Pink and White with Cup and Spoon

I recently went to dollar tree to buy a variety of items to use for still life.  This simple white coffee cup and tea spoon were obviously part of the mix.  Even the white surface is a nice White Vinyl "Top Liner"  whatever that is, but it's a nice, non-slip texture, and I can use it if I want a simple white area in a still life.

Painting this still life wasn't a smooth process.  Maybe because I have been painting from reference images for the past week or so, so I am warming back up for painting from life.  But I also used a viewfinder to isolate my composition.  I find it is easier to see and identify value and color this way, but also feels like an extra step between looking and painting.  It feels like looking, thinking, then painting.  Not that thinking is bad, but it adds that extra bit of time between what my mind sees and then making the marks.  It feels less of a natural reaction of seeing, and more of a copy down what I see exactly how I saw it, kind of action.  Anyway... it was only the first time I used the viewfinder in still life.  It was a big help in identifying my composition.  I probably used it too much throughout the whole painting which is why I had some issues.  

"Paint as you like and die happy."  --Henry Miller

Yesterday I didn't get a change to do a painting.  Instead I got caught up starting a really good book on composition!   It's called Composing Pictures by Donald W. Graham.  It's a dense book, but a comprehensive educational tool for the topic of composing a picture.  It was recommended to me by a fellow artist (and now my studio mate) Hiroshi Sato (<whose work you can check out here).  I hope to finish the book asap, though it is a pretty large book, so I can apply the information to my painting.

Just came in the mail!

In other news, I ordered a small variety of brushes to test out.  I have been using the Robert Simmons Signet brushes which have a nice, soft bristle they use.  Since I have been using a hard panel, I thought I would try the Robert Simmons White Sable brushes out.  They are labeled as watercolor brushes, but are perfectly good for oil painting.  I have a few of them already, but only a couple size 4 filberts, so I wanted to get a few more to try for my daily paintings, and I'm excited to use them!  Also, since I am reading Carol Marine's Daily Painting book, she mentions she really loves the Silver Bristlon Synthetic Brushes, so I thought I would get just one and see how it felt.  The bristle hairs are nice and soft!  So I'm curious to see how they perform.  

Thanks for reading and remember...
"Paint as you like and die happy."  -Henry Miller

Glass Mouse

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Glass Mouse   5x7in oil on panel

Did this painting yesterday.  I am working from photos I took of these glass animals.  I think working from these photos are a bit limiting, and I think I will start to work more from life as well.  I do love these glass animals and I took a lot of pictures that I plan to paint from as well, so I'm sure I'll be posting a variety of paintings both from life and from photo.

Pau Family Portrait    oil on canvas, 20x20in 2017

So, other than being a painter, I also am a part time tennis drill instructor.  I've been working with a couple of great kids in particular for the past 5-6 years.  They have all become like family to me, and recently Will, their dad, asked to commission me for a family portrait!  But not just any family portrait.  He was hoping to have their family's Chinese zodiac animals in an environment that was like a Chinese landscape painting.  Will (dad) is the year of the ram, Carol (mom) the year of the pig, Kristine (daughter) the rabbit, Justin (son) a dragon, and they even wanted their dog, Snowy, in there.  I've been working on this painting for the past few weeks, and finally finished it recently and was able to give it to the happy family Sunday night, just in time for Will's 50th birthday!

Curious Ducklings

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I painted a pair of curious ducklings

who like to laugh, you can hear them chuckling.

They're made of glass but that doesn't stop them

from going to places their curiosity got them.

One may shine yellow while the other shines blue

but color does not limit what each duckling can do.

So as they grow then you will soon see

that there is no limit to what each duckling can be.

I HAVE MY OWN WEBSITE! And Baby Crystal Ducks

It's been a crazy couple of days!  Since I started this blog, I also joined the Daily Paintworks website, so I can start to show and auction my work online, I attached a paypal account to it, and bought my own domain name, so...  I HAVE MY OWN WEBSITE!  You can take a look here
I've decided to get into the "daily painting" movement and create at least a painting a day, and post them as I go (on this blog and on my website).  So it won't look like I have too much work in the beginning, but as I go, it will grow!

