The Connor Report (first swim)

Posted on by
Reply

My wife and I took our new, rescue dog, Connor to the American River today for his first real river swim. More on that later.

Connor celebrated his first birthday earlier this month. Connor is currently in training to be my “painting buddy.” He currently is somewhat of a work in progress, but getting better every day.

Yesterday he had his toe nails trimmed for the first time. Connor is s very friendly, loving dog whose exhuberance had made his long toe nails almost “lethal weapons.” I have playtime scratches all over my arms to prove the point. Although Connor is friendly, we are pleased that he, when appropriate has already demonstrated he can be protective if need be.

A month or so ago Connor weighed in at 85 pounds of youthful muscle. Our vet told us to put him on a diet. We have, sort of. The good news is that Connor is now down to an energetic, slim, trim 81 pounds!

Last week was really Connors first experience at swimming. We found a safe inlet along the river and Connor retrieved a stick or two in relatively shallow water. Today was his first attempt at deeper water and he came out with flying colors.

So, I invite you to share with us, the joy that is Connor …

Bit Of Yeah, But

Posted on by
Reply

Red, River Tree, an original watercolor by Woody Hansen
DETAIL - Bit Of Yeah, But. Original watercolor by Woody Hansen
(Click image to view entire painting)

When posting a new image on this blog, I usually show a small segment of the actual painting, a segment often referred to as a “detail.” When the detail image is clicked on, the viewer is taken to a page which features the full image. In this way the viewer gets two images to consider, one a detail image showing a close-up view, and the second image that features the entire painting.

Bit Of Yeah, But, is based on the detail of a previously posted painting titled,Yeah, but … If you look closely, you’ll see that the detail is crated from a … bit … of the lower right hand corner of, Yeah, but … Thus, the tile of this new piece, bit of Yeah but. So, one might say the detail seen above is a bit, of the bit of the original, Yeah, but.. Oh, the convoluted humor of it all?

On a more serious note, my personal point of interest for this piece is the large, white area. I wanted to capture some of the texture I saw in the white area of the original detail image. When I photographed the original, Yeah, but … Painting there was strong light coming from above. The direction of the light highlighted the texture of the paper, particularly in the untouched, white area.

To achieve a similar effect on this painting, I first laid in a gray wash over the intended white area. Once this layer dried, I then used a very stiff, old, abused, one inch house brush to lightly scrub over the gray with opaque, Chinese white. This technique allows some of the gray to show through somewhat mimicking the desired texture. Putting gray over white will not achieve the same effect.

Of course, using opaque white in a transparent watercolor is enough to cause some watercolor afficianados to experience dangerously high blood pressure at the least, or declare a near international incident at worst. Bottom line … I achieved my desired effect. Now, isn’t that more than you wanted to know? It’s definitely more than I intended to write.

To learn more and see the full painting, please follow THIS LINK.

Dancing Leaves

Posted on by
1

wpid-ImageDancingLeaves-2012-04-13-14-09.jpg
DETAIL - Dancing Leaves, Original watercolor by Woody Hansen
(Click image to view entire painting)

This piece begins outdoors, on location during a Free Friday painting session. Although the sun is bright, with a clear sky, the morning is a bit cold and windy. Just enough nip in the air to keep one alert.

I decide to begin without a preliminary drawing or value plan. Instead, I look at what is within close view and focus on a fascinating arrangement of nearby leaves. The wind blown leaves, viewed as a group form an interesting pattern or shape. That’s all the motivation that’s needed to get tarted.

As the painting develops I imagine the leaves as as repetitive shapes dancing on the surface of the paper. I think of the leaves not as a botimist recording what I see, but think more in terms of creating Marks on paper.

Continue reading →

Garden As Art

Posted on by
Reply

wpid-BlogDebbiesPlanter-2012-04-3-17-46.jpgTitle: Debbie’s Planter

I’m pleased to announce that three of my watercolor paintings have been selected for inclusion in the CCAA Museum of Art Exhibition, Garden As Art (Where Garden and Art Become One). The exhibition runs from March 30 to May 20, 2012. Reception: April 22, 2:00 to 4:30 pm at the CCAA Museum of Art, 1246 Base Line Road, Rancho Cucumonga, CA. 91739. See you there!

