Shake it Up...

Time for a fun, loose, alla prima oil painting!

This old diner scene with salt and pepper shakers seemed simple enough for just such a painting. I had fun with the colors, too.

This painting was completed on an 8" x 8" canvas panel, and is ready for framing.

Thanks again for stopping by. Please visit with me often!

Homage to a Daily Painter

I have been studying photographs lately, and doing several painting sketches in different tones, as a training exercise. As I scrambled around the house this weekend looking for art supplies, I came upon several of my first oil paintings, completed alla prima a while ago.

I remember that an artist friend and teacher told me that I might want to try an exercise that he had found useful...find a painting in a style that you really admire, and would really like to learn, study it, and, to the best of your ability, recreate the original in the same loose brushstroke style...It doesn't have to look identical - in fact, it really shouldn't - because the point is to mimic the brushstroke style that you admire, so that you can use this technique in your own original work.

Of course, this painting isn't for sale - I painted it, but the original inspiration was from another artist - and I regret that I cannot give credit here to that person, as the name was not on the photograph.

But I wanted to share this with you, as a helpful exercise in studying other artists' works for inspiration.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Good morning, all. I have been thinking about doing some much larger paintings over the next few days. I particularly had fun with the small "Hay Field" painting, and I think that I will do a much larger, more colorful oil painting with a very similar arrangement.

I have also been busy getting ready for an art auction, which has occupied many of my available extra minutes...I am not complaining or making excuses, (well, maybe the latter - just a little), but I am ready to roll up my sleeves and paint this weekend! Hope to post several new ones soon. Meanwhile, here are a couple of photos from my recent trip to San Salvador island. Do you think that they are "oil paint worthy"?

Talk to you soon...

The Hay Field

8" x 8"

Oil on Canvas Panel

I decided that I would go with a traditional landscape theme for this daily painting effort. Haystacks have been painted with some frequency since the Impressionist movement in the late 19th century. Actually, I have never painted them - until today.

I wanted to use as much color as I could get away with, while still maintaining a certain realistic approach.

I found this exercise to be the most fun of any painting that I have completed in a several weeks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed painting it!

Be back soon with another study.

Purple Crocuses Win Out Over African Violets...

Today seemed like the perfect day to paint crocuses. Well, why not?

Although these were painted from a photo, it was really a very good, clear photo. (I actually considered painting the live African violet on my table first, but the lighting in the room was too strong, i.e. no shadows.)

So crocuses won out. This is an 8" x 8" oil on 1" stretcher bars,gallery wrapped canvas, suitable for framing or hanging without a frame for a more contemporary look.

Comments or questions? Please!

Field of Wild flowers - Reworked

Good morning, all!

Yesterday I worked on 2 different paintings. The first one was a new oil painting which I had planned to entitle "Romeo and Juliet". Unfortunately, these star-crossed lovers are destined to remain that way...I am unhappy with the painting, as my subjects (in this particular case, two tangerines) looked decidedly disinterested in posing properly. I will consider this a teaching moment...Note to self: fruit is not always versatile, may become type-cast, and can literally TURN on you...)

The second painting was a rework of an acrylic canvas that I did about a year ago. I thought that adding warmer colors would enhance the painting - perhaps the blue toned picture of yesterday made me think of this.

Please see for yourself. I think it looks better.

See you tomorrow.

"Dinner For One"...Something Different

Guess I was in a blue mood. I thought it would be cool to try a tonal painting, so I set about toning the background of this 8" x 8" canvas panel with a blue-green, fairly neutral color.

This one place dinner setting seemed to match the mood that I was going for, so I used primarily blues and whites to establish three dimension.

This was fun, but I think that adding a complementary color for shading might have made for a more interesting painting. Still, I think I achieved my goal in this tone study.

I will be back tomorrow with another daily painting. As always, comments and suggestions are encouraged.

I'm Back with more Daily Paintings

6" x 6"

Oil on 1" Stretcher Bars

Gallery Wrapped Canvas
$75 USD, includes shipping

I am back to work painting furiously to finish a couple of larger gallery pieces, along with my smaller "Daily Paintings", which I find both fun and challenging. I set up my light box again, and decided on the title before I even began painting this small oil on stretched canvas. The large green apple looked as though he was in authority, so the two clementines became the followers, exclaiming, "Let's Follow the Big Guy"...

It's good to be back in the saddle, so to speak. I'm settling back in, and plan to get busy with several new plein aire landscapes. I can already see these paintings in my mind, and these canvases are going to be VERY colorful. Can't wait to share them with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Painting Myself into a Corner?

Last week I started oil paintings on two separate occasions. Both efforts were unsuccessful in achieving the image that was my goal; that is, the image in my mind's eye.

I would display them here for you, but they are both now nondescript oil smears on stretched canvas...don't know why I am having such trouble concentrating.

The first effort was an attempted figurative painting of a very young child - a baby, really, - that I had decided to paint from a photograph for the new Contemporary Fine Artists' monthly art challenge with "Renewal" as the theme.

I think that my underpainting and initial sketch were both off, leading ultimately to what I perceived as a disastrous result. I think I could have saved it, but I was so unhappy with it, that I simply ended it with an abruptness not usually my style.

The next attempt was also from a photograph...this time a still life of aligned glass bottles. I think that I was too fatigued when I began this painting, and couldn't quite achieve the reflective colors that I had hoped to capture. The results again culminated in an ugly, muddy smear across perfectly innocent white canvas.

After this second frustrating effort, I decided to take a break. I also think that I shall steer away from photographs for a while, and go back to my light box and still life setups until I tear away from this "painter's block" that seems to have me in its selfish grasp. Back again, soon...

Alla Prima Green Leaf Study

I sifted through a number of old photographs until I found this color foliage snap for the leaf close-up study that I had been wanting to paint for several days. I had already given up on the plein aire approach a few days ago because of the intense sunlight and wind that were not conducive to my plans.

I really liked this photo because of the clarity of detail, and subtle color changes.

I chose a limited color palette of oils, along with an 8" x 10" canvas panel. I struggled, in the beginning, with a rather detailed underpainting, then decided that I was fussing too much over the details. It was at this point that I began having fun with the painting, and actually liking the results that I was getting using these predominately cool hues.

Contact me via email with any questions about this painting, or any others that you may be interested in displayed on this website.