York harbor

16x20 oil on canvas

Well this is how it looked in my home town the first time I saw it in 5 years. Looks like the poor digicam has a noise problem.   Happy new Year!

Blue tea pot in gold frame

6x6 oil on hardboard

Thought i'd put to painting in the frame. The camera battery was low and I think that's why there is so much noise in the shadows.  I was trying to get folds to show up. One side is sharp and the other needs to be soft.  They don't look like folds to me. It might be the small size and i'll practice on larger sizes then transfer to the mini.

grapefruit and spoon

6x6 oil on board

Couldn't get that glow through  the flesh of the fruit. I didn't have a white ground, so that might have been some of the problem.

Grapevine park tree

8x6  oil on canvas board

On Grapevine lake yesterday.

Merry Christmas

6x8 oil on canvasboard

The sun  was in and out yesterday. Today it's 72 and all that gulf moisture is on it's way north.

80 deg.  now.

Self portrait

6x6 oil on hardboard

Thought that I would try this from the photo that I sent in for the challenge.

Final Portrait

                                                               6x6 oil on hardboard

Well I'm going with this final version. She is back lit in her photo and there was some side reflected light, so she has a tan look.  I wasn't sure how to show the hair, sorry they look some what dreadlock. I could have made the hat extend out more but I had made the back ground and didn't want to drag more blue , so i left it.  I think I spent 6 hours on this.

Last challenge of the year

6x6 oil on hardboard

This is where I am with the portrait. I'll put in a some more line in the glasses. But i'm not putting in the dark lenses.

photo ref.

portrait challenge

6x6 oil on hardboard

This is my start for the latest challenge. I got a little tired, mostly because just sitting in front of Mac, not enough lighting.  I'll work on it tomorrow, and I wanted to a tonalist version also. 

geo pepper

6x6 oil on hardboard

Just a little wrinkled pepper done after work. Making all those groove and such is tough.

challenge boots

9x9 oil on paper

I couldn't get the Caravaggio effect going so i went with the ochre tones in the challenge.

challenge boots first pass

12x16 oil on paper

I worked on this yesterday and today. I was thinking of making it look like the old masters, I wish.  

Passing storm

The above photo is after the the time of the painting below.

16x20 oil on canvas

This is the end result of three attempts. This is off of seawall picnic point. I know the camera bent the horizon some what.  Every one eats lunch here. There must have been a hole in the clouds to produce that shimmer line in front of the boat.

Hike

6x8oil on panel

Too much green. Just wanted to do and evening painting. I didn't do well on this one.

Red dress and tag

Ja 8x6 oil on canvas panel

Wanted to work on making folds, in the dress,  look realistic. It was from a mag photo, just to fool around with.

    Adebanji  Did the tag with me. So, seven things about me and some blogs I follow.

1. Have lived in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, Alaska, San Vito Italy.

2. First learned to surf in third grade.

3. First motorcycle  honda trail90

4. First car 1971 camaro

5. Knocked out by pony in 1964, never rode a horse since. Not even the mechanical one in front of Walmart.

6. First flew on a plane by myself at age 5

7. Won 5 photographic awards in the last two years.

Some Blogs you might like to see..

William Wray  

Arron Coberly.

Jason.

Nathan.

Paintopolis.

Julian.

Jared.   

Of course I follow about 50 other blogs, you might only know William from this list.

Pattie's Westar energy plant Jeffrey

5x10 oil on paper

This is something I envisioned from Pattie's photo. Just seeing what I could come up with.

Challenge Budda

10x8 oil on paper

This was the challenge for this week. I had just watched a PBS show about an abstract expressionist,  Albert Alcaley.  So I did this weeks challenge in an abstract manner, well that's what I was aiming for. I wanted the viewer to look at the Budda which was back lit.

Leaning on blue

6x6 oil on black painted hardboard

I used  Phthalo, cobolt and ultra marine blues. This was a blue bottle laying on it's side and the pepper leaning on the neck. It was set up on blue paper that had a sheen to it with the angle of the light. The light that was passing through the bottle looked neon.

Green cast on Pepper

6x6 oil on hardboard

Tried the green glass to cast on the pepper.

Purple cast pepper

6x6 oil on hardboard

Same shape glass only in purple.

Cast in blue

6x6 oil on hardboard

Here is the pepper peeking out from behind blue glass. The blue glass cast a light blue shadow there on the right side. The glass form is tear dropped. I put in the bright red with a knife. 

Spy Peppers

6x6 oil on board

Peppers emerging from the dark. There is some glare on the back pepper, in the shadows, that is not reading right. I guess I could have rubbed it down smooth but, I didn't.

