Spires & Steeples Video

Click the image to view a video of the Spires & Steeples in HD at Vimeo and here for YouTube version.

For our wonderful Thanksgiving holiday we moved furniture for our daughter who is now living in Washington, DC. On Thanksgiving Day the Smithsonian Museums were open, so an easy trip to the National Gallery of Art and the Freer were in order. What a treasure we have in those museums. The Corcoran has a Sargent exhibit that will leave early January. We weren't able to take that in this time but hope to return with another load of boxes.

I haven't been able to post lately but have plans for several DC images along with plein air pieces of local items of interest. On Thanksgiving morning I got out on the mall early and found a wonderful fog was present and providing the perfect atmospheric background for the old Navy Memorial (Peace Memorial) and the Grant Memorial at the foot of the Capitol Building. The fog was pretty thick and the Capitol dome was barely visible. The last time I was in the area I was taken with the Navy Memorial or The Peace Memorial, but it was a sunny afternoon and the statues were surrounded by white tour buses, which made for a curious view. This time only a few joggers and occasional police cars came by. It was pretty great! I'm so glad I got up and out early. I'm thankful for many things.

Below are some of the drawings I made for this painting. There were several variations but I quickly settled into what I needed to do. Symmetry of buildings, balance of sizes, the inclusion of fountains and trees, and the civic buildings central seemed the correct way to proceed.



I did entertain working them up separately and then combining them digitally into a larger composition. You may recognize the solo spire as a street view of First Presbyterian. I made a pastel of that church as it looked before the restoration.

Happy Fellow

Often when riding through the country I will stop to stretch my legs and visit favorite trees, vistas, and farm animals that attract my eye. This little goat was such a friendly guy, he walked right up to the fence and stuck his head through the wire. I scratched his head and admired his fresh face and what looked to be a smile. I think many of us respond to creatures that convey emotion or what we human beings interpret as such. Our wonderful Golden Retriever named Guinness has the most expressive eyebrows. You can read all sorts of things into his expressions, No one can tell me I'm imagining something when I detect that my dog is irritated with me whenever I'm leaving him in the house or that he's looking purely delighted after his bath and towel rub-down.

Click below for a video from VIMEO, a Flash presentation.



This Happy Fellow video is a partially accelerated oil painting session made earlier this year (speeding up after about 4 minutes) -a quick oil portrait of a friendly little goat.

As I mentioned, I met this sweet fellow a few years ago on my passage through the country on my way home from church in Bentonville, NC. I always wanted to paint this image from the photo I was fortunate to have taken, and decided I would do so while recording the entire process. This video is about 13.5 minutes long, and has no audio since it just sounds like a lot of scratching anyway. I realize now that I hold my breath and sigh a lot while painting --quite revealing! --like I have paint apnea! Maybe other painters will be interested in observing some of the technique and method. It was very good for me to witness myself objectively and plan for my next paintings and any future videos which will definitely be shorter, narrated, and produced in a different manner.

This is an oil painting made on canvas that was previously toned and prepared with paint mixed only with linseed oil for a dried, smooth, primed colored and defined ground. I prefer an oil primed linen or thick canvas that is not too absorbent. When using a cotton and gessoed canvas I will completely cover the canvas by scrubbing in and laying in large zones of color. I'll create an under painting of a buttery paint mix that when dry will accept new paint on top without absorbing it through or below. It is a technique easily accomplished and makes for such a pleasant painting experience. I think few amateur artists ever have this pleasure, for painting on canvas duck as most do is sort of like painting on a piece of carpet. Even those who work with acrylics would benefit from priming their canvas with paint and acrylic gloss medium to tone and begin to define their work. After it is dry, working on top of a glazed oil or acrylic is a dream! It is like working on glass and painting becomes more like sculpture than coloring. Too bad this is rarely taught or expressed! If it was demonstrated more people would probably stick with painting since it would be a hell of a lot more fun and produce much more acceptable results.

Happy Fellow is sold and in the possession of a happy young couple. I hope I will get to paint all their kids someday!

Enjoy! --Jack Anglin

Hope Plantation, Windsor, NC

Hope Plantation in Windsor, NC is the restored home of former NC Governor David Stone. The mansion in this pastel was built in 1803.

