Stained Glass Windows and Oil Painting

Stained glass window-progress, sidelight, piecing together

2012-02-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

Oil Painting in progress

2012-02-05T06:25:00.000-08:00

Stained glass window-progress, first set of bevels complete

2012-01-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

These are 3 of several bevels that are interspersed throughout this sidelight. I enjoy the gradation of the color from dark to light in the bevel. It really picks up more of what is going on in the glass when it is beveled.

Stained glass window-progress, cutting glass for beveling

2012-01-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

These images show the design drawn out and glass pieces that will be beveled.

Oil Painting in progress

2012-01-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Figure drawings in pencil-studies

2012-01-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

Stained glass design for ceiling lobby-proposed

2012-01-13T08:45:00.000-08:00

Top two images are close ups and the bottom image shows the full scale.

Working on a stained glass design for hotel lobby

2012-01-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

6:30 in the morning right now and I have been working on a design for a hotel lobby ceiling since 12:30 am. Probably still have 3 hours to go. I need to have this finished today so I can mail it to the architect tomorrow. I will post the design at a later date.

Figure drawings in charcoal

2012-01-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

Stained glass design for our entry way- final design

2012-01-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

This is a second design that I drew for our entry way and will be the one that we will put in. I will start on this today and post the progress.

This sidelight will align with the right side of the transom window.

Figure drawings in charcoal

2011-12-27T16:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T22:53:00.000-08:00

Just finished putting the gifts under the tree and drinking the milk and cookies left for Santa : ) Sorry Santa.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Figure drawings in ink

2011-12-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Painting in progress

2011-12-17T05:03:00.000-08:00

Design for next painting

2011-12-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

You can click on the above image to get a better viewing of it. It is the drawing for the next painting and is from the stained glass design below that was from an ink drawing before that.

I will be showing the progression of the painting.

Starting a new painting-painful today

2011-12-07T05:09:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 2 am this morning and could not get back to sleep so I got up at 2:45 to start on a new painting. I have been looking at this design I drew on canvas ( I will post the picture next time) for a week and have been unsure as to what to do with it. This morning I just put a color on the palette and started on a section. It was painful as I was uncertain what was going to come out, not quite sure what to do. By the end of that section, which took an hour and forty five minutes, I just gave in and allowed what needed to come out flow on the canvas.

Tattoo design

2011-12-04T07:23:00.000-08:00

A coworker wanted a tattoo design of a few symbolic things for her and this is the basic design. First time doing a design for a tattoo.

Stained glass design for our entry way

2011-12-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

This is for the transom above the front door and the design below is the sidelight. The triangles are beveled and will have color pieces beveled and bonded on the center portion. The triangles below the beveled ones will be a color to be determined. The "background" glass will be reeded glass. Click on the image to get a larger view.

Figure studies in charcoal

2011-11-27T07:43:00.000-08:00

Figure drawings in pencil

2011-11-26T07:47:00.000-08:00

Thank you

2011-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I want to say thank you to my followers and to those who have browsed my blog from time to time. I know I do not say too much but I hope the images I have shown have spoken to you.

International Contemporary Artists Vol III

2011-11-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

I just received my copies of International Contemporary Artists Vol III and I am on page 231. Very excited!

Completed painting

2011-11-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

After a couple of attempts at different colored backgrounds this one works well to bring out the greens in the leaves.

Figure drawings in pencil

2011-11-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

Painting in progress

2011-11-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

I don't like the background blue. Detracts too much from the leaves. This picture actually looks better than the actual painting in which the blue and green blend too much and is hard to see the contrast. I will think about the background some more.

Figure studies

2011-11-03T18:28:00.000-07:00

Figure drawings in ink

2011-11-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

Figure drawings in charcoal

2011-10-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Figure drawings in pencil

2011-10-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

Painting in progress

2011-10-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

Figure drawings in charcoal

2011-10-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

Painting in progress

2011-10-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

This was inspired from a ink sketch I did of some leaves:

Sketches-studies

2011-10-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

These were quick studies of people sitting at an airport waiting for boarding.

Sketches-studies

2011-10-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

I was at a kids baseball game and sketched these. It was fun to watch.

Sketches-studies, composition

2011-10-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

I was figuring out a good composition of the movement and flow of some plants.

