Dark or light?

When I begin a painting I usually start with a black gessoed canvas or panel and draw my shapes in with chalk. It can take hours to get the drawing right but it is easy to erase with a damp sponge and redraw and adjust the chalk lines until the composition works.

I then start layering and glazing with color leaving the black of the background visible in selected areas kind of like a watercolor artist uses the white of the paper to represent the light areas.  They work from light to dark and I paint  from dark to light, just the opposite.

Evening Hues 20"x40"

"Evening Hues" is painted on a black background and the colors are very saturated and bright.

 

Sunrise in Lavender 30"x40"

On occasion I will start a painting on a white or lighter colored background. Sunrise in Lavender is painted over a white background and you can see the dramatic difference in the final result. The colors end up softer with an ethereal feel.

 

 

May in Olympia

Nine of my newest works will be showing during the month of May at the Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia, Washington. My art will be featured along with that of four other artists.

 

 

"Meet Me for Lunch" 24"x24"

Check out their website at www.childhoods-end-gallery.com. The exhibit will be up through May 31st. If you are in the area stop in and have a look at this great gallery!

Necessity and invention

We all know the saying......Well, here is my invention created out of necessity.

 

Most of my paintings are created using Golden brand fluid acrylics. I buy the colors in 16 oz. plastic cylinders with squirt top lids. I built a shelf on my easel where I set the containers while I was painting but it was very unhandy. They were constantly falling over and the one I wanted was always hiding behind the others. One night I was searching the cupboard for late night snacks when I noticed my wife's spices neatly arranged on this little merry-go-round. A light bulb ignited and I went to my drawing board to design a similar contraption that would hold my colors and the Paint-Go-Round was born!

 

  

 

It works great! I mix my colors in recycled yogurt containers that I keep stacked on the shelf and my jar of brushes and rinse water is nearby! Happy Painting!

 

 

Art talk

I will be giving an art talk and doing a quick demonstration of my painting process at the Blue Whole Gallery in Sequim Tuesday, the 18th (tonight) at 6:00 p.m.  Everybody welcome! Should be fun!

From sketch to canvas

In an earlier October post I said that I was thinking of doing a full size painting using a plein air sketch I did of the Rose Theatre. Well, I found some time and did it. Here is the finished painting along with the original sketch.

 

I used fluid acrylics on a stretched 30"x30" 12 oz. canvas. I worked at it off and on for about a month until I was satisfied with the overall look. I used my artistic licensee quite liberally so it is more of a resemblance than an accurate portrayal of the site but recognizable!

 

 



January workshop

 We are beginning a new and event filled year and I am excited to be doing painting workshops again. The classes will be held at my studio overlooking the bay here in downtown Port Townsend. My studio will comfortably accommodate from ten to twelve students. These smaller classes allow for personal attention to each student and good visibility for the demonstrations.  New this year is a kit I put together providing the canvases and brushes we will be using which should make it easier for everyone to obtain more uniform results while learning the process. The kit will be included in the price for registration.  It consists of 2 black gesso primed canvases (one 14"x18" and  one 12"x16") and 3 quality Daniel Smith brushes (3/4, 1/2 and 1/4) also I will personally sign one of my coffee table books for the kit. The January class will be held on Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th from 10:00 a.m. to  4:00 p.m. The registration fee will be $250.00 for the 2 day class.  For more information or to sign up for the class please email me at www.don@dontiller.com or phone 360.379.5450.


These are the items included in the kit

Plant-a-thon commission

A little over a month ago I had a surprise visit to my downtown studio by Jude Rubin from the Northwest Watershed Institute.  She asked if I would be interested in creating a painting for the annual Plant-A-Thon where the image would be used on "tree cards" to be sold by students to raise money for their schools.   I quickly accepted the commission even though the deadline for completion was fast approaching.  The next day Jude took me hiking through the Tarboo Watershed where I was able to get a feel for the landscape and explore the salmon runs.  I went back to my studio and sketched out some ideas.  I decided to do the painting on a 30"x42" panel which would scale down perfectly to the 5x7 card size. After hours of editing ideas and drawings I settled on a final theme and sketched a full size drawing (shown below) which I submitted for their approval. 

 

 

 

It took me over three weeks to complete the painting and get it photographed and ready to be sent to the printer. We made the deadline and the cards are selling fast. Here are some excerpts from an article that   appeared in the November 27th issue of The Leader.

 

         

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 Local artist Don Tiller has created an acrylic painting especially for the ninth annual Plant-A-Thon.

The image is featured on the Plant-A-Thon “tree cards,” which are sold by students to raise a grand total of $300,000 for their schools.

For each of the 3,000 trees to be planted by local students during the Plant-A-Thon in February, students sell a tree card for $10; the card entitles the buyer to “plant a tree in honor of someone special.”

Best known for his bright rural landscapes and his playful rendering of patterns of human land use, Tiller often works from his childhood memories of South Dakota farmland. But when he accepted the commission for the Plant-A-Thon card, he hiked through the Tarboo Watershed for firsthand inspiration.

Titled “Thriving Watershed,” Tiller’s painting reflects his fascination with the interdependency of salmon and forests.

“The colors in the tree in the foreground represent the energy and nutrients from the salmon that trees take up after salmon spawn and decompose,” he said.

Tarboo–Dabob Bay is included in the image, as well as a barn on Dabob Road, a historic legacy of the Daniel Yarr farm that operated there during the early 1900s.

“I tried to include the many elements that the Plant-A-Thon program brings together: the salmon, the trees, the history of farming and of course, the kids out there planting,” Tiller said. The tree planters in the painting are modeled after a photo of youth crew leaders Heather and Daphne Hamilton and Hannah Spitzbart.

“Thriving Watershed” is now on display at Tiller’s studio on Water Street in Port Townsend, above the Public House restaurant.

Tree cards are available at participating schools: Port Townsend’s OCEAN Program, Chimacum Pi Program, Swan School, Jefferson Community School, and the PTHS Students for Sustainability Club. They are also available at Farm’s Reach Cafe, the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, and at the Chimacum Crafts Fair on Dec. 14-15, the final Port Townsend Farmers Market on Dec. 21, and at the Food Co-op from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 23.

 

Here is a link to the actual article:

Leader Plant-a-thon article.

 

 Also, here is the link to the card site where you can purchase cards online:

Ocean honorary tree cards

 

 

 

"Thriving Watershed" 30"x42"