WORK IN PROGRESS
Return to this page often to see the artist's work in progress
joan l. garcia 
Click  an image to open a viewing gallery.
"TARPON HUNT" 16" x 48" oil on canvas: Tarpon season is underway in the Tampa Bay area.  Recent fishing expeditions to the shipping channel north of Egmont Key found them rolling on the out-going tide.  This painting resulted from a photo I had taken at the Lowry Park Zoo and pinfish my family caught off Anna Maria Island.
June 7 - After preparing the canvas with three layers of white gesso, I mixed the gesso with green acrylic to establish a base background color. I started with a sketch of this school of pin fish.I used a mixture of paynes gray, cobalt blue and burnt umber to paint in the middle color of the pin fish. June 8 - Finished outlining the pinfish with paynes gray and burnt umber thinned with OMS. Photo of the tarpon that inspired this painting. Painted in tarpon with paynes gray/burnt umber thinned with OMS. Under painted the dark areas of his skin. Photo of the layout. June 9 - Added under-painting washes of paynes gray/cobalt blue to establish darks. Glazed layers will result in the luminous shine of his skin. Added shadows with a wash of paynes gray and Liquin. Defined their eyes using lamp black. This established the darkest dark of the painting. June 10 - Added a wash of cerulean blue and Liquin. Then I wanted to base coat the areas that will have the most reflection. This was done with a thick coat of titanium white. My family did some fishing and I was able to photograph this pinfish for accuracy. Corrected the coloring on the pinfish. Added more brown and rose tones. Using burnt umber/cadium red/titanium white in varying hues. Close up of pinfish. June 20 - June 20 - June 20 - June 23 - Still working on the details...I wanted to brighten the colors and deepen the darks. Also added the dark underpainting of the scales along his body with paynes gray, cobalt blue, cerulean blue and titanium white.June25 - Really enjoying adding transparent layers of to create the illumination of the scales and skin. I mix many varying degrees of cerulean blue/paynes gray/lime green/titanium white/burnt umber with Liquin. June 28 - Back to working on the pinfish.June 28 - I'm having a little difficulty getting the luminousity that I want for the pinfish. I've added details and glazed over them first with paynes gray and Liquin, the deepening the shadows with ultra blue. July 3 - Starting to lay in the background. Using Turquoise/Paynes gray/Titanium White I cross-hatched the basic tone in the center of the painting. July 3 - Painted in the central color and began adding the upper layer of the water across the top. This layer will have the water swirls and additional lightening. July 3 - Close up of the tarpon. I added additional lighter scales to his body. July 3 - Background completely blocked in. The lower level of the water is a little darker. I'll continue to add glazes to increase the luminousity. July 7 - Working on the background....I wanted to deepen the base color. Added a glaze of turquoice and cobalt blue with LiquinJuly 7 - Close up of TarponJuly 12 - Working on the details of the pinfish. Added white highlights with titanium white and deepened shadows with a glaze of turquoise and burnt umber. July 12 - Full painting - I photo enhanced it add more contrast. See my blog for more information. July 19 - Added details to the pinfish. Using ultramarine blue and burnt umber with a liner brush I defined their eyes, fins and a few of the identifying marks. July 19 - Again I darkend the lower portion of the painting with a glaze of ultramarine blue. Also enhanced the white reflection on the tarpon. July 21 - Did a lot of work on the pinfish. Refined colors, after looking at reference photos I added more earth tones (raw umber, yellow ochre, burnt umber). July 28 - The main character is finished. I added a heavy applicaiton of the highlights; titanium white, turquoise blue, paynes gray lightend with titanium. July 28 - I was going to wait until the oil had dried thoroughly to add the light rays, but found that since I wanted them very subtle they needed to be applied while the background was still tacky. I went over them many times wiping off as much as adding. Aug. 1 - I love varnishing. It brings out the colors and reveals the depth of the glazes. I added three thin coats of Gamblin varnish with wax added to make the surface slightlyl matt.
Affordable prints of TARPON HUNT may be ordered at Fine Art America. CLICK HERE
Click  an image to open a viewing gallery.
Sketch on tracing paper of images to be transferred to canvas; Old WorldBlocking out images using black paint in order to add the detail using dry brush techniquesBlack underpainting of each pictoral image. Dry brush color of Union Jack and Stamp Act. The black of the underpainting shows through. Which adds to the drabness of the painting; the desired goal. Finished the Stamp Act and ships. I will add additional details to the background after I have painted the other elements. This gentleman was from an old Revolutionary War cartoon as an example of the elite class. The colonists reading about King George's Stamp Act. The painting used the black silhouette background to define the image with simple highlights defining the details.The acristocracy and military surround the colonists. The black and white also highlight the contrasts. Finished poster; the black and white and grayscale colors highlight the starkness of the times. The colored areas; Union Jack, newspaper & red coat define the issues of the time.Pencil sketch for New World poster. Using same technique of the Old World I blocked in the shape of each item using black. Adding color to each formWanted the Liberty Bell to stand out in particular, metallic was added to give a bronze effect. Added the village. Had a little trouble with the transition from the sky into the document, will correct that later. Adding color to the farmer plowing his field. Blocking in the color for the farmer's wife and the wheat harvestAdding background to the wife. I taped off her skirt to avoid overlapping. Finished painting. I added a few more details; sky and clouds to blend the images. Close up of painting.
