Artist Tip #24, Trailing of the Sheep Festival 2010, Sun Valley, Idaho

" Trailing of the Sheep II "

Oil

6x6

$550
Copyright J.Bellinger 2010

I have fallen in love with painting sheep! I think it is the way they bunch up that makes for dramatic compositions. Designing a painting is my favorite part of the creative process. In this little painting I had the dark horse/rider and the black faced sheep...needed another dark area so darkend the shadows on the far left edge for balance.

If you are in town the weekend of October 8-10 please come by the Ketchum Sun Valley Heritage & Ski Museum, 1st & Washington to see my exhibit. I will be there Friday Oct. 8 from 5:00-7:30 to visit with folks. Chef Ric Lum "Delicious Revolution" will be serving lamb, you can meet Cindy and Jeff Siddoway, a ranching family from Mud Lake, Idaho and Kelli Young, board member, Trailing of the Sheep Cultural Heritage Center, Inc.

Trailing of the Sheep Festival 2010

Artist's Tip # 24: Use the largest brush possible (I use a #4 bright for 6x6 panels). Load your brush with paint (don't be stingy..its called painting for a reason and we aren't house painters) Put the stroke down..leave it alone! Go back get more paint, put it down..leave it alone. Keep putting strokes down...step back. See what needs modifying...keep edges soft/fuzzy for as long as possible. Hard edges mostly belong in the focal point area. Don't be concerned about details until all the main shapes are down. After composition, value is the most important. Third is color. Your color can be off, but the values must be correct or your shapes won't read correctly and will have a flat effect..fine if that is what you are after.

Trailing of the Sheep, Ketchum, Idaho

" Curious "

Oil

6x8

SOLD

Copyright J.Bellinger 2010

This handsome sheep was in a pen with hundreds of others; we stopped on our way back from the Flat Top Sheep Ranch BBQ in June. As I slowly walked up to the pen to take photos, didn't want to spook them, it dawned on me that there could be a Great Pyrenee guard dog or two so I stopped about 15 from the pen. I heard a low growl...scampered right back to the car! He was lying next to the fencing about 10 feet where I was.

This painting will be on exhibit for the 2010 Trailing of the Sheep Festival

Trailing of the Sheep, Lambs, Sun Valley, Idaho

Spring Lambs

Oil

8x10

$750

copyright J.Bellinger 2010

The first of three new paintings for the 14th annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival which begins October 8th here in the Wood River Valley and culminates Sunday with the sheep herd trailing down Main Street and right past my house!

Seven area artists are featured at venues around Ketchum. I will exhibit my paintings at the Ketchum Sun Valley Heritage & Ski Museum .

I photographed these little lambs this summer at my friends farm. I don't know the various breeds but my favorite are the black faced ones (Suffolks?)...will have to investigate.

Portrait of a cat, Rag Doll cat

" Zoey "

Oil

6" x 6"

Copyright J.Bellinger 2010

Private Collection

Here's a little portrait of a Rag Doll cat commissioned by a friend. She is one year old and a very quiet and sweet little thing! She posed perfectly for the camera. I liked this full face view because of her beautiful blue eyes. I couldn't stand the thought of only painting one eye (profile) or partial in a 3/4 view.

Boulder Mountains, Summer View 2010, Plein Air Landscape

" Boulder Mountains, Summer View 2010 "

Oil (palette knife on panel)

8"x10"

Copyright J. Bellinger 2010

Available $650 framed

The third day of our workshop we headed north for a spectacular view of the Boulder Mountains. I like to paint this view in different seasons. You can drive almost to the huge patches of trees on the face of the mountain (which I have done in the fall). They are aspen trees and are often orange, not yellow. Our open sage hills usually have a sprinkling of confir trees and red rock outcroppings. This area of Idaho is a high mountain desert..sage on the south facing slopes, conifers on the north sides. Tall cottonwoods grown along streams and rivers, as do willows and alder.

Griffin Butte, Plein Air Landscape

" Griffin Butte, Summer 2010 "

Oil

6" x 8"

Copyright J. Bellinger 2010

Available $625 framed

This is a small panel I painted during a workshop with two students new to plein air. This location is close to town but feels pretty remote and is always beautiful in the morning light. It has everything for a workshop..views, bathroom nearby, picnic tables! While I prefer to go to more rugged places, I like to start new students here where they can feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. We spent two mornings at this location.

