New Painting: Runyon Canyon Sentinel

Runyon Canyon Sentinel, oil on canvas, 2009, 22 x 22 inches

I first visited Runyon Canyon shortly after moving to LA. It is an incredible resource, an easy hiking trail centrally located in Hollywood. Within a few minutes of hiking on the trails, you can see amazing views of the downtown skyline, and the ocean to the west. On clear days you can see all the way to Long Beach. It is really breathtaking, and intensely beautiful.

It was in Runyon Canyon that I first got a sense of what the natural environment is like in this area. It is dry, with little rain. We are entering the rainy season now, and it is raining as I write this—-a welcomed interruption here. The lush plants in Los Angeles are watered, and palm trees, found in the wild only near abundant water sources, are no exception.

When I was hiking in Runyon Canyon, I saw this palm tree, and it immediately struck me; I knew I had to paint it. My paintings are about my observations, and my associated experiences and thoughts. This palm tree has layers and layers of dead leaves, suggesting that it has been here, watching over the entrance of Runyon Canyon, for a long time. It is a sentinel, testifying to the history of Los Angeles, and to our future. Like innumerable others, this palm tree has become deeply rooted in the new, natural environment.

Behind the palm tree, a narrow cloud delineates the course of the jet that preceded it. Both elements contribute to this depiction of natural beauty.

New Painting: Sunset from Mulholland Drive

Sunset from Mulholland Drive, oil on canvas, 2009, 19 x 14 inches

Mulholland Drive is a road in Los Angeles that loosely follows the ridgeline of the Hollywood Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. Famous for having some of the most exclusive homes in the world, Mulholland Drive is also surprisingly accessible. The road was created as a scenic byway, and there are scenic view points perched along the road. The east stretch of Mulholland Drive reveals sweeping views of downtown LA, while the western stretch displays vistas of the San Fernando Valley.

My friend Lisa was in town from Boston the night of this sunset, and we witnessed the sun go down over the Valley. There is a quality of light in LA--Magic Hour--that is stunning and unique to the area. It never ceases to bring a smile to my face.

New painting: "West Hollywood"

West Hollywood, oil on canvas, 2009, 30 x 24 inches

This painting, the first in the Natural Beauty series, has been completed for a few weeks, and I finally had the chance to photograph it. This view is from Santa Monica Blvd, near our apartment. To see this painting in its earlier stages, click here and here.

Afternoon Walk

Today I decided to put my worries away for awhile and go for a walk down Santa Monica Blvd. The weather was great, and after painting in the morning, I needed to get out of the house. I moved to Los Angeles from Boston in June, and this is my first fall here. It is still somewhat shocking to be in a place where the seasons don't really change. But I'm not complaining - it was a gorgeous day.
Gotta love it!
Heading west on Santa Monica Blvd. out of West Hollywood, you will eventually reach Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills is filled with orderly streets, many of them lined with palms. I have to admit, even though the palm trees are not native to the Los Angeles basin, they are attractive. They suggest a tropical place, and while this area used to be more of a desert, it has become an oasis of sorts, albeit a contrived and bit unnatural one. This idea of the natural vs. the unnatural is the basis of my current paintings, Natural Beauty.
Beverly Hills is a bit ostentatious. Other wealthy areas in Los Angeles would not have a large sign advertising their neighborhood, but in Beverly Hills, anything goes. There were many tourists taking photos of this sign, as there always is, and today, I was one of them. It was kind of fun.
I ended up on Rodeo Drive. I had never been there before, and while I will likely never shop there, it seemed like a good final destination. My favorite part of the area was this naked woman statue that watches over Rodeo Drive without eyes. This small street does have a bit of a village feel, and it was fun to walk around the area.

By the time I made it back to my apartment in West Hollywood, I felt like I had walked a hundred miles, and I was tired. But I enjoyed my walk in the sun.

Five Canvases

Yesterday I built five canvases. I went to the art store in the morning and purchased the materials, and what was once a pile of stretcher bars and fabric is now five painting supports. New canvases are so exciting because they are filled with so much potential.