Sketches-studies

2011-09-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

Sketches-studies

2011-09-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

These are of my son drawing in a coloring book on the lawn.

Sketches-studies

2011-09-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

The next few posts will show quick studies that I have done from time to time.

Drawings

2011-08-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

These were quick studies.
Hand studies

Concept drawing for leaded glass windows for several rows of windows in a 2 story building

2011-08-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

This is a concept drawing of a design for a two story building that is a waste water treatment plant. It would be fun to do but it turns out they are looking for outside art not interior.

pencil drawing

2011-08-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy this drawing. Kinda melancholic in feeling.

From Pen/Ink drawing to stained glass design- completed

2011-07-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is taking the pen drawing that I did and created a hand beveled glass/ leaded/ stained glass design.

From Pen/Ink drawing to stained glass design

2011-07-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

This week I will be working on changing the drawing from the last post into a art glass design. I will post the image once completed instead of the process.

Drawing in process 4- Completed

2011-07-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Drawing in process 3-almost done

2011-07-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Drawing in process 2

2011-06-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

My work has been accepted into a national publication

2011-06-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

I entered a juried competition into a publication called International Contemporary Artists. I just found out that I have been accepted with the assistant curator stating that my work is "very impressive." The next volume will come out the end of October. Their web site is www.incoartists.com

Drawing in process

2011-06-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

Not quite sure where this is going yet. Interesting drawing in ink because I am unable to erase mistakes which I see one. Have to figure out what to do with it.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

My 4 yr old son and I drew the following images together, one is a T-Rex and the other is stegosaurus. My wife is taking me to see the Da Vinci collection at the MAC in Spokane today which I am looking forward to. Hope you all have a great day.

Drawings- Hand studies

2011-06-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hands are very expressive and complex to draw. I find myself drawing them quite frequently. If you have a hard time seeing an image, click on it to view a larger image.

Stained glass design- changing a traditional design into my own

2011-06-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

I took a traditional stained glass design and made it my own by changing the bevels and where they are placed.

Stained glass design for corporate office

2011-06-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

The triangles would be hand beveled and the color pieces beveled and bonded on top of the clear bevel. Clear textured glass to aid in privacy yet allowing light to come through.

Drawing- composition

2011-06-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

I was sketching trees and trying to figure out compositions within different shapes. The second drawing also includes a planter.

Drawing of the day

2011-05-31T04:10:00.000-07:00

This is a drawing of my 4 yr old's hand resting on his foot. He was fidgety but sat still long enough for me to capture this.

Drawings

2011-05-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

These were fun. I took a page of various sketches and began to make it a whole piece.

Drawings

2011-05-16T04:19:00.000-07:00

This first drawing is of the side of a string bass. I enjoy the simplicity of form, movement.

Drawings

2011-05-12T04:18:00.000-07:00

Drawings

2011-05-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

Drawings from sketchbook

2011-05-10T04:27:00.000-07:00

The next few days I will be sharing some drawings from my sketchbooks. Some show examples of the drawing techniques that I shared previously.

Mothers Day card

2011-05-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

My 4 yr old son and I made a mothers day card for my wife. I drew the rose and my son colored it in.

I enjoyed watching my son color - he was using both hands at the same time with two different colors.

Stained glass design for office window

2011-05-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

This is an interior office window next to a door entering the office. It is approximately 5 ft by 3 ft. The door is to the right and the design flows into a window in the door. This would have clear textured glass and hand beveled glass to allow privacy yet have light flowing through. The opposite wall in the office has an exterior window that looks out at one of the surrounding hills of the Palouse. This design compliments the rolling hills as well as tying into the flow of the space.

Drawing Techniques- Line thickness

2011-04-30T06:07:00.000-07:00

Changing the line thickness in a drawing creates a more interesting and dimensional piece. Making a line thicker can pull a section forward making the thinner line recede. A thicker line can make a section look more weighted like someone putting more weight on one foot than another. I also do this in creating leaded glass windows- using thicker and thinner lead within a piece to move areas forward and backward.

Drawing Techniques- using symbols

2011-04-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

Use symbols or shapes as background, texture, shading or to define an area. Matisse is a good example of this. Shapes and symbols are used in aboriginal art and each shape has a particular meaning.
The painting below is titled Dancer which I painted in 1994.

