Coastal Reflections

Hey everybody!
The weather is here!
Wow, how the weather cures the soul. It's been some great painting weather along the Virginia coast. I almost forgot how nice it is to be around water again, and how much at home I feel being in a more humid climate. Here are a few paintings I have been working on over the past couple of wks. Things are in full color here and now with the sun higher in the sky for longer periods it makes it much easier to sneek in a painting after work! More to come shortely and hopefully as time allows more to be posted here as well!

Don'f forget to always chime in on my art! it's good to get feedback!
Tom

The bug's are out!

Had a chance to get out yesterday and do a plein air piece. I have always loved painting on a holiday and Easter is ALWAYS a favorite because of new arrivals and the turning of weather.

Yesterday's painting went smooth, so I thought i'd try another, but the other turned into a feast for every flying beast around! I only had time to put 3 brush strokes down before the nat's DROVE ME INSANE! I decided to pack it up and return some other time when fresh meat is not on the menu. But the one piece that I did get in surely did feel good to get down. Days have been very limited for much plein air time so any that I can get in is ALWAYS NICE!


End of the road
6 x 8
Oil on canvas

Blue Skies Gallery News and Events: New Artist Thomas Bradshaw

Blue Skies Gallery News and Events: New Artist Thomas Bradshaw

Reflection and reflections...

Hello all,
For the past week or so I have been doing a lot of soul searching about my goals as a painter and the direction my paintings are heading in. I think as artist we all need time to meditate on our thoughts. It helps to put things into perspective and keeps us focused on our everyday lives.

An artist friend is always pushing me to take a more neutral approach to the scene in front of us. His persuasions have always helped ground me and keep me humble. I seem to always fight the urge to jump right into color a little of the fast side. That comes from my drive of catching the ah ha moments. I think there are more times than not to catch a scene in a rapid rate, then in studio work up from the information I got from the smaller piece. But there is also something to draw from with a slower pace of a painting. The more thought out, more planned execution forces you to be humble and second guess your own actions. Many of my plein air paintings have failed because I didn't capture the scene accurately, by not focusing on the real scene and not grounding my scene properly. This comes from not placing the accurate color notes and composition correctly and trying to force myself to paint just to say i went out to paint. If I had've spent more time being in the scene and having my eye open to the scene instead of pressed for time and rushing it I would have probably been more happy with the finished painting in the long run. If I had've taken the scene from a more neutral approach I think the scene would tell me how to approach it from the right perspective.

Also, I have found this neutral approach spills over into life in so many ways. I tend to meditate to help me become more neutral and to stay grounded and take a grounded approach with my paintings. I have found that it helps achieve a more pleasing approach in the long run.

Here is a plein air piece that I did along the harbor the other day to collect information on a larger piece to work on in studio along with other's that I have done over the past week or so. Going back and re-visiting some old paintings from the past and fixing the many issues I had with them. I hope you like!