Paul Wolber Art Studio

I’m taking a break to catch up and do some short trips. I’ll plan to check my blog from time to time but will not be posting new work until about July 9 or 10. If you are visiting my blog for the first time or want to see all past postings at a glance on a single page, you can go HERE to check my gallery of works at Daily Painters or you can check the Archives on the sidebar for past works and postings for each month.

Thanks for visiting my blog. I will be happy to answer any questions you have or even consider new ideas or subjects you wish to suggest for new paintings in the future. Please send and email and let me know what you think to wolberinchina@hotmail.com

Paul

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

"Three Cherries" 5” x 7” (12.7cm x 17.8cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
To purchase a painting or for more information send email to:
wolberinchina@hotmail.com

Contrary to what I said before, I’m posting this third in the series of cherry paintings. I often like to do a series of paintings on one theme and often in sets of three, so this is the third in the series. This gives me the opportunity to explore a variety of ways to see a particular subject and to see how viewers respond to these different ideas.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

"Red Cherries" 5” x 7” (12.7cm x 17.8cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
To purchase a painting or for more information send email to: wolberinchina@hotmail.com
SOLD

This one is a follow up on the first "Cherries" painting posted June 11. Since there were so many responses to that one I decided to paint another. Now I'll finish the cherries in the fridge and wait for another day to come back to this subject.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

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Peregrine Falcon
This work is still in-progress
6in. x 6in. (15.2cm x 15.2cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
SOLD
For more information send email to:
wolberinchina@hotmail.com

 

This idea was suggested by a collector, who is first in line to buy this painting, but if you'd like to be on the waiting list for this painting, please send me an email and it will be on a first-come-first-served basis. As you can see, this painting is not yet finished but is close enough so that I think you can tell where it is going. More work will be done particularly on the talons and on the markings on the breast and wings.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

Spanish Villa South of Madrid
14in. x 10.75in.(35.6cm x27.3cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
To purchasse a painting send email to:
wolberinchina@hotmail.com

This painting was done on sabbatical while traveling in Spain. Periodically I’ll post larger paintings such as this one when I don't have a small one ready in order to add some variety.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

Step Three

Step Two

Step One

"Cherries" This is a step-by-step demo

5” x 7” (12.7cm x 17.8cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
To purchase a painting or for more information send email to: wolberinchina@hotmail.com
SOLD

This work shows a step-by-step demo of the painting process. I began this work late Sunday evening and didn't have time to finish, so continued to work on it and post the results as I completed it. You can see the ground colors still showing under the foreground and around the cherries in Step 2. Some of the white Conte drawing also still shows at the edges and I still wanted to work on modeling and reflections on the cherries.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

“Sax Player” 7” x 5” (17.8cm x 12.7cm) Ink and acrylic drawing on J. Perrigot, Arches
90lb Rough Watercolor Paper. unframed $30.00 each. Shipping in USA $5.00
International shipping to most EU countries $11.00
(contact the artist for international purchase)
To purchase or for more information email: wolberinchina@hotmail.com

Because of the interest in this concept, I decided to continue a series of three of these drawings using different subjects. As before there will be a limited edition (12 numbered and signed original drawings, each is unique and original) of this subject.

A few years ago I was able to observe a demonstration by Japan's foremost calligraper who did large characters on a sheet of rice paper and each one was a work of art. I wanted to use a similar technique to create a drawing.

