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This is my most recent painting.

SteveSS

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My daughter wanted an Aspen tree painting on three panels so I did this Monday. I wanted it to be a French Impressionist type of art so try to zoom in on the tree trunks and look at the brush strokes. Not perfect but turned out pretty good for one afternoon.

tree 1.jpg
 
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One afternoon ? I couldn't do anything close to that nice in one year ! Very good, Vincent V.G.
 
Impressive! That's one area of talent I lack, but wish I had.:thumbsup:
 
So Bob Ross Jr. Is among us! Cool stuff!
 
Looks like a happy tree :D
All kidding aside, nice job !
 
I zoomed in. I wanted to show how the brush strokes and colors look up close. Very loose.

tree4.jpg
 
That looks great!

My thing is polynesian-style tikis. At first I just thought they were cool, and then I realized how peaceful and satisfying it is to do art.
 
If you lay them down end to end they look like car tracks in a dirt road.
 
They look great. You have talent that most don't. My daughter has artistic talent but I am afraid she will not use it.
 
My first degree is in art/illustration/design from KU. My second is my MS in petroleum geology. I've done some children's books. See here. I switch between art and the oil business depending on the price of oil. So I'll be in the oil business again soon. Most of my professional time in the design field was in industrial design. That's hard to explain but car guys will get it. You've seen the sketches and illustrations for new cars. It's that but I never did cars. Zebco, Quantum, Motorguide, Bass Pro Shops, Hesston, Mommy's Helper, Coleman, and smaller clients. I can't show that stuff. It's covered by confidentiality agreements. Do you know that big red plastic gas can? That's me. The company's wish was to save a couple of pennies on manufacturing. It worked, they sold billions of them. Don't hate, I didn't do the nozzle.

This one is all me. It was designed for safety.


grip.jpeg


Then some companies started marketing it a different way.

safer 2.jpg







Here are some books.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=steve+van+buskirk&i=stripbooks&crid=XV4CO89D1ZGS&sprefix=steve+van+buskirk,stripbooks,352&ref=nb_sb_noss

bible.jpg


If you have an idea you want to take to a manufacturer your second stop is someone like me. You want the pretty pictures to sell your concept.
 
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67440. Does your daughter have to think about how will she make money in the art field? The graphics fields are always good. but they don't have much to do with drawing.
 
You are right to call this latest painting a Bob Ross type. It's all technique and that drives me crazy. I was trying to teach my daughter how to do an Aspen painting. She is more craft-oriented. Here's how to do one.


Slap a bunch of natural colors on a canvas. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, and the like. Brushstrokes don't matter you are just getting rid of the white.

Let those dry. Now with a big brush poke at the background with a brush using the same colors. I mean really smash that brush in. Don't let it get muddy. If you want you can wad up a paper towel and dab at it. Don't be afraid to have darks and lights.

Remember your paint is acrylic and it's already dry underneath. If you don't like it don't worry, you can wipe it off. Really, however it looks like it's going to be okay later.

Aspens in the background will be grayer. Use a small brush and let the paint amount dictate how long/tall those background trees are. Let them come and go. Parts are being hidden by leaves. Add some branches. Let them come and go.

All branches want to do, is go out them up, trying to find the sunlight!

Now the foreground Aspens. make as many as you want. They go all the way from the top to the bottom. Don't use pure white. Don't make them perfectly straight. They are still kind of gray. Add some bigger branches.

To make the trunks look round add some gray to one side of the tree trunks and the underside of your branches. Don't make it perfect. This is nature. Add some pure white highlights. They will blend in automatically. Let the paint do the work.

Add the black spots and lines to the trunks. Dark gray not black. Be really free with your tiny brush. These will make your painting come alive.

You're done.
 
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