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An update on a painting I'm working on. I've purchased a new camera. Quite different than my old DSLR which only had a video resolution of 1280 x 720. I'm using a DJI Pocket 2 with 4K resolution and up to 60 fps with video and up to 64MP photo resolution. It's a sweet little mobile camera that's easy to carry. I'm still getting used to it as I literally got it today. I'm showing my progress on my oil painting of "Grizzly Falls" which is located at Kings Canyon National Park,

In the previous phase, I blocked in the basic structure of the painting. In this phase, I began to get a bit more into the structures of the foliage at the top right of the painting and work on the structure of the waterfall. I also started to detail the wet rock just to the left and behind the waterfall and other places where the water meets rock. I turn to gray/purple/blue tones when I'm painting the wet rock so that they reflect parts of the sky. Where rock is dry, I use t

Grizzly Falls Oil on Canvas Block-In Part 2

In the next blog posts, I'm going to be discussing my next work. My next painting is going to be a vertical landscape painting of Grizzly Falls, located in beautiful Kings Canyon National Park, near Sequoia National Forest, California. The 80 ft. tall waterfall isn't the largest, or tallest waterfall to see, but I really liked the rustic location set amid tall pines in Kings Canyon. Our family would often drive to Sequoia and Kings Canyon when we lived in California for 15 ye

The original oil painting of USS Bailey has now been completed and is off to the recipient. Customizable prints of this piece are now available at my shop at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/uss-bailey-dd-492-dale-jackson.html You can customize the print as a canvas framed or rolled print; as a print on archival paper, rolled or framed; on poster paper; or on metal, acrylic or wood. #NavalArt #MaritimeArt #NauticalArt #Navy #Warship #WW2 #WWII #WorldWarTwo #Destroyer #

I've completed the painting of USS Bailey (DD-492). This destroyer participated in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands on 26 March 1943. For this action, she was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation. Bailey earned 9 battle stars during the war. For more information, see: http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/492.htm (click on imagery below for larger views) #warship #Navy #WW2 #WWII #Naval #Destroyer #USSBailey #DD492 #Maritimeart #Nauticalart #NavalArt #oilpainting #canvas #o

After blocking-in and modeling the structures of the ship and ocean, I began work on the detailing phase of this painting. The detail phase is the longest part of painting a subject like this. I worked from the bow of the ship to the stern. Starting from the bow, I begin to detail the upper parts of the hull as well as the wake around the ship. Later, I modify the wake area. I then start working on detailing the hull, turrets, deck and bridge as well as the battery director a

Before moving back to the ship, I blocked in the basic foreground water. Next, I began defining ver basic structures of the foreground water. In addition to the foreground, I move to the background water, defining its structures as well,the waves, reducing in size the further they are from the viewer. Next, I start darkening the foreground to indicate depth and to draw the viewer back to the ship. I also start applying a darker glaze to the foreground water. I also took time

I started working on a color study of this subject which quickly turned into a full-on acrylic painting. Because I'm under a deadline for this piece, I decided to hop onto a different track and go ahead and start the process on the oil painting on canvas. The first thing I did was to create the warm tone to cover over the white of the primed canvas. I used burnt sienna to accomplish this, and let this dry overnight. Because I am using W&N Griffin Alkyd fast-drying oils, I did

I've completed the large ocean painting. This is a 48" x 36" oil on panel painting that is for my wife for Christmas. After many months of on-and-off work on it in the evenings and weekends, I am laying my brushes down. This large painting will be the centerpiece for our ocean themed bedroom and a tentative title for now is "Afternoon at the Beach." Click on the images below to for a larger view of this piece. Video I hope you enjoyed the demonstration of this painting. comin

This weekend I am continuing the process of refining the waves and developing their structure and color. The waves and the surf are probably the most time I'll spend on this painting because they demand more detail than the rest of the painting, so this is expected. I was painting all day yesterday, Saturday - November 21. I let these layers dry and then I'll begin working on them today, Sunday. This is what I love about these W&N Griffin Alkyd fast drying oils. They aren't s

After I completed the underlying layers of blue in the deeps to the aqua layers in the shallows and then the sand up to the shoreline, I did a rough outline of where I wanted waves to be using my white mixed in W&N Liquin Original to thin. After this, I began creating the waves far in the distance. I used Titanium white mixed with cobalt blue and a touch of ivory black. Since the waves were far in the distance, I kept the details, highlights and shadows to a minimum. I used a

After a while to let the cloud layers dry, I started to work on the underlying layers of the ocean. I wanted the hues to be vibrant to match the illumination of the sky above. I'm using Winsor & Newton Griffin Fast Drying Alkyd paints throughout this painting process. Sky is finished...now onto the ocean! I taped off the horizon line and started to paint the horizon and then the gradients that will be for the ocean and foreground waves. I wanted my ocean to be vivid as well t

Fast forward from February when I was starting to work on this large painting, I wanted to share my work on the clouds. I didn't record all the progress the entire way, but rather, I just photographed my process at a few points and recorded a tiny portion of my work at creating the sky and then in another video, putting some light onto some of the clouds (videos below). Before I really attempted my hand at the large painting, I first produced a small oil study of some cloud

This large 48" x 36" acrylic panel needed to be prepped for painting, The substrate was in an original state where the paint would not be able to adhere to it's surface. So, the first thing I did was sand the entire surface and then applied several layers of gesso, then I sanded the entire surface by hand in different directions so as to create a weave type of pattern that the oil paint can adhere to. This process took about 4 hours in total, but I was pretty satisfied with t

In this post, I'll discuss why I think smaller studies really matter with regard to the completion of a larger final piece of art. First, a study, in my opinion is a way of concentrating on problematic areas that you, as an artist, may have to face later in your final work. I have gone straight at a painting, thinking I was very confident to complete it in one fell swoop, but rather, what happened is that I hit a brick wall, having not thought out my composition very well, a

While I'm working on this large oil painting, I'd thought I'd list the specific supplies that I am using for this piece. Paints: I have fallen in love with Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Paints. I used to work in acrylics and watercolors quite a bit so I'm used to fast drying paint, but I was not really satisfied with my layers drying too fast. I switched to Geneva Oil Paints which I still love, but only with certain subjects, as the paints, I feel dry much slo

For the longest time, a blank canvas or a blank piece of art paper would intimidate me. However, I've learned to embrace it and not be worried about what I would paint or draw, but rather flip that thought and instead, imagine or rather visualize the vast possibilities of what I could paint or draw. For this piece, the ocean, being influenced so much by living near the ocean for a good chunk of my life, my mind wasn't blank for what I could do, but rather what I'd like to e