About Me

My photo
Paramus, New Jersey, United States
No, this in not a blog about gardening in any way, but a journal of my journey to become a professional landscape painting artist. For years, I’ve given my paintings as wedding gifts without thinking of profiting in some way from it. I worked for 18 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC as a computer programmer. I have been a painter since 1990, coincidentally, when I started working at the Met. I watched Bob Ross do his thing on Channel 13 in New York and decided I could do this, too. I have no formal training. I incorporate Bob's wet-on-wet technique for sky and water. My subject matter is covered bridges, lighthouses, fishing village scenes, barns, etc. Maine, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Nova Scotia and Spain are some of the places I have painted. My style is detailed and sometimes people think a photo of the painting is an actual photo of the scene. I hope to continue and grow in this medium. I also like to cook & dance. I am also a committed Christian. I am taking commissions - painting your landscapes style photos or your vacation home. Prices on request. contact me - Jackmck@juno.com my website is www.artofjackmckenzie.com

Sunday, May 21, 2017

more art memes to encouage us

This is an ongoing series of art memes 
We artists can be a moody lot sometimes. We question what we are doing and why and need some encouragement to keep going on.her ar a few art quotes I've com across that do just that. Check them out.







New Painting : Moon Over Great Bay Beach

(I painted this a few weeks ago, but I was having trouble getting into the blog)
My usual subjects are barns, covered bridges, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard to name a few, but occasionally a picture pops up on social media that piques my interest and begs to painted. This is one of them.
One of the artists I follow on FB, Twitter and and Instagram is Lori McNee. She lives in Colorado and she paints, write books, has classes on many places, the most recent was a plein air trip to Monet's Giverny  Gardens . Check out her website Fine Art Tips.
She vacations in the Virgin Islands and she posted a picture on Instagram of her standing out on the Great Bay Beach at night looking across the bay in a full moon. I decide I needed to paint it and I posted that on the picture and she said go for it.
I checked out a few Youtube videos on painting moonlight on the ocean  and came up with this




from the original picture
Not bad for a first time at this type of picture. I may revisit this in the future for a better version. For now, I'm happy with it.