If you take a closeup look at the line you can see how I'm creating these almost as a calligraphy character. In this way the image can be repeated a number of times without losing the feel and mood of the subject yet each one is an original work.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber
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“Grandfather” 5” x 7” (12.7cm x 17.8cm) Ink and acrylic drawing on
J. Perrigot, Arches 90lb Rough Watercolor Paper.
unframed $30.00 each. Shipping priority Mail® in USA $5.00
International shipping to most EU countries $11.00
(contact the artist for international purchase)
To purchase this drawing or for more information send email to: wolberinchina@hotmail.com

 

This is a new direction for my blog. In Oriental calligraphy there are many styles of writing. In this series of drawings I’ve used that idea to create a limited edition (12 numbered and signed original drawings, each is unique and original) of the same subject. Each is done with similar strokes using my own hand-made tools. Each drawing in the series is very similar and is done in calligraphic style. I first experimented with this style many years ago as a student, but now am taking that idea a step further. Just as in artistic calligraphy, each work has slight differences but the subject or character is the same. Calligraphy is nothing new to me since I taught many students in calligraphy classes based on the Roman alphabet, for many years as a professor at the university level. Then, when I taught in China, I had the opportunity to observe Asian calligraphy styles and painting.

One reason I have a strong belief in developing high-level craftsmanship in one’s artwork is the influence of my maternal grandfather, so he is the inspiration for this drawing. He was a blacksmith, carpenter and barn builder. I never knew him because he died before I was born, but when I was a small child we lived on the farm he had built and I would play in his workshop. The tools he left behind fascinated me. There was a forge with a huge bellows operated by bicycle pedals that my mother says she would sometimes peddle for him while he worked metal on the forge. As I grew older I was curious about these craft processes he used and learned as much as I could about the tools and the methods he used.

Since I never knew my grandfather, this drawing series is made from some of the old men I knew who reminded me of the photos my family left of my grandfather. As such this could be everymans grandfather. I have in my studio a few photos on metal plates made of my grandfather and grandmother when they were married. One is posted below. The drawing, however, is inspired from a time when he was older. His ancestors came from Alsace-Lorraine, so part of my European heritage comes from that area.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

 

First Spring Lilies

5” x 7” (12.7cm x 17.8cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
SOLD

The lily is an ancient symbol of new life in many cultures. In Christian iconography it is also the symbol of purity and it always has the feeling of pristine beauty and new life. One of my favorite paintings from early European art is the Merode Altarpiece now in the Cloisters, a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where this flower is used as a symbol. In this painting it is usually considered to be the Lilium Candidum or Madonna Lily. You can see and read about the Merode Altarpiece here
or for a view of all three panels and some more interesting reading here.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

Half-Peeled Lemon

 

Half-Peeled Lemon
6” x 6” (15.2cm x 15.2cm) acrylic on gessoed Masonite®
Commissioned painting not available for sale
collector comment:
I have to tell you. I took the two still life paintings to
the frame shop, and the ladies there were absolutely in awe
over your artwork. (peeled lemon and Pears) Just thought I
would share this with you. One lady said,"These are the best
art pieces I have seen for weeks"

It’s been a long time since my last posting. First, because of holiday weekend activities and second because I had a lot of unexpected personal business which needed attention. I’m back on track and hope to post every few days as before. While I aim at a posting every day, I won’t rush a painting to meet a deadline. Painting for me is the pure pleasure and joy of doing it and not a commercial exercise. If it’s not fun or enjoyable, that shows up in the quality and feeling of the work. Of course, there is an advantage to painting every day even though there may be nothing to show clearly as a new posting.

I’ll try to keep a regular schedule now until the first two weeks of July when we will again be doing some traveling and will be away from the computer for a while. Hopefully the travel will give some new subject matter and a bit of a different direction to the works that result.

This painting was also done at the request of a collector. It’s always an interesting challenge to meet the requirements of a subject and idea suggested by someone else. This, of course, is not a new idea. Artists throughout history have worked on commissions or a specific subject requested by a collector or patron. One of the great masterpieces of art history is the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. It’s interesting that Michelangelo was not satisfied to just meet Pope Julius’s requirements but went on to make a painting that went far beyond what the Pope had expected or required of him. There is something in the artists temperament that pushes the artist to always satisfy his/her own aesthetic values as well as those imposed by a patron.

© Copyright by Paul Wolber

To receive information on how a commission works you can send an email to:
wolberinchina@hotmail.com

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