Monday, January 31, 2011

Jeb - young cowboy and his horse

S O L D
Jeb - young cowboy and his horse  16x20   Oils on canvas panel

Here is Jeb taking a breather after a long mornings work doing cowboy stuff.  I haven't a clue what cowboys do except mend fences, herd livestock and ride horses.  No offense, I just don't know what modern cowboys do when they do what it is that they do.

They probably don't know (or care) what it was that I did when I say that I was a programmer.

But these cowboys that I've been painting (and some more coming soon) are friendly to or at least tolerate "dudes" like me who have ridden a horse once in my life. The horse had the most fun in that situation almost 50 years ago! :-)

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Billy - cowboy in the snow

work in progress
$150.00 plus shipping

Billy - cowboy in the snow  16x20  Oils on panel

Another cowboy with an alias. This is Billy who sometimes hangs out with Bob or vice versa.

This work in progress is pretty much done. A few things need to be worked on - his mouth for one!  I also think that I need to make the white coat fasteners a little less white.  And figure out how to paint a knot in his kerchief (ascot?) :-)

I'm going to let the painting dry then try to make snow happen on the painting.  The method I'll try is to make up a "puddle" of thinned gray and white paint then use a stiff bristled brush to splatter "snow".  I want the painting to be dry because if I mess up the snow I (hopefully) can wipe the painting clean then try again.

Anybody have a better idea for making it snow? I'd like the snow to be falling at an angle from left to right so I suppose that I'll tilt the painting then splatter from above.

NOTE!  How to "paint" snow

I found an excellent piece of advice (for me) in the "YOU ASKED" section of the Art Instruction Blog. Artist Mike Callahan had a good answer for the question of "How to Paint Falling Snow" - I tried it and I'm pleased with his method.

Bob - cowboy posing

work in progress
Bob - cowboy posing  10x16  Oils on panel

Bob isn't this guy's real name, of course. He looks like a "BOB" to me.

His jacket has been around a long time, worn out a long time ago. He would be in BIG trouble if his mother saw him wearing this jacket.

This is a work in progress - I need to do some "fixing" before I'll say this one is done.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Mouse - the computer kind

$25.00 plus shipping
A Mouse - the computer kind  8.5 x 11  Oils on panel

I haven't done a mouse (of any kind) before and I saw a photo of this mouse while surfing the internet.

SO, I made this little painting in a short time. It might show that I didn't take a lot of time, but it was fun and it wasn't a person, an airplane or a landscape. And it certainly isn't a critter! :-)

Monday, January 24, 2011

WW I _ Rhinebeck-Aerodrome-Albatros-DVa

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WW I Albatros-DVa  10x16 Oils on canvas panel

I saw a photo on the internet showing the . A video and photos can be seen here and here.  In 1917 WWI airplanes were made of wood but usually had frames covered with fabric. The Albatross was made of wood but it was formed plywood which needed no internal frames making this airplane lighter thus more maneuverable.

This airplane is very "artsy" and "pretty" in it's design as you can see in the (blurry) top view below. 

Friday, January 21, 2011

RC-130A serial number 57-0512

$100.00 plus shipping

If interested contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.org

RC-130A serial number 57-0512  12 x 16  oils on canvas panel

I spent quite a bit of time flying in this airplane and others like it when I was in the US Air Force in the 1960s. 

My job in the Air Force was keeping the electronic navigation equipment working. Our mission was to fly straight and photograph the ground so that another branch of the US service could make accurate maps. Now satellites provide that information in real time e.g. NOW!

While I was in the AF I traveled to several countries in South America, Africa, the Marshall Islands, Vietnam and Japan. We also went to some other countries in South East Asia.

This airplane was still flying as a "civilian" aircraft in 2009 in Arizona. It's been upgraded over time but it's kind of impressive that a 50+ year-old aircraft is still going!


