"the Atlantic Highlands from Sandy Hook" painting by dkeil

"the Atlantic Highlands from Sandy Hook" by dkeil 9.5x23 on canvas on board- plein air 2011

NJ actually has a lot of beautiful places.

You just can't necessarily enjoy them for long-
before someone tells you to keep moving, or calls the police on you.
To be a nature lover in NJ requires that you develop a degree of diplomatic skill so that you can politely explain to "so-and-so" why you are looking at the sunset "on their land," or admiring a flower "in front of their house," or cutting dried wildflowers and grasses "on a public highway...."  Here's the best situation one I've encountered so far: interrogated for listening to birds "while sitting in a tree" (and that was while I was on campus as an ecology student at a NJ university)

So be warned you NJ nature lovers, along with private land owners and deer ticks carrying Lyme Disease, your resolve will be tested!  Nevertheless, there are many natural places of wonder within the artificial borders known as New Jersey. The Pinelands of the southern regions remain my favorite, but I rarely visit them anymore. I used to live in Brookville for a while and enjoyed it immensely. Ah, to be barefoot in the cool moss of a cedar swamp searching for wildflowers in July...  Fresh blueberries in clusters with serenades by Pine Warblers and Towhees.... Yes there are many places of spectacular beauty that I've discovered in NJ. However, to refrain from diverging from topic too much, with this painting- I present the beauty of Sandy Hook Bay. I painted it in plein air, seated on a log in a sand bank near the entrance to Sandy Hook.

While I was growing up, my family had a vintage wooden powerboat, and in the summertime my father loved to pile us all in the station wagon, hitch up the boat, and drive us down to the Atlantic Highlands. There, we would launch and go out into the bay for an evening of fishing and waterskiing. Often, we would cross the bay and explore the bay beach of the barrier island known as Sandy Hook National Recreation Area. It was a polluted mess, with the detritus of New Jersey's suburbia washed ashore. It still is, really. I don't know if it's better or worse. Probably worse. I can't believe we used to actually eat the fish out of this bay- with all the industrial, agricultural, and municipal waste and runoff going directly into the body of water.

My father used to say "the solution to pollution is dilution;" and I agree; the ocean supplies an incredible amount of water by tides to dilute the chemicals of modern civilization. Still, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to conclude that the fish were probably a lot safer to eat before the chemical revolution. Practically the entire population flushes some sort of pharmaceutical down their toilets every time they use the restroom- and it's not like they filter that sort of stuff out at the treatment plant! It wouldn't be a problem if it was a few people, but the Navesink and Raritan Rivers collectively catch the effluence of an incredible amount of people. Then, add on top of that the heavy industry, urban development, and agricultural lands of the Raritan watershed.
Right.... Funkadelic was an awesome band in the seventies.... It's also the water here.

Still, Sandy Hook is a great place for photography. Since I work down in the Rumson area and along the beach with some regularity, it's so convenient to stop for a short hike after work. I haven't been there during the summer season, but in the off season, it's so quiet- and the admission is free!

The shell collecting is amazing in the spring time. After the winter storms churn up the sea, they leave the beaches covered with beautiful things to discover. The tidal pools are a lot of fun to explore too. This painting is of a tidal pool near the entrance to the park. Looking across the water where the Navesink River enters the bay, you can see the homes dotting the outcropping known as the Atlantic Highlands.

Do you like the painting? I'd love to hear from you. Leaving a comment makes you a very cool person!

Visit me and "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!

You can buy a print here at my gallery on Fine Art America.
(Click on the picture link below)
They have great service. You can buy just the print alone or even have it framed.
You pick out the frame and mat styles, they assemble it and deliver it within a few days.
Also they have a 100% money-back guarantee (including shipping) so if you're not happy,
you can get your money back. Not a bad deal.
They don't mark up my print cost that much- they add a surcharge for the art paper, printing, and shipping.
The prices are reasonable and they look awesome framed!
You can buy the print alone or with just a mat to save a few $.
Support an artist and brighten up a room!

back to my blog homepage 

"This Storm Too Shall Pass"- painting by dkeil

I inadvertantly published this post before its time.
Please follow this link to see the painting and my write-up.
Thanks for visiting!
"This Storm too Shall Pass" -painting by dkeil

"Running Man in Bare Fields" - by dkeil (Douglas Keil)

"Running Man in Bare Fields" by dkeil 8.25"x24" acrylic on wood 2011

I did this painting for a film director named Nick Evans. It's a portrayal of a character in one of his films and the trail of trials he was running through. I can say that I am truly happy with this painting- I actually achieved everything that I wanted to accomplish.

