'Sammy Sketch'

8" x 10" Oil on panel

I sketched this one out in about half an hour this afternoon as a practice run on a portrait that I'm doing for a family member (not OF the family member). I didn't even draw it out beforehand, I just piled on the color. I'm trying to get my colors worked out before I start the final painting. The only thing I'm not sure of is what to do with the background. I like the turquoise, but I'm not sure if I want strait turquoise or a mixture or what...

Don't worry Jennifer, the final painting will be better than this. Let me know if you have any ideas.

'My Favorites'

8" x 10" Oil on panel

My wife, my dog, the river...What more do I need? Maybe a photography class to teach me to take photos that actually resemble my subjects (i.e. paintings)? And while I do love the subjects, I'm not so sure about the painting. It felt like a paint by numbers, like I was just matching colors and painting a photo. Is it more virtuous to paint in nature, face to face with a subject than to paint in a studio from a photo? I know that every artist uses photo references, but I'm struggling a bit with this idea. To be continued when I'm not so tired...

"River Day-lilies"

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Sold!

Made it down to the river-house in Mathews County, VA for Memorial Day this past weekend. We had an amazing time - there is really no way to paint or write about this place that can adequately describe it.

For this painting, I worked from a "color-capture" photo that my wife took of some of the day-lilies that are scattered throughout the field and along the lane leading up to the house. She captured the reddish-orange of the day-lilies so that the lilies are the only colorful part of the photo, everything else is black and white. I think this helped me to capture the correct values in the painting - I painted it first in different shades of burnt umber (dark brown) to match the values and then mixed colors to match the values and painted over the browns.

I like this one - hope you do too.

Goin to the Show!

The 17th Annual Reston Juried Show that is...My painting "West Leigh and Hancock," was one of 44 works selected by judge, Daniel Wise, a fine artist and charter member of the Washington, DC Society of Landscape Painters, to hang in the exhibition this year. It's an honor just to have a painting selected to appear in the show because there are a large number of submissions from all over the DC Region in every available medium, not just oil or landscape. Wish me luck!

If you're in the area and you'd like to stop by and check out the exhibit, here's where and when:

DATES & LOCATION:
June 7th – July 6th , 2010

JoAnn Rose Gallery
Lake Anne Reston Community Center
1609-A Washington Plaza
Reston, VA 20190

"City Backyard 2"

5" x 7" Oil on canvas.

Sometimes, I find it more difficult to take a photo of a painting that does the painting justice than to paint the painting itself - This painting in particular. I like the painting, but I don't like the photo of the painting. It seems like the camera picks up colors and weird brushstrokes that aren't visible to the naked eye.

Oh well, here's a little painting that gives a different perspective on the city backyard and shows a bit of my brother's lovely landscaping. This would probably look nice in a frame by your back door, huh?

"City Backyard"

8" x 10" Oil on Panel
Let me preface this painting/post by saying that my brother has a beautiful backyard. If you could pan this image down and to the right, you'd see some beautiful plants and flowers, perfect grass and a lovely stone entrance-way that my he laid himself...I could have painted a prettier painting of the flowers in his yard, but my weird mind is more interested in the morning sun shining on that ugly, run-down building in the background...So, don't let your opinion of this painting sway your mind on my brother's landscaping abilities - he's a pro.

I'd like to say congratulations to my cousin and godson, Adam, for graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University this weekend with his Masters in Occupational Therapy. Adam is one of the better people I've ever encountered. He has more energy than anyone I know and he directs it all toward helping others. Way to go Adam!!

"Lurking in the Shadows"

9" x 12" Oil on panel
$100 - Email for purchase

Searching for cell tower properties is dangerous business. Just look at this old girl - she's not resting, she's waiting...I'm just glad there was a fence (not pictured) between she and I, or I might have been her next victim.

Welcome to The Plains in Fauquier County, VA. Great place to photograph cows, terrible place to build cell towers. It's not likely that you'll find a landowner in Fauquier County who needs the revenue that a cell tower can provide. And even if you do, County zoning regulations will almost certainly guarantee that you're not able to build it. So, when I'm in Fauquier County on business, my eyes are open for good photo ops as much as they are for willing landlords. Wouldn't a cell tower be a great addition to this painting?

