New online Gallery

I have joined Daily Paintworks, a site started by well known daily painter Carol Marine's husband David. I do so many small studies and paintings in a year and this site has a lot of traffic, so I thought I would give it a try for awhile. Click on the widget in the right sidebar to see my gallery there and you can purchase direct through the site.
You can also click HERE to go directly to my online gallery there. Keep checking back as I will be adding many more paintings at affordable prices! Most of the paintings there will be available to buy immediately through paypal. It is quick and easy to register at the site and purchase.

Painting the coast

I am working more on a few commissioned marina paintings depicting the marinas and boats of the North Carolina Coast. These are both in progress and not finished, but thought I would show them anyway, so you can see the process. As you can see by the top painting, unless I am working on a really detailed drawing or work on paper, I generally rough in the shapes of the objects with thin paint after toning the canvas to kill the white color. After all, if the boats are going to end up white, I like to start with a warm base to put the white over and I let some of it show through.
I then adjust the drawing of the boat as needed by adding or removing paint when I am painting., but I try to get it as accurate as possible right off, especially on something like these boats where the shapes have to read right.
These are acrylic paintings which are so easily correctable because the paint dries very fast. If I decide I don't like a passage of paint, I can paint over it almost immediatley and correct it.
Hope to show you these fnished in a day or two!

A couple of marina paintings in progress, still a ways to go on both!

The busy season has began!

So the busy season has begun! I will be in an upcoming show at Courtyard Coffee in Siler City next to the NC Arts Incubator Gallery in June. This will be a plein air show by members of our plein air group, NC Paint Out. All works will be paintings that were done on site at the locations in the paintings.
I am also busy with some commission work, and some coastal paintings. Pictured below is the start of one of 4 marina paintings that I have in the works. They will all be done in acrylic and one of them shipped to a buyer in the Outer Banks.
Stay tuned for new finished paintings soon!

Work in progress in the studio

New Marsh Scene

"Tidal Pool"

8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas

$150 unframed, $200 Framed

Email me at justin@justinholdren.com if interested and you can pay by credit/ debit card or checking account through Paypal

Here is a small marsh scene I finished up last night. I had started it a while back and forgot about it, so I decided to get it done! There are some subtle colors in the sky that aren't showing well in the digital image.

 Although I love mountain landscapes and still life and flower paintings too, I just seem to be painting the coastal regions of North Carolina lately. I have a ton of field studies and photos from that region, so I have been going through those and they inspire me to paint the coast!

I am working on another commission for a homeowner in the Outer Banks, as well as painting new works for my Siler City gallery rep and painting work to show a gallery in Beaufort, NC. Add to this a full time job, one five year old daughter and another due in July, and it can be quite a juggling act. I thank the Lord for a supportive wife!

More work to show you as I finish, so stay tuned!

Rural and coastal studies

 "Outer Banks Dune"

5" x 6" Acrylic on Primed/ Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Small study done in the studio from memory

"Pond Grasses"

6" x 5" Acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Done on location in Chatham County

"Early Spring Study"

6" x 5" Acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Painted on location in rural Chatham County

Contact me at justin@justinholdren.com if interested in any of these. They are super affordable studies at just $35 each. Usually this size is closer to $50 - $75 unframed, but I will accumulate many of these studies this year, so I would rather them hang on your wall than to collect dust in my studio!

Since the warm weather came out here in North Carolina, I have been doing some small plein air studies in the field. The top one here is a coastal study done in the studio as prep for some larger paintings, but the two below that were done Saturday in rural Chatham County.

After being in the studio a lot, I like to start working on location again by doing these small studies. I have tons of acid free matboard and also museum board scraps, so I gesso these to seal them completely and use them for small studies. I also seal the colored boards with an acrylic matte medium if I want to use the colored board to get interesting effects. If they are completely sealed, they can be framed like a typical oil or acrylic without glass. If I paint on them unprimed, I treat them like a work on paper and put them under mats and glass. The ones above were just sealed and primed with white gesso.

I will be attending some events this summer like the Sunshine Lavender Farm Festival where I will be painting on location. I will post the details here and on my website soon. Ok, back to the easel!



It's Plein Air Weather again!

 Painting a field study with my smallest paint box made from a cigar box

"Light Study, Early Spring"

6" x 5" acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

SOLD

Well the warmer weather is quickly approaching, and I needed to get outdoors and paint! I enjoy the winter time painting in the studio, but when warm weather arrives, I am ready to go out and paint on location and enjoy the outdoors!

This is a small study in acrylic that I did the other day. The light was being filtered by the trees behind me and some light was just striking points on these trees and the grass. I didn't really nail the values, but that's why I do these studies on location, so I can observe the color and light firsthand and learn to make a more convincing scene with light. Be looking for more paintings as I get out and enjoy the warmer weather!

Anybody out there?

Well I have not been very good at keeping my new years resolution to post more often to the blog! I apologize to my five or so readers :) I have been working steadily, just not posting. I am doing some commission work that has kept me busy, and my wife and I are expecting our second daughter in July, so we have been busy to say the least!

I have some projects on the back burner that I hope to get finished soon. I am working on paintings from my travels in North Carolina and will publish them in a book through blurb.com. I hope to have it finished by the time the baby arrives. I will post the details on how to purchase the book when finished.
I am also doing sketches for a new series of paintings, but right now I have a commissioned Hatteras marina scene to finish for a home in the Outer Banks. Will post some paintings soon!