Space Art by Christopher Doll

Tag: lighthouse

  • Oil Painting, The Enterprise, and Cabooses

    Oil Painting, The Enterprise, and Cabooses

    We’re getting ready for a busy Fall and Holiday season at the shop, and things are heating up in the home studio too. I’ve been painting a lot more than I have in the last two years and I’m enjoying the results so far. Here’s a peek at some of the latest projects, and some of them fall completely outside the realm of SPACE ART.

    The Enterprise (In Progress)

    I’ve been wanting to paint this scene for years, and in my last post I showed you the preliminary stages. The Enterprise itself is still little more than the under painting but it’s coming along nicely. This is a big piece for me, 3 feet wide and 18 inches tall. I had to step away from it a bit due to the Country Village series that I’ve started but I plan on finishing this up shortly.

    Once finished, this will go on sale in my store, and I plan on making a limited number of prints available.

    The Country Village

    Next Spring we have to leave our shop at the Country Village and it’s a shame to see all of these wonderful buildings and places go away. I’ve started painting some of our favorites, and I’d like to capture many more throughout the season. These are small paintings, about 9″ by 12″, painted with casein on illustration board. I was inspired to try this medium by James Gurney, artist and author of the Dinotopia books. He is a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to learn how to paint. I highly recommend checking out his site and his YouTube channel. Thank you for all of your help so far, James!

    Artist Dennis Brown Studio in Winter
    Fae’s Caboose
    Keepsake Cottage
    Scout 829 Caboose
    The Chicken

    These are the first few paintings and I have more lined up. It’s a different subject for me, but I’ve enjoyed them. These will be on display in our shop at the Country Village this Fall and we will be having prints available in several sizes.

    Oil Painting

    A couple of years ago a good friend of mine from our local Science Fiction Model Club sold me his oil paints, tools, and a pile of canvases. He was getting out of it altogether and I was thrilled he came by. It’s taken me this long to break them out, but I’ve been wanting to paint with oils for a long time. First I picked up an unfinished acrylic piece I’d started last year, and decided to use the acrylic base as my under painting – a technique often used by artists.

    This piece is about 12″ x 20″ on wrapped canvas. It was a lot of fun, and I just had to paint something from scratch so I found a small 8′ x 10′ canvas board and tried out a moonlight scene with a lighthouse.

    I’m pretty happy with the results and it was a great way to get my hands back into oils again. It’ll be a couple of weeks before I can varnish these and have them on display in the shop, but both are available.

    Inquiries are welcome on these, or any other piece. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

  • Watercolor Paintings

    Watercolor Paintings

    Milky Way At Night
    Milky Way At Night

    You may have noticed a number of new watercolor paintings lately. Why all of a sudden have I moved to a new medium? Partly, it’s from the portability. Last summer I picked up a great little travel watercolor kit from Windsor Newton’s Cotman line. The kit fit nicely into my travel bag and I brought it with me regularly to the Doll House Baked Goods’ Farmers Markets.

    I started painting some of my #spaceshipaday drawings while hanging out at the markets. One of the images was used for the cover of my Coloring Book, Coloring Space 1. I liked the simplicity and speed. And the Windsor Newton Cotman Watercolors were a lot better than I expected.

     

    I have to credit James Gurney’s blog with a great series on Plein Air Painting techniques. He’s got� great tips on making your own portable art setup. Definitely worth the time to go through if you have any interest in Plein Air Painting – plus he has great dinosaur paintings.

    Photo Aug 07, 5 17 16 PM
    Photo Mar 16, 2 00 09 AM
    Photo Aug 28, 3 54 48 PM
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds

    Once I got the hang of the basics, as with any paint media, I started trying out a few other subjects including some of my favorite lighthouses and scenes. Not only is watercolor a fast media to use, it’s quite unforgiving. That forces you to commit to your painting faster than usual. It’s a good exercise and with the right touch they can look fantastic.

