Paintings available online

I got some paintings back at home that are now available online and unframed.

Colorful prairie 9x12 Available

Lavender Dance 11x14 Available

Hidden 8x10 Available

Weeping by the barn 8x10 Available

Emerald on Skagit Valley 8x10 Available

What's showing and where

Life gets busy and there is a lot of stuff going on right now.

"Slopes n' Snow" Sold.

I have more than a dozen paintings on display at Christopher Fine Art in Edmonds. Check the list of paintings here:
http://www.alejandragos.com/christopher-gallery/

"Summer sunlight"

The NorthWest Pastel Society Members Only exhibit is currently happening at the Dakota Art Gallery in Bellingham. One of my paintings is there along with many other pieces.

You can checkout the paintings on display here:
https://onlinejuriedshows.com/ClosedShowThumbs.aspx?OJSID=8643

"Looking down the slough"

"Across the river"

The NorthWest Pastel Society Online Small Works show has been published. I have 4 paintings available thru this show. They can be purchased online at:

http://www.dailybrushwork.com/Default.aspx?OJSID=8669&OID=15&GSID=1090


And finally make sure to check www.dailypaintworks.com and my etsy shop as I have been posting new work almost every week.



Thanks!

Two paths through the forest

Both reference photos are from a park near home where I like to go for a walk and take Ruby (my dog) for some fun. The park is mainly thick woods and trails everywhere. When the sun comes out, it sneaks in through the big tall trees creating some interesting light effects that really catch my attention.

I worked on these two paintings side by side, using the same tones and pastel sticks: always a fun experience.

Path in the forest 1 Available

Path in the forest 2 Available

Pushing color No.2

"Behind the trees" 8x10 pastel Available

Getting cold out there

Today it was cold in the morning. Brrrr
Had ice on my windshields. The sunrise on a cold day is beautiful. The colors in the sky amazing.

"Moody" turned out to be a very popular painting and so I kept playing with the same composition but going for a fall and then a winter scene. Enjoy!

"In the mood for fall" 5x7 pastel Available

"First snow" 5x7 pastel Available

Don't be afraid of color

When I find a picture I want to paint, I look at the shapes and ignore the rest.
The sky is blue in the photo, but does it have to be blue? that's one of my starting points.

If my reference photo is a landscape in a cloudy day, but I love the composition, then I have to push the color.

I always have it present in my mind that using the same colors as the reference usually does not work. It does not work because:

- the camera shot probably changed or did not capture colors and light exactly as they were in reality.
- if you want to clearly represent a sense of depth, you have to use aerial perspective (which involves value and also color pushing) to achieve that.

Keep that in mind!

"Unreal magenta" 8x10 pastel- Available

5x7 soft pastel landscape - "Entering Padilla Bay"

Available here

This painting was done from a reference photo I took during an art workshop in Mt. Vernon, by the Little Indian reservation area. It was about noon time when I was there with other artists.
The tide was coming into the slough at a fast pace. The scenery changes as the water starts filling the deep sandy banks.

It's beautiful out there with the yellow dry fields in the summer.

5x7 soft pastel landscape - "Moody"

"Moody" 5x7 soft pastel-Available

One of my favorite colors: ultramarine blue. I use it every chance I get! This is a pretty lose painting with that mysterious touch I was going for. Enjoy.

8x10 soft pastel landscape - "Secluded"

Secluded - 8x10 soft pastel Available

This painting was started plein air at Lowell Park, Everett, WA.
The Snohomish river flows thru the area, with gigantic banks, beautiful trees and lots of ivy.
It was a cloudy day, but I really wanted to paint this famous view from the park looking into this little house.

Art Journal- Plein Air finished in studio

After coming back from "art camp" with Richard McKinley last August, I kept going out to find places to paint outside. I knew summer was almost over here in Washington. So before everything gets gray out there, I grabbed the heavy backpack and fought being tired after work to start some field sketches and take a lot of pictures for later reference.

I ended up with many unfinished paintings. Some I thought were ok and then I realized they were pretty washed out because it was so bright out that I could not get the values right.

Here are some of the progress shots for 2 of the paintings.

I started this one at Marymoor Park. It was really hot that day, so I was trying to hide under some shade.

It looked pretty cool while I was out in the field but when I came home I asked for advice and realized there was not much gradation of color. It was pretty "white". Its easy to paint very bright when you are outside and your eyes are absorbing so much light.

