Tiny Paintings in "Wassailwest Gift Gallery"

"Reclining Pear"

Oil on Board

4" x 4"

"Pear"

Oil on Board

4" x 4"

I love these red pears... so rich looking!

"Half A Pear"

Oil on Board

4" x 4"

After finishing the other pair of pears, I cut the prop in half. Ate one and painted the other.

Tasted really good by the way.

All three of these paintings are in the "Wassailwest Gift Gallery" show at 764 West Gallery in New Braunfels.

Come see us for the reception on Thursday night, Dec 3 from 5 - 9 pm.

I'll be there.

A Daily Painting

"Two Mums & A Marigold"

4" x 4"

Oil on Wood Panel

Simple painting of two fall flowers.

"Zesty"

8" x 12"

Oil on Linen

"Hollyhocks"

8" x10"

Oil on Linen

These two paintings have made the journey to New Mexico where they will be on display at The Art Garden Gallery in Eldorado. I'll post a link to the gallery website as soon as the it opens in December.

"Garlic & Oil"

"Garlic & Oil"

7" x 12"

Oil on Wood Panel

$275 (plus shipping & tax if applicable)

A small pewter pitcher caught my eye on my shelf of props. The garlic seemed like a good indicator of the tiny size of the pitcher. I love the mellow shine and the weight of pewter and it was fun to paint.

"Little Orange"

4" x 4" oil painting on wood panel

Daily painting for November 20, 2009

A cute little orange that I bought as a snack. I'm glad I took photos before I ate it! This is the second painting that I've done...first in watercolor (SOLD) and this time in oils.

You can bid on it...

"Pottery and Sumac"

"Pottery & Sumac"

12" x 9"

Oil on Linen

$275 (plus shipping & tax where applicable)

I enjoyed painting this the first time so I decided to do it again. It was a challenge to paint the sumac before the leaves dried up and turned crispy!

"Tankard"

"Tankard"

Oil on Cradled Panel

7" x 12"

$275 (plus shipping and tax if applicable)

This is my newest still life. I wanted to add a little warmth by adding the tea towel to the mix. I think it worked pretty well.

I haven't put a buy now button on it because I'm taking it to a show and I think this might sell there.

This painting has made the journey to New Mexico where it will be on display at The Art Garden Gallery in Eldorado. I'll post a link to their website as soon as the gallery opens in December

"Vine Ripened"

"Vine Ripened"

12" x 9"

Oil on Linen

$275 (plus shipping & tax if applicable)

These tomatoes were so ripe that I was afraid they wouldn't last long enough under the lights to paint them! There is something about the color of a vine ripened tomato that is hard to paint. There is blue and umber and cadmium red and a bit of alizarin, cadmium yellow and yellow ochre... a real challenge.

This painting has made the journey to New Mexico where it will be on display at The Art Garden Gallery in Eldorado. I'll post a link to their website as soon as the gallery opens in December

"WHAT!"

"What!"

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas

$250 unframed (plus shipping & tax if applicable)

Another cow painting! What a deal!

Two youngsters that were relaxing when I had the nerve to come and photograph them. I could here the reclining one asking "am I going to have to get up and run?"

I snapped a few shots, enough to get a couple of references, and left them to finish out their lazy day.

"Big Red Onion"

"Big Red Onion"

12 x 9

Oil on Linen

$250 (plus shipping & tax if applicable)

I love the color of red onions! I may even paint this one again.

This small painting with a gallery wrap (it can be hung with or without a frame) will be part of my Artist of the Month exhibit at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery for the month of November. If you want to buy it, click on the PayPal button above or visit the show and purchase it there.

"Hollyhocks

"Hollyhocks"

8 x 10

Oil on Linen

$215 unframed (plus shipping and tax if applicable)

Hollyhocks are one of my favorite flowers because they remind me of my childhood home. They remind me of summer days and grandpa and the garden full of heirloom flowers and honeybees.

This is a small painting with a gallery wrap so it can be hung with or without a frame. "Hollyhocks" will be part of my Artist of the Month exhibit at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery for the month of November. If you want to buy it, click on the PayPal button above or visit the show and purchase it there.

"The Gift"

"The Gift"

6 x 8

Oil on Canvas Panel

$175 (plus shipping and tax where applicable)

I'm always intrigued by those little daily paintings that seem to be so popular right now so I thought I'd work on one. I could easily get into this! Quick and simple! How could it get better than that!

This little daily painting is for the upcoming show at the New Braunfels Art League. The "Art for the Holidays" show is all works under 11 x 14. Some are framed and some are not. This is my unframed price but if you want me to frame it, add $50. I highly recommend framing it to suit your own taste!