Affordable prints of the New World painting may be ordered at Fine Art America. CLICK HERE
"TAMPA 912 LIBERTY SCHOOL" 24" X 31" acrylic on canvas:These are wall hangings for the school depicting Old and New World images in America at the time of the Revolutionary War.
Click  an image to open a viewing gallery.
"912 MURAL" 14 ft. x 7 fr acrylic on canvas:Wall hanging of the inspiration behind the 912 movement. Designed to be hung from the ceiling. If you would like more information about this organization visit Tampa912.com
Click  an image to open a viewing gallery.
"NATIVITY AT VALLEY RANCH" 54" X 84" acrylic on canvas:Wall hanging on canvas of the Nativity, made for an outdoor display
This large size was sketched via a grid and has to be painted in sections. Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the Angel will look realistic, but the rest of the painting will resemble stained glass, note the sky background.Baby Jesus; after the sketching and adding the halos I painted the figures using burnt umber.The Virgin Mary, I used various Renaissance references.Realistic details added using portrait pink, raw umber and unbleach titanium.Close up of Mary.Baby Jesus; using portrait flesh-deep tint, and light portrait pink. Highlights need to be added. I want the baby to look luminous. The clothing was painted very simply, not much detail. I wanted it to resemble stained glass with the detail in the faces and baby. Close up of Mary and Joseph. Metallic gold and pearl medium was used on their halos.Adding the lamb. I wanted the animals to appear very simply, not much detail. Finished wall hanging. Black lines were painted to imitate stained glass.Outdoor Display on Christmas Eve
Affordable prints of NATIVITY AT VALLEY RANCH may be ordered at Fine Art America. CLICK HERE
The total mural is 14 feet long and will be painted in sections. This is the layout of the first section, far left. Since I no longer have space to hang the sections, I paint using a grid method and drape it over my work table. Straight painting areas have been taped off with painters tape. This section contains an open door to a new world."The Shining City on a Hill", that becomes a symbol on the canvas. The details are too harsh right now, I'll put a glaze over it to draw it farther into the distance. Looking through the doorway into a bright future. It's hard to include the whole section, this perspective shot should give you an idea of it's size. As in any painting the detail of the grass is sharper in the foreground Painting in the base color of the door. It will be faux finished to look like wood.Using a raw umber glaze and a graining tool and brush I simulated the wood grain in the door. Added tromp l'oiel door knob. Plenty of reference material for this subject matter around the house. Door hinges add more realism and the door edge is taped off to paint a glaze of phalo blue and burnt umber for the shadow. Final shading was added to the left of the door molding, floor molding and door handle. The first section is complete; a clear glaze was added for protection. Layout for the second section. This is a faux bookcase, 36" wide. Used burnt sienna as the background for the faux graining. This must dry overnight so the paint is stable. The various shelves, drawers and molding were taped off and glazed with a graining tool and flogger to simulate the directional wood grain. Glazing and graining finished. Glaze was 3 parts burnt umber glaze and 1 part black. Shadows and highlights added to the bookcase. Shadows were painted using burnt umber and pthalo blue, and highlights used yellow ochre. Items on shelves blocked in using ebony black. Tromp l'oiel Statue of Liberty and American Eagle on the shelves.Tromp l'oiel folded flag and Lincoln's Top Hat, as pictured in the National ArchivesBase painted Declaration in yellow ochre, the quill and ink set comes from my collection. Faux finished a layer of unbleached titanium to the Declaration. Added shading with neutral gray to effect the look of the paper laying over the edge of the shelf. Words of the Declaration added with Micron pen. The lines of text had to be angled to enhance the effect of the page on the shelf. All objects on the shelves are completed, now the books will be added to fill in as needed. Layout of books and basic colors are blocked in. I'm still determining the titles I will add. A perspective technique was used with the central vanishing point and a string to determine the angles of the books. Added the tops of the books (pages) using unbleached titanium. Gold will be used on some. The 3rd panel, I blocked in the objects on the shelves using black underpainting. Working on the bust of George Washington, started with the highlights. No blending so that it looks carved. Adding details to the Bible. Bust of George WashingtonBible with gold accentsLunar Lander and Saturn V rocket.Symbols of the MilitaryGlenn Beck's book, a symbol of the 912 founder. Blocking in the individual books on the top shelf. The green one will be my signature (faux finished marble.Details of the books on the top shelf. My "signature" on the green book. Many of the Old Masters placed hidden objects in their paintings. Details finished on top shelves. Had to research the subject matter, some of the books are in my personal library, others were hard to simulate because you very seldom see the spine of the book. Second bookcase is nearly complete; the background wall, floor molding and shadows need to be added. Yes, the handles are painted on.