  "Running Man in Bare Fields" is the product of a lot of different paintings in galleries and magazines that I have been studying lately. Also, it's been heavily influenced by the work of Coulter Young IV; who is probably the most influential artist in my life, aside from Van Gogh. The son of my father's best friend, I grew up with Coulter's art and we recently reconnected after about ten years. In the interim, he produced some incredible pop culture paintings, ran a gallery, illustrated for some of the top magazines, returned to grad school, handled millions of dollars worth of art for clients (Picassos included!), and now teaches art at an upstate NY private school.

Currently, Coulter's been studying with Andrew Lattimore, a renowned Hudson River artist, who I must say has the skills to pay the bills. I was recently able to accompany Coulter to Lattimore's huge converted-factory studio in upstate NY and the paintings on the walls there have definitely influenced this piece. In the style of Lattimore's landscapes, Coulter has great impressionistic brush work in his oils. When we first reconnected at a Hudson River plein air event in August, I was actually really surprised to see the determined simplicity of his current work. It's totally unlike the precision of his line work and vivid psychedelic colors I remember in his pastel paintings.  Totally different, but great. After another plein air event in October we visited again, and then I went up for a few days to do some work on his house and visit last month (my Flickr page has images from the Beacon, NY trip). I had a great time and learned a lot as well.

  I applied a number of different techniques in this piece that Coulter taught me regarding developing a more natural depth of field. I guess it can be said that we have to see accurately what's in front of us to form an impression of it. I'm really not into realism- that's why I bought a camera.  It seems totally obvious now, but I've been thinking deeply about how to apply Coulter's advice on the matter. He said that I should keep three words in mind: "Lighter," "Bluer," and "Softer;"(which is easy to remember as the abbreviation for pounds- LBS.)  As it was, we were high up over the Hudson River on the Newburgh bridge driving back to Beacon.  To our right was this huge river and mountain vista- spread out to the southern horizon. It was an "aha" moment for me. In reality, the farther away something was spatially, it was lighter, bluer, and softer- just as Coulter said. I've been searching for a certain painterly look, and to some degree or another I've fought with depth of field in a painterly way.

  Another diversion for me here is the use of wood as the grounds. I just love how the grain of the wood has become so integrated into the texture of the work. Especially can this texture be appreciated in the physical presence of the painting. I could go on, I guess, about the actual painting, the colors, etc. The palette was actually pretty limited when compared to my usual palette, I guess it shows, it has a different "feel" to it. I tried to mix the coldness of the dead of winter with the warmth of the dried corn stalks, the hanger-on dead leaves and different colors of tree bark at tree line. Some successful shadow and underpainting work contributes to my happiness, but most of all it's the character- sort of a weird, stick-figured cut-out from a crosswalk light. Some sort of semi-real, transient shadow. Fleeting, fleeing. More than halfway gone, exit stage right. A few tracks remain, generally wiped away without a lasting impression. The vanity of ambition on open land.

Feel free to leave a comment with your impression.

Visit me and "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!


You can buy a print here at my gallery on Fine Art America.
(Click on the picture link below)
The print quality for this piece on archival matte paper is awesome.
FAA has great service. You can buy just the print alone or even have it framed.
You pick out the frame and mat styles, they assemble it and deliver it within a few days.
If you want me to sign it, I'm happy to do that if you are local.
Also they have a 100% money-back guarantee (including shipping) so if you're not happy,
you can get your money back. Not a bad deal.
They don't mark up my print cost that much- they add a surcharge for the art paper, printing, and shipping.
The prices are reasonable and they look awesome framed!
You can buy the print alone or with just a mat to save a few $.
Support an artist and brighten up a room!

back to my blog homepage 

"Finch in the Painted Desert" by dkeil (Douglas Keil)

"Finch in the Painted Desert" by Douglas Keil 24x30 on canvas 2011

As some of you may know, in my late teens and early twenties, I used to spend most of my nights sleeping on the ground, on one adventure or another. My tireless thirst to understand natural history had me traveling all over with not much more than a backpack, sleeping bag, cookpot, and journal.

I felt so alive waking up next to the smoldering remains of a campfire and eventually I found myself out West, doing expeditions for some wilderness outfits in central Utah. They were companies that I've heard referred to as "hoods in the woods" programs- catering to at-risk teenagers and attempting to snap them out of their unhealthy living circumstancesby by providing a life-changing experience. For those those managed to elude the grasp of litigation, they could be financially lucrative. Most tended to be grass-roots organizations full of zeal and an ardent desire to assist a floundering generation. I hoped that some of my appreciation for life and natural history could be passed on to the kids in my care. Some were pretty rough characters, most were just punk kids a few years younger than me (I was in my young twenties.) The common thread among them all was that they were disgruntled affluent kids whose folks had enough money to do amazing things- like send them on adventures for a couple months. I wish my paychecks as a guide reflected their affluence; I could hardly afford to live; which was pretty pathetic. Anyway, I enjoyed the work for the most part. I learned so much about human psychology and the natural history of the American West while getting paid a pittance to explore some of the most amazing places on earth. Our adventures took us across the painted desert and up into the mountains; camping by streams and waterholes, exploring canyons, spending the starlit nights sleeping on pine needles and listening to the breeze  rustle the leaves of aspen forests.
High up in the clear mountain air life was good. Life was great! I tried to leave a good legacy with my time.

