Stretched this canvas by hand, and wasn't sure what I was going to do on it. It was last winter, and I was intrigued by the open barren fields just getting their first snow covering of the year. I kind of liked the way a lot of earth colors still peeked out and the bare bones look of the landscape. I did a quick sketch, then headed back to the warmth of the studio to work on this piece where a hot coffee was waiting.  I particularly like the way the colors play out on this painting. Some ochres, pastel blues and pinks, all in a low key palette. Like winter itself. Saying it with less. 

Winter Landscape

                                                                             16 x 20" acrylic on stretched canvas

                                                                              available through: russpotak.etsy.com

I wake up, make coffee, and rummage through my sketch book, or head out to get new sketches. It's certainly not rocket science, nor is it a major preparation process. I just see life and respond to it, in the form of a painting, in whatever way I have to. Impressionist, expressionist, abstract, etc. I don't spend a lot of time planning. I save that for grocery lists. So, I'll see something, or feel something from what I saw or experienced, and just start laying in some lines with paint or just painting randomly trying to formulate my vision. When I get to a certain point, where I feel its said, .. I stop. I am not one of those people who stop after every little facet is completed and accounted for. I don't want that. I want unfinished elements in my work. Its those areas that add mystery, exploration and life to the work. Why should I tell it all? What I leave out is just as important as what I put in. 

So, in this piece, I had gone down to the lake and did a quick pencil sketch... very loose, as to what I felt I wanted to remember in the subject. Then went back to the studio, and just started painting. A line here, a bunch of color there. All semi defined. Thats enough for me. 

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note:  This is just one way I approach my work. Sometimes, I have no idea what I'm going to do. I just start messing around with the canvas to see what develops. Some blue here, a line, yellow, a shape.. and so it begins.

This is a piece I did a year or so ago, maybe longer, but it reflects some of the things I sometimes strive for in making a statement in color, shapes and interpretation of a subject. I often, move back and forth in my work. Sometimes, more traditional impressionism, and sometimes on the verge of abstract expressionism. Whatever works. In this painting, I just wanted to incorporate a busy, lively, twist and turn little city with a lot of activity and angles, lines and shapes. 

Its an 11x14 on a panel 

and done with acrylics, paper, gel medium, glue, and whatever. 

Acrylic on paper

5x5" 

Shoreline 

Keeping the brush moving in this piece was very important so as not to let it bog down in a tired execution. I want the paint to live and not be diminished in any way. Overworking can make a fine looking crafted painting, but thats not my art. This is my art. I hope I can keep the two separate. 

"Road to the Other Side", 8x10" acrylic on canvas, signed lower left

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This is a rather somber little piece I did from a view just outside my studio, looking north up the road as it ascends up a slight rise. Nothing unusual in subject matter, ... and rather ordinary. But, I like its non importance although,  I decided it was important enough to paint.

High Seas

8x8" acrylic on paper

for sale

$100

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Here's a sketch I did while having a coffee. I thought it had some potential to become a painting.  And so it did. Shortly afterwards, I began to paint out the sketch. A few things changed but all in all I kept pretty close to the sketch concept. (the photo though, is reversed due to comp. camera. )
I'll post the painting as soon as its web ready.