Back in the studio, I grabbed some of the really dark terry ludwig sticks and worked on getting that contrast defined. It definitely ended up with some drama. And lots of blue.

"Last day of summer" 8x10

The second painting got started in the field, by the Centennial Trail close to Snohomish. After scouting the area, I concluded that the barn was interesting, and the light of the sun dripping down the willows was fascinating.

And again, the painting did not have the right amount of dark and bright contrast that attracted me in the first place.

Also, there was a lot of light color already applied, so I decided to darken the shade areas. That instantly did it!

"Weeping by the barn" 8x10

These two paintings will be available for sale starting September 15th at Christopher Framing and Fine Art as part of the Edmonds Art Walk. The show runs for a month. Come check them out all dressed up with framing!

Afternoon in the prairie

This is a 9x12 soft pastel over a watercolor underpainting that I did on the field up in Mt. Vernon area.

Watercolor done on the field

I later darkened the watercolor and started to apply some pastel

Finished painting available

BR and AR - Mt. Vernon workshop

That's for "Before Richard" and "After Richard".

The workshop I went to the first week of August really hit me.

The techniques and knowledge international recognized artist Richard McKinley shared was amazing.

Richard has almost 5 decades of experience working with soft pastel. I now understand why artists keep taking his workshops over and over again.

I am already signed up for next year's one :).

I told him that, for me, this marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. "After Richard" is so far way more fun!

Plein air demo at Little Indian slough

Lee and his dog painting at Rosario Beach

Lee's website is here.

My setup at Rosario Beach

Yeah, I was actually there

Fun dinner with great artists from left to right: Patricia Gray, Sue Nash and Christine Troyer

Visit Patricia's website

Visit Christine's website

Good things happen to those who work hard... it might be true.

Being an artist can be cruel at times. Demotivation, lack of inspiration, not getting what you want: selling more pieces, art shows, galleries, competitions, awards, .... the list goes on.

I was in a low mood about all these when it happened. In a period of a week, I got news and opportunities I had been hoping for in a long time.

I submitted two paintings to the "Beauty of the Northwest" art show at Gallery North in Edmonds, WA for the first time. I got notified that both got accepted in the show. For those of you that dont know, art acceptance to this shows is very hard. Not only quality of work but there are so many submissions that are good, that jurors have to make incredibly difficult decisions to select paintings for the show.

The exhibition runs the whole month of August.

"On the way to Winthrop"- going to Gallery North.

"Skagit River Beach"- going to Gallery North.

I am a finalist in the Artist's Magazine Annual Art Competition. This is the most recognized magazine in the art industry.  I submitted several paintings for the first time and one of them got accepted. 5900 art pieces were submitted and the jurors select 300 as finalists. You can imagine how happy and honored I feel about this. This is big for me!

"Spring is back" - made it to the finalist list.

Christopher Framing and Fine Art in Edmonds will display a selection of my latest work during the famous Edmonds Art Walk in August. The paintings will be available there for a month. This is the second time that I have a solo show. Exciting!

If that was not enough, I will be taking a next level and mentoring workshop with master pastelist Richard McKinley in Mt. Vernon the first week of August. Even though this is a class that requires you to have taken a previous class with him, he let me join it.

I met Richard in Tacoma after he selected one of my paintings "Lavender Dance" to be included in the Northwest Pastel Society International Exhibit. The class will be mainly "plein air". I really hope the weather here in Washington finally changes to summer. I have only painted outside a couple times, imagine me trying to be a pro, with all this props: umbrella, field easel, hat, bug spray, folding table and chair.... keep my palette from rolling to the floor. ....

To top it off, I am looking forward to meeting artist Marla Baggetta at the BAM Art Fair in Bellevue. This fair is huge and very famous. Marla is one of my mentors and also a dearest friend. Cant wait to see her and what she has on her booth!

Marla at the first Bellevue Art Fair where I met her. I have that painting in my house :).

Roadside beauty

'Roadside beauty' soft pastel 12x12in. $200 Available

In this one, I tried to capture some of the windy feeling on the grasses by the road, and also have that hazy atmosphere look in the background trees and distant hills. 

Latest work

"Spring is back" 14x11in

"Lavender dance" 11x14in

"Through the glowing path" 14x11in

Untitled. 9x12in.

"Long day" 11x14in.

"Pink marsh" 12x12in

"Rocky marsh" 12x12in

"Sun-kissed" 14x11in

"Breaking through green" 6x9in

"Nap time" 7x5in

"Windy afternoon" 10x8in

"Magnificence" 12x16in