"Onion Soup"

"Onion Soup"

19 x 7

Oil on Cradled Wood Panel

$375 (plus shipping and tax if applicable)

This painting is on a cradled wood panel with painted edges. It can be hung unframed or you can add a custom frame.

"Onion Soup" will be at the New Braunfels Art League in my Artist of the Month exhibition for the month of November! Come in and see it in person or you can click on the PayPal link above and buy it now.

Yes! I painted a cow!

"Youngster"

9x12

Oil on Canvas

$250 unframed(plus tax if applicable)

This is the second cow that I painted at the "First Ever ASBA (American Society of Bovine Artists) Art Show and Sale" and Paint Out.

It took place at Cactus Jack's in Gruene, TX and it was a great success!

This and the other painting that I finished there will be in my Artist of the Month exhibition at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery starting on Monday Nov 2. Come see it there or if you want to buy this painting now, just click on the PayPal link.

"Through and old window"

"Through an old window"

Digital photographic print

10-1/2" H x 9" W

Matte finish

Unframed & unmatted

$85 plus shipping

This image was designed to mimic the look of Polaroid SX70 photos, one of my favorite mediums back in nineteen-eighty-something.

I had fun with that spontaneous medium back then and I still love the look of them now. But with this image, I began with a digital photograph taken on my travels to Seattle. A little side trip into a nearly abandoned small town produced a number of interesting architectural images.

This image is an edition limited to 100 prints.

(Price is subject to change as numbers of available prints decrease)

Prints are produced on demand and may take up to 14 days for shipping. Unless otherwise requested, prints will be shipped protected between supports via Priority Mail.

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long!

"Live Oak, Dead Leaves"

Digital photographic print

6-1/2" H x 18" W

Matte finish

Unframed & unmatted

$85 plus shipping

I created this image to mimic the Polaroid SX70 photos that I loved to create back in my days in Tulsa.

The medium intrigued me then and the "bite sized" images still do. I've tried to recreate the look of the old medium in an archival print using digital images. Characteristics of the old instant images were the darkened edges and corners of the print area and the very familiar "frame" format.

This image is an edition limited to 100 prints.
(Price is subject to change as numbers of available prints decrease)

Prints are produced on demand and may take up to 14 days for shipping.

Unless otherwise requested, prints will be shipped protected between supports via Priority Mail.

Happy family

Proud New Owners

with "Firethorn & Antler"

Adopted!

"Firethorn and Antler" was delivered today and the patrons were very pleased with the finished painting. It was fun to see their reaction when I brought it out.  

Time to start something new!

First Final...

I think it's finished but there's always a possibility that I'll find something that I want to change when I look at it tomorrow. The photo shows the image as it is placed on the paper.  I left a lot of extra paper around it to allow the for more flexibility in framing and matting. 

Right now, though, it feels done.

The cedar fence post went much easier than I thought it would even though it was the most complicated part of the composition. The whole process has been very enjoyable in spite of the "false start" involving some nasty masking fluid stains.

Here is a closer view of the finished painting to show a little more detail...

Fence post...

I'm sorry that this photo seems a little washed out but it's just a 

quick snapshot.

I've started the fence post and the texture is in on the top part. 

Next I'll be adjusting the tone of the fence post so it won't 

"take over the painting". Right now the tones are a little too

close to the ones in the antler so I'll darken it up some and add some

color to it. Probably some ultramarine to cool down the shaded 

side and some burnt umber or burnt sienna to the sunny side.

More Progress

All the leaves are in now. I am enjoying seeing all the stages line

up in my blog. It's interesting to watch the image develop.

While I'm working through a painting it seems to move so slowly

that I don't even know how it happens.  I get in the zone and 

work along listening to the tv or radio in the background and the 

time floats by.  I'm sorry I couldn't find a good way to make a 

video of the process but I'm sure it would be like watching grass 

grow anyway. 

Maybe I can try it next time. 

I'm not really fond of being in front of a camera but I think it would

be interesting to make a video of a painting in progress .  I'll have to 

work on that with my son Kabe who would probably do something 

terrific with the production of it.  Even though his specialty is audio,

he has a good eye for video as well. 

Moving along...

After another day of painting...

It looks like the berries, stems and leaves were less intimidating

than the fence post.  It all seems to depend on my mood when 

I sit down to paint. I really prefer to work from "life" meaning 

from the actual item rather than from a photo.  

In this case, I had to work from other references because I

couldn't very well bring the fencepost and wire home with 

me and the berries that I picked from a shrub on our property 

when I was doing the drawing had all disappeared when I was 

ready to start painting.