Drawing Techniques- shading/light to dark gradation

2011-04-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

This technique helps to develop light to dark gradations using pencil. The trick to this is to layer building from light to dark. If you try to draw light and then dark it will not have the gradation look. You will end up with distinct lines showing the difference of light and dark. You can also do this exercise doing hatch and crosshatch.

Drawing Techniques- drawing opposite side

2011-04-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

This will stretch your brain- as you are drawing something think of what the opposite side looks like and draw it into the piece.

Drawing Techniques- hatch/cross hatch

2011-04-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

Hatch and cross hatch are used to shade areas, add definition and shape. If more shading is needed cross hatching is great.

Drawing Techniques- timed drawings

2011-03-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

A great way to change the way you see things and draw is to do timed drawings. Warm up with 30 second drawings to get the flow, idea of the object/ person down. After a few of those do 1 minute, working your way up to 5 and 10 minute drawings. You can even mix it up- do a 1 minute drawing then a 15 second, 30 second drawing. These are also great for group and class settings.

Drawing Techniques- both hands at same time

2011-03-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

Drawing with both hands at the same time is a very challenging technique. You are to have each hand at opposite points in the drawing; the tendency is to be close together in the drawing so try not to.

I drew in pencil with one hand and pen in the other. I started at the head with the pen ending at the hand and the feet with the pencil ending in the torso area. It really makes you slow down and focus.

Drawing Techniques-Class or group setting

2011-03-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

A fun activity in a group setting is to have large banner paper, split up in several groups of 2-3 people who will draw on each sheet. After a few minutes have 1 person from each group move to another group and continue drawing for the same amount of time and keep rotating until everyone has drawn at each group. This teaches people to tie things together and is very fascinating to see different styles on a sheet.

Drawing Techniques- Blind contour

2011-03-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

One technique that I use most often in drawing is blind contour or even gesture drawing "blind". What I mean by "blind" is not looking at the paper 90% of the time when drawing. The idea is to keep your eyes on the object to study it and observe it. The hand will go with what you are seeing. Examples of drawing this way can be seen on the opposite hand posting.

Drawing Techniques- gesture

2011-03-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

Gesture drawing is basically very quick drawing to capture the movement, placement of something or even the composition.

Drawing Techniques- opposite hand

2011-03-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

A great way to warm up is to spend 20 minutes drawing with your opposite hand. It gets you to not think so much and just allow the drawing to come. A lot of times the composition or capturing the moment comes easier drawing this way.

Both drawings were done with my opposite hand.

Drawing Techniques- drawing from the cube

2011-02-28T16:09:00.000-08:00

One thing I have found very helpful to get more dimension on a 2 dimensional surface is drawing from the cube.

Start by drawing a cube-square or rectangle to create the illusion of 3 dimensions. Then it is a matter of drawing a figure or object within this cube, pushing and pulling the object to create more dimension.
When I was first learning to draw everything seemed flat and did not seem to come forward. This helped me tremendously to think about pulling forward the areas that are closest to me and pushing back the areas furthest from me.

Drawing Techniques

2011-02-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to do a series on drawing techniques that I have found helpful and, to use the word again, fun. Examples include drawing from the cube, blind contour and gesture. I will start next week on this series.

Oil painting titled Growing

2011-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

5ft tall by 2ft wide. I had a plant that draped down from the pot a certain way and really liked the flow of it. The shoot at the bottom of the plant shows the plant is continuing to grow which also signifies myself growing in so many ways. After completing this piece it struck me how much it looks like a Japanese screen.

Half dining room window

2011-02-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

This window is in a dining room and the client wanted privacy from the street. He had wood shutters which blocked out a lot of light. This gave privacy and allowed the light to come in. The lines flow with the texture in the surrounding walls and ties in with the background trees. It was fun to have the design go outside of the frame on top and have the top be diagonal instead of squared off.

Stained glass trifold room dividers

2011-02-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

The following are room dividers that I have for sale. I enjoyed making three panel divider with designs flowing through the three panels. A friend of mine made the wood frames.

The first two pictures bring out the image differently. I originally had the glass in the first wood frame but changed it to the white oak frame in the second image. Hand beveled glass with color pieces beveled and bonded on top. I enjoy the flow of the design.