One thing is certain- the desert etched more than a few images into my mind: soaring vistas of rock, sand, juniper and sage, big skies painted in surreal blues, and greater expanses than I ever dreamed of.  There is a feeling of accomplishment that is missing in modern life. The urban/suburban lifestyle has deprived people of the satisfaction of experiencing the scope of the landscape and identifying with the role we should play as caretakers of the physical foundation of society. Days spent trekking across the wilderness furnished ample opportunities to look back across rolling hills and arroyos with reflection, to say,"Wow! This morning I started walking all the way over there, and now... I'm all the way up here!"  The sort of experiences that set the hustle and bustle of business and Hollywood dramas in a more appropriate place. For me that's somewhere between negligible and non-existent.

      Which brings me to my painting "Finch in the painted Desert."
There is something incredibly special about sitting quietly atop a 200 ft mesa and looking down to the bottom of the canyon below, across the desert expanse, and then up at the sky. Inevitably, within the passing of a short time, some action will present itself before your eyes. Perhaps it is a raven noisily flapping it wings past, or a flock of scrub jays moving through the pinon and junipers, and sometimes...
it's something like I envision here: a finch alighting on a cluster of cactus.
When the bird realizes it's not alone, it turns its head sideways to assess the scene, looks into your eyes, pauses for a while to visit, and then flies off in its continual quest for food.


Take a moment to "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!

back to my blog homepage 

Pop Portraiture- "Valerie" and "SentryCat" paintings by dkeil

"Valerie"  by dkeil 24x36 on canvas 2011

So what's this?

It's a portrait.

What kind of style is that? 

How should I know- I just painted it. It came out perfect to me. 

Some people have said it looks like pop art. Some have said it looks like anime art.

I say it looks like "dkeil art" when everything comes together right.

She's a smart young lady- she'll tell you all about the axions and their role in the selective reuptake of seratonin. If you can follow along, she'll tell you about many other incredibly complex neurological happenings too; with sketches and word pictures to help it all make sense. She's my sister, Valerie Keil. I love her. Hopefully, all that knowledge won't make her head explode and she'll stay humble and kind. So many people need so much help and she's hoping to assist folks in the mental heath field; certainly a noble aspiration.

So, yeah, I do portraits too. If you want one done, don't be shy- let me know. Whether you want me to work live or from a photo is up to you.  I'd prefer it wasn't just some rush job. It's important to get to know the personality of the one being painted, and portray that in the finished piece.
Just one disclaimer, I don't do nude work. So please don't ask.

Whether a traditional sitting, or from a photo, for a wedding, or to capture a special time in life, I'll make it memorable and enjoyable with a large painting on canvas!

Interested? call me up- Douglas Keil @ 908.334.9995  and we can discuss your ideas.
or email me-palatialstudios@gmail.com

Visit me and "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!

Yeah. I'll make an awesome painting of your pet too!
Send me a picture and I'll make your pet look like the coolest creature that suburbia ever knew...
well, that's a lot to promise. I'll make it into a cool painting- let's leave it at that.

"SentryCat" by dkeil 18x24 on canvasboard 2011

back to my blog homepage

"Snapdragon"- by dkeil + memories of Dr. Scott Keil

"Ah, the snapdragon...." by dkeil
-Pen, ink, marker, pastel on paper- 11x14  2010

  Winter is a beautiful time, but hard to live with, and it is definitely still winter here in New Joisey. Glazed-over ice has its white blanket spread around town and forest, the cold wind whips through the branches and even through heavy winter clothes. Despite the cold, however, there is an intensity to the sun again. The hardest part of the winter is past us now. Over the past few days, I awoke to the distinctive sounds of cardinal calls in the backyard. This, my friends, is great news. The days of summer are again in the foreseeable future. In anticipation for the warmth to come, here is a mixed-media work I completed recently:

My dad used to plant snapdragons so that he could pick the flowers and make them talk by gently squeezing the middle. As the flower's "mouth" moved, he'd make some ridiculous commentary and get a laugh out of us. The personification of flowers is not usually something that comes naturally, that's why the ease of which a snapdragon bloom speaks is so endearing. 