This means that I'm working from a photo, from memory and from 

"Berry Red", a painting that I did last year.  This is a pretty good 

photograph from my little point and shoot camera but the red berries are 

a bit more saturated in the actual painting.

I think that it's coming along pretty well now... what do you think?

Commission progress...

Today I was able to put in some time on the painting so I decided to work on the antler. These seemingly simple items are sometimes pretty tricky. It's like trying to draw grass!

I think I'm pretty happy with the results even though I'm sure I'll have to go back into it and bump up the contrast a little once the rest of the elements are painted in. This would be a very monochromatic piece if it weren't for the leaves and berries!

It's anyone's guess which part I will do next. I'm never sure myself until I start painting.

"Ball Moss on Red"

This is an acrylic painting that I started as a demo for the New Braunfels Art League meeting a few months ago.

I've put a little more work into it and finished the sides of the panel (about 10" x 10" and about 2" deep)  I'd like to do a few more pieces like this as a series.  

I wish I could get the photo to show the deep cherry red of the background but it just doesn't seem to translate very well. Why is it so hard to get the reds and oranges to show up right in photos?

I'll have to keep trying.

Moving forward...

Here is the painting at the masking and background stage...

The masking is still in place and the background is mostly there.  I always add small touches to the background as the painting progresses but this gives me a pretty good base.

I've now begun painting in the barbed wire just because it seemed like a pretty safe place to get started.  I normally will work through one element at a time until the entire work is completed.

What's next?

I'll probably start working on the fence post so I can judge how light/dark the leaves should be to stand out sufficiently. But then, you never know!   

A Setback!

I was making some progress on the commissioned painting.  I had the image drawn on the watercolor paper and I'd masked out the subject areas and painted the background. I was pretty happy with the background as a matter of fact.

BUT...

When I removed the masking noticed that the masking fluid had left a stain.  Since I've had a painting ruined by just such a stain which darkened over time, I've decided to start over.  

Today I finished making a tracing of the final image and made 2 copies on tracing tissue...one of the entire image and one of just the areas that need to be masked out.  I've thrown out the bottle of masking fluid (obviously it doesn't have a great shelf life) and bought a new bottle.

Tomorrow I'll start again!

Moving forward...

I've now finished the pencil overlay for the painting and it's been transferred to the paper.

I apologize for the (poor) scan of the pencil drawing on the painting.  It's very difficult to get a really good image of the drawing since it has to be done very lightly on the paper. I had to enhance the scans and piece the sections together to get the whole image into one file.  As the painting progresses, I will be able to get better images (less white paper and more tone for the camera to record) and it will, hopefully, give you a better idea of the progress.

I'm using Arches Cold Press 300 lb paper so that I can put in a nice wash background on it without any buckling.  The surface of Arches watercolor paper works well when I have to mask out the "whitest" areas of the painting, in this case the antler and the fence post.  I may mask out all of the subject since I'm planning to do some "spatter and smear" texture on the background... similar to the background on "Antler", the large painting that the client originally cited as their favorite.

I think I'll handle the background more as a vignette on this painting though...more like the background on the sketch, instead of a full background.  It should give the painting a slightly lighter feel.

I'm now looking forward to starting to paint!

A new commission...

This is the beginning stage of a newly commission that I am working on.

The client was interested in purchasing a painting but the images that they were initially drawn to were a bit larger than they wanted. They gave me a list of their favorite pieces from my website and we began a discussion about the possibility of a commissioned piece.

They'd never been through the process before so I sent them a pdf file explaining commissions, what the process was and how they would be kept "in the loop"  We discussed size, budget and a number of preferences to be considered and a few days later they told me to go ahead and work up some sketches.

These were the first three sketches that I did.  

They requested a combination of some of the elements from the original sketches and a bit of barbed wire (from "Barbs & barbed wire") and I did a new sketch.  

I took the antler out with me and photographed it hanging on a barbed wire fence.  I actually took several photos, using an assortment of antlers that I have collected but this one had the best light and shadows to work with as well as just a better shape overall. 

I added the branches with the red berries to the image later by combining the original sketch and the photo in Photoshop.  (I really love that program for working out the little details.)

I'll go back to the original photo as a reference when I'm painting the final watercolor.  The contrast will have to be toned down on the post just a bit and I'll work from an actual clipping from the Pyrocanthus bush in our yard.

The client requested only one change to this sketch...they wanted the branches to have a more natural position on the far left. They felt that it appeared that the branch was clipped off and floating in the air (which it was!) so I changed it slightly to join it into the other branch.  The change was simple & the clients are happy.

Perfect!