Ed McCarthy's Creative Arts Blog

I was asked by several friends if that really was a painting or a photograph that I posted on Facebook and on my website. Well, the following images are a sequence of shots that basically amount to a demonstration of the construction of how this painting was put together. OK. This is just a peek at me working at the easel, but not on the painting under discussion.  I work with acrylics on canvas, or hardboard panels. I'm also sorta anal about keeping a fairly neat studio.   This is the painting I'm discussing. I prefer to work in layers.  My feeling is that this is how the world we see, really exists. I start with the sky way in the distance, and just like reality,  I add the next closest layer, distant clouds, mist, etc.  and move  progressively closer to the viewer.  No clouds in the piece, but a very definite haze surrounding the sun. Here  I begin building up thin layers of haziness in the atmosphere.  I add more thin laye

Paradise Near Purgatoire, 12x16, Acrylic on Canvas   Didn't have a whole lot of time to work up a real in depth post this week, but did want to share a recently completed painting and some insights that went into painting it. This painting is entitled, Paradise Near Purgatoire . Pun intended. It's a 12"x16" acrylic painting on a gallery wrapped canvas. Yes, this is a real place. I have the photos to prove it. I came upon this place in the spring of 1999, in southeastern Colorado. It was spring break, and we were not in any financial position to take a no-holds-barred trip to a beach or Mexico, or Florida, so I decided to go on a few day trips. One such place was to a remote place called to Picketwire Canyonlands. The Purgatoire River runs through Picketwire Canyon, which is located in the Comanche National Grasslands. Along the Purgatoire River there are several sets of dinosaur tracks. That was the main attraction.

Beach Romance, 16x20 Pointillist Painting This is the second part of a short 2 part post. As noted in my last post, I explained what Romantic Realism was and why I was moving forward as a Romantic Realist painter. I thought I should also explain why I no longer planned on painting as a Pointillist painter. As a result, my Pointillist art will no longer be a focus on my website at, https://edmccarthyart.com.   For many years, prior to painting as a Romantic Realist, I painted using a post-impressionist style called, Pointillism. I still have many Pointillist works available, and so I felt readers would appreciate a short brief concerning this style I worked with for so long. Pointillism, was the first style to come about after Impressionist. It is a technique whereby paint is applied closely together using tiny dots, daubs and/or dashes. Mixing dots of specific colors can create a new color. These new colors are not produced physically on th