The holidays are a great time to visit Hope Plantation as the buildings are wonderfully decorated with natural materials such as holly, beeswax, and all sorts of native plants. A few years ago, my wife and I joined part of the decorating team to learn a few things -my wife, Antoinette, working alongside Betsy Overton. I made my way outside and painted this pastel before the sun was completely set.

For those who have never painted in this way I recommend you try it very soon. As an artist invests in a subject and observes it over a brief span of time, it is truly amazing what one sees as the light shifts and fades, comes and goes over different areas --things you would normally miss in the quick movement we generally make in our lives. Working fast helps an artist, and being able to remember what one sees is a great asset as a subject such as this old house and trees will slide into a completely alternate look in just about no time.

When you visit Hope Plantation, stop and view the Hope House across the lawn from the older 1763 King-Bazemore House, where you will find a view like this I painted in 2007

Rouse Farm Crossroads

This is a scene on the Rouse Farm, just out of Snow Hill on Highway 13. A plein air pastel. One of several made that day.

Steamer Neuse

The Steamer Neuse operated from New Bern to Washington, NC in the days before public ferry systems, bridges, and decent roadways. Having sailed much of the Neuse River I can appreciate how long it must have taken and what some of those trips would have felt like as the river is very wide and can fetch up some nice sized swells. While a pain for frequent travelers it must have been an exciting trip for the infrequent passengers and children. For those of us living in the 21st century (and you know there are some who are not), a steamer trip like this would have been much too long and dull. But what a great little journey for reading or snoozing, or just watching the shore line and sky. I like to imagine how ships appeared at night.

I'm posting older works as I'm in the middle of a 30 X 40 inch illustration of the Steeples and Spires of Wilmington, NC. I should have that finished in a few days and will have time to apply myself to more daily painting, which is something I'm longing to do and have been wanting to do for some time.

Twilight Skipjack

Inspired by my time with the ADA MAE, a 1914 North Carolina skipjack, restored and in use with Carolina Coastal Classrooms out of New Bern, I made this little oil painting. You can see my pastel of the Ada Mae on the skipjack page of the CCC website.

Carolina Coastal Classrooms is a great project which I'm proud to be a small part of with website and graphic design assistance. We've made a few videos at YouTube, but now with HD our plan is to make great strides with video in the coming year (we'll resolve the sound issues, too).

Ada Mae will get pulled soon for repairs, including work on varnishing the mast and boom. She needs it! Come spring she'll be looking smart and then we'll make new videos, and probably a few new paintings, too.

The Nocturnal Visitor

Just northwest of Snow Hill this old structure always grabs my attention as I'm passing by on my way to Wilson and Raleigh on HWY 58 North. The beautiful silvery reflective metal is enough of a treat, but of course, the face formed by the symmetry of the windows and door is quite arresting. Usually I catch a glimpse as I'm moving by at 55 MPH in the daytime. One evening I stopped and actually got out of the car to observe the barn in partial moonlight. Here is a Google Map Link: 35.50067 -77.738197 -check out the street view.

Finding faces in common objects is something many people do --from seeing faces or shapes in clouds to noticing faces in simple things like faucets or the electrical wall outlet that looks something like the silent scream. Any painting I've ever done with rocks or stone has evoked the same kind of public analysis and provided entertainment to find the faces. The stark face on the old pack house barn is pretty hard to miss. I think it evokes a robot face similar to something I had as a Halloween mask and costume 45 years ago.

Of course, I've taken my liberties with this subject, but it is still a fair representation and I think a lovely nocturne of the building. This photo doesn't do it complete justice as the painting only looks this bright with full daylight or a bright lamp upon it. I currently have it hanging in a dark corner with subtle light from a nearby door softly illuminating the central part of the painting. Some things are best left as dark and dimly lit subjects. Passing by the painting, on the way to the kitchen, has almost the same effect as driving by the real McCoy.

Nocturnal Visitor is a 16 X 30 inch oil painting on canvas. It is framed with a dark distressed frame that suits the painting nicely. Contact me if interested.