Vince Ornato

09/24/2024

Preparing my supplies to continue on my new oil painting commission....

03/15/2024

Would you like an interesting Saturday night ahead? Check out the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators exhibition at the North Hills Art Center from 6pm-9pm...Art based on reacting to Artificial Intelligence in the creative field. Remember, the drum machine has no soul...! Exhibition from March 16 thru April 5 with light refreshments served. ...please Share...ty

10/25/2020

06/28/2019

When I was starting my painting career, I was hungry for information and practice. I attended countless figure sessions where models come in and artists chip in that night so that we can work. I did hundreds of such studies in charcoal, graphite, pastel, watercolor and oil. When I'm set up painting on location now, or doing caricatures for a party, people will sometimes ask, 'How did you learn how to do this?' I answered, 'By doing what I'm doing right now.' Once a student gets past certain fundamentals about color, drawing and THINKING like an artist, much of rest can not be taught but can be learned. The way to do this is to do it.

Talking about it and discussing the subtleties can stimulate one intellectually, and even excited, but not one stroke was put down on paper or canvas.Practice never makes perfect! Practice makes progress. Improving is the goal. This watercolor is one of the many studies I did of models at these sessions.

Figure modeling, n**e art and nudity in general are at times subject to social disapproval, at least by some elements in society. More than simply being the subject of art, models are often thought of as muses, a source of inspiration without whom the art would not exist.

Have you ever painted in a figure study?

Watercolor On Paper From Vince Ornato's Private Collection Figure modeling, n**e art and nudity in general are at times subject to social disapproval, at least by some elements in society. More than simply being the subject of art, models are often thought of as muses, a source of inspiration withou...

06/25/2019

I was visiting an artist friend who lived on Saint Thomas and we went out to paint on location. As we set up near a small wet marsh off the ocean, the rock formations grabbed me. They somewhat reminded me of various locations along the banks of my hometown of Pittsburgh's three rivers. Saint Thomas is one of the most famous Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.

The terrific thing about painting in a different town than you are from is that your visual and inner experience is different but you are still bringing your own artistic sensibilities to the subject. I was so inspired to paint the colors of the ocean, the sky, and the island

The color palette, when traveling, will also be different than one is used to seeing where they live. All of these visual experiences broadens the vocabulary of the artist from which they can draw on later.

Every new experience is the next painting on my blank white canvas. My little piece of home that connected Pittsburgh’s river banks with the beautiful Saint Thomas Isle.

Feel The Water?

Oil On Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection Every new experience is the next painting on my blank white canvas. My little piece of home that connected Pittsburgh’s river banks with the beautiful Saint Thomas Isle. Feel The Water?

06/21/2019

This oil painting was not intended to be site-specific, but meant to give the viewer the feel and intensity of the bright colors and heat, against the dark interior, that one experiences when liquid
steel is poured.

As a former ironworker, who did repair work and more than several mills, this is the type of thing I would see while working or taking a coffee break. I recall talking to coworkers, on a break, while looking over their shoulder and see some abstract form with intense brightness popping from the dark muddy backgrounds

I got into painting years later, but this visual reservoir was still in the back of my brain. These dormant images started coming alive and moved to the forefront of my consciousness as I did more and more industrial paintings. I want to celebrate with paint the images of The Industrial Age of Pittsburgh.

Can you feel the liquid heat?

Oil on Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection This oil painting was not intended to be site-specific, but meant to give the viewer the feel and intensity of the bright colors and heat, against the dark interior, that one experiences when liquid steel is poured.

06/18/2019

A Premiere Private Club that’s located right on Sixth Avenue Downtown Pittsburgh is The Duquesne Club. It was founded in 1873 and opened in 1890, additionally later on achieved landmark status from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1976, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The club has ranked the #1 City Club in America in 1997, and repeated in 2001, 2003 and 2006, and ranked second in 2009. Guests have included many presidents from Ulysses S. Grant thru Bill Clinton, and included the Charles, Prince of Wales and many others.

The art collection in the Duquesne Club is as strong as many small museums. It was an honor to be asked to do this oil painting for their Christmas card many years ago, to have my artwork a part of this clubs deep history.

Carriage rides in Pittsburgh had just made their comeback and I chose to include it in the piece.

A magical winter wonderland in downtown Pittsburgh, straight out of a christmas carol.

Oil On Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection The art collection in the Duquesne Club is as strong as many small museums. It was an honor to be asked to do this oil painting for their Christmas card many years ago, to have my artwork a part of this clubs deep history. Carriage rides in Pittsb...

