Portrait of Nicole

NICOLE 2

oil

8" x 10"

SOLD

Set out to do an experiment at the last portrait studio session.  Thought I had put a thick enough underpainting of acrylic medium to be able to wipe off paint down to white.  Only used burnt sienna and a brush or rag with turps to erase with.  Unfortunately, the thin paint didn't rub off as I had hoped.  But when I brought the monochrome painting home and looked at it for a few days, I couldn't resist finishing it.  The original value study gave the final painting dramatic contrasts with the back lit lighting.  Not only was the model back lit, but the strong studio lights glared directly into my eyes.  Now I know why artists often wear baseball caps, inside or out... brims cut glare.

The One That Got Away

BOATHOUSE 2

oil

8" x 10"

BOATHOUSE number 1 (oil, 8" x 10") was one of the best paintings I ever did.  It had been a beautiful day at the Bay Preserve, Osprey, Florida.  My painting caught the sunstruck side of the boathouse and it's refections perfectly.  Had even added a friend painting on the dock under her silver umbrella.  Took the painting back to my mini-van and placed it on the roof, wet side up, while I packed away my supplies.  Then drove off to Sarasota.  Hadn't gotten very far when I pulled over and checked the roof...yup, it was gone!  Drove back around twice and couldn't find it.  Only hope it flipped off and landed neatly on someones's windshield and they said, "Oh, yes.  It's raining art in Sarasota again."  I hadn't signed the painting, so it can't be traced back to me and I won't be arrested for causing an accident or littering.  Most likely, it stuck to the bottom of a truck tire and is in Alabama by now.  But a few week later, I painted it again... BOATHOUSE 2.  Not nearly as good as the one that got away.

Frank, Again

FRANK, AGAIN

oil

10" x 8"

Oil sketch painted at the Venice Art Center.  Had green acrylic toned canvas which I left showing on the shirt.  

Christmas

SUMMER SANTA

oil

10" x 8"

Merry Christmas

Snowy-white Beard Portrait

 

FRANK

oil

8" x 10"

The portrait studios in Punta Gorda and Venice have had a run on snowy-white beards lately.  Frank is a sculptor who posed for us in Venice. 

An Afternoon Painting

JULIE'S ORCHID

oil

5" x 7"

Once in a while it's my treat to tend to Julie and Joan's parrots while they are away.  I get to feed, water, and play with them.  Spent a cloudy afternoon in the lani (what a screened in porch is called in Florida) listening to two African grays, a cockatiel, canary, finch, lovebird and a parrotlet chattering, chirping, and talking away.  "Harley wants cracker," said Harley. "What's the matter?" asked Davy.  Lyric said, "Hi Lyric," while I painted this orchid for my friends.  When it was finished and propped up by the kitchen window to dry, a neighbor walked across the yard collecting pine cones.  "Put them around my plants, keeps the armadillos and possums away," she said.  And she liked my painting.  All and all a very good day.

Simply Simon

SIMPLY SIMON

oil

20" x 16"

Almost every time I visit a park near Englewood Beach, Simon is sitting on his lawn chair looking perfectly content.  This particular morning, he said an eagle had been nearby calling to her young.  Seagulls soared overhead, pelicans dived after fish.  Simon agreed to pose for me ( I'll give him a copy).  I like how his tire tracks leads the eye into the painting, his car is parked just off to the right.  The entire background is from my imagination.  I left out the clutter of houses and boats.   Wanted a simple scene focused simply on Simon sitting in the sun,  knees sparkling with suntan lotion.  Although this is a studio painting, the background is painted from lots of plein air experience at similar locations.  Simply Simon is on exhibit in the Faces and Figures show, Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center until the end of the month.

Portrait

DANCER

oil

12" x 9"

It's impossible for children to stand still long enough to paint them.  Took a series of photos of Rachael and worked from them.  Sometimes I work from a grid to lay out the drawing, but with this one, I put the image on the computer screen and pretended she was posing.  Like the simplicity of the ballet stance, long neck, shoulders back, determined expression. 

Plein Air Painting

CASPERSEN PARK

oil

10" x 8"

Early, overcast morning in Venice, Florida.  Found a spot under tall palm trees to paint along with Sally Christiansen's group.   I had painted a bird flying low over the water with its reflection, but someone thought it looked like a dolphin so I painted it out.  Later, two people paddling bright yellow kayaks came by.  I wished they had showed up went I first started, oh well, that will have to be another painting.  The sky and lighting changed constantly during the two hours this took to paint. 