"Glacier"

11" x 14" Oil on panel
Feels good to paint again after a busy week.  I've been lucky the past few months to have had enough time throughout the week to sneak in at least one painting, but the past week kept me busy day and night and I'm afraid it might stay that way for a while.  So, I may not post as frequently in the coming weeks, but I'll try to take advantage of the time that I have.

This may or may not be Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest near Juneau, Alaska.  My wife toured Alaska this past summer and saw a lot of glaciers, but can't recall exactly which one this is...She did tour this area and definitely saw the Mendenhall Glacier and from what I can gather from the internet, this appears to be correct...I worked from one of the photos she took while biking the area.

I tried to make the glacier and the snowy mountain in the distance the center of focus by contrasting their bright colors with the dark forest in the top right. There are no reds in the actual photo, but I feel like they help to balance out all of the greens and blues and to add a little interest. I like this one.

"Relic"

8" x 10" Oil on panel
Sold!

Is it bad that painting has become an addiction for me? I'm chasing after the perfect image, the perfect light, the perfect color like a heroin addict chases after the perfect high...The thing is, I know they can never BE perfect, but I feel like I have to keep trying. Even as I write this blog I'm seeing ways that I could make this painting better. I guess this is why some artists fixate on a certain subject and paint it over and over again. What's comforting to me is that I haven't really painted that many paintings...So, hopefully, I will continue to progress toward my idea of perfection. I know it's not everyone's idea. I'm after a certain type of image and feeling that appeals to me for the same reason my favorite music appeals to me. The reason is tough to pinpoint and it varies from day to day, but with certain constants.

Ok, enough rambling. I found this old barn while I was out working yesterday near Round Hill, VA. Round Hill is a little town located about 50 miles west, northwest of Washington, DC, near the Virginia/West Virginia border. I call the painting "Relic" because the barn is located in the middle of what is now a subdivision. There are paved streets, curbs, fire hydrants and brand new vinyl siding houses all around this poor old barn.

I thought about doing this painting differently and adding in some of the new houses and paved streets. The juxtaposition of the old barn in the new subdivision is what drew me to take the picture in the first place. I guess you don't really get the feeling that I was after without the subdivision, but I like the painting for what it is...

"Four Gulls"

5" x 7" Oil on canvas
Sold!

My wife and I, along with my older brother and his wife hiked the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague National Seashore this past weekend. Chincoteague and Assateague are barrier islands off the coast of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland. There is no hunting, fishing, camping, pets or vehicles allowed in the Wildlife Refuge so the beach and the forests are pristine. There are two populations of wild ponies that roam the islands, one on Chingoteague and one on Assateague, that are separated by a fence that spans the width of the island.

The hike is 24 miles round trip; we started in Chincoteague, VA and hiked 12 miles to Assateage, MD, where we camped for the night on the beach and hiked back to Chincoteague in the morning.

Although the terrain is flat,the hike was much tougher than we anticipated. Hiking on the sand for a good portion of the 24 miles and using the same leg muscles the entire hike as opposed to mountain hiking with elevation changes that call for different muscles, made us so sore by the last mile that we literally could not take another step. I tried not to let the exhaustion take away from my enjoyment of the scenery.

Looks like that big gull in front is pretending that his feet don't hurt, but I know better.

"Belize Shack"

9" x 11" Oil on canvas panel
Sold!

This painting is a representation of the houses that line the sand road to Hamanasi Resort in Belize. The painting makes it look a little more idyllic than this particular area was. In reality, I was a little stunned by the conditions I saw along the way and this made me wonder if Belize was the right choice for a honeymoon destination. My skepticism was compounded by a feeling of complete isolation that grew during the small plane ride from Belize International Airport and the hour and a half long bus ride through the Belize countryside to get to Hamanasi. But, like I've said before, it was well worth it. Hamanasi and Belize in general is amazing.

When I say that I worked from a photo, this is what I mean:

I work from photos quite often, but that doesn't mean that I'm copying photos. Most artists work from photo references if they are not observing a subject directly. I think there is a misconception out there that true artists somehow create scenes out of their heads. An experienced artist may be able to improvise where a novice would not be, but photo references are quite common. As you can see, my painting doesn't look much like the photo. The bright white light on the side of the building on the left caught my eye. I had to rearrange things to make the painting work.