Thursday, January 20, 2011

My display at the Rogers (Arkansas) Public Library - addendum

Here are three more (and the last, I promise) photos of my display of paintings at the Rogers (Arkansas) Public Library

The open doors with my display in the background.
A larger view of my display. The lady and child to the left of the display are reflections of them coming in to the library. Might make a nice painting????  :-)

I installed a folding room divider leaning against the brick wall.

Now all I have to do is go back once in a while to make sure that no picture has jumped off of the wall.  I discovered that two had fallen over night. Must have been gremlins! :-)

Monday, January 17, 2011

My display at the Rogers (Arkansas) Public Library


The Main Entrance of the Rogers (Arkansas) Public Library. The display case is just inside the double doors in the center of the photo




Ken B. - the muscle of the family while installing my paintings.
Melissa - the brains of the family.  I think that I had just whacked  my thumb with the hammer and she is struggling to not laugh out loud.  She's a really thoughtful person!

Left side of the display window

Center of the display window

The right side of the display window. Lots of empty space to the left out of the photo.

The library has a locked and lighted display case in the foyer of it's main entrance that people can install a display for no charge.

This is how the display looks after our first day of "setting up" at the Rogers Public Library.  We didn't realize how many paintings could be displayed and although I took many, there is room for more!  Tomorrow I'll take in a folding screen to hold several more paintings and get them off of the floor.  I'll take a count tomorrow to see how many paintings are on display.

Melissa did most of the arranging while I hammered little nails (brads?) into the blue - gray panels.  I have an air powered nailer in my studio and rarely use a hammer except to bang on things. (Bigger the hammer - better the fit).  Anyhow, my left thumb is might tender right now from being whacked by a deficient hammer operator (me).

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Young lady with sunglasses

$100.00 plus shipping.

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Young lady with sunglasses  12 x 16  Oils on canvas panel

I know, I know, I know! I said in the last post that I wasn't going to make more paintings with people's faces! yah yah yah.
 :-)

Well I had made this painting BEFORE I had made the painting of the DC-3 airplane painting.

I don't know if this is anybody in real life. If it is, I hope that they like it.  If they don't and they let me know then I'll remove this post.

I've been doing people wearing sunglasses for a while and I think that it's fun.  AND I don't have to paint their eyes! hooray! :-) Not really, though.

DC-3 taking off at dusk

$150.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

DC-3 taking off at dusk  14 x 24  Oils on panel

I had a piece of gessoed panel lying around that is 14 x 24 inches. Not many subjects work on a long rectangular format. When I saw a photo of a WWII C-47 I decided to make it a civilian DC-3.  

I've been working on too  many people paintings so I've decided to make some paintings without people being the most obvious part of the painting.  

I'm putting together a sole exhibit at the local library and when I laid out the paintings, almost all were paintings of people!  More on the exhibit later. I do the setup tomorrow (Monday January 17th 2011)

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Simon's Face

$100.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com
Simon's Face   12x16  Oils on canvas panel

Simon, our Boxer looking (trying to) look pitiful. He's a clown who looks at us without moving his head if at all possible. His eyes follow us, though and his face with those eyes is very expressive.

He believes that he's a lap dog but weighing close to 70 pounds, he doesn't get much lap time from us.  Although he does cuddle when Melissa or I sit on the sofa. Being a Boxer he uses his "hands" to poke at us for attention which works most of the time! :-)

Simon Sitting

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If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Simon Sitting  12x16  oils on canvas panel

This is Simon, our male Boxer looking at birds on our bird feeder. I tried to get a photo of him in a noble Boxer standing show-dog pose but he had other ideas - as usual. :-)

He's definitely a people oriented dog who thinks that he's a lap dog. He's 100% boxer and uses his "hands" to get more attention than he already gets.

His best friend is our Miniature Schnauzer, Bella. I'll be making a painting of her next.  Simon weighs close to 70 pounds while Bella weighs approximately 20 pounds. Nobody can convince Bella that she isn't the "boss dog".

Bella and Simon spend a large part of their day (and sometimes nights) in our backyard chasing our resident Chipmunk who is in NO danger from these two! :-)

This photo is quite fuzzy and I'll work at trying to make a better photo of this painting. SIGH!