"Pete Playing His Sax"

"Pete Playing His Sax"
Charcoal on paper, 24"x18"

Ahhhhhh, another painting of Pete!

We had Pete pose for us again and he was such a joy to paint and hear him  play his sax again.

Two Figures

Charcoal on paper, 18"x24"
It was interesting and a challenge to draw these two models.
Especially with their arms entwined.

Pete the Sax Player

Oil on paper, 21"x15"

I am very happy with how this painting turned out. Pete was an excellent model and musician as he would play his saxophone between breaks.

The Woodlands Art League show at South County Library

I have my landscape painting at the Woodlands Art League exhibition at the South County Library, 2101 Lake Robbins Drive The Woodlands, TX. The exhibition is on the second floor and is up till December 28th. Our featured artist is Joe Collard. So get by to view some wonderful work!

Snow Day

Today was a great day as we got snow today! I was able to go visist my grandkids and play in the snow with them. We had a great time having snowball fights. I will be back in the studio tonight finishing up one of my small blue nudes. I now have 7 total and will begin another series with a black background. I am excited to see how those turn out. I am using my quick sketches from the Saturday Drawing class, and it is difficult to choose which ones to use.

Morning Pilates aka The Pink Bedroom

Oil on canvas, 14"x11"
Just thought that I would share this painting with you. It is one of my favorites.
The original title is "The Pink Bedroom", but I have been thinking of changing the title to reflect that she is on her tip toes doing her morning exercises. Hence the title, "Morning Pilates".

Blue Nude Series

Oil on gessoed paper, 11"x8.5"
Here is a male figure in this series that I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to do. I am having so much fun painting these figures. I have darkened the background for the male figure for a stronger punch.

Oh, I dropped the painting and smudged the background, so I added the white line for a coverup. I have omitted that in my female paintings. So I may have to go back and see if they need this element.

Blue Nude Series

Oil on gessoed paper, 11"x8.5"
This is another small painting in my "Blue Nude" series.

I have been trying to post tonight, but blogger.com is not uploading my pictures. I will try again tomorrow. Happy painting everyone.

Lots of prep work in the studio tonight. I have several ideas/projects, large and small, going on right now. More to on my small figure series to come this week and I am adding the male figure due to popular demand. I hope to post as I go along as this will be a short week due to the holiday coming up soon.

Saturday Figure Drawing Class

This drawing is done with a blue and purple ink washes that I watered down and handled like watercolor. I like the effect and of course the drips. I got some great drawings and look forward to developing them into my small paintings.

I went to the Woodlands Art League meeting lastnight and our guest speaker was Linda Wassell who is a master picture framer with Fine Art Services, who also does conservation on paintings and frames. She was an excellent speaker and was very informative on matting and framing. Please reach her at 832-928-9512.

Blue Nude with Background

I wanted to convey in this painting the difference between the background and the figure. The red backgound is wild and alive. While the figure in quiet a quiet repose.

The Reveal

Art Challenge #21- The Reveal
The Artist Challenge

November 14th, 2009

‘ The anticipation is beyond what I can put into words! I have waited as a gentlemen should wait. The truth is all I ask you reveal…”

Mixed media on watercolor paper, 20"x15", Sepia Ink, Watercolor Magic, black Conte drawing stick. The model is Patricia from the Saturday class. Love her funky dreadlock hairdo.

On Picasso

A quote from Picasso from the book "Picasso on Art, A Selection on Views"....."I only paint what I see. I've seen it, I've felt it, maybe differently from other epochs in my life, but I've never painted anything but what I've seen and felt. The way a painter paints is like his writing for graphologists. It's the whole man that is in it. The rest is literature, business of commentators, of critics".

                                                        

 

Oil on cardboard, 11.5x8.5
My mission was to work on painting flesh color and as you can tell I wiped it all off! Also I was also working on painting the eyes and ended up happy with the results. Oh and I took off a few years too. hahaha....Being the artist I can do that.

Sepia Ink on paper

This is a drawing I did in the Saturday Figure Drawing Class. From my angle, the model is in a very awkward pose although she said she was confortable. I just love the lines that the pen and ink will produce.

Fall Art Show at "Studio in the Woods"

Oil on Paper, "Lost in Thought"
These two paintings were accepted into the:

Fall Art Show at "Studio in the Woods"

Framed and ready for purchase

Oil on Paper, "Backside Nude"

This is a study of 3 figures on Bristol paper.
Today I wanted to play with pen and ink as I haven't done that in years. Here I am using sepia ink for the figures. For the background I used a very nice Chinese brush that was a gift from my brother in law on his visit to China last year. The drawings are from the Saturday drawing class that I have been attending and I want to try out the pen and ink technique there. I really like the graceful lines using the pen.

I have been fighting a cold and it has been taking it's toll on me this week. A friend suggested that I get Zicam chewables and I am feeling better today. So I was finally able to get in the studio today and tone an array of sizes of canvas, boards and paper. I like painting on paper, even cardboard too. I know it isn't the best, but if Toulouse Lautrec can do it, so can I. Well that is what I tell myself to justify it.

In Grandpapa's Hands

Oil on Amperstand board, 20"x16"
Here is the final painting of "In Grandpapa's Hands". Wow, what a struggle this painting was. I hope the tenderness and security comes through that I saw in my initial photograph that I took of the 3rd generation in my family.