"Cool Shadows on Lake Fairfax"

11" x 14" Oil on canvas panel

Sold!

This is Lake Fairfax in Reston, VA. Lake Fairfax is within walking distance from my house. I took the photo that I worked from for this painting two weekends ago during a walk with my dog, Riley. Fairfax County stocks the lake with rainbow trout from the end of March through the beginning of May and there were quite a few people fishing on the lake this day. I planned to work a fisherman or two into the painting, but decided against it.

I worked with four colors (crimson, ultramarine-blue, pthalo green and cadmium yellow light), not including white. I tried to create contrast between the cool colors of the lake shore and what is actually an open field and then more trees beyond. Hope you like it.

"Reflections of Her"

8" x 10" Oil on Canvas

Offers accepted via email

This is my younger sister in her kayak on the Piankatank River at sunset.

I went with another triadic color scheme of Cobalt blue, cadmium yellow light and cadmium red light, plus viridian green for the kayak. In my opinion, mixing primary colors to create color variations is much less of a hassle than buying and using premixed tubes of color. There are thousands of premixed color variations out there, but it is possible to create the same variations by mixing a small number of primary and secondary colors.

I used a combination of brush and knife today. I laid in the base colors with brushes and used knives to spackle on thicker layers of paint. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Enjoy.

"Belle Isle Foot Bridge"

8" x 10" Oil on Panel
$125 Includes Shipping

This is the riverbed on the south side of Belle Isle, in Richmond, VA. The river is the James River. Beyond the riverbed is a foot bridge that connects the James River Park System in south-side Richmond to Belle Isle and beyond that is the Lee Bridge (US-301).

Richmond, as I've mentioned, and the James River in particular, hold a special place in my heart. My dad spent is entire young life on the river growing up in Richmond and I grew up fishing and canoeing the river with my dad and brother.

The river here is quite rocky, and it is possible to rock hop and wade across, but it's also deceptively deep in some spots. The rocks are smooth and slippery and I can distinctly recall the feeling of stepping for a rock, thinking it was only waist deep and getting pulled into the current as I sank to my neck. It's a slightly scary and mysterious feeling to float along in that dark water when you can't see what's below. The best thing to do in that situation is to relax and float feet first until you touch bottom again...

As for the painting, I went with a triadic color scheme (someone's been reading his painting books). The triad (three colors) I chose were viridian green, cadmium orange, and manganese Violette. Using only three colors, you don't get as much color variation or contrast as you do with a full palette, but the goal is unity, which I feel this painting has.

I stayed away from the knives today and I'm thankful for it. This was a nice, quick painting that was fun to paint. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks again to Richmond photographer, Taber Andrew Bain, for the photo.

"Dive Boat"

12" x 16" Oil on Canvas
Offers Accepted
Today's lesson: They can't all be masterpieces! Unlike my last painting that was a joy to paint, this one not so much. I felt like I was fighting with the paint and I never could get the balance quite right. Plus, I may have gone a little nuts with the knives. I got cocky after the last painting, but they put me back in my place today. There is a lot more mixing of color involved with this painting and my lack of experience with the knives became obvious. I guess it's all part of the learning process. The beauty is in your eyes right?

This is the one of the dive boats from Hamanasi Resort in Belize where my wife and I went for our honeymoon. Hamanasi is a small dive resort on the central coast of Belize in the Stann Creek District on the Caribbean Sea. I can't recommend the place enough if you're the type of person who does not enjoy crowds and a touristy, spring break type atmosphere. My wife and I did two dives during the week in addition to kayaking a jungle river, hiking through the jungle to a waterfall, tubing through a Mayan cave, snorkeling and a whole lot of good eating.

The boat is similar to the dead rise boats that the commercial crabbers use on the Chesapeake Bay. It has a V shaped hull so that it cuts through the waves,a center steering console, and a flat deck for easy maneuverability and equipment storage, plus, two, 225 horsepower Johnson outboard engines that really make it move.

