Retired from the physical art instruction classroom; retired from moderating eight art forums as one of the original staffers on Wetcanvas. Travel and teach plein air paint workshops, (am available). Have eBook & GO TO MEETING materials, Oil Painting DVDs available- North Light Books; and On Demand Courses with Artist Network University. Other than that, I just paint paint paint...and play my music! Life is Good!!!
9"x 12" oil on stretched linen, painting in Marquette, Michigan on location (plein air), where the McClure Dead River is on its final run to empty into Lake Superior. Callin' it, "Descent of the Dead River" Painted during one of my upper Michigan plein air workshops I was teaching.
this 9"x 12" plein air (painted on location) was an experimentation in a bluish undertone, which I believe gave a nicely imbued overall wintry color harmony and mood.
This 8"x 10" oil served as a study for a much larger40"x 50" gallery wrap oil on wild turkeys scratching thru snows and feeding in a distant wooded meadow corner...
detail-
You can see in the larger painting I decided upon a warmer theme, but I enjoy the natural mood of the smaller painting as well. As always, please note...you can see a larger image by clicking directly on the images above.
This was a reversion to my wildlife art career years, where even something this small as 5"x 4" using acrylics would have had me applying detail on detail for hours upon hours. Painted a few years ago now and living in a national forest, I have not divorced myself from my love of wildlife and time outdoors, but I explored painting wise other challenges, one about 25 years ago now taking my paints outdoors painting from life, or what is called today "plein air."
With the nature of painting from life, the fickle nature of available light hanging around and cooperating or quickly disappearing comes that knack for putting a thing down, deft handling of brush...and I found myself curious visiting my old love to see if this same handling, but in oils, could develop a satisfying subject. I have done a number of such works now relatively much less time, focusing on rendering with value and color and brushwork suggestion. I was quite delighted, though it would not give those old state department natural resource expects satisfaction in counting feathers! That said, in passing observation of fowl from life, you won't find yourself counting feathers!
Painted here in NE Wisconsin, a drive down a dirt road about two miles to a side dirt small cul de sac, parking provided for visitors, and then about a mile's hike in, up and down good forested hills. Lovely day to spend...set up on the Pine River, a near 40' falls. Painted on location from life. This river's bend comes just before the falls looking upstream, and the light was lovely with the foreground in shadow.
I retired several years ago now from the physical classroom teaching art, but I haven't given up sharing, teaching, and doing workshops. For years I was an original staffer of the earliest of online venue virtual art communities for artists, breaking new ground really...called Wetcanvas, starting with less than 1,000 members, we had but a few forums.
A half dozen of us worked with the then found Scott Burkett, and over time created more forums and grew the community. The average moderator oversaw one, maybe two forums, but somehow I helped create and moderate eight forums including one of my own subforums. The community grew to about 360,000 and about 13 years into this venture decided it was time to retire. But, not long after I heard from the then and current owners if I would like to do some online Go To Meetings...again, a new venture...and it required my putting together PDF materials, short videos, outlines and set up in a high speed access. Soon, I was teaching and fielding questions on Foundations and the idea that "paintings work for reasons paintings work" Those materials in five sessions and downloads are still available doing a little search on F&W publication's North Light Shop Books, including an eBook on Landscape Painting I did (over 300 pages pdf format) and a DVD on Painting Tumbling Water in Oils...
One of the forums I pushed for, helped create and co-moderated was the Plein Air forum...and thru that I tend to believe many artists making good ground in the plein air movement today got their initial shot in the proverbial arm so to speak, encouragement...chances to share, learn and so forth. From that I would meet artists and find invitation to travel and teach plein air workshops which I still do to this day. We are right now planning my fifth plein air venture and workshop up into Alaska, the Homer or Kenai area. (Stay tuned!) The next online venture that expanded was with Artist Network University...and in its more infancy worked with experimentations in F&W developing student/instructor portals...
I made my own investment in technology, a new Mac system with Final Cut Studio Pro (digital film/video editor) and a Canon D70 DSLR camera which I use today for shooting video footage. Invested in a lavalier clip on mic for better sound, and two very large tripod 5700k flood lights for better video shooting and painting. But, fun came when I was invited down to Cincinnati, Ohio and put together five full long shooting days with aprofessional film crew my course on "Alla Prima Bootcamp- Four Weeks to Confident Painting" and it really is like a bootcamp for painters of all levels novice to advanced. Week three and four may even be not for the weak of heart...you will be pushed. That course is now available ON Demand with ANU (Artist Network University)
And as I'm told by admin, this course is proving to be the most popular On Demand course ANU has right now...and only $49...(on demand offers the course materials, assignments, going at your own pace, download and start any time, cheaper than the four week scheduled course that included instructor time and personal critiques)
Artist Network University even put together this promo video using my video shooting...
Gumroad-
I also have my own Gumroad Page...where I have uploaded a few tutorials, video instructions made in my art studio space for a small fee...you can check out each link, pay and download. I will be adding more video follow alongs, instructionals, teachings...and prices are subject to change... Larry's Gumroad Page- So, plenty of instructional stuff and growing. If curious about my painting career and earlier history, check out my links to the right in the blog, and my Bio, links to other blogs of mine and my personal website.
And so you are aware, I am available for workshops.
Not so scary pullinga workshop idea together. We've done them twice now even thru cruise ship lines! You will need about 9-12 artists that will pay half down so I make my travel airfare, and the rest paid in advance about a month prior. I have Paypal...and the artists can pay me direct. We just need to talk and I can help you walk thru this if you haven't done it before.
I limit myself to how many events and workshops I will do in a given year. I am as said earlier retired, and enjoy my grandchildren! *smiling
This is a work I did at the Cedarburg Plein Air festival a number of years ago...doing as I often like to do...work from setting up in the water. It is called "Last Word In" because I saw and anticipated the sun going down, looking west...and that I might be so lucky to catch sun glare beneath this small rural bridge location.
I grabbed all my gear after parking off to the side of the road, worked my way down...and with walking stick, old tennis shoes and shorts waded my in a couple trips to set up, with my Duluth pack on a nearby shore.
Hurrying to put paint out on the palette, getting the easel tripod anchored in the current with a larger rock in its apron. All the while studying the scene, deciding my course of action and palette color attack.
Once at the ready...it was literally the sun getting the last word...and I had to work decisively! Was a lot of fun, the glory of color at that time of day's end.
9"x 12" on New Traditions Linen panel...and served as my demo on our Alaskan Plein Air Cruise hosted by the Painted Ladies this past 2016...painted at "Brotherhood Bridge Park" in Juneau...(click on painting to see larger image)
5"x 7" River Watch- Black Bear (click on image to see larger)
This piece was sold to donate and fun my brother-in-law's surgery. You can still read about, even donate if interested Charlie's surgery coming up shortly...
This little study has a tutorial YouTube video to go along with it. Making it an interesting and unique piece for me to give up and to sell. I was preparing to paint a larger plein air at Fumee Falls along hwy2 in Quinnessec, Michigan...(upper Michigan). The light was going to quick move behind me, and the falls would be cast in full shadow, so I did this small quick study to lay nearby as a reference as I went on to my larger work. This work sold in auction to fund my brother-in-law's up and coming surgery...with his Go Fund Me page...