Before you can apply oil paint to a canvas, you must cover the canvas with three layers of gesso. The solvents used in oil painting, as well as the oil itself, will eventually leach through the canvas and damage it without the protective gesso layer. “Gesso” is the Italian word for “chalk”, and traditionally, gesso was a mixture of chalk and rabbit-skin glue. This mixture is fairly brittle, and is suitable for wood or masonite. Modern gesso has an acrylic polymer base. This is much more flexible, and can be used on canvas.

So here are five canvases, drying on my porch, fifteen coats of gesso later.

My Obituary

I am taking a professional development class for artists here in Los Angeles, and our assignment for this week was to write our own obituary.  The goal of this exercise was to think about what we want to accomplish in our lives – what are our goals, and what do we want to be remembered for.  This was more difficult that I had anticipated – it wasn’t easy to think about what I want to accomplish, but ultimately, the exercise was rewarding.  It was effective in helping me flesh out what I really want to do with my art career, something artists often don’t think about.  If you had to write your own obituary, what would it say?  The text of my obituary is below:

BRADLEY HANKEY 1979 – 2067

Visual artist Bradley Hankey died in his Los Angeles home on April 21 at age 88. Hankey was born in Oregon, and moved to Boston to attend Massachusetts College of Art, where he graduated with a BFA in 2007. Hankey moved to Los Angeles in 2009, and graduated from UCLA with a MFA in 2013.

Hankey’s early work was influenced by Surrealism and artists such as Hopper, Hockney, Itten, and De Chirico. Places were also critical to his work, and his paintings were often inspired by his surroundings and travels. The “Natural Beauty” series of paintings, begun shortly after moving to Los Angeles, comments on the natural and the artificial environments of the area. These are among his best known works.

After graduate school, Hankey briefly taught at several area schools in Los Angeles, and was a frequent guest speaker at art schools around the country. His lectures often revolved around the importance of color theory and critical thinking in painting, as well as keeping traditional painting techniques alive. Hankey’s books are widely read. While his works often bordered on the abstract, he considered himself an observational painter, and championed this style of painting throughout his career.

Hankey’s works are shown in galleries in Los Angeles, New York, and Hanoi. His paintings have been collected globally, and he has shown in Museums in the United States, Vietnam, Costa Rica, and Tanzania. A retrospective of more than 100 paintings was mounted in 2035 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and traveled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Painting in West Hollywood: Day 4

Today was a great painting day in West Hollywood. After a couple of days of cooler temperatures, the heat was back today. I love the heat, but I have made a mental note to choose a shadier location for the next painting.

The painting is filling in with color, and almost all of the original white space is gone. One of the joys of my job is discovering the intense color in the every-day world around us, and this location is no exception. In order to bring color harmony to this painting, I mixed a large amount of a purple-gray color. I then mixed almost all of my others colors with purple-gray, especially the background colors in the hillside. Some of the foreground colors are mixed full-strength, without purple-gray, to bring those colors forward create a sense of atmospheric perspective.

I am excited about this painting, and glad that it is coming to fruition. I had been looking at this scene nearly everyday; when I walk home from the gym, I wait here for the “walk” sign to cross the street, and day after day, I could see this painting. It became an obvious choice for my first plein-air painting in LA.

A few people stopped to chat today. One woman commented, “That’s great, I love that you are doing this.” Another guy: “This seems like a civilized way to spend the afternoon.” I enjoy interacting with the public, and this is one of the major reasons I have taken to the street with my work. I am looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.

New word: Pyrocumulus

As the now-infamous Station Fire continues to burn outside Los Angeles, a new word has entered the local vocabulary: pyrocumulus. This word defines the awesome cloud formations resulting from the intense heat and smoke of large fires. The mushroom cloud from the Station Fire has been looming over Los Angeles for more than two weeks now, and often it is the only cloud in the sky. It is awesome and beautiful, a fact that many Los Angelenos are torn about. It is hard to admit that something resulting from intense destruction could be beautiful, but we all took pictures in awe of the eerie pyrocumulus clouds, that rise from the ground instead of from above.

The fires and the resulting pyrocumulus clouds triggers thoughts about the common paradise/apocalypse dichotomy associated with Los Angeles. As a new resident, I find this dichotomy fascinating. Gregory Rodriguez wrote a compelling piece exploring this idea in the LA Times recently. An excerpt from the article:

“Here's what the pyrocumulus cloud tells me: We should stop thinking of Los Angeles in such hopelessly schizophrenic, contradictory, "pitched back and forth" terms. That's because the theological notions of paradise and apocalypse are not so much opposed as deeply intertwined....

