2010 Happy Holidays from Brent Jensen (click image for easier reading)

North Bay Plein Air Painters

Being a full-time painter can be isolating if you let it. To counter that tendency, I have pushed myself to paint with "paint partners" and now groups such as the North Bay Plein Air Painters group. I've painted twice with them and like the group organizers and location choices. Egos are checked at the door and participants seem to have a good time while maintaining the professionalism of what the group is about.

China Camp was one of the spots for a recent group outing. I plein air painted this 10 x 8, Seaside Village.

Later, in my studio and from photo, I painted this 16 x 20, China Camp View painting.

One of my goals is to create paintings that look effortless (easy), which is quite difficult to do.  A broad brushstroke made once with confidence adds impact to a painting. Below is a close up which hopefully illustrates my point.

Oil Painting Demonstration of "Autumn in France"

I took several photos of my 18 x 24 oil painting, Autumn in France to illustrate the steps involved in painting it. I made a youtube video and talk through it in a way that hopefully is of interest.

High School Senior Oil Painting

I visited family over Thanksgiving and saw one of my paintings dated 12-10-76, my senior year of high school. Seeing this 34 year old 24 x 36 painting brought back many memories as I had forgotten I had even painted it. For my age then, I'm okay with the sky and mountains, but I've certainly come along way from painting single pieces of foreground grass. After high school, I went on to earn a B.A. in Art at the University of Utah. To make a living, I had a long career in architectural illustration and did not begin fine art painting again until 2002. I am serious about my career as a full-time painter. Seeing this painting from when I was 18 made me pause and think about the decades of lost time not focused on fine art. In the end, I realized that at least I'm painting now. No more looking back and wondering what if....