Sunday, October 21, 2007

Boys Will Be Boys 16"x12" oil on linen



An unbearably cute painting of two boys form the 1930s sitting in their homemade race car. The car appears to be a working model- it has a radiator vent and a piece of sheet metal on the side that opens up to the engine. There is even a small hood ornament mounted on the hood. The older boy barely fits inside the car and he is leaning over to pet his dog. In the meantime his brother decides it's hunting season and he levels his gun at an imaginary deer. This painting is so American it's almost patriotic! The boys are adorable and the dog really almost steals the show. The setting sun to our left and tall oak trees behind the boys provide an idyllic setting. The dog turned out looking just like my golden, Chloe, who passed on a few years back.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Just Passing Through


A nostalgic painting of a boy from the 1930's in his toy fire truck. A friend was kind enough to let me use a family photo of her uncle in a toy fire truck made for him by the boy's father. Because the photo was in black and white it allowed me the make up color, which is always fun to do.

American Indian Children Series


This is number 8 in the series of 10 different American Indian children I am painting in 2007. Quiet Sister is an Apache girl. I am listing this on eBay, as I have the entire series and prints will be available in November.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Cooper - "Waiting for Daddy" 16 x 20 oil on linen


Self Portrait in oil

This was a re-do of an older painting that I never really cared for. I put on a white shirt one day and decided I was going to fix it or throw it away! Now it looks exactly like me and I am very happy with it. Since sold to a collector and friend, Freda K.

Close to Mom 12" x 16" oil on linen

Close to Mom was painted from a photo provided by Sue, a friend of mine who owns a couple horses and boards one too. I was struck by the foal's lovely long eyelashes and straightforward stare.
This painting sold almost immediately out of my eBay store.

Recreating Memories form Old Photos

An adorable painting of Billy with his Fire Truck, circa 1930. This one titled "Just Passing Through" was purchased by the woman who let me use the photo to create it. I love th eold-fashioned look and feel of this painting.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Third and Final Painting of Liz the Ballerina...



Oil on canvas 16" x 20"

Skiska, a Russian Cat



16" x 12" oil on linen- I ma getting some use from the gourds- they are adding that authentic "fall" look. They match her eyes too!

Ebony's Perfect Day



Finished - it is 16" x 20" oil on canvas, available in my eBay store very soon.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Limited Palette Painting of Gourds and My Lab as a Puppy


I need to finish the puppy but the background is done- painted plein air outside on this unusually hot and humid October day-- 87 degrees!

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Saturday's Model


This guy is a really good model- he holds the pose and returns to position exactly as he was. The colorful shirt is apparently some rare Planet Hollywood uniform that the servers wore in the beginning- and is unavailable now. It is going to be very hard to paint if I want it right- but maybe I'll just throw some color on there where I see it. The portrait is heavily based on red as it stands now. I have three hours in it and shoudl be finished at the next session.

Popcorn and Woodchuck Hard Apple Cider


My favorite bottle of beer to paint because of the little woodchuck on the front label and also one that will be around for awhile simply because it tastes so bad. Who knew? I bought it for the cute little critter on the front. The popcorn popper is an antique and literally falling apart but it does the job and it makes awesome tasting popcorn-- nothing at all like the microwave kind.
11" x 14" oil on canvas

Apples and more Apples



Can you guess which apples were painted with artificial studio light and which were painted with natural light on my porch? If I've done a good job painting them you should be able to easily see the difference. You should also be able to tell they are the same apples if I've captured the apples with truth and shown them as they really are.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Cadmium Yellow Lunch


Everything is yellow except for the napkin, which is so colorful it would overwhelm the entire painting if I didn't "de-emphasize" it. This was just a lot of fun to paint, although the napkin and the paint tube- which you don't see by design at first glance, were tough to paint correctly. I love to combine food with other items and glass is always a joy to paint because of all the reflections. The pliers, which are my studio pliers, for uncooperative paint tubes, really do have paint all over them. The paint tube is an almost used up tube of Lefranc Camium Yellow Medium, a staple on my palette.