quick update

House commission almost done,
my garden in bloom,
kids in my art classes,
and my guys.

progress updates and some new work

I hope to finish up the house commission with about 10 more studio hours!

The overall painting needs warmed up and details added.

The rest of the images are more studio still lifes. I have to admit my direction is a little scattered, there needs to be more thought put into where I want to go with these paintings. One of the goals still is to work the backgrounds with more transparent darks and have had some success with the apricots.

Bothell Art Fairs Kid Corner

My family and I ran the kids corner at our local art fair. We offered free activities for the kids visiting the fair. The weather and setting were gorgeous and the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves.

a couple of new paintings I have at the Kaewyn gallery.

Here are some sketches from our Friday figure drawing session. For whatever reason, no matter how I rotate or resize one of the images refuses to turn right side up. But I like the sketch so well I included it anyway.

The painting with the globe is another of my fun toy still lifes just started the other day. Another three or for passes and this one will be done.

The house commission is progressing nicely.

2nd pass...

Plugging along and enjoying the evolution of this project. Little by little it's getting to look more like it should. It's about half way there. I'm hoping to finish this up in a week or so. My family from out of town is heading out this morning so I will have a lot more time in the studio.

Progress on commission...

All of the major forms are blocked in and light and shadow for the most part mapped out. Now it's time to slow down a bit and work in all of the subtle variations of color and light throughout. This is the fun part, frosting the cake so to speak. On Saturday I will visit the family and take photos of the pets to add to the compositions.

Loving this weather!

I've been spending time shooting landscapes on my new digital camera. The old one is now useless as the zoom button is busted and stuck permanantly at one distance.

The weather here as been absolutely amazing. Sunny skies for a couple of weeks in a row, unheard of in May and June! My son's graduation is coming up next week and I'm hoping the weather is equally beautiful for family visiting from out of town.

More work in progress

Alice

I've been playing with some paintings based on my favorite stories growing up. One of them was Alice in Wonderland. First the movie and later the books. Here is the finished Alice.

paintings in progress

The teacups are a fun little painting but all of the reflective surfaces are quite challenging. This one is taking a lot of patience!

The house commission is coming along. Just started the first pass and will be spending most of my studio time on it to get it finished.

Friday figure drawing and House commission

Here is the color study for the house commission. Today I will take more photos of the landscappe and get started on drawing the image on the larger canvas.

Another couple of sketches from our Friday figure session. I found that after about four years of painting I am no longer a line person. Forms are now much easier to identify and use and reference in building a 2-D image. In addition, it has been my practice to mess around with a very overdone gesture to find the form. On Friday I made myself slow down and make more deliberate lines, what a difference! Much less wasted energy and more accuracy from the beginning. Thank goodness we improve with effort!!!

a step closer

a detail from the same image.

This is getting closer. The nice thing about posting these thumbnail size images is that the problems really stand out. Such as the light area behind the coffee pot handle, its distracting, needs to be softened.

Scout lake

Not sure if this is finished yet. Something is not quite right, I'll have to look at it for a few days to figure it out. Maybe some warm tones in the shadow...

Friday figure studio

Three Fridays a month there's a drop in figure studio at the Arts Umbrella where I teach. This was our model and it was long pose so I got a fairly decent sketch out of it. It's fantastic having the session so close to home.

Photo reference

Yesterday morning was beautiful so I decided to head out to get some new landscape shots for inspiration. There is something particularly appealing in layered space, the idea of looking through obstacles to see what is beyond. Growing up in the pacific nw, I am used to lots of trees, hills, bends in roads and paths.

The next step with this image is to play around with some composition thumbnails. Get the essentials in and edit out the superfluous.

Commission

I have a commission to paint a portrait of this house for a local family. It's a beautiful 1920's craftsman with lovely details and interesting angles. The sketch is a thumbnail to determine the viewpoint and map out shadows etc. Now I'm working on a large scale drawing which will be transfered onto the canvas.

Almost there...

The backlit pears were definitely a challenge! They feel a bit overly dramatic, so I'm waiting to take a look at it after a break.

The red painting is a tribute to Alice in Wonderland. I found the door nob on a treasure hunt with my friends Rhonda and Christy. It had to go in a painting about Alice! The white patches will be cards, the king and queen of hearts. Then a little tweaking in details.

this painting is getting closer but there is still aways to go on the background. It is requiring a lot of patience to keep coming back to the blue and white pattern.

Work in progress

Painting patterned drapery... Let's just say, I found the hardest way to approach the drapery in this painting, which was putting in the pattern then painting around it. Later of course I realized the best way to do it is to paint the drapery without the linear pattern first then add it later. Regardless of the method I am enjoying this painting. Something about the subject matter and colors feels very comfortable and calming.

Tara's Eggs

My friend Tara raises chickens in her backyard, and these are some of her eggs. Such beautiful delicate colors.

Pure Color!

These toy paintings give me a chance to work in very saturated color. It's fun how they seem to take on personalities as I paint them. These guys are hanging around wondering what to do, not quite bored but a bit bewildered.

More transparent dark discussion

This painting, finished recently, comes much closer to achieving the transparent dynamic darks I'm working toward. Basically it's made up of multiple thin layers of burnt umber and raw umber, plus a bit of sap green, which is also quite transparent.

Lush transparent darks...

Thomas Eakins

Instructors I have studied with over the past few years talk quite a bit about keeping the darks in a painting transparent. Until recently I hadn't realized how crucial this is. If the darks are too opaque they become flat and dull. When the shadows are transparent the illusion of depth is reinforced and creates a sense of movement. Thomas Eakins is a master of rich shadows as you can see in the painting "the Champion Single Sculls".

Dust has settled...

The show has been up for two weeks now. I'm just starting to get back into a routine. Teaching takes up a large chunk of my time, which makes it challenging to get enough studio time. Thank goodness for a loving supportive family.

New paintings

I just finished these yesterday.

It's interesting to play the vibrant colors off of the neutrals.

Spring Retreat with Painting Buddies

Four days of much need R&R and creative inspiration. My POBL (Painters of Bumping Lake) buddies are amazing!

Successful Solo Show Opening!!!

Hooray! My first solo show is going very well. The opening was Friday Feb 27th and was a great success, eleven paintings sold. Needless to say my head was spinning and the whole thing was a bit surreal. I thought I would take some time off in March to regroup but found after two days away from the studio I couldn't stay away so... I'm back at the easel and working on a new batch of paintings. I hope to post images soon.

The pears sold!