Here is the first daily painting :)  It is on a 6x6 inch panel (Masonite panel I've cut and gessoed).  I really love crystal animals.  Many know the ones that Swarovski makes, and these are a couple of baby duck crystals that I found.

This was a fun exercise!  I am trying to give myself a time limit to stop me from fussing with too much detail (as I tend to do) and try to make more finishing marks with as few strokes as possible.  For my first attempt, I was pleased with the result, but I know there's a lot of room for improvement (which is also encouraging!).

And remember...
"Paint as you like and die happy."  -Henry Miller

Painting a Jar of Water

Today I wanted to start with a subject that wasn't too complex.  So I chose a simple jar and filled it halfway with water and put it on a white ground and plain background.  To make things even more simple I decided to use just 3 colors: Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna.  With these three colors you can make a complete grayscale, and also go towards warm (sienna) or cool (blue).  It's a great place to start when you aren't yet familiar with color mixing.
My process here was pretty straightforward.  I started by toning my canvas panel with a light wash.  I like to start with a more middle value rather than straight white.  I visualize the composition of my subject on my panel, and then I start to sketch with thinned paint (in this case a mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue).  Then I start to put the paint on first looking at my subject in terms of light and dark areas, then slowly sculpting out the subject this way.  Since this particular subject didn't have a lot of very dark values, it was more of an exploration of subtle shifting middle tones.
I am pretty happy with what I ended up with.  I know it's not the most amazing painting, but I think it's a good start to this process.

What can I say?

Alright!  I'll start off by telling you a little about myself.
I'm 28 and I've been painting for the past 4 years since I graduated from San Jose State University.  I graduated in 2013 with a degree in fine arts, but I really didn't start my serious learning until after I left.  I really only had a couple of years of classes getting through the fine arts program.  My learning was much too rushed, and I had no clue of what to do after graduation.  The only thing it seemed I could do was to continue learning.  So that's exactly what I did, and I have been painting and learning since then.
I've sold some paintings here and there, but very few and far between.  Learning how to make money consistently as a painter has been my main challenge, and has ended up directing most of my choices so far, which has been both good and bad.  Good because I have been able to push myself to paint much more, and only good can come from more painting.  Bad because I wasn't doing or painting was excited me most, or even spent the right amount of time to figure out what that even is!  I really do try to find the pleasure in what I paint and how, but when my mind gets more focused on the thought of generating more income, the further away from happiness I seem to get.  I realized that I was trying to produce paintings that I thought people would like, but I found that the real joy I get in painting comes from constantly learning and improving (like most things in life).

I love to learn and grow in life as well as painting, and still life painting has always been something I understood how to learn and grow through.  It is the perfect tool for a student to learn how to paint because you have total control over the whole process.  The subject, the lighting, the angle, all of it can be as simple or as complex as you like.  So this is where I would like to start again!

I have been reading Carol Marine's book on Daily Painting, and it has opened my eyes to the world of the Daily Painters.  The idea is very simple.  You try your best to do a painting a day, usually on a small scale (6"x6" is the typical size for many daily painters), and it can be done in a matter of 1-2 hours.  It is a great way to improve your skills, your confidence, and your rate of production!  For those who want to sell their artwork, the next step is to post your work on an auction site (like ebay or dailypaintworks, which was started by Carol Marine and her husband) and start the bidding at whatever you feel comfortable.  Many professional artists start their bidding at $100, but of course the choice is up to you.

So I decided I will participate!  And I am excited to share my process and progress with you all!  So stay tuned and thanks for reading, and remember...

"Paint as you like and die happy"  --Henry Miller

Hi there!
My name is Brian Estill and I am a painter from San Francisco, California.  I've never had a blog before, so this is my very first post.  History is being made! I want to share my work and my process with the world, and hopefully people can gain value and learn from what I have to share. So stay tuned because there is much to come for those who enjoy looking at art, enjoy painting, or those who just like to learn about new things!
I really just want to get used to the blog format and posting, and then start to post content asap, so bear with me in the beginning here
And thanks for reading!