Plein Air

PUNTA GORDA MORNING WALK

oil

10" x 8"

This painting won second place in Artsensations plein air competition, Punta Gorda, Florida.  Started painting at nine am and finished 11:30.  Put a frame on it in the back of my mini van then took it to the exhibition.  An unexperienced volunteer stuck her thumb on the lower left figure... smearing it completely!  "It's oil!"  I yelled, too late.  Corrected it after the event.

Portrait Sketch

ROGER

oil

8" x 6"

Venice portrait studio sketch.  I thought I had primed the canvas with a neutral acrylic green the night before.  Turned out to be a lot brighter in daylight!  But liked the way it worked showing through in spots and in the beard.  I left a patch in the lower right hand corner.  The canvas was primed with acrylic which I find too chalky.  I like to paint a thin coat of tinted acrylic over this so the paint stays on top and slides around the canvas easier.  Just a personal preference.  The entire underpainting can be acrylic (if left thin) and the final layers painted in oil.  But for studio painting, I find oil dries well enough over night to layer over.  A method used by John Singer Sargent and Phillip Pearlstein, by the way.  For plein air though, alla prima...  painting at one time, wet into wet is what I do most often.  And also with portrait studio sketches.

Plein Air Painting

MORNING WALK
oil
8" x 6"

One of my favorite places to paint is Punta Gorda, Florida where I once lived for about eight years. Charming buildings, great colors, wonderful plants and trees. Painted this sitting on the back of my opened mini van. An artist friend stopped by and chatted almost the entire time. Hazy, cloudy, back lit morning. I prefer sharper sun shadows but this one worked out fine with naples yellow sky.

Plein Air Painting

SALLY'S WALK
oil
6" x 8"

Painted with Sally Christiansen's morning workshop group. Sally begins with a fast, fifteen minute pastel painting. We stand in awe as it forms right before our eyes. A lot can be learned from watching another artist work. Even though most of the artists in the group are extremely accomplished, there's always something new to learn. How boring would it be if we thought we knew it all. I'm learning to loosen up and paint faster. Painted Sally as she walked by in her straw hat. A figure can give a painting life and scale, and I think Sally pulls this one together. Service Beach, Venice, FL.

BIKER GUY
oil
10" x 8"

Great model at the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center Portrait Studio (PGVACPS for short).
Cool guy, Stanley. Held still... some models have bobble-heads or fall asleep. The headband was useful as a reference point to measure distances between features. Sometimes it's difficult to paint portraits without the ears showing. Ears are a landmark. These three hour sketches are wonderful for a quick, loose painting style. Like plein air painting, my goal with these sessions is to finish it on the spot.

ART IN THE PALMS
oil
6" x 8"

Heatstrokes plein air painters (summer division of Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center) exhibited and painted on Palm Island. This painting was my demo. Not easy to paint and talk at the same time.

GRAND TOUR KAYAKS
oil
6" x 8"

Plein air painting at Grande Tours Kayaks in Placida, FL. Building on left was the Bridge Tenders House for Boca Grande, 1910. Old wooden cistern, the round structure was used in 1938. Yellow building is new (restrooms for Grande Tours).

HURRICANE IDA PASSING
oil
8" x 10"

Plein air with Venice Art Center group, Sally Christianson workshop. Day was gray with Hurricane Ida passing way out in Gulf. Great waves, Venice pier in background.

PARROT LADY
oil
8" x 6"

Wonderful model at the Venice Art Center Portrait Studio. She posed with her African gray parrot. My panel was too small to fit the perch in. Bird tooted along with the classical music. Great session, wonderful artists.

LAWNMOWER MAN
oil
20" x 16"

Placida fish market area, FL. This man was cutting grass all around our plein air group last summer stirring up mosquitos. He came over to see what we were up to and agreed to pose. His house is the one on the right where has lived for about forty years. The background is made up from bits and pieces of the location and from imagination.

SCARY MOTEL
oil
7" x 5"

Motel near Englewood Beach. Loved the way the sun hit the faded umbrella and lit the inside.

SCARY GATOR POND
oil
8" x 6"

Painted yesterday on a ranch outside of Punta Gorda, FL. Waterlillies were closed when I started and fully open when I finished. A joy to watch. Meanwhile, I was watched by a baby gator (its head painted bottom left). I wondered where the mother was. And someone warned me the area was known as "Rattlesnake Ridge." Sometimes, plein air painting can be scary!

IAN
oil
8" x 6"

Painted Ian at the Venice Art Center last week. Wonderful group of talented artists there!

OCTOBER IN FLORIDA
oil
6" x 8"

Just entered this painting in the First Annual October Facebook Painting Competition. Not many autumn leaves down here. Thought I'd paint a blue Michigan license plate as a sign of snowbirds returning, but discovered the blue plate isn't made anymore. What a loss! This umbrella was outside a seedy little motel near Englewood Beach. I added the flower-filled pumpkin from my imagination to illustrate October.

