Thursday, September 06, 2007

Long Beach


Oil on Wood 16x24

Without realizing it I've got a series going on Long Beach. Here is another pumper field with a bunch of Palm volunteers. I went really pushed on the color this time. It's sort of a nod to one of my Russian painting hero's Sergei Bongart. As many of you know he was known for his vibrant color palette and vigorous brush strokes. If you don't have his book by Mary Balcomb, I strongly recommend it. It's still amazing to me how big oil has kept Long Beach a "poor" beach town. Seems impossible these days to not have a beach town overdeveloped and filled with rich white people. My shows coming up fast on the 22nd I hope you can come.

23 Comments:

Blogger SEILER said...

Just awesome man, I love your boldness with color, and your abilitiy to push it so far yet keep everything harmonized is mind blowing . . . absolutely love your work!

7:16 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

William I arrive in L.A for good the 16th, so I'll definitely do my best to come to your show, can you send me the details please?
Thanks!

1:16 AM  
Blogger Joe Kresoja said...

Nice color push Bill.
yeah! Sergie is awesome, I studied with one of his star students,Ron lukas.

7:10 AM  
Blogger Urban Barbarian said...

Groovy, breezy, sexy, cool!

Very bold strokes!

1:43 PM  
Blogger Shawn Dickinson said...

Man, this is beautiful!

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately...but I still have to come by and check up on what you've been up to!

9:16 PM  
Blogger Tim Bye said...

This is really great - I love the balance of cools and warms. Super

12:24 PM  
Blogger William K. Moore said...

Never have seen Long Beach looking this vibrant. On good day..... pumpers and all.

12:29 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

Hey Jason,

Very kind of you to say... congrants on breaking into Mad. Your at the top already. It took me 20 years.

1:11 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

Hey Stef, Keep an eye here and or at my Gallery Segil fine art-- see my links

1:12 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

Hey Joe,

Yesh I'm so stupid I'm old enough to have studied with Serg, but I had no idea he was around.

1:20 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

Thanks Dan!

1:22 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

Glad your back Shawn!

1:23 AM  
Blogger Michael Pieczonka said...

Will, very nice job with the cools on the right side of those palms.. it adds a lot of depth. I have not heard of Sergei Bongart before.. thanks for the tip...sounds worth checking out!

cheers, Michael

10:42 AM  
Blogger SEILER said...

Hey thanks Bill! As for MAD, it's been months since I worked with them, I did a two page spread in color, still hasn't been published yet? Hopefully they'll use it soon, it's starting to feel like it never happened!

I heard about your eye surgery, I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers man, I'm sure you'll pull through and continue to paint like a maniac! BTW, I was recently turned onto Bato . . . enough said!

7:13 AM  
Blogger Michael said...

Hi William, I got your flyer in the mail today, and put up a blog post AND a link to you here.
I wish you the best with your show. Your strokes get stronger and stronger!

2:34 PM  
Blogger Stephen Magsig said...

Kick ass color, William, love the blue-green band that pulls it all together. Awesome!

8:35 AM  
Blogger william wray said...

thanks Tim that's aways my goal.

6:22 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Hey WK I haven't either. I just pushd the color in my head.

6:23 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Michael you will love SB save up for the book.

6:24 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Michael== thanks for the PR!

6:28 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

Jasopn Bato is so great it is hard to resist trying to be him. I see your Dad fell under his brush.

6:30 PM  
Blogger SEILER said...

"Jason Bato is so great it is hard to resist trying to be him. I see your Dad fell under his brush."
(Bill Wray)

Yeah, he made me a disc with about 59 of his paintings on it . . . I've been looking through them daily. I'm not really all that interested in becoming like Bato, rather using his wonderful work to push me further and help me develop more as an artist. I don't really consider myself a plein air painter, I've got a lot to learn about it and realize the benifits of painting outdoors. Plus it's nice to get out of the studio now and then!

Your plein air is my favorite, I really relate to your subjects!

6:54 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

So good. I lived in Long Beach for a couple of years. It was bizarre how the pumps would just appear out of nowhere everywhere you went.

Hope to make the show..

11:27 AM  

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