Friday, December 30, 2016

Candle Lites 01



Another of the Candle series.  I initially had a coffee cup instead of the copper but I wasn't happy with it.  This works for me.  I like the reflection off the copper. Painting comes with frame.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Ornaments 2016




I could not pass up the opportunity to paint some Christmas ornaments.  This is part of a series of candlelight paintings.  I'm selling all my 6"x 6" paintings in a frame.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Yellow Roses


I did this at the Coppini Academy this morning.  The yellow roses I purchased earlier turned out to be a perfect subject.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Central Texas Sunset 2"x7.75"

I really enjoy doing these small abstract landscapes.  This is the first one I've done in the dark almost.  I used an LED book light clipped to my easel.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Onions in Red



Challenges in this painting:
     1. Painting in red. Reds tend to go pink in cooler light,  I tried to keep it more on the purple and orange side.  The orange/red is exactly how I saw it in the drapery.
     2. Red vs. Green.  The problem with these two opposites on the color wheel is that they tend to look a lot like Christmas.
     3. Flowers.  Flowers can get overworked if you don't squint.  It's easy to open your eyes and try and paint every nuance that in the end will ruin your painting.
     4.  Objects similarity.  Pick one that is the most important and treat the rest in a slightly less detailed, abstract rendering.

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Class Demo on Staying Loose


My still life class requested a loose style demo.  I said "sure" and set up my easel.  For paints I used a small palette -  Titanium White, Raw Sienna, Transparent Oxide Red, Permanent Alizarin, Ivory Black, and Raw Umber.  I painted quickly and made sure I kept my darks separated from my lights. Squint!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Abstraction in the Landscape



I left the studio yesterday and painted at an old favorite spot of mine.  Usually, I'll paint towards the sunset but there were so many clouds the sunset never really appeared.  However, there was some light opposite to the sunset so I painted that.  I was almost rushed to complete this because of the approaching rain. 

Friday, November 4, 2016

Distant Cows



 I saw this scene driving down I-35 around Cibolo/Shertz, TX area. I took the exit and did the turn-around.  I then got my easel and paint brushes out to lay in a quick sketch. 

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Reflective


I used a warm light on this and got all these wonderful colors in the rose and copper.

Figs Still Life



Still life study with a concentration on warm green light and cool purple shadows.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Copper and China


Sometimes great paintings just happen and this certainly seemed to.  I'm lucky I sat down to the easel today.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Friday, July 1, 2016

Sunset in New Braunfels


I braved the 97 degree heat for this one.  This painting was done on a low traffic county road in New Braunfels, TX. 

Off the Trail



For a change I turned around from the sunset and painted the beautiful light on the trees.  As soon as the sun set, I got the red fiery warm light across the trees. 

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Between the Trees


I woke up this morning and quickly got my painting supplies ready.  I got in the car and headed to this one place I picked out previously.  I parked the car and set up my easel.  In the beginning stage of a painting, I'll do a wash and loosely block in certain shapes.  A wash is just mineral spirits and a color I choose to tone the canvas, this time I used raw sienna.  When the sun was at this point, shinning through the trees, I moved my easel so I could paint without the glare. This painting looks abstract but it truly is a loose interpretation of what I was seeing.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Head Study



This was from the Friday night Meetup at Coppini Academy of Fine Art. Probably the first painting from a model in two years. 

Monday, June 13, 2016

Texas Sweet Corn and Onions


I love having a more dramatic contrast in dark and light.  The warm light on this subject really stands out.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Red Onion in Warm Light


A quick study to get back to painting.  I've painted various other things in the last couple of days but nothing worthy of a blog post. 

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Sunflowers and Copper


Painting sunflowers can be hit or miss for me.  When I paint it as a sunflower, a circle with petals all around it, I won't be happy with the result.  It a think of it as an abstract mass with light and dark, I'll probably end up with a nice painting.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Sunflowered


I set up some vases and draped the sunflowers over it. As soon as I did it I felt I had my subject.

Outskirts of Town


At this time of the year in San Antonio, all the plants start turning brown because of the heat.  But because of all the rain we've had, everything is still really green.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Approaching Rain


This was painted about an hour before sunset. The sun was blocked by all the clouds which gave me a nice greyed tone. This allowed me more time to spend on the trees.
It's rare I put green on my palette. I used to use a lot of sap green in my paintings. I was in a workshop with a prominent landscape painter and she took one look at my landscapes and said, "You use a lot of sap green."
I stopped including that in my pallet after that.
In this painting, I mixed my greens from black, raw sienna, and lemon yellow...mostly.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Elegant Garlic



Usually I'll pair garlic up with an onion but this time I went for the vase.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Teapot and Rose



I looked at my roses I bought Tues and the petals were just falling off when I touched them.  I suddenly became inspired to paint. I used a greenish light on this and 60 minutes later I had this little gem of a painting. 

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Mason Jar


I've always wanted to paint a mason jar.  I guess today was the day.  I wonder if I have time for one more?

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Mother's Roses Study


Bought these this morning.  I always use real flowers.  I had some different setups and I did another study but this was by far the best.

Silver and White Study



I actually did several small studies before this one.  I wiped the others away but hit the mark on this one.  It really shows what I was seeing.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Out of the Bag



It's rare I buy turnips in a bag. It's a good thing I did.  When I opened the bag and took one out I quickly decided that was my subject - 1 turnip out of the bag and 3 turnips in the bag.  I set up my lighting and before much longer I was painting away on my canvas.  I don't think I've ever painted vegetables still in the bag before but it was a fun exercise.

Friday, May 13, 2016

Lighted Vase


 I bought this vase yesterday at a thrift store in San Antonio.  I used a warm greenish light on it.  It's a nice vase and I'm sure I'll include it in some bigger paintings later.