The artwork of Eric McLean

2011-12-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving sketches

Sketch 1: Carbon Canyon (front lit)

6" x 8" oil on RayMar canvas panel

Indeed, I have much to be thankful for and the time to get out and sketch is one of them! I thought the flat effect caused by the sun being right behind me, was interesting. The dry hillsides and brush made for a harmonious palette.

Sketch 2: End of Eureka Street

8" x 6" oil on RayMar canvas panel

A white house in shadow is a nice challenge. I used a toned canvas which is not my usual approach. Sorry Len Chmiel. I had in mind to be careful to keep my values in distinct 'families'.

2011-06-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Fullerton Footbridge

8" x 5" watercolor on 4-ply plate bristol

(plein air sketch)

This was a much quicker sketch than the previous one since it was late in the day. It's such an exciting challenge to capture the fleeting light and yet the beauty before you is almost irresistible.

2011-05-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

View Towards Carbon Canyon

8" x 5" watercolor on 4-ply plate bristol

(plein air sketch)

I love this view which is very close to my home in Yorba Linda, CA. The weather was very quick to change as it was windy and partly cloudy. I'm still trying to get the hang of the medium and in this case was surprised at how long it took for each layer to dry. I've committed to paint in a transparent (traditional) fashion for a while to take advantage of the beautiful translucent quality of the medium. This "waiting to dry" time was to my advantage as I was able to really just observe and mentally record the different light and shade patterns which were constantly changing before me. It was a glorious day though I've been frustrated many times trying to paint in such weather.

2011-05-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Yorba Linda aquarelle sketch

8"x5" 3-ply plate bristol

I had a chance to get out of doors yesterday for a quick sketch. Loved every second of it! I tried the paper Burt Silverman uses as explained in his book "Breaking the Rules of Watercolor". It's quite different with it's rather smooth finish - but I really like the way the color pools in spots. I still have much to learn - but as they say, "I'm enjoying the journey!"

2011-05-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

Walter Vaes - Master of the still life.

I usually don't post about other artists - Walter Vaes will be my first. I thought others might appreciate seeing these paintings as much as I have. I stumbled across some images of his on the Artinconnu Blog a while back. Since then, I'vescoured the internet and sadly could not find much more on this Belgian artist. I did find an exhibition catalog from Interbook International - but was dissapointed to find that the only image in color was the cover. I'm still glad I purchased it - so beautiful is the cover image. To me he has a wonderful balance of realism and abstraction. I've found a few more images lately and have added them here. The final image is one of the black and white reproductions from the book. Oh how I wish I could see it in color!

Thank you for your wonderful works Walter Vaes! You have left a great impression and set the bar rather high.

2011-05-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

A small sketch

oil on canvas panel 8" x 10"

detail

2011-04-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!

The Lemke Chicken Coupe

opaque watercolor on toned paper 5" x 7"

I am visiting family here in Sonora, CA. The weather was beautiful today yet very quickly alternating between cloudy and sunlit. It started raining as soon as I was ready to paint! I went inside and painted looking out of the window. This is watercolor with some white gouauche here and there. I painted this right in the sketchbook which has beautiful warm toned paper.

2011-04-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Work in progress...

I started this painting a while back. It still needs some work but since I enjoy seeing other artists works in progress - I thought I'd share. It is oil on lined mounted on board.

The proceeds from this painting will go to aid these Dalit people in India through the Dalit Freedom Network.

2011-04-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Digital Background paintings from Dreamworks Sinbad

These were a blast to paint - the layouts were really beautiful. I remember Max Boas did some beautiful layout work.

2011-04-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

Plein air sketch - Bette Davis Park

I wasn't able to paint last weekend - here is an older sketch I did close to Disney Studios...

8"x10" oil on canvas panel

2011-04-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Tangerine Still Life II


finished drawing

I've opted for a less centered composition.

As I stated in the previous post, I'm taking more time for accurate drawing. Here, I'm using a brush to find the center lines. You can see in the above drawing that I've drawn this vertical center line and the horizontal line as well.

Now I'm ready to start laying in color.

Here as before, I've approached this by laying largest area and then progressed to the bowl. I go to the bowl next because it's edges are neighbors to the negative space. I want to blend those edges before they dry.

Using this type of paint - it's very easy to get a fluid blending to happen. Because the paint dries so quickly, it's also easy to get dry brush effects. I'm cognisant of where I want each effect to occur.

5" x 7" opaque watercolour on cold pressed Arches

detail

still room for two more sketches there...

