Barry Sanders Oklahoma State University Painting

This is a large commissioned painting of Barry Sanders in his Oklahoma State University uniform. It was commissioned by a fan in Virginia for his 'man cave.' I used a couple different photos and then changed his right arm so the number 21 showed up better. I'll have prints available at Fine Art America next month.

Barry Sanders

24" x 36"

oil on gallery wrap canvas

Low Key Painting

When all the values are pretty close in a painting there is not a lot of contrast. This is known as a low key painting. Why would someone choose to execute a painting in this fashion? There's a couple of reasons. One would be to emphasize color. Another would be to emphasize design while maintaining harmony. The low values can sometimes do both, and that's what I worked on in this painting.

The orange color dominates the painting but it doesn't overpower the rest of it because it's the same value. The composition is simple, but effective, as you can see from the black and white photo below.

Green Grapes

8" x 10" oil on canvas

Jamie, a Female Basketball Player

Jamie posed this morning at our drawing/painting group in her University of Tennessee basketball uniform. There is always something intriguing about every model. For me it was this model's eyes. I really liked the shadows underneath them and their shape.
20" x 21" pastel on Canson paper

Frey Farmhouse

This old farmhouse was built by my friend's grandfather in the 1930's and is still owned by the family. We painted in the afternoon because the house faces west and we wanted light on the front. I embellished the flowers but for the most part it's a good representation of what I saw and another unusually pleasant eveningt for August.

11" x 14" oil on canvas

Plein Air Just Before the Parade

My friend and I set up our easels across the street from a couple of Victorian houses last Saturday. It's a nice empty lot where an elementary school used to sit and the city keeps it mowed, so it was really an ideal place to paint. I am always looking for spots like this when I drive around. Parks are great because they have restrooms, but they don't always have good views. In the country you can look for  substations owned by the electric company, sometimes with nice views of farms or farmland. And of course railroad tracks along unused sections of track are great places to set up too.

The day was sunny and cool, perfect for painting, but when we began to see people walking on the sidewalk with chairs and coolers I realized it was the morning of the Wauseon Homecoming Parade and we would need to move our car very soon if we didn't want to be blocked in, or watch the parade.

I had a pretty good start but I needed to spend another 30 minutes doing touch ups at home. This experience really proved to me that if you have an incentive you can get a lot done in an hour and a half.

Anniversary Flowers

My husband brought me some flowers for our anniversary last weekend. It's kind of a tradition that when he buys me flowers I paint them. That way I have a memory of them that lasts long after the flowers are gone. I waited a little too long to start on these, and the petals on the sunflowers had begun to curl. It doesn't really matter because I enjoyed the process and in the end that's what it's all about. If I ever stop feeling inspired to paint, I'll sell all my paints and brushes.

16 x 20

Anniversary Flowers