"Boston Harbor Blues"

24" x 18" Oil on Canvas
$250 includes shipping

Excited about this one for many reasons. One, it's my first all palette knife painting. I use palette knives here and there if I need a bright splash of of color on top of wet paint, but I've never done an entire painting with only knives. Two, this painting is four times the size of my last few paintings and it took less time to paint...I used five colors; phthalo blue, titanium white, cadmium orange, crimson, and viridian green. I mixed up wads of paint and Spackled them on on in one stroke. Three, I love the impressionism here. In case you are wondering, I'm not trying to paint realistically, I'm trying to create the feeling of a bright, cool, spring day on the harbor. What I enjoy most about this painting and what I seem to be saying above is that I like the simplicity and the cleanliness that palette knives can give. Sometimes I come away from a painting without having enjoyed painting it and that's usually because I wind up reworking and remixing colors until they no longer look fresh. If nothing else, this painting looks fresh and I had a good time painting it. Hope you like it.

"Warehouse District"

8" x 10" Oil on Panel
Sold

This is the "Warehouse District" in New Orleans. The painting is adapted from a photo that I took on Tchoupitoulas Street (Still can't pronounce), just down the road from Cochon Restaurant, one of the many restaurants that we sampled during our New Year's 2010 trip to New Orleans. If you like pig in all its glorious forms, check out Cochon.

The painting is of the Warehouse District, but it could be any city. I thought about working in a Fleur-de-lis somewhere, but I couldn't make it work and the painting is busy enough without it.

I haven't painted in a few days because my blog malfunctioned and I had to go back and re-upload every photo that I've posted so far as a link to my Picasa album. That was a little discouraging, but hopefully I'm back in business now.

"West Leigh and Hancock"

8" x 10"
Oil on Canvas
$150 includes Shipping

This is the corner of West Leigh Street and Hancock Street in Richmond, VA. The neighborhood, known as Carver, was founded in the 18th century. The centuries following have witnessed vitality and decline. Within the last two decades, however, conservation and redevelopment efforts designed to encourage "urban homesteading," have slowly begun to revitalize the neighborhood. The expansion of Virginia Commonwealth University and the construction of new, Victorian-style, town-homes funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development with first time home buyers in mind continue to bring new life to the area. Reader input on the history of the area is appreciated.

I visited Richmond Easter weekend - my brother lives in Carver so I stayed a block away from the location featured above. I woke up early Sunday morning to go running and I brought my camera along, hoping to take some photos of the City for painting. I did not take the particular photo on which this painting is modeled. That photo belongs to Taber Andrew Bain, a local Richmond photographer with a knack for capturing the scenes that epitomize a city/location, particularly Richmond. Here is his blog link: http://x31.org/. There is a link to his FLICKR Photo Stream in the blog too. Check it out.

I did take some photos of my own that I plan to paint from, but I'm drawn to this scene for sentimental reasons (my brother lives there) and because the Victorian style buildings are so representative of the neighborhood. I didn't try to perfect the lines of the buildings, or the shadows or highlights, and if you zoom in and really look at this thing, it probably looks a little messy. That is somewhat intentional...I do not believe that perfection is not an accurate representation of the neighborhood, or the city.

I don't know what it is about Richmond that draws people to it. It's not a large city, it's not a modern city, there are no professional sports teams, oceans or mountains. My brother says it's the grittiness, the edginess, the imperfection of the city that draws him to it. To me there is a sense of community in Richmond that I have not witnessed elsewhere. Maybe the grit and the imperfection and the sense of community are related. The long time Richmonders recognize the imperfection, but they have such an appreciation of the city's history that they stick with it out of blind devotion.

Framed! "The Chosen One"

8" x 10"
Oil on canvas
Framed
$150

"The Chosen One" looks real nice in his new frame. $150 includes shipping and frame...You can't beat that for an original, signed oil painting!

On another note, I have two paintings entered in the April Founder's Exhibition at the JoAnn Rose Gallery - Lake Anne Community Center, Reston, VA. The two paintings are "Coreopsis," which I have already blogged and "Hamanasi," which I will blog this week. The paintings will be there for a month so stop in and see them.

"Bourbon Street"

Oil on Panel
Sold!
Ever since my wife and I visited New Orleans this past New Year's Eve, I've wanted to paint something from the trip. Bourbon Street certainly isn't my favorite part of New Orleans, in fact, it's probably my least favorite part of New Orleans, but it's still an amazing site.
I painted this really quickly this afternoon. I like the contrast between the warm lights of the street level and the coolness of the building tops and the flags. Feels like a belly full of bourbon to me.