Hay Bales I, Outdoor Still Life, Art Tip #23

Hay Bales

Oil

12" x 12"

Sold

Hay Bales I is the second in a series that I began last fall. The painting "Barley Fields" in the previous post was the first and I will be posting the third in a few days. I've been "off my blog" for a few months and have missed the interaction. We were doing a remodel on our bath, gutted it, so it took way more than the 3 weeks I had in my mind. Just finished up a three day art festival here in Sun Valley, which was very successful even with the thunder storms on Saturday...I got drenched but my paintings stayed dry!

Allison Stanfield is having a great sale on her audio tapes, soon to be discontinued. You might want to check them out and see if there are some you want to add to your art marketing library. I find listening to tapes over and over helpful. I only retain so much from one listening and will generally learn more with each. Plus, I enjoy loaning out my tapes and art books to students and artist friends.

Art tip # 23 Keep a record of what books, videos, tapes, etc. you loan out (date of loan, return date, name and telephone of loan-ee). I currently have one book to track down. I was mentoring a high school senior project two years ago and loaned a book...didn't record it and just recently went to read the book..not there! Now to remember the students name, etc. ..practice what I preach!

Hay Bales: Barley Fields II, Idaho Landscapes in oil

" Barley Fields: Hay Bales I "

Copyright 2010 J. Bellinger

Oil

11"x 14"
Sold

A plein air painting from last fall. I usually paint smaller panels outdoors, 6x8 or 8x10, but I felt brave that day. The larger size made me work faster, which is a goal of mine. Less dawdling, more decisive brushwork, palette knife, too.

Cherry Jumble II, Art Tip #23

" Cherry Jumble II "Copyright 2009 J. Bellinger
Oil
8"x8"
Sold
I kept forgetting to post this little painting completed last summer. It is one of the series, including the baby shoes, that I did with the objects laying on plate glass with black paper underneath. I love the design possibilities with the reflections.

Art Tip #23: When setting up/arranging a still life take your time. Play with many different arrangements. You are in total control of the composition. Composition first, then value and then color.
Walk around your home looking for objects to paint. See what inspires you. Tell a story with those objects you choose. Get the lighting right..take time seeing how the light falls on the set up objects. Look through a view finder to crop out background. I use a box with two sides and a top to isolate my set up and light from other areas of the room. I can line it with fabric, paper, etc. Look at how different colored backgrounds reflect on the objects (use a small cardboard with hole punched in it. I call this a color isolator. It allows you to "see" actual colors which are influenced by direct light, reflected light/color from other objects, background, etc.
Painting from life will improve your skills and develop your eye.

Plein Air, Hay Bales, French Easel, Art Tip #22 Brush strokes

" Painting the Barley Fields"

Copyright 2010 J.Bellinger

Oil

5"x 7"

Private Collection

The reference for this little painting was a photo I took of my good friend and student, Vickie. The ranch we are on is the same one with the old dairy barn (previous post). It was a very hot day and soon after we had our easels set up the automatic sprinklers came on..while it felt refreshing we scrambled to move our set-ups out of the reach of the sprinklers.

Art Tip 22#: Use the largest brush you can to get the job done. This will help you stay "loose" with your brushstrokes. For tiny paintings, 6x6, 6x8, 5x7 I try to use #6 or #4 bright for the whole painting.

Use all edges, sides, tip, corners of the brush. Put the stroke down and leave it. Try to hold back any blending til the end..you may not need any blending. The action of laying one color over or next to another can result in all the blending needed. Don't forget to get back from your painting..the eye can do the blending. Result: a fresher more painterly feeling.

Daily painting, Sheep, Domestic animals

" Trailing of the Sheep II "

Copyright 2010 J. Bellinger

Oil

6"x 6"

SOLD

An alternate title to this little painting could be "Happy Sheep"...I really enjoyed painting this image. The day I photographed the sheep going past my house was warm and sunny. I stood low in the barrow behind a phone terminal box to be obscure and not frighten the sheep. This put me at eye level with them and I loved the shots I took.