06/14/2019

The first time I went to Venice, Italy I remember thinking that Venice is bizarre. Venice was built on a swamp by exiled people several hundred years ago, within a generation it became one of the most powerful City-States in Italy. Venice has been known as "La Dominante", "La Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals because It is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges

They figured out how to drive 9-ft sections of trees into the mud, hoping it would petrify and become stronger than stone, which it did. A powerful and strange city was built on it. Due to it's proximity to water--indeed, built on water--Venice evolved into one of the most important trading centers in the world. It's system of canals, and techniques of dealing with rising water, made it habitable and with it came its own version of Italian culture. The colorful structures along the Grand Canal,
it's a labyrinth of streets and islands, were painted brightly so that ships can see them through fog, and likewise became markers for family homes and shops.

On my second day there, I felt like I should turn to someone and ask, 'Excuse me. Are we on Earth?' It is that strange....and beautiful.

Venice definitely is something strange and unearthly beautifully breathtaking, a place that has to be on everyone’s bucket list!

Oil on Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection Venice is bizarre. It is situated on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. Venice definitely is something strange and unearthly beautifully breathtaking, a place that has to be on everyone’s bu...

06/11/2019

Arnold Palmer once wrote that he had an 'odd problem when playing golf,' which
is that he can get distracted by the beauty and interesting visuals he sees
during the round, and this can be an added challenge in keeping is focus.

I get it!

As an artist, I constantly see things that can sway my attention from
what I am doing when I play.

During a rain delay once, while my playing partners were upset having to wait out the delay, I stood by myself at the front of the clubhouse studying the falling rain against the backdrop of clouds, sky, and trees, as I was currently working on a painting that had plenty of rain in it. This solved a visual problem I was having and helped me understand what Van Gogh did in
his painting, entitled, 'Rain.'

One day playing golf As I stood behind the elevated tee box, while my playing partner set up to hit his opening shot, I realized that my eye level was at the height of my playing partner's grip. The fairway went off into the distance with the green 418 yards away.

I was distracted in the moment and with the visualization lining up the way it did I thought that this would make a terrific subject for a painting.

When you are inspired, you are inspired. Being able to be in that moment to enjoy the beauty of being on the green with a free and open mind.

Sometimes, it's good to pause!

Oil on Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection I stood behind the elevated tee box, while my playing partner set up to hit his opening shot, I realized that my eye level was at the height of my playing partner's grip. The fairway went off into the distance with the green 418 yards away. Being....

06/07/2019

One of my favorite golf courses in Pennsylvania is Donegal Highlands. Nestled in the picturesque hills of Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands at the Seven Springs Resort. A beautiful and challenging hole in the mountains. A championship 18 hole public golf course, that offers a unique challenge to golfers of all abilities. My favorite time of year to visit is during the fall time when the leaves are changing color and the air has a cool refreshing breeze.

This painting is from # eleven of the Seven Springs resort in Donegal Highland, 185 yards downhill, with the green protected by sand to the left and water to the right. If you are long, your ball goes into the woods. The right side of the front slopes away. The opening is just about 15 yards wide to the left front, where the ball can roll on to the level part of a rippling green.

There’s nothing better than a challenging course in the mountains on a nice fall day.

Oil on Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection One of my favorite golf courses is Donegal Highlands. Nestled in the picturesque hills of Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands at the Seven Springs Resort. There’s nothing better than a challenging course in the mountains on a nice fall day.

06/05/2019

Art making has been shown to reduce stress levels, even if you are not good at it.

06/04/2019

Anyone in Pittsburgh knows….the easiest way to get into town is to cross the Smithfield Street Bridge. It has the distinction of being the most walked across bridge of the 446 bridges in Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges. This bridge connects Downtown Pittsburgh with East Carson Street. The second oldest steel bridge in the United States and the most beautiful is the Smithfield Street Bridge. This is the third version of the bridge. This steel structure replaced the original wooden one, destroyed by a fire in 1845, and then the wire rope bridge which replaced it. The bridge was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 1974. Two years later, on May 11, 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. So it’s a national historic place, national historic landmark, a local Pittsburgh landmark, and our everyday connection into Downtown Pittsburgh, The Three Rivers Arts Festival, The Regatta, and beyond.

Have you ever walked the Smithfield Street Bridge?

Oil on Canvas From Vince Ornato's Private Collection The Smithfield Street Bridge has the distinction of being the most walked across bridge of the 446 bridges in Pittsburgh, the City of Bridges. This bridge connects Downtown Pittsburgh with East Carson Street. The second oldest steel bridge in the....