Two Paintings +Two Mediums = Three Paintings

I finished two paintings today, two paintings I needed to get done for the show this Saturday.  This first one is a remake of Stormy Weather.  The first version I damaged beyond repair and learned a good lesson...never varnish before you absolutely know the paint is dry...or oxidized.

Replacing the painting was important because there are several who are very interested in it.  That, however, makes doing the paining again very difficult for me.  I put it off for a very long time.  I finally painted half of it.  After another long pause, I painted the second half.  I finally finished it about three weeks after that.  It is not that difficult a painting except I was constantly bugged with the thought I could never really recreate it. 

Finally believing that I was not really making a reproduction I was able to add the pieces that make it what it is today and I like it better than version 1.

Stormy Weather 2
56 X 56
Oil on Canvas

The next story actually has more of a story.  The meaning of the painting is below.  This is the process. I first did this piece as a digital painting.  Seeded by a painting I saw hanging in a restaurant in Goliad, Texas the concept took some time to develop and I'm glad I worked it out in digital medium first.  Once the digital was done, I knew I had to put it on a support in oil.  The first one is the digital and size is what ever up to 60" wide if produced as a giclee print.  Both are designed as a triptych.  The oil on panels is 72" x 36".  This painting pays special homage to the 342 Texians who were massacred by the Mexican Army on March 27, 1836.

Goliad

Digital Painting

Goliad

72" x 36" - Triptych
Oil on Panels

The first declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas was signed in Goliad on Dec. 20, 1835.

But March is the most significant month for those who live in Texas in respect to historical dates and events. March 2 is Independence Day when the Texians declared themselves Independent from Mexico. Mexico responded by sending their army commanded by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. On March 6, the Mexican Army moved against the Texians in Mission San Antonio de Valero, more commonly known as the Alamo. Santa Anna killed as many as 250 men that day. Only two Texians survived the battle.

From other battles over the next days Texians were captured. 342 who surrendered when promised safe passage back to their homes were being held in the Presidio La Bahía in Goliad, Texas. As they waited their release, Santa Anna sent orders to execute all the prisoners. The officer who negotiated their surrender and gave them the promise of freedom, would not have any part in this treacherous order. General Urrea, left Goliad with Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla in command and made a written plea for clemency to Santa Anna. 

Early on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Portilla had the 342 Texians marched out in three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road. Mexican soldiers in two ranks on one side of the captives then fired on the Texians at point-blank range only a few hundred yards from the fort. The wounded and dying were then clubbed and stabbed. 

The battle cry "Remember the Alamo" which has been made famous by movies, television and historical books had with it the battle cry "Remember Goliad.  The next month Santa Anna met Sam Houston's meager forces at San Jacinto.  The Texians defeated the Mexican Army and captured Santa Anna forcing surrender and capitulations.   The Mexican army and Santa Anna were not treated in the manner their enemy had treated them at the Alamo and Goliad. 

More Than One Way to Do Things Over

It has been a long while since I last posted anything on this blog.  With all the various sites I try to get my art on, this one seems to be the most neglected.  It should not be so.  This is the only site that I comment extensively on about my art.

So I will say that it is time to do a little bit of catching up.

Another Turn

48" x 33"

Oil on Canvas

Another Turn is another painting that has its idea from a painting by John Karl Claes.  Claes' painting called "Main Canal Turn" and considerably larger.  The compsition was copied but the colors used are significantly different.  From the moment I first saw the painting by Claes, I was captivated by the dominant canal and the sky.  My effort included a very different sky.   

 

 3 X Over
(Three Times Over)
48" x 24"

Acrylic on Canvas

3 X Over is made with acrylic paints.  I do not paint with acrylic because I do not like the way it works compared to oils.  I'm frequently told by other artists that use acrylic paints exclusively that it is the only way to go.  Why? I ask.  Because they dry so much faster.  Exactly why I do not like them.  I'm not a slow painter but I'm not a fast one either.  So much of my paintings are created during the process of making them.  I need the time to work with the paintings for some time.  Acrylic will dry on my pallet before I've even finished with a color requiring me to remix the color several time.  Just not suited for me.

When I decided to do a painting using acrylic paints I was faced with the challenge of limiting the number of paints I would buy since it was an experiment for me and not and investment in materials.  The concept was first a vertical bar graph.  It did not end up that way as it turned into more of an abstract city skyline.  I painted this three times building upon each layer.

Maybe I'll try to do another painting in acrylic sometime but not sure how soon.