SOLD -Face It

Face It", 6x6", oil on gessobord

CLICK TO BUY

"Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it." — Joseph Conrad

This photo was taken over the July 4th weekend on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX. Those tourists are three of my sisters (one is partially hidden by the first sister) and two brothers-in-law fighting their way along the crowded walkway. I am sure none of them are going to recognize their faces in the painting but let's face it, faces are really hard to nail, especially on such a small canvas. 

I've included to the right, the Notan study I created for the painting. Notan is a Japanese term meaning harmony of dark and light. This is the latest challenge posted on DailyPaint Works. 

The first instruction was to create a black and white sketch before beginning the painting that divides everything into either pure white light, or a solid black Heart of Darkness. Easier said then done!

Instead of sketching my Notan by hand as instructed, I took my original photo into Photoshop, and used the threshold adjustment tool to experiment with the light and dark patterns. Once I was happy with the resulting patterns, I printed it out, and tweaked a bit with a marker to further eliminate any remaining mid-tone values still visible. 

Next, I used the study as a guide for the painting being careful to keep all the colors in their preassigned places. I am happy to report, they minded just like little kids on their first day of school. I was pleased with the result. Pretty cool technique! 

Thanks for strolling by today. 

nancy
To see more of my art or to contact me: 
Online Gallery  • E-mail  • Graphic Design Studio

I'll Be Watching You

"I'll Be Watching You" 10x8" oil on gessobord

CLICK TO BUY

"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life" — Jackie Robinson

The subject of this painting was taken from another photo along the River Walk in San Antonio. As I happened upon the scene, I noticed this artist painting in front of the historic Little Church of la Villita (built in 1879) totally oblivious to the passing tourist who paused to watch the artist observe and paint the church. So now here you are, pausing to view the painting of what I was seeing while watching the tourist, watch the painter, watch the church. Watching is addictive!

Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watching." From infancy we learn by watching and imitating. Caught in a web of interdependency, we're all watching someone or something outside of ourselves. 

One of the most bizarre premises of quantum theory, which has long fascinated philosophers and physicists, states that when a beam of electrons is observed, by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality. Hmm, I'm not a physicist but on a grander scale would this imply that when an artist is being observed the artist and the art are impacted? Is this why art styles and visions are so unique? 

Dave Chappelle said, "the hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching." Watched or unwatched, never doing the doing is the greater concern. If you've been yearning to explore your inner artist, don't wait another minute, pick up that brush or pencil today and paint in reckless abandon like nobody's watching. 

I do hope you'll keep watching my work. 

nancy
_____________________________________________________
To see more of my art or to contact me: 
Online Gallery  • E-mail  • Graphic Design Studio

SOLD -Bridges of Bexar County

 

"Bridges of Bexar County" 10x8" oil on gessobord

CLICK TO PURCHASE

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment."— Jim Rohn

The River Walk is a public park consisting of a network of walkways, along the banks of the San Antonio River, that wind and loop one story beneath approximately five miles of downtown San Antonio. The viaduct passes under numerous limestone footbridges which connect the parallel sidewalks lined with cypress trees, restaurants, shops, hotels, bars and restaurants. Today's painting features one of the bridges in a small section of the thronged passageway of tourists.   

If you stop and think about it bridges are pretty remarkable, the subject matter of photographers, musicians, artists and movies. You can build bridges, travel under, or cross over a bridge when you come to it. You can wear a bridge, whole or partial; or simply be a bridge. Sea captains issue orders from bridges, and glasses sit squarely on top of them. But in London, do beware, bridges reportedly are "falling down." You can burn bridges, play bridge, bridge gaps—or if your daring—jump off a bridge. Danielle Steel said, "Sometimes, if you aren't sure about something, you have to just jump off the bridge and grow wings on your way down." 

Perhaps this has taken a bridge too far, yet bridges perform such thankless tasks of uniting opposing sides; they stand at perpetual attention, forever frozen in time like stoic soldiers holding up their end of some unwritten oath of allegiance to support and connect lives.

Thanks for crossing my path today. Go build bridges.
nancy
_____________________________________________________
To see more of my art or to contact me: 
Online Gallery  • E-mail  • Graphic Design Studio

Rivers and No Rivers

"River Walk Diners" 12x9" Oil on canvas panel

CLICK TO PURCHASE

 "Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known."

  — Winnie the Pooh, teddy bear  

 

Here is another painting of the River Walk in San Antonio. This one took me three days to complete with so much detail. I've had quite a few folks interested in the previous River Walk painting I posted, so thought I'd do another. 

The river here in Chama is very low at our campsite. We are hoping to find a better site to fish and paint in the local vicinity today. We were told last night that there have been bears—as in not teddy bears— coming through the site. EEKS!...and I always have to get up in the middle of the night and walk to the facilities. You can bet I'll be watching my back. 

Thanks for floating by today.

 

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  

* Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My book: Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -River Walk San Antonio

"River Walk San Antonio" 8x16" Oil on stretched canvas

Click to Purchase

 "As a river flows through a landscape it carries with it the memory and life of that place. It has flowed through every moment of life that has happened there." 
                            — John O'Donohue, Four Elements- Reflection on Nature.

This colorful scene found along The River Walk in San Antonio, bustles with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, shops and galleries. The river, a popular tourist attraction, flows right through the middle of town, passing the site where The Alamo still stands. 

In Texas, water has been a lifeline for many generations for centuries past. First described by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked captive of Indians, in 1536. The stream originally called Yanaguana was renamed San Antonio in celebration of Saint Anthony's Day in 1691.

While the river canals stretch for two and a half miles, it was quite a stretch for me to paint this one section. I had photographed it on a recent visit but had been too intimidated to even pick up a brush. There was so much going on with water, trees, architecture, people, reflections. Whew, I was overwhelmed before I began. Luckily this photo didn't also include one of the many passing and packed tour boats that methodically cruise the narrow waters. 

Thank you for floating by and viewing my painting. 
nancy

 

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My books:  NEW 2012 Daily Planner and Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net