LINKS: My three paintings, Debbie’s Planter (above), Little Bitty, and A Brighter Day are among the 140 paintings in the show. Readers can see an excellent online version of the exhibit by clicking on this link: http://www.genesasse.com/garden/

Continue reading →

Beauty In The World

Posted on by
2

Beauty In TheWorld, an original watercolor by Woody Hansen
DETAIL - Beauty In The World. Original watercolor by Woody Hansen
(Click image to view entire painting)

This painting is created in a studio environment. I use a randomly selected, inverted newspaper clipping as a basis on which to develop a design. The clipping features two well known politicians at a speaking engagement. As a starting point, without preliminary drawing I use a two inch, flat brush to directly lay in my darks first.

Both politicians are wearing red ties. Red and black go well together so I decide to use red as my accent color. From there it is a matter of ignoring the clipping and focusing on further developing a pattern of lights and darks, etc. From the beginning the intent is that of creating a non-objective painting.

Continue reading →

Meet Connor

Posted on by
3

Image of dog, Connor

Meet Connor, the latest addition to our family. As stated in an earlier post, he is a German Shepard/Rottweiler rescue dog out of Tracy, California. After much searching, we finally found Connor via the Internet.

When Connor first joined us he was six months old and weighed 60 pounds. He is now about eleven months old and weighs close to eighty pounds. Connor was originally rescued by Bert and Mary Debusschere, of http://www.friendsofcanines.org, out of Tracy, CA. When Bert and Mary originally rescued Connor, he was malnourished, skin and bones, head larger than body and in dangerously poor condition. Bert and Mary nursed him back to excellent health. Upon the first visit to our local vet, the doctor expressed joy that Connor was so well cared for, up to date with vaccinations, and even chipped.

Image of dog, Connor

For more photos and comments, click HERE.

Time Flies?

Posted on by
Reply

Image of digital clock

Some people say that time flies when you’re having fun. Certainly, much time has passed since my last post, but I can’t honestly note it’s been all fun. Among other things, I’ve revamped my framing, matting, and storage areas. That is a much needed, time intensive improvement, but I wouldn’t call it fun by a long shot.

Also, after weeks, months,  I have almost finished a major redesign of my entire web site. Part work, part fun, with much editing. I use the term “almost finished,” because it is still a bit of an ongoing process. It seems I come to believe the work finished, and then I find another area that needs attention. It’s probably fair to note that web sites have a tendency to be a never ending process. However, I think it safe to assume most of the work is behind me.

Among the changes are a new, convenient navigational menu, visual changes to most pages including the home page, Featured Work thumbnail links, Recent Work thumbnail links, etc. So, if you get a chance I invite you to check out the new look at www.woodyhansen.com.

Show Time!

Posted on by
Reply

Framing Stuidio

I’m in the process of preparing for a December Christmas Show with David Peterson and Amy George at the Blue Moon Gallery, Sacramento, CA. Lots of busy work, matting, framing, selecting work,etc. Not enough hours in the day. More on this later.

Also spending as much time as possible bonding with a new. 6 month old, 60 pound rescue puppy, named Connor.

Not much time for blogging. As the saying goes, “Please stay tuned for further developments.”

And The Winner is …

Posted on by
Reply

Giveaway Display

Happy Halloween everyone! Given a choice between Trick or Treat, we provide the following treat …

Congratulations go out to Terri Judd of Placer County, CA. Terri is the lucky winner of my 24 x 30 inch, framed, Hansen Hallmark. The public drawing took place at my Market Place watercolor exhibit at 2 PM, Sunday, October 30, 2011.

Special thanks to all who took time to enter. Look for a notification e-mail soon. Maybe we can do something like this again in the near future.

Mixing up entries
ABOVE We make sure the entry forms are well mixed. Previously, we eliminated multiple entries. Equal opportunity for all.

TGonna Boyette
ABOVE: The entry field is narrowed with the help of Tonna Boyette, General Manager of The Market Place