Thursday, January 31, 2013

Monday, January 28, 2013

Minto Brown Island Slough

This came from my walk on the island last weekend.
Someone once wrote me and asked if I had a fan page. I replied, Good grief no, I`m a quiet painter in Oregon. I thought she meant a fan club site. She was talking Facebook. They`re not called fan pages anymore, just pages. I finally have one; Randall David Tipton Studio
watermedia on paper 12"x9"

Saturday, January 26, 2013

The Birth of Hawaii #2 - Minto Brown Island

I met with an engaging group of artists this morning in Salem for breakfast. We then took a field trip to Minto Brown Island to scout out painting locations. It never disappoints me, and the conversation was stimulating. Great day.
watermedia on paper 6"x18"


available work

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The Birth of Hawaii

How`s that for a grandiose title? I haven`t even been there yet! This is a test run of a new watercolor block I will take on my trip, a long narrow shape.
I`ve been researching paintings of Hawaii online and most are, in a word, garish. I`m curious if this is an accurate depiction of the color or the exuberance of the artist? Probably both. Usually I don`t paint when I travel because it`s so time consuming but I`m taking my stuff this trip.
watermedia on paper 6"x18"

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Ice Fog settles on the Winter Oak

From a walk last week in the Camassia Natural Area, a jewel like hilltop directly above busy Interstate 205. I had never heard of ice fog before moving here, but just like the other, it`s extremely beautiful. It frosts all the small branches and grasses and when walking through it, tiny ice particles tickle your face.
watermedia on Yupo 12"x9"


available work in my studio

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Sea Cave

Looks like Hawaii but it`s Oregon. Our coast is so lush and green it could double for Hawaii in a movie. Except everyone is cold.
watermedia on paper 12"x9"



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Forest Memory

Every once in a while, a painting just comes through me with a will of its own. This exhilarating experience is all too rare but so much fun when it happens. I just banged this out, free of all planning or concern! I`ve been aimless in my studio and I needed a success. I like to have a plan, a series in process preferably, but I`ve been hesitant to begin new projects because I`m taking my dream trip to Kauai in a couple of weeks. We are going to the wettest part and I have a feeling, that rainforest with the beautiful sea beside it, will shake my world. All my life I`ve wanted to see a tropical forest. In 1985, I thought my chance had come with a trip to the Yucatan. The forests were there alright, about 8 feet tall, blanketing the flat landscape like a cornfield. Not what I had hoped for.
I have rain gear and new trail shoes and I`m ready for the Na Pali coast.
watermedia on Yupo 12"x26"

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Winter Wetlands-Fanno Creek

Another on the paper Arches formulated for oil paints. This time I sprayed the surface with a matte acrylic and the paint still managed to sink in. It wasn't my intention to do something so pale but I think it worked in suggesting the delicacy of the dormant wetland. Fighting my materials is frustrating, but tonight I talked with my friend Jillian Conrad and heard of a struggle that dwarfs absorbent paper. She is a conceptual sculptor. When the 'idea' is the art, there isn`t a consistent craft employed from piece to piece. It`s all problem solving in the execution of each sculpture. She needs to learn different skills all the time, never having a comfortable familiarity with any of them. Yikes!, I think I`m going to be grateful for paints in a tube and brushes.

Finally, I set up a Facebook page for my art. I thought I could keep it separate from my personal one but no such luck. So forgive me nieces and nephews, my childhood friends, my former co-workers, I`m sorry to flood your feeds with Randall the Artist stuff. I didn`t want to.

By the way, for any local people who might read this, the wetlands of Fanno Creek on the east side of Cook`s Park in Tigard are magnificent right now. When the weather warms up some, I`m going to go sit there and paint some watercolors.
12"x16"


some available work

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Absaroka


Mountains from memory. Look at them long enough and then you don't have to. I suspect anyone in northwest Oregon could draw Mt. Hood and get that distinctive hump in there too. This improvisation is named after a range in Wyoming.
It's painted on a paper formulated for use with oil paint, I think there's a resin that protects the fibers from the acidic paint. Too absorbent for my tastes. I have a new piece in progress where I sprayed some matte acrylic on first. Much better.
16"x12"

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Bryant Woods Winter

The trees in our temperate rainforests lose their leaves in winter. I am happy for this as I can now see into the woods. There is a visual paradox too which is beautiful, dormant bare trees surrounded by lushly green ferns and mosses.
oil on paper 16"x12"

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Road to Roswell

New Mexico Mountains.
Before Roswell became a hub of UFO nonsense, it was a quiet farming community in southern New Mexico. I taught a workshop there at the Art Center in the early 90`s and painted this from my memory of the drive when I returned home.
watercolor on paper 9"x12"


available work in my studio

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Rocky Mountain Sketch 2

I`ve got mountains on my mind.
Where I live now, only one is easily visible, Mt. Hood. It`s a beauty to be sure but I`m missing the embarrassment of mountain riches in New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.
watercolor on paper 8"x6"

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Rocky Mountain Sketch

This began as a doodle trying out some new paper. Soon the dark sky had me remembering the drive from Laramie to the Grand Tetons last spring. The Rockies are always awe inspiring but in the heavy overcast that day they looked brooding and mysterious.
One thing we can all be happy about, this is not an election year.
Happy New Year!
watercolor 6"x4"