Big Dipper Ice Cream

This is Big Dipper Ice Cream in Bar Harbor, Maine. I guess that if I paint enough trees i'll get the hang of making them look like trees.

16x9 oil on paper

Here's the image i'll send in to the  challenge. I wanted to put in a starbucks with someone eyeing the lady, but I'm done.

8x10 oil on hardboard

Lone lady challenge

Not sure if this is done and done well. The lady from the challenge isn't  this thick. 

8x10  oil on hardboard

I'm going to think about this before I submit to the blog.

Maybe I should edit out the diagonal light, though it is a counter to her vertical.

Give me some thoughts.

challenge lady start

This is the abstract start to the challenge.

8x10 oil on hardboard

These are the abstract thumbnails I played with to see if there is anything going on.                                                                 5.5x8.5 sheets

Bass harbor home

9x16     oil on paper  click photo

Don't know why it seems so different to paint landscape vs still life. I had been planing to go to a Frank Serrano workshop this week end but, it's canceled. Nothing else new.

Tall Pepper

6x6 oil on hardboard

I wanted to show the cool shadow shapes. Not sure I did well on the white cup on it's side, but it was the pepper's shadow I was after.

Tres Amigas

8x10 oil on hardboard

This came from the photo for the challenge. The photo was back lit and hard to see the figures well. These people paintings are something t0 start more of. 

Three on a Plate

Below is an adjusted painting and reshoot. I was  tired last night and came back to the painting after a bit to see if I could adjust, at the same time,improve that weakest pepper. It was reshot in the shade this morning.

this is the first pass
6x6 oil on hardboard

I know that third guy is weakest. I think i went too far the other way.

Dos peppers

6x6 oil on hardboar.d

Thought that these peppers would look nice in the white cup. This was painted over the last lemon painting. Trying on a plate tomorrow.

Lemony

6x6 oil on hardboard

Tried a more wet/thin paint application. Didn't really thrill me. I'll have to review Kreutz's book for some thoughts.

Capital lane

9x12 oil on canvas panel

This was another Challenge, for me for sure. I don't know how Karin can get her brushes to cooperate with her. I tried little, big, round  and flat. I worked on this on for 2 hrs. and don't feel like it is...... Maybe it's the unresolved areas under the trees, and all the cars in the photo that made me feel overwhelmed, in how to paint those little cars to make them look like little cars.

Justin Barn

6x6 oil on hardboard

This is a barn at the end of a road in Justin. Trees give me problems.

Silver mug and lemon

6x6 oil on hardboard

Silver mug is like a dull mirror. Maybe a landscape tomorrow.

Lemon on Magentablue

6x6 oil on hardboard

A little piece done during the ball game. I kept it simple.  

Lemon behind glass

6x6 oil on hardboard

After work piece.  

Mark's cow girl

16x20 oil on canvas

I worked on the Challenge cow again tonight. I tried to dull down the area around the cow and I think that messed it up. The ref photo seemed to have flat lighting so I didn't put in a strong cast shadow. Just a little darker grass. Need to do better next time.

Cow challenge

16x20  oil on canvas

This weeks challenge is this cow. This is how far i've gone today. I think the background, which I painted first, is too close in value. All ways something. I'll work on it tomorrow.   

Red bowl and lemon

6x6 oil on hardboard

A little distracted today. Wanted to put in some brushy strokes today. Didn't blend the red in the lower bowl very well, shouldn't have that hard of a line. I 'll get 'em next time. I wanted to do another blackwhite  painting but didn't have the image I liked.

Night Man

12x16  oil on paper

Just a backlit man on a misty night.

Cups and spoon

6x6 oil on hardboard

Well it took an hour for the up loader to work. Not sure if you can tell it's a spoon, but I think you can.  

Silvermug and pear

6x6 oil on hardboard

One done after work. The angle of the sides is right but the mouth is too small.  So sad. Too late to rework, bed time.

Silver mug apple

6x6 oil on hardboard

 Don't know why it's so dull. Maybe too much compression. Click to see a bigger size.  That's a silver mug and I wanted to make it look real. I think i should have used some medium in the paint that went on the mug and maybe would that would have made it glossy.  Maybe.

spoon cup apple

6x6  oil on hardboard

I painted over yesterday's craptactular painting. I think this came out well. I could have made the whites more pure and lighter but it came out well for me.

Yellow pepper on purple

6x6 oil on hardboard

I got the paint so thick in the shadow of the pepper that i couldn't get a halftone at the edges.