Jumbo Rocks




Appropriately named! This was another canvas I worked on yesterday in Joshua Tree. The morning that I painted the previous post, I was in another spot thinking it was going to be good but I would check back later in the day because while I liked the drama of the scene, I thought the light was dull. I went back before sunset and check and it still wasn't interesting. Oh well, at least the afternoon painting that day turned out awesome! So the next morning I took that canvas to Jumbo Rocks, found a very exciting motif, and sacrificed the previous image, I like doing that somehow. My painting turned into a photo shoot for a photographer who ran into me there, it'll be cool if he sends me some of the images. I didn't get to this spot in time to finish the painting in one go as the light moved way too fast. I liked that it forced me to be simple and direct to try to get as much as I could, but I intend to take this canvas back in a couple weeks, earlier in the morning this time, and go at it again. oil on canvas, 24 by 36

joshua tree

Painting outdoors in the high desert! I'm back in town from my mini trip to the desert, two days and one and a half paintings! I have better photos of things, and a picture someone took with my camera of my setup on the picnic table.


life drawing



I was at an art event called Love Attack last night that was chock full of live painters doing their thing. I wasn't part of the show but I had my sketchbook so I did a life drawing of the "live" painters absorbed in their work and the party-goers digging the scene. For me this is part of the fun, drawing an interesting composition from my surroundings.

Having Been in a Garden of Sorts all This Time


















                 I find myself cast out.  I think that after this eviction and the giving away of the artwork of my entire life as an artist, not only will I survive, but I will Feel a great liberation.
        
                I wonder how Adam and Eve felt to leave The Garden of Eden and to discover a whole world beyond the only world they had believed they would ever inhabit.

My New Muse

I live for music and always have it in when I'm working on my art. As many of you know, Blue October has longtime been my 1# studio muse. I've based paintings and journal entries on their lyrics and the imagery presented in their music. Lately, though I've found similar soulful and moving music with this new up and coming band, Mumford and Sons.

Check them out:



(The following one is my favorite, but be warned it does contain the "f" word.)



Miami Beach Lifeguard Station

...............................................sold
"Lifeguard Station No.10" 8x10 oil on hardboard. Framed size is 19"x21"

"NYC Water Towers-III"

"NYC Water Towers-III" 8x10 oil on hardboard. If you'd like to bid on this painting you can access the eBay auction by clicking here.



Lombardi's Pizza


..............................................sold
"Lombardi's Pizza" 8x10 oil on hardboard.



2nd Ave-NYC

.................................................sold
"2nd Ave - NYC" 8x10" Oil on hardboard. I listed this painting on eBay with optional frame.

word of mouth




I was invited to paint live at wom, or word of mouth, an underground downtown art and music party in Echo Park. I brought a square canvas and art supplies and let myself go with the composition and color. The lights were constantly changing color in the room so the only way to capture the feeling was to paint like everything is opal! I never know where these underground parties are so there's always the fun drawing the place out. I designed a composition what felt like the space, but also had plenty of room to add lots of people. I went between painting on the painting, and drawing people in my sketchbook to add to the scene. A bright young kid who was the son of one of the people who threw the party gave me "updates" on what was cool going on so I didn't get totally lost in the canvas and knew when to be in the crowd and have my sketchbook out. There was this crazy band called the radioactive chicken heads that played, there were fire jugglers and performers, stilt walkers and trapeze, body painting, artists doing their thing. People there really dug my painting and enjoyed seeing the party remembered in a unique way. oil on canvas, 36 by 36

the alex schaefer hour

I will be doing an hour of art talk TODAY! LIVE at 1pm at coagula.com! Get on board for a ride on my artistic train of thought!

The New York Times


"The New York Times" 12x16 Oil on linen.

Two years ago I bought this beautiful vintage telephone - 1940 (pictured below) on eBay. It has been seating in my studio and collecting dust until couple of months ago when I started this interior painting. I have to say it was really fun to paint. I see a few more versions of this in the future. Available here...


the alex schaefer hour

Hello blog followers! why not take an hour and get into an artistic frame of mind? Listen to the Alex Schaefer Hour on Coagula.com <--- give it a click!

Creative Current


Watch tonight, I'm on Creative Current at 7pm. go to www.laartstream.com to watch. It's a 30 minute interview and conversation with me and host Jonathan Jerald. Good talk and I paint his portrait along the way. I think the portrait turned out good, but it's interesting because I was talking the whole time I barely remember painting it! oil on canvas, 20 by 16

line and value



This demonstrates some basic fundamentals of drawing and composition regarding line, crop, and value (or tone). In this exercise I started with a line drawing sketched with no regard for the borders of any composition. Just free drawn from the model out. Then I cropped and gridded the drawing and started right on the toned paper with large simple values slowing landing on detail but always with an understanding for the values of the whole. The line drawing at the beginning, drawn on a separate sheet of paper, is not about detail but placement. "Detail" happens on the toned paper where it's more fun to be detailed anyway.

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