive.
8x10 oil on panel  sold

"Chip Brush" Happy New Year from Robin Weiss Fine Art!

To all my blog buddies, friends, family and collectors,  may you all have a very happy and blessed new year! I'm starting my new year post with a painting that is a little out of the ordinary for me hoping that this will remind me to branch out in new directions of painting inspiration this coming year. In spite of all the economic and other woes of 2011 it was a great year for RWFA!  I want to thank all of my collectors who purchased work this year for investing in my journey as a full time artist! Also, my good friends Jim and Leigh Metteer at the Knowles Studio, Diane,and Tom at Alki Arts, Jack and Kim McLaughlin at the Directors Gallery and Christy and Russ Camerer of Bluewater Artworks who are representing me in Poulsbo with their new gallery opening January 14th!...I appreciate all your support and will continue working hard to improve the quality of my artwork.
7x7 oil on panel  sold

"Off at Seneca Street" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Off at Seneca Street"  6x10 oil on panel  SOLD

Believe it or not I worked for three days on this 8x12 panel trying to capture the motion and feel of this familiar scene in Seattle. One of the problems I encountered was my fault for not taking time to prepare the surface of the panel properly.....only one coat of gesso!   The paint kept sinking into the wood.
  So one of the things I have been doing over Christmas break is properly preparing surfaces!....and learning from my mistakes. There may be some things you can cut corners on but it is not gesso...Three coats! Four are better..
8x12 oil on panel

"Yakima Valley Farm" Eastern Washington oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Yakima Valley Farm" 12x36 oil on canvas SOLD

This scene is near a little town on the Yakima Indian Reservation called White Swan. It always amazes me when we cross the mountains, how dramatically the climate and landscape changes.






There are still wild horses in this area near Mt Adams!

"City Under Lights" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss.

I'm not sure sometimes, why I choose the scenes that I do. My wife tells me that I often pick the photographs she would never consider good painting reference. On this one I loved the glow of the leaves in the trees and on the sidewalk under the artificial light of the city at night. The challenge was to render that light convincingly. My son Maury and I were out sketching and taking pictures. That's him in the scene.
16x20 oil on canvas.sold

"The Cadillac Hotel" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"The Cadillac Hotel" 8x12 oil on panel SOLD

Just down the street from the Cadillac Hotel is a great coffee shop where I like to sit and sketch while I am having an espresso. Seattle has a LOT of great coffee shops.....you can walk all over the city and whenever you feel like it's time for a Joe Break , there will probably be a coffee shop right next to you.
10x12 oil on panel  (pic taken with my new Canon Rebel!...=)

"Cafe Bengodi" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Cafe Bengodi" 6x10 oil on panel   SOLD

Long time between posts! I have been painting, just haven't been taking pictures lately...We purchased a new camera off Craig s List primarily for taking quality images of artwork. It's a Cannon Rebel EOS ....now I have to figure out how to use it! Hopefully I will be getting a lot better images of my artwork.
6x10 oil on panel

"Under the Viaduct" City oil painting by Robin Weiss, Seattle

Soon the Viaduct will be torn down and the Seattle waterfront will look totally different....Until then I will keep painting it and recording the look of the city before the tunnel.
12x8 oil on panel  sold

"Near the Institute" night city painting by Robin Weiss

On the third Tuesday of each month I hop on the ferry and meet my friends from East/West Outreach at the Bread of Life Mission in Seattle. We serve a meal and conduct a service for the guys and gals who are staying the night. After, I usually walk down to Belltown to visit my son, Maury and that is when I have been getting these late night, rainy, city shots.
6x8 oil on panel sold

"Mario's" Pioneer Square oil painting by Robin Weiss

I am working right now on a permanent setup in my studio at home to take better pictures of my artwork. It's high time! Pioneer Square is a spot in Seattle where we go quite a bit to sketch and photograph. But it got a little cold so we went to the Seattle Art Museum to warm up and draw indoors.

sold

My son Maury, working on a sketch at the S.A.M. Check out his digital work HERE.

"The Black Bird Cafe" Bainbridge Island oil painting by Robin Weiss

What better refuge on a cold, rainy day than a nice, warm and inviting coffee shop!  This one is very familiar to all of us who spend a lot of time on Bainbridge Island, here in Washington State.  The Directors Gallery, who represent my work and a lot of other fine artists, is just down the alley .
12x15 oil on canvas sold


 
We recently had our yearly studio tour called Arts in the Woods. It is a three day event and took all of us a lot of time to prepare for..The studio was all decked out with great art work from Leigh Metteer, Jim Metteer, Jessica McGreal, Wanda Garrity. and myself. I'm glad to say it was very successful for all of us, which is crazy in this economy, but for which, on this Thanksgiving day, I am very grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Capital Grill" Seattle city oil painting by Robin Weiss

There are a few paintings I have missed posting along the way, so I will try and tie some loose ends and post these lost paintings before I get back to my series of rainy night scenes. As most artists, I love the look of a great backlit scene. I removed some of the foreground distractions to give this composition a stark look.

I started this painting in my most usual way with a underpainting in Transparent Orange Oxide and Ultramarine Blue washes, using a "drawing brush" for line.

 

 Here's the photo I used for reference.

"Night Reflections" nocturne, urban oil painting

"Night Reflections" 6x8 oil on panel    SOLD

We just got through with our yearly studio tour and it was a great success! I sold quite a few paintings, several from this series that I realized too late, no photos were taken of them....sheesh!   I will try and contact the very kind buyer and perhaps get photos to post for you. In the meantime here is another view of the last painting posted.  Winslow Way , walking to the car from the ferry , late on a rainy evening.
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"Winslow Way" nocturne, urban oil painting

"Winslow Way" 6x8 oil on panel   SOLD

I've done a series of these small rainy night city paintings that will be on display at the Knowles Studio this weekend for Arts in the Woods Studio Tour...If you are in the area be sure to stop by and say hi! The hot spiced cider will be on and the studio will be decked out with exciting new art work!

"Passing Under the Viaduct" Alaska Way Viaduct, oil painting by Robin Weiss

If you live in Seattle then you know that the Alaskan Way Viaduct is being removed and replaced by a tunnel.It has been very controversial and taken a long time but they are now in the process of removing the structure. It is supposed to make the waterfront a lot "nicer" and free up a lot of valuable property for development. I guess that's true but I want to document in my artwork, the industrial, gritty feel that I love about the Seattle waterfront before it is gone forever.
8x6 oil on panel

"Chinese Lanterns" oil still life painting

One of our students at the Knowles Studio brought in a bunch of Chinese Lanterns from her garden. I took some pictures and then set up this little still life with one of Leigh's custom ceramic pots.....looking for a blue that would compliment the orange. This is my last in a series of small still life paintings.... Back to my city scenes this week!...=]
This painting will be on display along with other recent paintings at Arts in the Woods Studio Tour coming up in a couple weeks.....See the Cultural Arts Foundation's  new website with all the info HERE
6x6 oil on panel