Far from being the victory of hell in L.A. over heaven in L.A., they reminded me that in a very real way, we can't have one without the other. The cloud is just what it looked like: two sides of the same coin; the one defines the other. Heaven, hell. Ugly, beautiful. Apocalypse, paradise. Los Angeles.”

Susan Orlean also recently wrote about the Los Angeles heaven/hell dichotomy for The New Yorker. In her article, she writes, “this week, hell won out.” She wrote her article at a time when multiple fires were burning out of control. At the time of this writing, the only active fire is the Station Fire, and its 160,000 burning acres are 62% contained.

I have only been in Los Angeles a short time, and already, my thoughts about my personal environment are changing. The foreign is becoming domestic; the strange is becoming normal; the unnatural is becoming natural; the ugly is becoming beautiful. Los Angeles.

Painting on location in West Hollywood

I painted outside today for the first time in Los Angeles. I prefer to work from life, rather than from photographs or other source material. I have always painted outdoors while on residency, but I haven't painted often in public places in the States. It was so much fun, and many people stopped to talk while I was working. One tourist even took photos of me drawing, which I thought was funny. I had thought that it would be too hot to paint outside in LA during the summer, but we have been having a relatively mild summer. The normally bright blue sky was a little hazy today, because of the fires that are raging outside the city.

This image shows my easel set up on Santa Monica Blvd. near my apartment. The preparatory drawing I'm working on begins with the left margin of the photo, and ends before the orange and green sign. The large blank space on the right of the canvas is the cream-colored building across the street. Interestingly, the establishment with the orange and green sign is Barney's Beanery, a restaurant and bar, and a favorite of old Hollywood with celebrity patrons such as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Errol Flynn.

This painting is part of my "Natural Beauty" series about Los Angeles, which is in full swing. I love it here, and I am excited to continue work on this series.

The Getty Center, Los Angeles

Upon arrival to the Getty's parking stucture, you board a tram that travels up a steep hillside to reach the the Getty Center atop the summit of a ridge. According to Getty literature, this tram ride is designed to give visitors the feeling of “being elevated out of their day-to-day experience.” When you exit the tram, you really feel like you have been transported beyond the mundane.

The grounds and gardens compete in beauty with the collections. To be fair, I only had time really to view a small number of works in the museums, because there was much to see outdoors as well. All white marble and natural stone, rising above the surrounding hillsides, the complex gives you the sensation of floating. The buildings have a modern aesthetic, but they also feel very old at the same time, almost ancient, as if the structures could also be centuries-old ruins.

It was a typically sunny day in Los Angeles, and very hot. The bright blue skies contrasted with the pale stone of the complex. On clear days the views are astounding, and stretch all the way to the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island, with downtown in the other direction.
We are in the middle of fire season, and right now the hills in the Angeles National Forest, from Acton to Altadena, are on fire. The mushroom cloud of smoke rises above Los Angeles.
We took a one-hour guided tour inside the museum, and we looked carefully at four different works, within the theme of classical art. The pieces we viewed included Joseph Nollekens' "Three Goddesses", and our tour guide's knowledge of classical history and the background of the works was both engaging and enlightening. She brought the narrative and the sculptures framed by it to life.

The Getty remains free for visitors, but there is a $15 fee per carload. The grounds house four main pavilions that contain the museum's collections, several gardens and sculpture gardens, as well as the Getty Research Institute and the Conservation Institute/Foundation. There is so much to see and do while there; multiple visits are required. I am looking forward to going back.

Completed Painting: "Maria's House"

About My Process

My painting process changes from time to time, and sometimes within the same body of work. This painting was a commission, so the process began by having a conversation with the client and viewing the photograph that the client wanted translated into a painting. After we had come to an understanding about what was wanted, I produced a preparatory drawing, which can be seen in the lower left corner of this photograph. This drawing was a very simple pencil drawing, really more of just a line drawing, so I could become familiar with the shapes in the painting.

The next step was to prepare the canvas with several coats of gesso. Once the gesso was cured, I began to transfer the drawing onto the canvas using vine charcoal, which can be easily wiped away with a rag when a mistake is made. Once the drawing was transferred onto the canvas, I sprayed the canvas with a matte varnish to protect the drawing.

