You Talking To Me?

10x8, Oil/Linen Panel

SOLD

This cocky fellow's photo was provided by my friend, Dianne Robertson Roper. Oscar, here, was Dianne's Mother's pet Rooster.. sadly, Oscar is no longer with us, but his legend lives on with The Robertson Clan. My partner, Ken provided the title, "You Talking To Me?"... so with the help of my friends, all I had to do was show up and paint.

Flower Triptych...

12x36, Oil/Linen Panels

I did each panel of this triptych independent of each other using the same arrangement of flowers in a vase. It is basically a walk around the vase... I have to admit that I was pretty surprised when I saw how well they fit together as a whole. That is when it became a triptych.

While working on these paintings, I first blocked in the forms of the different colors by finding the middle tones. To start making sense of the abstract forms, and to define the flowers, I laid in the darker areas with a swift and loaded paint brush. The lightest areas came next followed by a dance back and forth with accents of darks and varying middle tones, warmer or cooler. I did the same thing with the background and negative spaces, using them to define and clean up the edges.

The next step will be to frame it. My question is, "Do I frame each painting individually" or "Do I treat it as a singular piece by building one frame with narrow dividers between each panel"?

Wet Paint, In The Studio...

SOLD
Key West Window Shopping

8x8, Oil/Linen Panel

When painting from a photo reference in the studio, I make an effort to hold onto the same process I use with my plein air pieces. This photo was actually taken on an overcast day, but I wanted the painting to show the brilliant sun light as seen on a typical Key West day. As in plein air, I first established my shadows , keeping my light source in this case, almost directly overhead towards high noon. This kept the front of the Conch cottage in shadow with the sunlight hitting the porch roof and the top of the picket fence. I let the sunlight wash out the sidewalk and pavement, blurring some of the edges with the heat starting to rise. Using the "Sargent Squint" helps me from getting caught up in too much detail while looking at the photo, keeping my rendering to the basics.

Incoming....

7x5, Oil/ Canvas Panel

Ibis aren't the most graceful of birds when landing, their ability for awkward gestures while landing is limitless. Miraculously they always seem to land on their feet and strut away with a calm pride. Guess they are not so different from me, I just don't have wings ...

Wet Paint, In The Studio...

Palm Sunset

5x11, Oil/Linen Panel

Private Collection

... A thin slice of a glowing sunset as seen on my return trip while walking the dogs. Fortunately I had my camera over my shoulder to take a reference photo.. a habit I hope the neighbors will get accustomed to seeing. I like the quietness of this time of day when some of the clouds are slipping into shadow, leaving their edges highlighted by the setting sun....