2011-04-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

Tangerines in opaque watercolour

My initial setup

Every time I pull out the watercolours I hear the voice of one of my art instructors , "Do you want to be great in one medium, or good in several?" This was at least 15 years ago! Back then (as now) I mostly painted in oils - but occasionally was enticed by the fluid characteristics of watercolour. Whether what he implied was true or not - I've opted to enjoy both mediums.

completed pencil drawing

I recently saw a Michael Klein demo where he painted some plums in watercolour. I suppose that is what inspired me this time around. For many years I applied myself to painting the landscape en plein air. My foremost goal during that time was to get better with color - trying to match the sublime color of nature. Every plein air painting is a race against the movement of the sun. That being the case - I saw color and composition as most important and focused less on accurate drawing. Lately, I find myself re-dedicated to careful drawing and this is especially important with watercolour.

frisbee on an open Box M pochade

Here - against my better judgement, I've decided to let you in on a little secret. Yep... the ideal watercolour palette is a frisbee. Cheap and utilitarian! In fact, I prefer it to my $90 Holbein palette. I don't know if all frisbees have the built in wells like this one - but that is what I like about it. There is also plenty of room to mix color.

There are many ways to begin a painting. Here, I've opted to cover the simplest and largest areas.

One of my favorite things about the setup was the translucency of the bowl. I've begun to tend to that here.

I've begun to block in the masses of color. Simple to complex... I've laid in the color in patches trying to identify the differences between each piece of fruit. Once I'm satisfied with this - I'll begin to refine.

I'm refining here - adding the far side of the bowl - paying attention to the beautiful color effect of the bounce light, translucency, and reflection.

5" x 7" opaque watercolour on cold pressed Arches

detail

2011-03-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Editing a photo for the purpose of painting.

and

How I approach the composition of a studio painting.

This is the original photo. I've composed a this picture so there is a sense of balance. The large mass on the right is balanced by the clutter on the left. I am attracted to the soft flowing forms of nature contrasted by the rigid man-made forms.

I've begun to edit out some of the unnecessary passages using Photoshop. Anything which I feel distracts from the basic composition I paint out.

I've edited even more of the clutter here and added some warm shapes into the foreground to break up the huge swatch of green. Notice I'm not referring to "grass", "trees", "houses", at this point. I find it helps to think in terms of masses, shape, value, color, pattern at this point.


I find it invaluable to have a black and white version of my composition to refer to while painting. It's very easy to react to color while painting and forget that every color has an inherent value. Here I can very easily see the value progression in the picture.

"Spring afternoon" 6"x8" oil on canvas panel


Even though this is a tiny painting - it is the same way I would approach a larger canvas. With a larger canvas - I would have laid a grid over my reference and then a corresponding grid over my canvas in order to transfer the composition accurately. I find that painting these small paintings allows a freedom of experimentation. In this case I wanted to use more palette knife.

2011-03-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Lemons

10" x 8" oil on linen panel

This one is all about contrasts. Fleshy vs sharp metal, light over dark, busy vs quiet (space), whole vs segmented.

detail

2010-08-04T11:54:00.000-07:00

Pickle Fork and Pickle

8" x 10" oil on linen panel

I enjoyed playing with the composition in this one.

Translucency: the quality of allowing light to pass diffusely

detail

2010-03-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Dipped in Chocolate

8" x 10" oil on linen panel

Strawberry and square shaped cinnamon marshmallow dipped in semi-sweet... mmmmm'!

detail

2010-02-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Almond Roca

8" x 10" oil on linen panel

This still life was also painted in the homemade still life box as described in the previous post. I really like seeing the shadow shapes so clearly.

detail (1)

detail (2)

2010-01-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Still Life Demo

Panetonne e caffè
10" x 8" oil on linen panel

These are the steps I took in painting this Italian delicacy called Panettone which is basically a small fruit cake. Enjoy!

Here's the set up. It's just a cardboard box with a small 'window' cut out of the top and the front face removed. This allows for great control over the lighting - especially the shadow shapes which are so important. Thanks to David Tanner for showing me how effective this is.

You can see the shadows are well defined here. Always choose a subject that interests you. I happen to be a fan of Italian fruit cake! The coffee was fresh brewed too! Choose objects which have a good contrast - like the white plates against the black - and the rich cake color against the white of the plate. You might also choose things which have emotional contrast or things which are thematically harmonious - you get the idea.

The drawing. Don't be too hasty here get the drawing right... Try to arrange the shapes on your canvas as interestingly as possible. Composition is so important!

