Catching the Sunrise...

Hillsboro Sunrise

12x12, Oil/Canvas Panel

Ellen Weiss & Eden Compton

Friday morning, two of my fellow painters and I went to the Hillsboro Inlet to catch the sunrise. Even though the sun rose a little further north of the lighthouse than I expected, it made for a serene glow, yet an energizing painting experience. A great way to start the day!

Portrait

18x18, Oil/Canvas

Collection Dr. Anthony Del Nuovo

I just completed this portrait commission working from reference photos we took outdoors. Anthony and I spent an enjoyable two mornings together to catch the sunlight effects we were looking for. For his portrait, I wanted the backlighting of the morning sun to reflect off the pages of his open book to illuminate his face and his deep set blue eyes. This time spent together gave me valuable information about his features and personality which helped me to capture his character as well as a likeness.

Al Fresco

Al Fresco

12x12, Oil/Canvas

... a studio piece where I let the painting develop with lots of thick wet brush strokes and color.. with a few remnants of the thin underpainting exposed here and there...

Himmarshee Court

14x11. Oil/Linen Panel

SOLD

Himmarshee Court is a wonderful historic building that sat in ruins for years. It was restored and returned to its original beauty in 2004. A small group of us were kindly allowed to paint on the premises today. I did this south-west corner today en plein air. I couldn't help but feel the painting needed to have a story in it to bring my rendering to life.... Since it is not uncommon to see flocks of Ibis wandering our neighborhoods looking for grub, I added the Ibis when I returned home to my studio... I guess that makes this one 80% plein air, 20% studio...

Morning Break

20x10, Oil/Linen Panel

Private Collection

There is a Cardinal couple making their home in our backyard. We see them regularly at the bird feeder in the Crape Myrtle. I often just stand and stare at the morning sun coming through the Spanish Moss and illuminating the colors that show up in the bark of the tree. The glowing red of the male Cardinal completed the thought and became the ideal focal point.

Wet Paint, In The Studio...

Anthony

8x6, Oil/Linen Panel

This is a small portrait/study of my friend Anthony. I used a photo I took of him the other afternoon after spending time together, sitting and talking in my backyard. Our time together gave me a lot of information, both visual and personality-wise, that enhanced my use of the reference photo. I used bristle brushes to lay the painting in and sables to build and define his image.

Wet Paint, Plein Air...

Ken, Plein Air

10x8, Oil/Canvas

The conditions were perfect this morning for this quick sketch where I worked on backlighting the model outdoors.... a calm breeze, clear sun light and a patient Ken.

Cupcake Counter

Cupcake Counter

20x16, Oil/Canvas

Before I even started this painting today I knew the composition was "risky" at the very least... but I couldn't help myself, I had to do it. There were so many elements here calling to me with their challenges to make it work... the shiny surfaces in the stainless steel setting, the figures interacting, the leather barstools, and the local colors of the baked goods. Individually all were worthwhile subjects that would surely teach me a thing or two. So I gave it a shot...

Hot Sauce

SOLD
Hot Sauce

36x36 Oil/Canvas

This is one of the larger and more ambitious paintings I have attempted in quite a while... there was a time when 4'x5' was a standard size for me. Then, one day, the realization that sometimes big is just big for the sake of being big, made me take a look and start working on my process in ernest, yet on a smaller scale. There were places I wanted my painting to go. Now, after several years of working things out on what became an increasingly smaller scale, I feel it is time to apply those lessons learned on a larger scale once again.... maybe not 4'x5' right away, there is still plenty to work out... but it is a possibility.

'If you can't paint, paint big" - David Lefell

Morning Coffee

15x10 Oil/Canvas Panel

Saturday morning, several of us were privileged to paint at a lovely home in the Rio Vista neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. We arrived to find hot coffee waiting and melodious music playing throughout the backyard. In my painting of this section of the verandah, I wanted to portray the environment as we found it, peaceful and harmonious.

