Edward Oliver and Susannah Lord

10x8, oil on canvas panel, © 2017

7x5, oil on canvas panel, © 2017

I've written about an oil painting class taken at UVU. Here are two more portraits completed during that productive time—my wife's great-great grand parents. They came from England and crossed the plains; and when their wagon axel broke on the plains of Nebraska, they wintered there—Edward's first wife Sarah, a family of seven children, and Susannah, the nanny. 

    In the Spring of 1861 they were to resume their trip west; however, Sarah and their seven children decided to stay in Nebraska and farm. After Edward and Susannah arrived in Utah, he settled in Sessions (currently Bountiful, Utah). Edward subsequently married Susannah, and they had seven children also. My wife is descended through one of these children.

    The paintings were done from small photos of the couple. Edward's was very high contrast. I made a polymer lift from the photo and painted the back, like a cartoon cell, and then finished the portrait in oil. Susannah's was done more the old fashioned way through brute force and awkwardness. 

 

Mardean with Izatt Homestead Cabin, Thatcher

8x10 oil on canvas panel, © 2017

Collection of the Artist

One summer day in 1970 I went on an excursion with Mardean Izatt to Charles Izatt's homestead cabin in Thatcher, Idaho. I painted the larger work of the cabin on the spot, but years later I painted this from a photo of Mardean in front of her father's cabin. It was a special time and a moment for both of us. She never saw this painting, but her daughter wanted it for her posterity.

Olive Tree, Study

11x14, oil on panel © 2017

Collection of the Artist

I like taking a class after I've been away from painting for a while, and in 2017 I took an adult Ed class at Utah Valley University. It was a very productive time for me, as I painted four other paintings in addition to this one. My focus was on getting the:

1. color right for the leaves, 

2. leaf texture right, 

3. gnarly wood,

4. atmospheric perspective in the background, and

5. ground color and grasses.

I like to challenge myself when I don't paint much just to see how I can perform.

Colorado Spring

 

10x8, oil on canvas board, © 2017

Collection of the Artist

When painting, sometimes everything works in your favor—and that is what happened with this painting. It was an adult education class at Utah Valley University, and I was using oil. I put a wash on the canvas. I mixed a dark with UM blue and Alizarin Crimson and put on the dark brush at the top and used a color shaper to manipulate the paint to look like canes. Then I used a brush and odorless mineral spirits to remove and draw into the wash of paint. I was surprised at how easily the paint began to reveal rock, and I added some thinned blue and opaque tans to solidify the rock formations. I finally added the wild flowers that were growing up through the painting.

    What I'm really saying is that in a matter of an hour and a half it had painted itself. Telling me what it wanted, which I did to reveal the composition. 

Recognition: It was awarded an Honorable Mention at the Spring Salon of the Utah Valley Artist Guild. The judge told me that was how oil painting was made to be. 

Mom's Wedding Dress

 

10x8 oil on canvas panel, © 2017

Collection of the Artist

I believe this to have been taken to commemorate the marriage to my father in 1935. I painted it in a class on oil painting. I like to get back into painting by participating in a class or some structured event when I've not been actively painting. The photo reference was black and white and the instructor, when he saw it, said good luck with the dress—the collar. Well when I finished it, he said, "genius." I think he liked it.

City Creek Tree

18x24, oil on canvas, © 1969
Collection of the artist

A "plein air" piece painted in City Creek Canyon in Salt Lake City as part of a class excursion (it wasn't called plein air at the time; we just went outside to paint). It was painted the same time each morning over several sessions.

Home Phone

18x24, oil on panel, © 1969
Collection of the Artist

An assignment painting from art school. It was painted in the basement of my parents' home. I painted it as a statement of the slickness of the modern pop culture. I took off the dial on the phone and knobs on the amplifiers to emphasize the point. I had some difficulty with the perspective, but this seemed to enhance the feeling of the piece.

Still Life with Lamp

18x24, oil on canvas, 1969
Collection of the artist

The lamp and preserve jar belonged to my great grandmother, Ane Marie Madsen (survivor of the Willie Handcart Company, aged 10). I painted this in the basement of my parents' home as an art school assignment.

Horse Skull

18x24, oil on canvas, © 1969
Collection of the artist

This was an assignment to paint a still life in grisaille and then add color. I glazed the skull, bottle, and background. That worked fairly well, but the coffee pot and cup I couldn't get red enough and finally used an opaque red to complete the effect.

Grisaille: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grisaille

Pointillist Still Life

18x24, oil on canvas, © 1969
Collection of the artist

An experimental assignment in the same painting class using dots of colors and letting the eye mix them. I don't believe that I have the patience to do this type of painting as my dots were too large and the colors not close enough in value to mix well. Good exercise that I won't repeat soon.

Still life with bread

18x26, oil on canvas, © 1969
Collection of the artist

This painting was a set up in an oil painting class at the University of Utah. It was originally a larger work, but composition dictated that it be smaller, and so I made it smaller. It is a fair representation of the setup, but the gray does not work well for an artistic painting.

Untutored Beginnings, c. 1963/4

Man with the Straw Hat

18x24, oil on canvas, © 1964 

Collect of the Artist 

I learned from the first portrait and painted this second with properly prepared canvas. Before I learned not to use black, I used it to tint the colors. You can see it in the flesh colors. I believe it was Whistler who said that a portrait is a picture of a person with something wrong with the eyes. Enough said. 

Lady with the Straw, 1963

Oil on Canvas Panel, © 1963 

Collection of the Artist 

I learned as I painted the flesh color that black is not always the way to gray a color. It took some time for me to learn color theory of complementary graying, but I recognize the problems that black can cause if not used right. The hair was a challenge, and I used a pallet knife to apply the paint. It worked better than my brush painting of the hair. 

Autumn Forest

18x24, oil on canvas (unsigned) © 1963

Private Collection 

Painted as a developmental work from an illustration in a Walter Foster Book. “How to Draw and Paint Landscapes.” The painting is a demonstration of how to paint from photographs. The photo appeared in “Fine Prints to Copy or Frame.” Leon Franks interpreted the painting from the photo. This is my interpretation of the Leon Franks painting. 

Man with Bowler

18x24, oil on canvas, © 1963

Collection of the Artist 

One of my first paintings. A friend (Bruce Fisher) and I wanted to paint in oil. We bought some unprimed canvas. We did not know that you should put a barrier between the support and the oil paint. The oil has seeped into the fabric. It was very hard to paint as the paint kept soaking into the fabric. It has lasted 43 years, but I don’t want to put any pressure on the canvas as it seems brittle.

A Log Cabin

9x12 graphite on paper © 1962

Private Collection

Sometimes we stumble as artists and sometimes we succeed. As a young person, we have a tendency to draw what is before us, not necessarily what would make the best drawing or painting. It takes time to acquire that sensitivity.