The Woman in Red.

 "Indian Red"

By James Swanson / Traveler Claudia B

20"x16" oil on Linen panel

See the painting take form and find out more about it below.

One of the great things about this world painting project besides meeting a bunch of new people is reconnecting with some old friends.

All photos are from Claudia's India album.

 Traveler Claudia B. is one of them. I met Claudia years ago when we both were starting out in Advertising. She was an artist in the studio and I was an art director who would send her things to draw up for client presentations.

One Claudia's on the street photos.

We lost touch after I moved to another agency, but I am glad to say we have met up again. Here is Traveler Claudia's India Travel Tale.

The Market

Traveler Claudia B. Travel Story: I believe we were in Hyderabad for a bit, waiting to catch a plane to Jaipor (my memory escapes me).

The Temple.

We were at the market to buy flowers for the temple which was across the street from it. It's the photo of the older woman in the doorway. We bought flowers for alter offerings.

This is the photo that caught the artist's eye.

The girl was the reason I wanted to take the photo but she was too shy so she turned around and I got a pick of here going under the tarp which I thought was just so perfect. I loved the red dress and all the colors in the market so that was the reason.

These are from the first time I went to India. I had a camera but didn't use it. I just found myself wanting to sketch.

 The Traveler Painting "Indian Red" I was working on a painting for Greece last year when a friend brought Claudia B's travels to my attention. I didn't realize that this Claudia was the same old Claudia I knew years ago because she had married.

Claudia B's job as a textile designer takes her to India every while in a while. Her album of her trips I found fresh and personal. I was drawn to the girl in red by the same reason Claudia was drawn to take the photograph. The painting steps to Indian Red.

The oil sketch. The dark colors in this painting I wanted to be warm ones. I used a mixture of Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna  in the under painting to start.

My palette of colors to start the painting. I always premix a few colors of each painting before I paint.  Doing this helps me keep my paintings fresh and clean.

The darks have been painted in, and now the main colors of the painting are put in to create the structure of the painting.

Simple block in. There is paint all over the canvas now it time to start pulling out some details.

Finally I paint in the dress. I worked everything around that dress and the girl but didn't work on them until the rest of the painting was almost done.You see I didn't want to spend more time on her and the dress than the rest of the painting. for her to fit she had to be painted in the same manor as the rest of the painting.

Done. Everything is in there in the right space.

 Details close ups from the painting

Framed and ready to go. 

  "Indian Red"

By James Swanson / Traveler Claudia B.

20"x16" oil on Linen panel

This painting is one of those paintings that seemed to paint it self. Traveler Claudia has quite an eye of scenes and captures some very nice shots. And by the way this painting won a big prize in the first art show it was in. Thanks Claudia, I'm happy to call you my friend again. 

This project relies on old and new friends in the quest to travel this world. If you want to become a new friend contact me here or at www.TheArtistAndTheTraveler.org

Until next time, I'm off to do some fishing with a friend.

A Good Day!

 

"The Day Begins"

By James Swanson/ Traveler Steven Procter

18"x14" oil on linen panel

Watch the painting journey of this painting and find out more about this project below.

The Artist Jim Swanson met Traveler Steven Procter through a few other UK walker friends  who just marvel at Stevens shots.

Traveler Steven Procter

I've always liked Steven’s sense of humor in his photo albums.

Steven's the ice beast 

It seems he had something funny to say about his photos that made them even more enjoyable to look at.

Photo from Stevens photo album

Traveler Steven’s Story: A fine short stroll from Silecroft up to one of my favorite fells. 

A little cairn on a minor top.

Conditions: great,

People: rare, Peace and quiet: total.

Steven's photo that I used for inspiration.

Artist and Traveler Painting"The Day Begins" Traveler Steven's walks have always inspired me and getting a chance to paint one was a treat. I picked this photo of Steven's because it was really different from all of the rest of my Traveler paintings. It's has so many contrasts in color, dark and lights it kept me thinking all the way through.

The steps to "The Day Begins"

The sketch on canvas. Steven's photo already had a nice design so all I had to do was a few shifts here and there. moving the man to the left a little was the main shift.

The Dark colors of the painting were put in first. With this painting it was over half the painting. One of the most important things of this painting is the shifts warm darks and the cool darks.

This painting went fast. With such a simple color scheme this painting was blocked in in no time.

With most of the big areas painted in it was time to define the man walking a bit. Keeping him painted the same as the rest of the painting is something that I had to be conscious of while working on this painting..

Keeping my darks and lights clean is one of the things I watch out for in my paintings. I try and put them in correctly the first time leaving only the middle tones to be adjusted.

Done.One of the things that I liked about this painting was the variety of darks in the shadows. Capturing them was a little bit of a challenge. Figuring out the warms and the cools is what makes the painting.

Details of the painting:

Framed and ready to go.

"The Day Begins"

By James Swanson/ Traveler Steven P.

18"x14" oil on linen panel

 This painting was a bit of a challenge and a lot of fun to paint. Many thanks and get well wishes go out to my friend Steven who I hope is on the mend with his battle. Your photos are inspiring Steven, and I hope to paint some more soon.