Train Of Thought

24x24 Oil/Canvas

Juried into Art Florida, exhibiting April 12-30, Art Serve 1350 Sunrise Blvd. Ft Laud, FL

Again, the downloading has altered the colors here... My goal with this piece was to show the effect of clean and brilliant light coming through the moving train and around the young man. I also wanted the shadowed side of the red train to appear illuminated by the reflected light.

The shadows may have a nod to Wayne Thiebaud, but more than anything, it was his comment I once heard during an interview about paintings having a "glint, glimmer and glow" that spoke to me and has been rolling around inside my head ever since.

Here she is...

The Moment

30x24 Oil/Canvas

The Moment was finally dry enough to photograph today... there is a lot of paint on this one! Also, I must say, downloading the image to Blogger has made the image appear more gold overall causing the reds to appear less vivid and the background less deep and clear than they actually are. I tried several things with no success, hopefully you can get the idea...

This was an great image to paint that allowed for energetic and large brushstrokes with lots of color. Working things out on the study first really made my job easier here.. the light source and pallet were already resolved , cutting down the "think" time and helped The Moment become an alla prima painting.

Plein Air, Saturday..

8x8 Oil/Canvas Panel

... A quick little painting of the sunlight hitting a house... and a very shiny car that now looks like it is about to hit the house! Guess I got a little carried away with painting the car and the movement in the reflections!...

Study...

10x8 Oil/Linen Panel

I did this study yesterday to work a few things out before I start the 30x24 version today. This idea came about when my friend and Photographer, Jeff Banning, shared his photo of a Brazilian dancer. It is a wonderful photo full of life and movement, so with his permission, I used this as my reference... In the study I repositioned her feathered boa for the composition of the painting and changed the lighting source to be coming up at her from below. The study, another new concept for me, helped me pull my interpretation together and has given me a better idea of where I want the larger painting to go, in regards to color and mood ... we will see what today brings!

Wet Paint...

16x20 Oil/Canvas Panel

Monday, we had a three hour session with Brian. I used Zorn's palette... Ivory Black, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre and Cad Red Light for the majority of the painting. It was very refreshing to use this limited palette in mixing the flesh tones. Since I usually paint what I see, flesh tones in actuality can be some very neutral and unexpected tones. With this palette it was all right there and simplified the process for me... eliminating some of the muckiness I have encountered when painting a portrait. I also used some Quinacridone Red for the tulips in the window as well as Prussian Blue with Cad Yellow Medium for the greens of the foliage.

Plein Air, Urban Painter...

8x8 Oil/Canvas Panel
Private Collection

My friend Janet and I met in a parking lot downtown on this SoFla version of a cold and windy morning. Seeing plein air painters down here is uncommon enough, but to see them bundled up is unheard of... until this Winter! Janet, in her nice assortment of colors made a good model as she painted while leaning against her SUV. We did get an early start... I had her pretty well blocked in and found myself wondering what to do with the empty parking lot around us. As soon as I started the pavement a red car parked beside Janet and was instantly followed by many fellow parkers. Problem solved, composition completed... I guess it's true, they paved paradise and they put up a parking lot...

The Black Robe

15x10 Oil/Canvas Panel

It was good to be painting with a model today, especially after working so much in the studio lately using my reference photos. Brian is standing in our hallway in front of a painting by William Thompson.

Wet Paint, In The Studio...

SOLD

And Her Little Dog, Too

12x12 Oil/Canvas

An abundance of shopping, sunlight and shadow done with an abundance of quick brushwork, color and ample paint...

Wet Paint, In The Studio...

SOLD

12x12 Oil/Canvas

Friday's painting was a conscious effort to start finding more energy in my brushwork. While the subject matter isn't especially energetic in appearance, I wanted the sunlight and reflected light to have movement and life.

Wet Paint...

Come On, Dad!

16x16, Oil/Canvas

With this painting, I stepped into a slightly different palette to find a warmer glow in my light. The extra doses of Winsor Newton's Indian Yellow and Green Gold in various mixtures helped add that warmth I was looking for. I combined images from several reference photos I took one Winter afternoon while walking around Virginia Highlands in Atlanta.