    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    Night Sky – Original Watercolor 4″ x 6″
    North Head Lighthouse
    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington

    I am by no means a master at this, and I don’t claim to be. This is merely another chance for me to explore color in my artwork. As much as I enjoy the digital experience with my iPad, Procreate, and a stylus, there’s something more visceral and rewarding about working with traditional tools.

    Artist Travel Kit

    These sketches were fun but I was finding that I wanted a few more options during some of the longer market sessions. Then we packed for a long RV trip to Michigan and I wanted to bring some of my paint supplies with me.� I was limited to a few pens, pencils and smaller 4″ x 6″ cut sheets of watercolor paper – my basic drawing package that I bring with me almost everywhere. But back home I had a lot more tools and supplies that I often used in my studio. To get things a bit more portable I started gathering my essentials into a larger kit.

    Wine Box To The Rescue
    Wine Box To The Rescue

    I started with a fine wooden box from Chateau Ste. Michelle, a perfect size for my kit. It would be a bit larger than a sling-bag but it gave me a few more options while on location.

    Now I have a bigger container of pens, including my ink-well style pens from ages ago when I drew my cartoons by hand. They still work very well. I also have a small Prismacolor Colored Pencil set, a new box of Pentel watercolors that I’m just starting to try out, my old design pastels, Golden liquid acrylic paints, a jar for water, erasers, and several pencil sharpeners. It all fits nicely in the box and it even leaves enough room for a wider variety of watercolor paper sizes.

    My Travel Art Kit
    The Kit
    Portability Achievement Unlocked

    Sure it’s a bit more to carry than my sling bag, but it also acts as its own tabletop when I don’t have a lot of flat surfaces. Later I’ll figure out an option for mounting a tripod and maybe re-work the lid into a drawing table with optional angles, who knows. The existing hinges are more decorative and won’t hold up well� with repeated heavy usage.

    I’m looking forward to doing a lot more of these, especially once we open our new shop. There I’ll have the room to work on paintings in the public full-time.

    Now Available In My Store

    A number of these are already available for sale in my store. I’m offering the originals right now and will be offering prints once I decide on a proper avenue for producing them. As much as I hate to turn this into a giant sales pitch, the purchases do help me continue making these. Thank you all

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store
    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

     

  • New In The Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    New In The Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    I’ve just added a lot of new items to the Space Art By Christopher Doll store and here’s the latest plus a few previews.

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    Original Art!

    I’ve been painting a lot of new images recently and I am making these available to you now! A number of these are smaller watercolor paintings which you may have seen if you’ve been following my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts. Thank you all for the wonderful comments, by the way, your feedback is appreciated.

    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    Cape Disappointment and Starry Sky
    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    HMS Surprise Ambushed By The Acheron
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    Friends in Fantastic Worlds
    Milky Way At Night
    Milky Way At Night
    North Head Lighthouse with Starry Skies
    North Head Lighthouse with Starry Skies
    North Head Lighthouse - Original Watercolor and Ink
    North Head Lighthouse – Original Watercolor and Ink
    Night Sky - Original Watercolor 4" x 6"
    Night Sky – Original Watercolor 4″ x 6″
    Jupiter - Original Watercolor
    Jupiter – Original Watercolor
    North Head Lighthouse
    North Head Lighthouse
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington
    Pioneer Building, Seattle, Washington
    Solar Eclipse - Original Watercolor
    Solar Eclipse – Original Watercolor

    Along with my traditional space and science fiction themes I’ve been exploring some more traditional views like some of my favorite lighthouses of the Pacific Northwest, and sea battles.

    Sea battles, really? I’ve long been a fan of the Patrick O’Brien books featuring Jack Aubrey, and the movie Master and Commander – which is probably the best Star Trek movie in ages.

    All of these are available now in my store at the link below

    Space Art By Christopher Doll Store

    Still Available

    I still have some of my hand-painted planet globes in the store, and once these are gone it will be a long time before I offer them again. These were a special gift item for the holiday season last year and I’m not yet certain what will be on the agenda this year. So if you’d like one of your very own please let me know soon!

