--- Realism and Impressionism Paintings --- by John Hlavinka

Changes

2012-02-04T13:35:00.002-05:00

Massive change in my life the past couple of years, a lot of it good, but so much change, good or bad, is always quite a bit of work to get through. All that has kept me from producing paintings and now that's changing so I can resume painting again. So, hopefully I'll soon be posting some new paintings for sale, that's the plan anyway. We thought it would be a good idea to update this site with a fresh new look too. I also want to thank everyone who left such nice comments, I have not been able to reply for some time but will going forward.

View from McKay Road - plein air

2009-05-25T08:56:00.008-04:00

"View from McKay Road" - oil on canvas panel SOLD

12 in x 9 in or 30.5 cm x 22.9 cm

Not exactly photorealist again, but done in a style of realism anyway. Painted en plein air (outdoors) late last summer. This painting is sold.

View from Picnic Drive - plein air

2009-05-02T09:41:00.010-04:00

"View from Picnic Drive" - oil on canvas panel SOLD

12 in x 9 in or 30.5 cm x 22.9 cm

Not exactly photorealist to be certain, but done in a style of realism anyway. Painted en plein air (outdoors) late last summer. This painting is sold.

It does a body good

2009-03-02T18:02:00.015-05:00

“Antique Milk Bottles”
Hand painted in oil on archival panel
8 x 10 inches
20.3 x 25.4 cm
original: not for sale at this time

This painting is complete. The two antique milk bottles came from Klondike dairy farm in North Carolina. I’m originally from Wisconsin, which is the dairy state. Some of my relatives are dairy farmers and others are retired dairy farmers (but they are not all dairy farmers). I did spend some time as a child at a couple of those farms and these bottles remind me of them. Well, I had a lot of fun making this painting even though I was interrupted by a lot of things in the process. I hope anyone reading this has enjoyed my “in progress” postings to this blog. I don’t think I’ll do “in progress” postings all that often.

Last leg of the milk run

2009-02-21T11:09:00.006-05:00

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

This will be my last "in progress" posting for this work. Sorry for the poor quality of this photo the final will be much better. I'm closing in on completion and the next post will be the finished piece. I've still got some work to do on the glass of milk, and a few other details here and there that are not quite right yet. I'm on the last leg of this milk run.

I could use a drink

2009-02-16T21:59:00.010-05:00

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Detail

Yes, I could use a drink, but I'm finally painting again and it seems like it's been forever. At least I'm back at it and that's whats important. I worked on the labels today. The label on large bottle still needs some work, but I think the label on the small bottle is good. I'm happy with the progress I made today. I had a request or two for a detail shot. I hope the detail I posted will suffice. I'm sure I'll hear about it if it does not. Ha. Well, next I'll complete the small bottle, then the glass of milk and at that point I hope to have this one complete.

Palettes

2009-01-30T21:15:00.005-05:00

Well, more of life getting in the way. I’ve got a couple of torn CV boots on my car that I need to repair plus a few other non-auto related things to do. It’s going to be a while before I get to work on and post an update to the milk bottles painting. Well, that's unless the weather is bad because I don’t have a garage to work on my car in. In the meantime I’m going to post a small glimpse of my studio space with a photo of two of my small palettes. I don’t use the wooden palette anymore. I do like and use the ceramic tile for working on smaller paintings because it’s easy to scrape off. I have a large piece of plate glass I've used as a palette since college in the 80's. I use that palette when I work on larger paintings. I’ll post a photo of it some other time.

The bottle is half... or... maybe I'm just full of it.

2009-01-26T21:35:00.005-05:00

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Well, slow progress, I've had way too many interruptions. Sometimes life just gets in the way, but that's better than the alternative. Well, I'm back on the bottle now... I mean back in the battle now. This should not be taking so long. That being said, I worked on the large bottle and I'm happy with it so far. Also painted the background. You can't see it in the previous photos, but the background was very thin and see through (part of the painting in layers process). Now the background is complete. Just need to paint the label on the large bottle, then do the glass of milk, then fix some color issues with the small bottle, then get a lobotomy, and then maybe I'll be close to completing this painting.

Getting there is half the battle

2009-01-15T16:20:00.006-05:00

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Worked on this yesterday and today. My eyes were bugging out last night. Anyway, I'm closing in on the halfway point. I'm fairly happy with the way all the glass is coming along. There is a lot of really small subtle details and so far I feel like they are working. This still life is really tough to see progress while I'm working on it. Now that I can look at the first photo from Monday and compare them I feel like I've made decent progress on the road to completion. I can't wait to finish this one. I think I may even like it for a few days when I'm done.

Work in progress

2009-01-12T17:57:00.005-05:00

Not yet titled - oil
8" x 10"

Well, I wanted to make a point of posting more often. I usually only post completed works but I think every once in a while I'll show some works in progress. I'll write more on this one as I go too, but to start with, this is, or will be, a still life painting of two antique milk bottles with a glass of milk. The base tonal layer, and part of layer one is complete. This one has some very subtle color changes going on and I'm really enjoying working on it.

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-01-07T12:19:00.005-05:00

"Grandpa"
Acryilic 24"x 28"

I’m working on some new paintings but it will be a while before they are dry and I can post them. In the meantime, I’ve decided post an old painting that I did WAY back in high school. This is a portrait of my grandfather who passed away years ago. Well, today it’s my mom’s birthday and that’s why I decided to post this portrait of her father. Happy Birthday Mom. Love you. Wish I could have been there to celebrate.