On the Easel

Oil on canvas, 16"x20"
"On the Patio"
Can you make out the patio? It is of course one of my favorite places! Starbucks of course!!!...Well I was having some tea one evening enjoying the rest of the day and had to decide on my next painting for "On the Easel". I have been wanting to paint outdoor scenes and thought "why not?". As luck would have it I had my camera and took a snap of the patio. Here is just the initial block in stage. I have to have the line drawing in before I can work. Thats just me.

Art Challenge#20- Shifting Shadows

Art Challenge#20- Shifting Shadows

October 30th, 2009
I have entered one of my prints for this exhibition. The title is called "Celebrate".

The Spirits are dancing tonight!

The Artist Challenge

On the Easel

Well I finally finished the painting, "In Grandpapa's Hands"! I am happy with the outcome. But I wasn't able to take a photo as I take those outside. The weather has been soooo bad today. It doesn't seem that the rain will stop! I will try and get the picture posted soon. Tonight I will be starting a new painting. Detail to come later. And I hope that I will get that outline tonight, time permitting.

On the Easel

Stage two of the painting. Here I have finished the arms. I feel that the painting is coming along.

This picture is showing the third stage of the painting. I have the figure and the sleeper done and have blocked in the shadow masses. I will be working on the painting again when the paint dries a little.

Saturday figure drawing class

Yesterday I attended a Saturday figure drawing class in The Woodlands. I haven't been in a figure drawing class in years and I felt that I was "home" again. The monitor of the class, Mike, well I knew him! Mike, a friend of ours and I would hire models to paint and that has been about 20 years ago!!! Such a small world. I found out that this group has been drawing in The Woodlands for 8 years. I am so glad that I found them and went to class. I got some good drawing yesterday and hope to make some paintings out of them.

Drawing for "In Grandpapa's Hands"

Oil on 20"x16" Amperstand board.


This is the drawing for a painting that I have decided to call "In Grandpapa's Hands".

I took a photograph of granddaughter when she was a month old being held by my dad. This is the first time that her great grandparents got to see her.

Wednesday night painting class

I went to the Wednesday night painting class and this is the result. There is a whole lot of things not working in this painting and some things that are. But I enjoyed the effort and learned a lot too.

John Sloan

I find it interesting to read how artists of the past dealt with their art in their daily lives. So I just started reading a book about John Sloan. The book describes him as a painter and a rebel.

Here is a quote from the book leaf: As a member of the "The Eight," a group who challenges the anachronistic dictates of the Academy, John Sloan was a passionate chronicler of the untidy realities of urban American life, who believed that "character is everything in art".

The Artist Challenge #19- Beyond Boundaries

I have my painting on display in the online art gallery The Artist Challenge.

Art Challenge #19- Beyond Boundaries
PRIVATE PROPERTY! KEEP OUT! That is what the sign says as you read it out loud to yourself…Do I? Don’t I? Just drive on by? PRIVATE PROPERTY again reels in your head. A decision is to be made. What is over the hill you wonder? Huummnnn, where does the road lead? It’s trespassing you think, unlawful, but you just have to know. No one is around.
No one will see if you take that road you think…….

Market Street Fall Fine Arts Festival

The Woodlands Art League participated in the Market Street Fall Fine Arts Festival Saturday in The Woodlands. I was able to exhibit my landscape painting called "Hill Country". It was a great show with some very beautiful and creative works and I was happy to be exhibiting with them.

There was a large turnout of people dropping by to see the show and the weather was fantastic!

The Artist Challenge

I have a painting called "Stacey's Cloud" in the online art gallery called The Artist Challenge. The title of the show is "Hidden Treasure" and hidden in my cloud painting is a baby unicorn and baby elephant. Can you see them?

I have been working in the studio by cleaning it up as it was a mess. And toning several Amperstand boards for future paintings. Also I am re-reading "A Woman on Paper: Georgia O'Keefe". There was a movie recently on cable tv about her life with Alfred Stieglitz and I wanted to refresh my memory of them.

Jacksonville Trip

Oil on Amperstand board 11"x14"

I have a very large paint brush and wanted to test out it's technique. It was fun and interesting to see the effects I could acheive with one large brush.

Brother's on the soccer field

Oil on paper 8"x6"
I went through my photo box lastnight and came across this picture of my 2 grandsons on the soccer field. It is a photo from years ago and brought back memories of them as smaller children. They are such good boys...Here I was working on not trying to be "tight or photorealistic" in my paintings.

Cinderella in deep thought about the Ball

Oil on masonite, 16"x20"

The model we had came in with her own theme of posing as Cinderella contemplating on going to the Ball. Here she taking a break from her daily chores and is in deep thoughts about upcoming nights events.

The single pear

Oil on paper, 8 1/2"x6"

This single pear was the fustration of a lot of work.

I didn't get the technique that I was going for and I feel that the colors are too muted (over done) as I was trying for more of a "pop" in the colors.

Sliver Wheat Pattern

Oil on paper 9"x11"

I was working on the background and trying to stay loose.

Backgrounds have always been a problem for me.

Gold Wheat Pattern

Oil on paper 6"x8"

Well, I tonight is the first day of my "Paint a Day Challenge that I have set for myself. I have a huge collection of the wheat pattern dishes and I have been wanting to paint them. So I chose the sugar bowl as my first challenge.