    Planet Globes, Hand Painted
    Planet Globes, Hand Painted
    Earth and Moon
    Earth and Moon
    Mars Globe
    Mars Globe
    Jupiter Globes
    Jupiter Globes
    Moon Globe
    Moon Globe

    About Prints

    I’ve explored a few options for offering prints of my work through my site, and there are a few of them available now in the store. The prints I have are quality prints, and a fine affordable addition to your own collection. They have been sourced from a variety of vendors and based on the numbers it will make more sense for us to create our own prints going forward. So we are in the process of securing a quality Giclee printer and materials to offer more prints, and we’ll let you know once they are available.

    COMING SOON

    As many of you know, my wife Stephanie and I are opening our own bakery near our home. To do so it means that we’re going to need a lot of equipment, and that means we need to build up some cash reserves. I’m going through my collection of scale models and collectibles, and a number of these will be hitting the store very soon. Some of the models will be build-ups that I’ve already completed, some will be kits, and there are a few collectible items that I’d love to see go to a new home. Look for details soon!

  • Cape Disappointment Lighthouse Painting

    Cape Disappointment Lighthouse Painting

    Given the amount of space and science fiction work showcased on my site, people may be surprised to see me tackling a terrestrial subject like a lighthouse on a cliff. However, painting from life subjects is an essential method for anyone who wants to learn how to draw and paint, digitally or otherwise. I learned this both on my own, and through many art classes during college. While I majored in Industrial Design, the core program was based on London’s Royal College of Art – a program that focuses heavily on drawing from nature and life.

    Cape Disappointment, located in the Southeastern corner of Washington State, has a lot of history to me and my extended family. We’ve held annual family reunions in the area for over three generations. Some of my earliest memories include trips to the ocean beaches and the lighthouses, so I thought I’d tackle a landscape that held some value to me personally.
    This is a 20″ by 30″ stretched canvas, and I used acrylic paint. Some of the additives I used included a clear gloss medium which helped me build layers of transparent details building to the overall look. I started by blocking in the sky and water.

    CapeDisappointment_Start

    And that’s a shot from my home studio. From there I added the cliffs, clouds, horizon, and later came back and made the churning water. Sadly most of my visits to Cape Disappointment took place during rough weather, even in the summertime. Even under dark skies and rain it’s a beautiful location.

    CapeDisappointment_BlockedInCliffOcean

    Next I added the lighthouse forms and tree line. At this point they weren’t detailed, merely placeholders while I brought the rest of the painting up to a similar level of detail.

    CapeDisappointment_BlockedInLighthouse

    After getting all the elements in place, I focused on the lighthouse itself. My wife and I deliberated on having an explicit light beam coming from the lighthouse, out into the sky. To me it felt forced, so I left it as you’d expect to see it in person – a lonely light against a dark sky.

    CapeDisappointment_LighthouseDetail

    The closer you get to finishing a painting, the longer it takes to get all the details. I spent the last chunk of time working out how the rocks should look, water splashing against the shore, and refining the clouds and trees. In the end, I’m happy with the painting, but it still doesn’t feel finished. The curse of the painter, I’m learning.

    CapeDisappointment_Final

    I put it on a wall to take some photos, and my family liked it so� much, it’s stayed there so far.

    CapeDisappointment_OnTheWall

    As an exercise, I like to refer to this as “practicing my clich�s”, referring to a quote by Kevin Costner in the movie Bull Durham. In that movie Costner plays Crash Davis, a veteran baseball player tasked with trying to coach the brash and young Ebby Calvin LaLoosh (played by Tim Robbins) into becoming a big-time pitcher. Here is Crash Davis’ sage advice regarding interviews:

    Crash Davis: You’re gonna have to learn your clich�s. You’re gonna have to study them, you’re gonna have to know them. They’re your friends. Write this down: “We gotta play it one day at a time.”
    Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Got to play… it’s pretty boring.
    Crash Davis: ‘Course it’s boring, that’s the point. Write it down.

    Some may find a lighthouse on a cliff is a bit of an artistic clich�, especially when you consider Art spelled with a capital “A”. But they make me feel good, they’re fun to paint, and people enjoy them. To me, this was a fun exercise. Enjoy!