There are so many ways to approach a painting. I chose a method which is popular among plein air painters: Laying in the darkest shadow shapes first.

Another approach is to put down the colors which are easiest to identify. That's what I did here. I purposefully kept the brushstrokes energetic here.

I went back the addressing the shadows here. In this lighting - these shadow areas are the richest in color.

Making progress... I'm starting to evaluate edges - hard vs. soft

Finito!

Detail (1)

Detail (2)

2010-01-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Pomegranates

8" x 10" oil on linen panel

Happy New Year everybody! I continue with my series of still lifes. I find that painting these as opposed to plein air landscapes really works with my schedule and family life. I'm able to set up somewhere in the house instead of going off into the garage studio to paint. I'm isolated enough from my family as it is. I usually throw down a piece of black velvet which absorbs much of the light and makes for a nice value contrast.

detail (1)

I even pulled out the quinacridone red for this one. It worked nicely for some of the cooler reds.

2009-12-18T19:15:00.000-08:00

Lemon Meringue Pie

14" x 11" oil on linen panel

detail

2009-12-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

Pacific Grove - Thanksgiving week 2009

10" x 8" oil on linen panel

detail (1)

detail (2)
-So much to be thankful for...
I find painting helps me to more deeply
enjoy the beauty found in nature.

2009-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to sneak back in here and act like I hadn't posted in over a year! Here's a sketch I did during Thanksgiving week. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous for the couple of days we were in Monterey.

Lover's Point - Pacific Grove, CA

10" x 8" oil on linen panel

detail

2008-03-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Casa De Estudillo - Old Town San Diego, CA

I found this photo online... built in 1827 - 1829. That's about as old as it gets in California!

8" x 10" oil on linen

detail

2008-02-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

Alejandra's taquitos!

These were potato and green chili taquitos... perfection!

8" x 10" oil on linen (detail)

2008-02-01T20:10:00.001-08:00

Melting Sundae

Painting this from life was a lot like painting a sunset from life... If I had it to do over, I would have made sure that ice cream was SUPER COLD and not barely frozen! It all happened so quickly...

8" x 10" oil on linen (detail)

2008-02-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the long lay-off...

Mexican Pastry

This is a continuation of my "kitchen still lifes". I find them enjoyable and am building up a body of work with this theme.

8" x 10" oil on linen (detail)

2007-11-29T16:21:00.000-08:00

Reclining figure study

I painted this a couple of weeks ago with our small but faithful figure painting group here at Disney.

11" x 14" oil on linen (detail)

2007-11-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

Fechin and Leyendecker sketches...

I had a chance several weeks ago to visit the J.C. Leyendecker exhibit at the Fullerton Museum of Art. I was so impressed. That level of drawing skill is rare! I did a couple of sketches there at the museum. The large sketch is from a Fechin book I have.

2007-11-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

Burbank alley - Equestrian Distrct

Painted this one with painting pals James 'monkey boy' Martin and William 'dirty beauty' Wray!

10" x 8 " oil on linen (detail)

2007-11-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Head Study

A group of us at Disney get together and paint from the model every other week. Here's one from a few sessions ago. I'm concentrating on the drawing more.

16" x 12" oil on linen (detail)

2007-09-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Gouache dog studies...

These are on Arches Cold Pressed paper
They are about life sized when exanded.

Still getting to know the medium. The Scottie is such a cool shape to work with...

2007-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Cambria Coast

I painted this one in the studio. I think this is starting to look more like my oils. I'm trying to treat the gouache paint like oils... picking up piles of paint instead of all washes. The hardest thing to get used to is the values changing as the paint dries.

5" x 7" gouache on paper

Psa 89:9 You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.

2007-09-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

I did these two small sketches Saturday morning. I was about 95 degrees by the time I finished the second one... at 11 a.m.!

gouache on paper
3" x 4.5"

2007-08-29T14:38:00.001-07:00

Nathan Fowkes' gouache studies inspired me to give them a try... you can find his blog in my links section - well worth your time I'd say!

Psa 103:15-17 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children..."

2007-08-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

These two sketches were done on location in Sonora, CA during the annual "Gold Country Plein Air" show...

Merced River

8" x 10" oil on linen

It was explained to me that this is the carcass of a very famous choo choo.
"The Canonball Express"
http://www.tvacres.com/trains_caseyjones.htm

8" x 10" oil on linen

2007-07-06T19:44:00.001-07:00

Enough sweets for a while...