Holidays

2008-12-18T17:44:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm on a break until 2009. The holidays are just too demanding this year for me to get any painting done. I hope to make a lot more paintings in 2009 and post much more often to this blog. Anyway, whoever does find and read this blog I wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful holiday season no matter what you celebrate, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, something I'm not aware of, or even if you don't celebrate any particular holiday. All the best and happy new year too. See you in 2009.

Carolina Peaches

2008-11-26T07:55:00.007-05:00

Carolina Peaches
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

Three Carolina Peaches hand painted in oil. A vineyard not all that far from where I live wants me to hang a few of my works for sale in their tasting room. I think this one would be a good candidate. I'll post the name and location of the vineyard once I've got some paintings there. These small still life paintings look even better in real life. The computer image takes something away from them.

Beehive Blender No. 1 relisted

2008-11-25T21:33:00.014-05:00

"Beehive Blender No. 1"
6x6 inches
Original still life hand painted in oil.

Hay Bales No. 4

2008-11-21T14:42:00.014-05:00

Hay Bales No. 4
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My fourth 6"x6" small landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.4” This is the fourth in a series.
I enjoy making these landscapes of hay bales. There is just something about them.

New works

2008-11-18T06:42:00.010-05:00

I have not posted in a while. I do have some new oil paintings started. One is almost complete. I also have to wait for them to dry before I can scan and post them. The cold weather has them drying much slower. The last two weekends I was able to get out and shoot some pictures of the fall colors. I have to go through them and decide which ones are good reference material for some new paintings. I use a variety of working methods and sometimes that includes photo reference.

Applesaucer

2008-10-14T21:09:00.007-04:00

"Applesaucer"
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

I removed this painting and reworked it. There were one or two small things that I just didn’t like. Now I think it really works well.

Lemon and a half

2008-09-30T18:28:00.008-04:00

"Lemon and a half"
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

Here is a still life of a lemon and a half of a lemon on a saucer. I thought this composition would make a nice painting. For such a simple still life there sure is a lot going on. The light blue cloth, the red orange and yellow of the lemon, the blues and yellows reflected in the saucer, and the subtle purple in the shadows. Not to mention the translucent quality of the lemon half.

Hay Bales No. 3

2008-09-16T12:55:00.009-04:00

Detail

Hay Bales No. 3
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My third 6"x6" small landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.3”
This is the third in a series.

Hay Bales No. 2

2008-09-08T08:02:00.007-04:00

Detail

Hay Bales No. 2
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

My second 6 x 6 landscape painting. Titled “Hay Bales No.2”
If you like my work or visit my BLOG please leave comments or send me an email. A link to contact me is on my profile page. Would love to hear from you. Right now I don't think many people even know I'm on here. I've decided to lower my reserve prices on auctions to hopefully jump start a few sales.

Beehive Blender No. 1

2008-08-28T14:54:00.008-04:00

Beehive Blender No. 1
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

This is the last painting for a short while. I have a wedding to attend and some car repairs to do. Then I’ll be back at my easel. I picked up this old beehive shaped blender that looks really cool and I had to make a painting of it. All the reflections were a bunch of fun to paint. Well, for me it was fun. I do think I’ll be making series of paintings featuring this blender. Maybe even a large painting or two.

Sunflowers

2008-08-27T15:06:00.015-04:00

9” x 12” oil paint on canvas board.

Products such as t-shirts etc. featuring this painting are available for sale – click here.

The Liberation of St. Peter

2008-08-25T11:31:00.007-04:00

This is a reproduction (not for sale) at 28” x 34” in oil that I work on occasionally. The title of the original is “The Liberation of St. Peter" by Sebastiano Ricci painted in 1722. I have a book called “The Glory of Venice” that contains a picture of this painting. I loved the composition so much I decided I had to make a reproduction for myself. We also moved shortly after I started this one and so it always seems to be on the back burner. I hope to complete it someday, but it always takes a back seat since it's not for sale. It has inspired me to consider doing my own series of angel paintings. I’m still in the gathering of ideas stage for that so it will be a while before I start. I have started work on a new series of small photo realist paintings and I’ll be posting them on here when they are complete and dry.

Self-portrait 20 year span

2008-08-21T17:31:00.013-04:00

self-portrait 1988 (left) NFS, self-portrait 2008 (right) NFS
charcoal on paper

I’ve been working on my web site and there is still a lot to do. I decided to do a self-portrait in charcoal and make a business card. I wanted to have a way to promote my work when I meet someone face to face and they ask what I do. I found an old self-portrait drawn in charcoal I did in 1988 which is the drawing on the left. The new 2008 self-portrait is on the right. Things sure have changed in twenty years.

Hay Bales No. 1

2008-08-17T17:19:00.021-04:00

Hay Bales No. 1
6x6 oil painting on archival panel

Sold - private collection

I grew up in a suburb that was surrounded by farmland. Both of my parents grew up on farms. Although I didn’t, farmland always holds a special place for me. I do remember baling hay on a friend’s farm and delivering those hay loads to a horse farm. In those days the bales were rectangular, some still are, but most seem to be round. I think the round ones are more visually interesting. Even though living on a farm wasn’t a part of my daily life, the times I did work on a farm left me with good memories. This painting of hay bales brings back those good memories.