Summer vacations are in full swing but that is no reason to ditch your free downloadable calendar.

I remember as a kid marking my most memorable outings and events on a beautiful picturesque calendar page knowing that as the years go by there would be a day where I would want to remember a particular time frame, and I could look back in my scrapbook at my calendar page and the pictures from that time and more vividly remember the amazing memories my family and I had during that time.

How ever you like to use your fine art calendar page, whether the enjoyment of a new piece of art every month motivates you, or a lifetime of memories, we would love to hear from you how you use calendar art! Let us know over on Facebook or Instagram!

Ready for your free July calendar download?

July 2018 Calendar Page

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Did you know you can get the entire year’s calendar all at once? All you have to do is subscribe to our newsletter and you’ll receive the full calendar in your inbox!

By the way,  most of these prints are unique because while they aren’t currently available in-shop, this is the one way you can enjoy these exclusive art prints. This particular print however IS available in shop! So if you would love to enjoy this in a larger size and not in a calendar format, you can find this print here.

Plein Air Painting Show
July 5-31

Artist Reception July 6, 5-8pm

Gallery ‘N’ Gifts
100 W Tehachapi Blvd
Tehachapi, CA 93561

Read about the show here.

Hi all you art lovers out there. I’ve been so busy the last few weeks. I have an art show coming up, therefore my focus has been on getting everything framed and ready for it. So, no demo this week, but I thought it would be interesting for you to see some of what I’m doing for the show. “Depicting The Moment” is my show title. The concept is me capturing beautiful subject matter as I do my plein air paintings. Check these out, you may remember some of these pieces.

These are original pieces done from demos that I completed as finished painting and plein air painting, meaning they were painted outdoors in natural light, on location.

This one to the left is a plein air piece “Chavez National Center,” painted in oils. The one on the right was from the demo “Artist Technique For Painting a Tree.” It was gouache on Illustration board, which I completed later into a final painting and named it “Standing Stately.”

This plein air oil painting on the left was done at the garden of Errea House, a historical museum in Tehachapi, California. I named it “Post of Sorts” because of the bird house being on a post and the bed frame headboard post in the piece. The right side plein air oil painting was done at Malibu Creek State Park, named “The Hikers Way.”

The left is an in-studio oils named “An Oak Or Two,” painted as if I were outdoors. Meaning I gave myself no more than four hours to complete the painting. The right is “Training Ground.”
A plein air oil painted at the Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles. It houses old historical style trains for viewing.

Next is a plein air piece, on the left, which is gouache on illustration board. It was done at the Errea House Museum in Tehachapi and named “Garden Delight.” To the right is an acrylics on illustration board plein air painting done out back of my studio. Therefore named “Behind The Studio.”

Another Malibu Creek plein air oils piece, on the left, named “Almost There” -thinking from a hikers point of view, seeing that last hill he’s about to conquer. To the right is a plein air gouache on illustration board called “Trellis Beauty,” done at Centennial Park in downtown Tehachapi.

If you’ve seen my video “Artist Technique Depicting Tree Bark,” this is familiar to you. It was a gouache on illustration board demo that I turned into a finished painting for hanging.

As you can see, I enjoy going between gouache, acrylics, and oils, as a way to keep sharp on the variations of these mediums. Ever learning, hopefully improving.

These are the ones I’ve completed framing at the moment. I have a few left to do. Plus, we’ll make available framed and unframed prints from our online store. Soon we’ll post when and where the show will be. Be sure to check our Facebook Page for updates. I’ll have a demo for you the next time!

Happy painting.

June may be our favorite summer month! It’s warm enough to start painting in the great outdoors, everything is green and blooming, but the heat waves haven’t kicked into high gear yet.

You can see that wonderful green reflected in June’s free downloadable calendar image. It is a piece entitled Wooded Gateway that is available in our shop. Can’t you practically smell the pine needles and feel the cooling shadows cast by the beautiful arbor above? We hope you’ll take a little time this month to go and enjoy the great outdoors!

Ready for your June calendar page? Here it is:

June 2018 Calendar Page

1 file(s) 8.03 MB

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Did you know you can get the entire year’s calendar all at once? All you have to do is subscribe to our newsletter and you’ll receive the full calendar in your inbox!

By the way,  most of these prints are unique because while they aren’t currently available in-shop, this is the one way you can enjoy these exclusive art prints! We hope you love them.

Spring is finally here and we’re celebrating with a beautiful floral painting transformed into your free April Calendar download!

The painting featured in this calendar is titled Meadow Brook and celebrates everything that makes us think of spring…the sound of a bubbling brook, a bed of flowers and moss in the forest. What makes you think of spring?

Each month here at Donald Towns Art studios we give away a piece of our fine art in a downloadable calendar page perfect for you to enjoy the art, and use from day to day. So just scroll down and click the download button for you to get your copy of April’s free calendar page.

Ready to download your April calendar page? Here it is:

April 2018 Calendar Page

1 file(s) 6.19 MB

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Did you know you can get the entire year’s calendar all at once? All you have to do is subscribe to our newsletter and you’ll receive the full calendar in your inbox!

By the way,  most of these prints are unique because while they aren’t currently available in-shop, this is the one way you can enjoy these exclusive art prints! We hope you love them.

