New forest oil painting "Against the Sky" by Mark Nesmith

Against the Sky
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
10" x 8"
Click here to purchase this painting.

As a boy I practically lived in the woods. There was a small pine forest behind my home in Beaumont, and I spent my time out of school in the woods building forts, climbing trees, racing, and just losing myself in the sights and sounds of nature. Later hiking trips through the Big Thicket only reinforced my love for the tall and graceful verticals of an East Texas pine. The sight of the towering pines against the sky has always entranced me, and to this day I feel my eyes and thoughts pulled to the shimmering sky seen through the branches of the pines when driving anywhere in SE or East Texas.It's a sight I've always felt compelled to paint and draw, but generally haven't felt much success with. 

Lately I've been wanting to take another stab at the woods and have been planning a few large canvases featuring the Big Thicket area. I've started to do a few small paintings to kind of find my path, so to speak.Here a couple of pines tower above the distant treeline and are silhouetted against the vibrant pink clouds at sunset. True to the form of my recent paintings this canvas has thick impasto with layers of color and textures.

New oil painting "The Burning Down" by Mark Nesmith

The Burning Down

Oil on Canvas

12" x 12"

2015 

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I'm often drawn to the tree lined shore of a lake or river. Here the pines at the distant bank are nearly silhouetted against the fiery sunset. It can be a challenge to balance my love for loose, thick paint with the demands of representation on a small canvas. Here thick impasto works hand in hand with thinner veils of color and subtle sgraffito effected by the handle of a brush, a whirl of movement and explosion of color that seems on the verge of burning itself down.

New daily oil painting of the sun setting

I've had this image in my head for a while and have been making a few small studies anticipating a larger painting. This is an 8" x 10" oil painting on canvas mounted on board. I started with a pretty loose pencil drawing then scrubbed in the blue sky. 

What keeps this image in my mind is the way the clouds seem to explode from the hotspot of the sun behind the trees. As I painted this it became an excuse to play with thicker paint and brushstrokes. I always feel such energy watching the world as it seems to die at sunset, yet at the same time I'm filled with peace. I've tried to let the paint handling convey a bit of the vibrant, charged atmosphere while the deep blue sky and soft greens of the foreground lend a bit of tranquility.

Sunset at Malloy Bridge Road Daily Paintworks Auction

Sunset at Malloy Bridge Road
Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
8" x 10"

Click here to bid on this painting.

Here's the first painting I've listed using Daily Paintworks auction site.  This is a view of the sunset seen just over the tree line on Malloy Bridge Road near Seagoville, Tx.  I painted this at the end of 2011 and have kept it hanging on my wall all this time, but it's time to make some room and find it a good home.  

All along Malloy Bridge Road there are acres of farmland.  This was a plowed field covered in a rich, dark top soil.  It made a wonderful contrast to the brightly lit sky.  Texas sunsets are spectacular, and you can watch them every night and never see exact same thing twice! 

My new art auction gallery page with Daily Paintworks

Several of my online art buddies have been using Daily Paintworks to handle online auctions of their small paintings and foregoing eBay. After checking out the site for the past month I've decided to give it a try too. Daily Paintworks works similar to eBay but is art specific and has a pretty impressive volume of traffic. Wish me luck! I've already linked two previous eBay auctions to the site and this morning set up my first auction using the Daily Paintworks format instead of eBay. Here's the link to my gallery page http://dailypaintworks.com/Artists/mark-nesmith-3253. Please take a moment to check it out and let me know what you think about the site.