BEHIND PRESSLER'S
oil
6" X 8"

Chilly morning painting with plein air group behind Pressler's Deli/Gallery. Finished this on the spot. Cold for Florida, must have been in the 70's. Will need those gloves with the fingers cut out.

PORTRAIT STUDIO SKETCH
oil
8" x 6"

PUNTA GORDA FOUNTAIN
oil
8" x 6"

TRIUMPH
oil
40" x 30"

End of demo. Feel like I could paint the whole thing over again, but need to stop. Think I captured the ghost-ship feeling of this rusting hulk. Soon will be an artificial reef or sold for scrap. The cost of refitting this boat would be more than it's worth. At the end of its life, rusting away in an upscale marina... the only boat with character. I will research its history and report later. Really love the name...TRIUMPH!!!

TRIUMPH
oil
40" x 30"
demo day 3

Difficult to get a good photo of wet paint. I think one more day and one more layer of paint will do it.

TRIUMPH
oil
40" x 30"
demo day 2

TRIUMPH
oil
40" x 30"
demo day one

Roughed in with thin wash of paint. Can already see many changes that need to be made. This is a large scale studio painting I'm doing after many days painting plein air on site. Will be using small paintings and photos for reference.

CAROL
oil
10" x 8"

Portrait studio model has same structure as Fernando Botero's women.

ORCHIDS
oil
4" x 6"

Found these neglected orchids blooming in the grapefruit tree. Flowers usually last until Christmas, almost as good as plastic flowers.

SHADY LADY
oil
6" x 4"

CHARLES PECK
oil
10" x 8"

TOULOUSE AND JUSTINE

oil

24" x 18"

Justine peeks at her portrait while Toulouse takes a break. Painted for the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center, Lautrec Festival, October 10 - November 21. http://www.visualartcenter.org for more info.

SUPERWOMAN
oil
10" x 8"

TRIUMPH 2
oil
8" x 10"

Painting this tug as many times as I can before it sinks. Laishley Park Marina, Punta Gorda, FL.

TRIUMPH
oil
10" x 8"

Rusty old tug painted at Laishley Marina, Punta Gorda. Overheard someone say, "and he only paid one dollar for it." Has lots of character, tons of rust. Plein air finished on spot except for lettering.

SUPER CHARLIE
oil
10" x 8"

Super speedy sketch in portrait studio. Letting my brush be messy and loose.

RACHAEL5
oil
24" x 18"
End of painting demo

Still have lots of tinkering to do but will end this demo here. Have many new paintings to post meanwhile.

RACHAEL5
oil
24" x 18"
unfinished stage 11

This is when I really mess things up. Good idea to have the previous layer dry so the paint can slip over. Brushing in areas on the flesh where I want to push the tone from light to dark. After scribbling these notations, a thin middle tone is painted over the whole flesh area. Again, working lights into darks and darks into lights. And the whole process can be repeated layer after layer until the painting is finished. Not exactly a "put the stroke down and leave it technique" like alla prima... but nothing wrong with experimenting in different styles.

RACHAEL5
oil
24" x 18"
unfinished demo

Stage 10. Background is finished.

RACHAEL5
oil
24" x 18"

In progress...

Still not finished. Worked on bench and background.

RACHAEL5
oil
24" x 18"

Still in progress at stage 8. Added buttonwood hedge between figure and background. Buttonwood has a cool, silvery blue color which adds good contrast to the warm tones in the painting.

RACHAEL5
oil
18" x 24"

Stage 7. Began work on background. A long way to go!

RACHAEL5
oil
18"x 24"

Using same method as yesterday, worked on skirt. Painted medium tone pink glaze and worked the darks and lights into it.

RACHAEL5
oil
stage 5

After teeshirt dried overnight, painted a thin glaze of middle value over the area, thinned with enough medium to see the underpainting through it. The lights and darks will be painted while this layer is wet. Blending is as easy as the alla prima technique (painting wet into wet), which it almost is. Will finish each area of the painting in this way, sometimes repeating layers until it's the way I want it to be. Found out about this technique in Philip Pearlstein's book, THE PAINTING AND TEACHING OF PHILIP PEARLSTEIN.

RACHAEL5
oil underpainting
24" x 18"

Stage 4. Worked on face first. Get that right and the rest will be easy. Looks better than yesterday's version anyway. Every painting goes through an ugly stage.

RACHAEL5
oil underpainting
24" x 18"

Stage 3. Ah, at last the smooth feel of oils. This is first oil underpainting layer. Working out color scheme.