For the botanist and inquisitive mind, snapdragons belong to the Antirrhinum genus, which is derived from the Greek words for "like," "nose," and "of (or pertaining to)" so literally the genus name means "like a nose."

Since my father, Scott Keil, was an ear, nose, and throat surgeon (otorhinolaryngologist) and a gardener (among everything else it seems) he probably knew that little fact when he planted his favorite deep-red snapdragons in the perennial bed next to where he parked his car. Incidentally, it was also next to the raspberry patch, two things that probably brought him great satisfaction when returning home after a long day of caring for people's dire medical needs.

I miss him. He died in a terrible accident years ago. It was late at night; he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle home from his office on the other side of town. People have tried to blame it on the the fact he wasn't wearing a helmet- but when you're stuck underneath a car and dragged for a bit, it's hard to come out alive. Maybe he shouldn't have been riding a bike late at night, maybe he should have worn a reflective vest. Sure, circumstances could have been different, but neither of those reasons are valid in assessing blame. We as people take many risks in our day-to-day routine of daily life; He was always in control- he had the steadiness of a surgeon- but not at that last moment. That is a sobering thought. What legacy would I leave behind if I died today? It's been a thought that has governed a lot of my decisions in the eleven years since his death. Our life can be snuffed out in an unexpected instant. His pain was quick, ours has been long-lasting.

  The fact remains that an accident is becoming a tragedy for a family somewhere on this planet at this very moment. It's been a story told to an exhausting degree in the history of mankind. Death for mankind is an enemy, an enemy that has brought a lot of suffering into my life as well as the lives of  people all throughout history. No one is immune; but I do believe that its damage will eventually be undone. The Bible says that "there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15). It also says that those who have died have been acquitted of their sin" (Romans 6:7),  and that "the wage of sin is death "(Romans 5:23), and "as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all" (Ecclesiastes 9:5), and "as the last enemy, death will be brought to nothing" (1 Corinthians 15:26), so I am confident in a few things with regard to these scriptures: 

     1.  The Creator of the universe can remember his personality and bring him back to life in due time.

     2. Since he has been "acquitted," in a legal sense- when he is brought back it's with a clean slate- with life  in view, not for judgment.

     3. Since he's conscious of nothing, he doesn't even know he's dead, can't think, doesn't exist- except in God's memory- which is very refreshing; because I know Jehovah will remember him. I can see him again  someday, if I keep my integrity in these difficult days.

     4. Death for mankind is a enemy, unnatural. It is not what God wanted or purposed, it has occurred as a consequence of disobedience. However, eventually things will all be resolved in a way that those who wish to be obedient to God (even those who have already died) will be extended a gift of unending life. Then death from imperfection, as an enemy, will no longer influence our lives or threaten them. THAT is good news.  

Between now and then, snapdragons are a reminder to me of what an exceptional man my father was, and this piece helps me reflect on the past appreciatively and look toward the future hopefully. Leave a comment, let me know what you think. If you knew Scott Keil, leave a memory. I know he helped a lot of people, and every once in a while I encounter someone with a heartwarming tale. I look forward to yours. Thanks. -Doug

Visit me and "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!

back to my blog homepage 

-Butterfly World- painting by dkeil

"Butterfly World" by dkeil on canvas on board- 2011

I have always loved the fragile existence of fluttering little color bugs. Few things in my life have matched the excitement of being able to get right up close to a butterfly and getting the chance to examine one closely. There is an iridescence about them that sparkles like a jewel in the bright sun. They weigh practically nothing and yet, somehow, most can flutter about pretty gracefully even in a light breeze. We all know that butterflies morph from colorfully strange worms into magnificent flying creatures; my favorite attribute, though, is their coloration. They are not simply possessing color- they have been PAINTED with color- spots and dashes, contrasting intensities of lines and waves of color. They were artist-designed and artist-finished...The sheer variety of butterflies worldwide is astounding. They do a fine job pollinating plants, and a better job giving me a convenient excuse to drop whatever pointless work is at hand and go on an adventure, briefly visiting the colorful places in the life of a butterfly.

This new work of mine is on canvas stretched over seasoned and oil-primed 1/4in. plywood. The canvas has been glued to the plywood with gesso and then many layers of gesso were applied to form the grounds for painting. It's a larger scale work, being 23 x 38.5 inches.

There's is some symbolism/ meaning involved in the work, but I'll let the viewer determine their own conclusions.

Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the painting!
Thanks for visiting! 

-Doug Keil
Visit me and "like" my facebook page to stay up to date with new paintings!

back to my blog homepage