8" x 10" oil on linen

(detail)

2007-06-05T13:45:00.001-07:00

Late night snack... I wonder if the diet I've been on lately is contributing to my choice of subjects? Hmmmm....

10" x 8" oil on linen

(detail)

2007-05-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

I was in the kitchen again the other night. I was thinking... "should I eat the cookies or paint the cookies?"

10" x 8" oil on linen

(detail)

2007-05-23T18:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the long down-time. I had a plein air trip to Sonora and my digital camera was having fits!

on the burner....

10" x 8" oil on linen

2007-03-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

Two recent interiors.

oil on linen 8" x 10"

2007-03-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent sketch from life.

10" x 8" oil on linen

2007-03-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

Dog's are good... at least Charlie is.

Oil on linen 8" x 10"

2007-02-22T15:33:00.000-08:00

Around my house nothing is safe from the fury of my brush!

oil on linen 10" x 8"

2007-02-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

I was painting outdoors one day near Kanan Dune Rd. in Malibu when this group of actors in period dress shows up. They set up a tent and tables, threw down some blankets, and proceeded to act as though they were from that era. It was fun to watch! That's L.A. for you...

oil on linen 10" x 8"

2007-02-22T11:33:00.000-08:00

I've let way too much time go by without posting anything new...

Here is some of what I've been up to. I've found that with still lifes I feel a little more free to experiment with technique. I look for interesting contrasts in color or maybe surface qualities... Another plus with still lifes is that I can be inside the house and painting among my family as opposed to being locked away in the studio. Other times - the focus of the studio is just what the doctor ordered.

oil on linen 10" x 8"

oil on linen 8" x 10"

2006-11-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

Studio painting

oil on linen 14" x 11"

2006-11-22T10:27:00.000-08:00

Sketch from life

oil on linen 10" x 8"

2006-11-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

Sketch from life

oil on linen 16" x 12"

2006-11-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

Studio painting

oil on chipboard 20" x 16"

2006-11-22T10:12:00.000-08:00

Sketch from life

oil on chipboard 16" x 12"

2006-11-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Sketch from life

oil on linen 14" x 11"

2006-08-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

2006-08-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Studio sketch

oil on linen 16"x12"

2006-08-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

a series of 10"x8" paintings I'm working on...

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

plein air sketch 10"x8"

The Equestrian District

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

plein air sketch 8"x10"

Towards Silverlake

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:55:00.001-07:00

Head sketch 10"x8"

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Head sketch 10"x8"

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

Head sketch 18"x16"

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

Head sketch 10"x8"

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Head sketch 10"x8"

oil on linen

2006-08-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

2006-08-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Head sketch 10"x8"

oil on linen

2006-05-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

Conte and charcoal sketch.

2006-05-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Some recent work from the sketchbook...

playing with line quality...

composing a page is FUN!

2006-05-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are two recent sketches. 2.5 hours each...

Nichole 10"x8"
Oil on linen

Emily 14"x11"
Oil on linen

2006-05-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Below are several sketches I did on a recent painting trip in Sonora, CA. This was my sixth year attending this invitational plein air show put on by the Vault Gallery. Kris Kestley does a great job of organizing a fun show each year. It is not a competition so there is much comraderie between artists - especially since many of us have been painting together annually for all six years.

It is amazing to me how concentrating on painting and drawing the figure has aided in painting the landscape. I think it boils down to drawing. Painting these sketches 'felt' easier after having painted from the figure exclusively for about six months.

The paintings will hang at the Vault Gallery until the end of May.

The paintings range from 6"x8" to 12"x16" and are all oil on linen.

Enjoy - and thanks for any comments you might give. - Eric

2006-03-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

"Jazz Man"
16"x12" studio piece
oil on linen

2006-03-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

2006-03-10T10:02:00.000-08:00

2006-02-24T22:32:00.000-08:00

2006-02-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

2006-02-24T22:27:00.000-08:00

2006-02-22T16:51:00.000-08:00

An 8"x10" sketch on location at Forest Lawn before work...

2006-02-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

This 10"x8" sketch was painted over the weekend in Old Town San Diego. I spent about 3 hours on this.

2006-02-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

Another recent painting. I painted this 6"x6" sketch with the palette knife only... experimentation was the idea.

2006-02-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

After painting landscapes en plein air for several years I'm beginning to paint the figure again. This sketch is an 8" x 6" oil on canvas.

2006-02-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the studio... I'll be dropping some sketches off in a little while.