Sax Study

This close-up of a saxophone--keys, valves and so on--looks remarkably like a charcoal rendering with white chalk accents and highlights. In reality it's a digital drawing, done from a personal reference using a Wacom tablet.

Along the Bluff in Shows

This painting was finished late last winter and posted here in early spring. It's one of the largest oils I've done. It began as studies of the Middle Raccoon River as it flows through the Whiterock Conservancy, a land conservancy an hour or so west of here. 

"Along the Bluff," oil on canvas, 18x36

With the advent of online exhibitions during and after the pandemic, a lot of organizations hold annual shows. This painting has been in two online shows this year. One is the American Artist Professional League Spring Members Online Show. The AAPL is a professional art association dedicated to preserving realism. The other show that includes the above painting is the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society Associate Member Online Exhibition. Each of these is open only to members.

Light and Shapes

"Winter Light," oil on panel, 8x10

This oil is a study of various bottles and cans on my studio work table. Sometimes, when no subject comes to mind, it's useful to simply choose a subject and start, regardless. That's what happened with this one. Winter light was slanting into the studio that afternoon,turing things yellow-gold.  A small bottle of turpentine, in the middle foreground, looked as if it contained bottled gold.

A Sunny Saturday

A few weeks back the Saturday group sketched in Valley Junction, an old railroad downtown. This building is just across a busy street from a former Rock Island Railroad maintenance depot. The architecture has a flavor of railroads; next door is an old depot. 

"Valley Junction," wc/ink on paper

The day was bright and sunny, as you can see from the high key of the painting. I ran out of time or would have painted the upper left tree as well.

Raccoon Rocks

"Rocks on the Racoon River," casein on panel, 12x16

Although most of my studio output is oil paintings, once in a while another medium will get my attention. This is an example, a casein painting of the Raccoon River. The river passes through Des Moines and provides drinking water for the city. It flows from northwest Iowa and is usually dark with silt. Once in a while it runs nearly clear, as in this image. On the day I studied the river and shot reference photos you could actually see the rocky bottom.

 

Saturday Church

"Church," wc/ink

Last Saturday the sketch group made its usual foray into the city to draw and paint. This church is near the spot where we gather and had lavish beds of daylilies in full flower. I chose to concentrate on the bell tower and the challenging shapes. Natural forms make a nice contrast with human-built ones.
 

The Bench

"The Bench," oil on panel, 11x14

The Iowa Exhibited 2024 show is currently on view at the Heritage Gallery, here in Des Moines. Like many of my landscapes, this began as a small, quick watercolor sketch. The setting is the Better Homes and Gardens Demonstration Garden. It's open two hours a week in summer, and I've gotten into the habit of going there often to reflect, sketch, and refresh my senses. 

This one is on my website, www.garyhoff.com, posted in the Urban Landscapes section.

Plein Air Resurfaces

"Across the Creek," oil on panel, 9x12

As has happened a number of times in the past, an old work came to light this week. This was a plein air work done on the creek bank behind my studio. It was about 9x12 but that's unclear because the actual work has gone missing. If you look closely, you can see my signature initials scratched into the wet paint in the lower right corner, an indication that the work was completely finished outdoors.
 

Greenwood Park

One of the great things about our city is the number of public parks. There are more than seventy, plus golf courses, swimming pools, and more.  Greenwood Park, the first city park (so designated in 1894) features rolling land, a lagoon, mature woodland, and more. The Des Moines Art Center was built in the mid-20th century, along Grand Avenue. Our sketch group meets in one of the parking lots every Saturday, then sets off. Many times we stay in the park. 

"Greenwood Park," wc/ink, 8x10

This is a watercolor from last Saturday of some of the woods south of the Art Center, at the edge of the Rose Garden. This is such a popular spot that every time we go there to draw there's a private photo session in progress--weddings, quinceaneras, birthdays, and so on.