4-15-2010 - Tax Day

No finished painting for today. I painted most of the day, and spent the last 30 minutes cleaning up and wiping the canvas clean. Wipe-out. It was one of those days when nothing I try seems to work.

Primarily Speaking....

Oil of RayMar canvas panel - 6x6

For sale $35.00. To purchase, contact me.

After a few days in a workshop with Carol Marine, I am trying to loosen my approach and strokes in my paintings. I like the way this new effort is progressing.

This panel was done entirely in primary colors (with a little burnt umber).

I selected this arrangement as a challenge to work only with red, yellow, and blue.

Rick Petersen

Little Palisades

Oil on RayMar linen panel - 8x6

To purchase this painting click here.

This painting is a view from Helen Floyd Park across the Intercoastal Waterway toward the eroded bank on the other side of the San Pablo River where it empties into the St Johns River. The park is also known as the "Little Jetties" on the south bank of the mouth of the St Johns River. I began this painting as an extension of drawings and reference photographs take last fall.

I was able to complete this small painting in about six hours over two days. The pallet is composed of three shades of cadmium yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, cobalt, cerulean, and ultramarine blue, and an occasional use of burnt umber.

"Spring Blue Headwaters"

Oil on linen panel - 8 x 10

To purchase this painting, click here.

This is a picture of a bridge over the headwaters of San Pablo Creek. I have driven over this bridge many times, but until I stopped and walked to where I could see the bridge at a distance, I discovered the blazing blue of the water with all the color and exquisite form of the bridge and little stream. This painting was made to capture the early spring when the maples and willows on the other side of the bridge are just beginning to come to life. At this time of year, most of the cattails are bleached nearly white contrasting with the water weeds that still retain some of their green along with the reds and russets of the winter.

This painting took me longer to complete than I would have liked because the contrast between the red of the old growth and green of the new was difficult for me to get wet-in-wet. I wiped out a number of times, but found that using a "pallet, stroke, pallet, stroke" process with plenty of medium worked for me. That kept the two contrasting colors from mixing too much.

Rick Petersen

"Hint of Spring"

Oil on gessoed hardboard panel - 10x8

Completed 03/04/2010

Not for sale

After one of the longest and coldest winters I can remember, the promise of spring seems to be in the air. One of the first hints on the marsh is the sprouting of green in the spartina grass near the open water. It is usually windy, and the water, even in the sheltered areas, is ruffled by the breeze.

This scene is looking from the JTB causeway across the marsh toward the Intercoastal Waterway. I removed some of the trees and other details to capture the sense of space and openness in the marsh. Almost all of the prominent lines are horizontal or vertical except for the tidal creek in the foreground. I wanted that area to be seen as the liveliest in the painting.

Rick Petersen

"Two Friends"

Oil on canvas panel - 8x8

Completed 2-23-2010

SOLD

I have painted these two palms a number of times. They stand in a hammock in the salt marsh near the Ft. George Inlet from the St. John's River. They interested me because the taller tree is straight while the shorter one has a graceful curve. In the autumn, the salt marsh changes from green and gray to golden and red. The broken clouds diffuse the usually bright sun in the afternoon.

I used a simple pallet of primary colors, viridian, and burnt umber. The darkest values are a mix of ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson. I changed the composition and the colors a number of times in order to get the feeling I wanted. The impression I tried to convey is of the two palm trees that stand together in the vast expanse of marsh and sky.

Like some of my other small works, I worked on this panel intermittently over several days, so it really doesn't qualify for a "painting-in-a-day."

Rick Petersen

"Standing Alone"

Oil on hardboard panel - 10x8

Completed 02/06/2010 - Donated to charity

This picture is of one of the many hammocks that dot the salt marsh near our house. On many of them, a solitary pine or palm tree seems to stand alone at the end of the hammock away from the other trees. It is this tree that captured my interest as it seemed to be the anchor or the sentry for the whole hammock.

The time of day is late morning when the sky is its bluest and the clouds are like a multitude of cotton balls. That created problems for me in getting the colors to balance, especially the colors of the palm fronds. I finished the painting after nearly a week of work in fits and starts. Interruptions made it difficult, and the choice I made of the brilliant blue sky and scattered clouds complicated the colors I could use for the trees and foliage. I did a considerable amount of scraping off and repainting before I achieved the result I wanted.

Rick Petersen