"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!

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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!

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"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.

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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