The Artist and the Traveler is always on the look out for good stories and exciting places. Pass them a long and maybe one will end up in this project. Send them here or see www.theartistandthetraveler.org for more info.

Until next time Talley Ho

A Bridge Too Far.

"Bridge over Lancaster Canal" as seen in exhibition.

14" x 18" oil on linen panel.

This next painting adventure starts with a new Traveler, and ends up in The Artist and The Travelers exhibition.

Traveler Dave Brown

The Artist met Traveler walker Dave Brown through a link from another travelers website. The link said Dave was a long time walker with over 480 walks in his photographic diary. He had to take a look.

Dave B. photo of the Lancaster Canal at Tewitfield.

Traveler Dave’s journal entry: Firstly dear reader I must apologise for the lack of entries of late. This is due in no small way to the cold weather affecting my breathing. As soon as I breathe in the cold air I can feel the tightness in my chest and not wanting it to turn to something more nasty I have been keeping inside. However around noon today I was going as they say “stir crazy” so we ventured out first for a short walk along the promenade at Morecambe and then for a short stroll along the Lancaster Canal at Tewitfield.

Traveler Painting notes of "Bridge over Lancaster Canal"

The sketch for the class. 

I've been following Dave B. for along time. Ever since I stumbled over his sight from another travelers link, I've wanted to paint some of his walks. The one I chose to paint was one that I would paint in front of a painting class that I was teaching. I've had real good luck with snow scenes lately and thought this one would make a good demonstration painting.

There are only a few photos of how I painted this painting, but it is very similar to the way I paint all of my paintings. Sketch of the design, painted Dark to Light, details added at the end.

The Painting Blocked in. Since this was the first class for the winter session I had my students painting with a limited palette. Which means painting with just Cad Yellow light, Cad Red light, Cobalt Blue, Titanium White, and Ivory Black 

Painting at the end of class. I didn't get as much done on this painting as I would have wanted, it seems my class has picked up a few more students.

The next day with a fresh eye I was able to put in some final touches. Done. I wanted to keep this painting real simple, but fun to look at.

Painting Details

Framed and up in the showing!

"Bridge over Lancaster Canal" as seen in exhibition.

14" x 18" oil on linen panel.

Here is the painting in the Artist and Traveler exhibition. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Spell Check Answered.

 

"Along Wait"

By James Swanson  / Pastor Rick

30" x 24" oil on canvas

Ever look at a simple word and all of a sudden you don't recognize it. That's where spell check comes in right? This artist is a pretty bad speller and I don't trust spell check to help me out either.

Traveler Pastor Rick

And that is how we meet our new Traveler Pastor Rick.

I was working on a blog for a painting and was thinking that the word "winding" just didn't look right. So I Googled the word to see if I was right, or an idiot. Well, I wasn't an idiot, and for my reward I was blessed to see some winding roads images that Google bestowed on me.

All these photo are from Pastor Rick's photo stream.

They were some of  Pastor Rick"s photos that I came upon, and knew I had to contact Rick and find out more.

Photos are from Pastor Rick's North Dakota album

Traveler Pastor Rick story: This old car and windmill are located on what was once a farmstead in rural Towner County, ND. All of the buildings are gone, only the windmill, and some rusty machinery remain. You can see the windmill from a nearby highway that I frequently travel. So I came to photograph the windmill and found the other treasures there as well.

The photo of Pastor ricks that I will be working with.

Traveler Painting "Along Wait" The name for this painting came from the rust and age of the car of the scene. I really loved Pastor Ricks photo. I could feel the lonely coldness of the spot with the sun ready to set one more time on the scene. That's what I wanted to capture in this painting. Here are the steps I took in making this painting.

I started with a fairly large canvas for me 30"x24". I want the open space in the painting to mean something and making a large painting really helps get that across. Here I've already sketched in the composition with a mixture of Venetian red and Burnt Seana.

My color palette. I premix a lot of colors before I paint. Here you can see the colors that will go up on the painting.

The dark colors are painted in first. The darks in the car are a warm dark a lot of red in there. I liked the way it went on and plan not to touch the area too much and leave it kind of pure.

I decided to paint the foreground in first. I wanted to give the car some structure before it rusted away on me.

I worked my way to the back on this painting.  Putting in the sky to finish the block-in.

The sky in this painting had to be painted in and finished off because the wind vane was going to be laid right on top of it and no mistakes could be made. I marked the spot where the wind vane was going to end up and then started building it piece by piece.

My palette knife came in real handy in putting up the wind vane.

Done. I wanted to keep this painting fresh, so I put a time limit on myself to keep me from trying to noodle out everything.

Details from the painting.

"Along Wait"

By James Swanson  / Pastor Rick

30" x 24" oil on canvas

Spell check is a really good thing for me and I wish  every time I check on a word I could meet a nice Traveler like Pastor Rick. To see more of Pastor Ricks photos go here and tell him I sent ya. Thanks Rick and I look forward to painting some more  of North Dakota.

The Artist and The Traveler are always on the look out for new Travelers. If you see one let me know here or at www.theartistandthetraveler.org

Until next time so long.