Measures 6 ft tall and each panel is 18" wide.

This one stands 5 ft tall and each panel is 18" wide. Ash wood frame. Both dividers have double joint hinges so they can be folded/unfolded in different ways. I love how the different textures of glass pick up the colors and light/shadows from the background.

Oil painting-figurative

2011-02-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

The human figure is a fascinating subject to draw/paint. Very expressive, complex and at times difficult to draw. Body language is how we understand what a person is thinking, feeling or doing and trying to capture that on paper, canvas or even glass is a challenge for me. I enjoy using different colors to paint to form to express different emotions.

Looking at these remind me again how the glass and painting intertwine with each other - FUN!

Oil painting- figurative expressing anxiety

2011-02-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

I was going through a period where I was anxious about a lot of things, much like I am now. I wanted to express that through this pose with the muscle tension, tension in the fingers. "What do I do?" is what I see when I look at the hand on the head.
I enjoy the depth and love the anatomy in this pose. I also enjoy the intertwining of glass design and painting.

Oil painting reproductions

2011-02-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for special cards to give someone or art prints, please visit http://IsaacDSmith.imagekind.com
for reproductions of my oil paintings and glass images.

"Gusty"- stained glass process- completed

2011-01-31T16:15:00.000-08:00

I enjoy the movement of this piece and how the design flows outside of the frame. I also enjoy the painterly feel that it has. At some point a wood frame/stand will be made and this will be a freestanding piece.
The inspiration of this piece was during a windstorm I watched some trees get blown pretty hard and I had a mental image of a design for glass.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-26T16:56:00.000-08:00

Cleaning the hardened uv adhesive.

"Gusty"- stained glass process; bonding beveled glass

2011-01-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

This is the bonding process. I use uv adhesive to bond the beveled color piece onto the clear beveled piece. The uv lamp cures the adhesive.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

I had drawn the middle shapes of the clear bevels and placed the above colored glass over the clear bevels, drew the outline, scored and broke the glass to get the above shapes. They were then beveled and now ready to bond onto the top of the clear bevels.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

Soldering the lead came outside of the copper frame. I enjoy moving the design outside of the frame to add more interest and movement.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-16T06:27:00.000-08:00

Whiting is used to help the putty dry faster and to clean oils off of the glass.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

This image shows the soldered joints and the putty in the channel and preliminary cleaning of the glass.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

All pieced together and ready to solder the joints.

Reproductions of my oil paintings/glass images

2011-01-03T15:47:00.000-08:00

Reproductions and prints of my oil paintings and images of stained glass can be purchased at http://IsaacDSmith.imagekind.com Anything from note cards to full size reproductions on different kinds of paper as well as on canvas. Matting and framing is also available.

Frosted trees-Hyouju

2011-01-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

The following images I took on Friday (Dec 31) morning and evening of frost on the trees. Our son's name is Hyouju which means frosted forest or trees. It was beautiful. I find it interesting how my photos seem to be compositioned similar to my painting and glass work.

This was soon after sunrise and the fog is still in the distance.

I took this pic after the fog lifted. I enjoy the color change from the pale orange to the blues.

This one I took in the evening. I love the light and shadows on the snow.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2011-01-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Cutting glass and piecing everything together. I tack solder some joints just to hold areas together so I can move on to the next piece. With some of the curves this piece became a little complicated in cutting and putting together.

A New Year

2010-12-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

I hope that this new year brings joy and peace in your lives. I definitely could use that as well as reconciliation and healing. I am learning to surrender at the moment as we have moved to a new place this year and I do not know when I will be able to create glass art or paint again. I am working on restoring our marriage right now. I will keep posting glass work and paintings and talking about them. I keep up on drawing and will show those from time to time.
Happy New Year!

Christmas

2010-12-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas ! I hope you all have a wonderful time.
We are going to have a quiet time at home. My son has been sick the last few days so we are hoping he gets well quickly and that we stay healthy.

"Gusty"- stained glass process

2010-12-19T06:47:00.000-08:00

This image shows how I draw a line in the middle of the clear bevel and place the colored glass on top, drawing the shape onto the colored piece and cut that shape. I will then bevel the colored piece and later bond it on top of the clear bevel.