Check out our newest art series just released into the shop titled Taking Flight.

The concept of doing a series of paintings called Taking Flight first occurred to me after looking at photographs my son and I had taken while visiting the Fourth of July Hot Air Balloon event in Bear Valley Springs in Tehachapi, California. Realizing the intricacies of the subject matter, I was reluctant to begin painting immediately. Each time I went back over my photo reference library the photos captivated me, so I decided to choose five representative pictures of the group and create paintings from them. This one below is called Gathering Flight.

I love the design elements in the pictures and the vibrant colors of the hot air balloons. The simple aerodynamics of hot air balloons used to defy gravity seems to me the most natural way for mankind to take flight without the aid of some sort of wings. It also brings to my mind the Bible teaching that one day we too will get to take flight, defying gravity. One day we will be raised up in the air without any mechanical devices. This hot air balloon series takes me to think of that day.

My first two paintings of this series were similar in color and done in my usual approach to painting, which is to paint large areas first and small details last. This one is called Flighting the Brush.

I did not apply any undertones but painted directly on the white canvas. I kept true to the time of day and terrain. However, I did combine two pictures to create the scene in this painting called Reflective Flight.

Completing these two first gave me the courage to press forward with a more bolder approach to the other three. I began these with the small details upfront.

I began by applying “Raw Siena” to my canvas. This undertone will create a warm tone that will shine through the paintings. It can also be used as negative element in the painting. You can see the negatives showing up, especially in Flight Design.

Look closely for the Raw Siena color left in the shadow of the lighter areas. It really helped me as I was able to paint the large/medium areas while allowing the tiny details to show up as negatives. By nature, I am a tight painter, so this approach forces me to loosen up with my painting technique.

As I approached The Big Blowup, you can imagine the dilemma I had when looking at all the folds of the balloon fabric.  I asked myself, “How can I paint this and capture the intricacies of this scene?” Beginning with the drawing helped me to work out areas of the shadow from the light side. This kept down some of the complexities of the folds. I intentionally used the undertones as the lit area and painted in the shadow areas to help alleviate the confusion.  Now it was easier to give more dimensional form by bringing my hottest lights to the folds.

My main concern was being careful that the painting doesn’t become too busy as it came to completion. The balloon folds’ themselves have a lot going on, not to mention the basket details, the folds and color in the figure, then adding the ropes and strings. But I made the decision to meet all of these head on. Here’s the result on The Big Blowup.

The challenge it gave me was a learning experience. I think each painting that I do should raise my artistic abilities to a higher level, add interest to the subject matter, refine my approach and understanding, and cause me to search for better painting techniques. I hope you will enjoy these paintings as much as I enjoyed creating them. And someday, we too can “take flight.”

View all the Taking Flight series in the Shop.

Are you starting to see the first signs of spring? We have a beautiful art print here for you in our free March downloadable calendar page that embodies everything we think of when we reflect on March.

The trees still stand gracefully bare awaiting the new leaves preparing to form…

From the first hints of spring reflected in the greening moss, the fresh bubbling of the brook from all the rainfalls…but always only a hint as the trees still stand gracefully bare awaiting the new leaves preparing to form.

We hope you enjoy your free March calendar page. Go ahead and download that here:

March 2018 Calendar Page

1 file(s) 5.19 MB

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Don’t forget, you can get the full 2018 calendar all at once by signing up for our newsletter!

Simply enter your info in the form below, then check your email for your free calendar.

Are you ready for your free calendar page download? We can hardly believe it is already February…

Ah February… the season when snow is still on the ground for part of the country, icicles begin to grow a little longer as they melt indicating there is an end in sight for the long winters of the Northeastern states.

The best way to enjoy your favorite season year-round is to have it up on the wall in our free calendar…

Here at the Donald Towns Art studio based in California, we enjoy the sunshine almost year-round but eagerly await growing season when everything begins to bloom and just begs to be painted!

In the meantime, here is your monthly special treat. Whatever your seasonal experience is, the best way to enjoy your favorite season year-round is to have it up on the wall in our free calendar!

Download February’s Calendar page right now by clicking this download button below.

February 2018 Calendar Page

1 file(s) 6.52 MB

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Want the whole 2018 calendar at once? All you have to do is subscribe below to our mailing list and we will send you the entire 2018 fine art calendar right to your email!

We can hardly believe how quickly 2017 has flown by!!

This has been a year of firsts for us since launching Donald Towns Art just a couple short months ago. Needless to say, we are excited for what 2018 will bring. It has already been an adventure, one well worth having. We have gone from not knowing a thing about websites and social media to this brave new world, launching our online shop and website, going live on Facebook, Instagram, and up next YouTube! So we truly appreciate your amazing support and follows.

What about you? What are you looking forward to in the next year?

Let us help out your planning with this gorgeous downloadable calendar page we created just for you!

We have great things planned for 2018, and we’re sure you do too. Let us help out your planning with this gorgeous downloadable fine art calendar page we created just for you!

January 2018 Calendar Page

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At the end of every month stop back by Donald Towns Art for the next month’s downloadable calendar page.

By the way, if you sign up for our newsletter, we have exclusive freebies and goodies for our subscribers, and each month we will send you the next calendar page via email (which makes it so much easier).

Happy New Year!