I then mixed translucent pink oil paint with Galkyd, which is a fast-drying medium that strengthens the paint film. I then painted the entire canvas pink. It was important that the paint was thin enough that I could see my drawing through the pink paint, as this paint layer acted as added protection for my drawing, while getting rid of the white of the canvas. This is helpful because this underpainting can be left showing through in some parts, bringing color harmony to the piece.

Working from the reference photograph, which can be seen tacked on my easel above the painting, I mixed my oil colors, mixing them with a medium of Galkyd and a little linseed oil, ensuring that the top layer of paint would not dry as quickly as the bottom layer, which is important to avoid cracking. I then began to paint. I normally cover the whole canvas with paint right away, and work on the canvas from there, because it is important to establish color relationships early on. With this painting, I approached it slightly differently, working on one area at a time, within the geometric framework of the drawing, realizing that I may need to change colors when the entire canvas was filled in.

When working from photographs, I think it is important to use them rather loosely – more of a jumping off point rather than trying to create a direct copy. Not only is the painting more interesting in my opinion, but it is much more fun to paint.

The painting has been completed, and I am waiting for the paint to dry so I can take a photograph of the work. I will post the photograph of the completed painting as soon as I can.

Mulholland Drive

I felt the need to escape my apartment last night because I had been inside painting all day, so I decided to go for a drive on Mulholland Drive, made famous by the Hollywood elite, and in popular culture by the David Lynch movie of the same name. Mulholland Drive basically follows the ridgeline of the Hollywood Hills, and offers great views of both the Valley on one side, and the Los Angeles basin on the other. It is also surprisingly accessible - I discovered that there is a charming dog park off Mulholland, and many vista points where you can pull over and take in the views. Watching the sun set over the Valley was absolutely stunning.

Natural Beauty

Immediately ostentatious and fabulous, Los Angeles is a place of contrasts. From the gloss of West Hollywood to the urban grit of Silverlake, from the faded glamour of Hollywood to the vast suburban sprawl of the Valley, Los Angeles has much to offer. Los Angeles is not one city: really, it’s more like a collection of eighty small cities or neighborhoods, each with its own distinct feel. Early on, I met a friend while at a club, and at one point he said, "If you are bored in LA, then you really are a boring person because you can do whatever you want here." I think he is right. Do you want to get caught up in the celebrity lifestyle? You can do that here. Would you like to study spirituality? You can do that here. Every world religion and culture is represented. What about free yoga? That is offered three times a day in nearby Runyon Canyon.

Los Angelenos are more health-conscious than most. I don’t know where to get ice cream in LA, but within a few blocks of my house there are three yogurt shops, several juice bars, many private and public gyms, an organic burger shop, as well as several tanning salons. Everyone works out, and in a way it makes sense – there is no getting ready for summer here, because it is always summer. The weather really is as good as they say it is – in the month that I have lived in LA, it has been sunny with clear blue skies every single day.

Los Angeles is classified as subtropical desert, but when in the city, you don't feel like you are in a desert. In fact, many parts of LA feel more like an airbrushed Eden. Beverly Hills has tree-lined streets and large expanses of grassy lawn. West Hollywood has clean streets and planted palms, and in the Valley, you are sure to find on nearly every corner a nice midcentury house with a lawn. It is only when you get outside of the city, or go for a hike in one of the many canyons, that you realize: this is a city that should not have any water. Water is a major issue here, and we are actually in the middle of a drought – but you would never know it. Los Angeles is a place of illusions, where appearances are more important than realities.

When I first visited LA, a short weekend trip to look for an apartment, I was struck by this apparent disconnect with the natural environment. Even palm trees, an iconic symbol of LA, are not actually native to the city. They have been planted, and the native environment has been changed so much that little of it remains in the city. I found myself questioning what is natural. If an environment has been changed for so long, does the new environment become “natural”? And also – what is beauty?

There is much beauty here. A short hike in Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon reveals planted palms, native vegetation and sweeping views of Los Angeles. The ocean is truly beautiful, with rocky cliffs and palm trees and expansive silky beaches. The puffy pink clouds of the sunsets against palm trees are breathtaking.

All of these elements are informing and inspiring my new body of work, titled “Natural Beauty.”