Venice Beach

Morning Storm

pastel

8" x 11"

      A group of us got to the beach early and started painting.  The sky and shadows were gorgeous!  Love it when the Gulf looks light green against purple clouds.  Unfortunately, the clouds were heading straight towards us.  A couple of lightning bolts were all it took to chase us off the beach.  We sat it out inside my van while the rain pounded the roof.  When a rainbow bloomed over the Gulf we set out again to paint for several more hours.  Unusual to have morning thunderstorms, they usual happen just in time for cocktail hour in the evening. 

da Vinci?

My La Bella Principessa

DMannion

after da Vinci?

acrylic

60" x 40"

Each year members of the Punta Gorda Visual Arts Center reproduce historic paintings to be sold at auction to support the center.  Last year it was Lautrec, this year it’s Leo vs Mike...  Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. 
            While researching da Vinci, I came across a beautiful profile of a young woman that had recently been discovered.  Once thought to be a  19th-century painting,  “La Bella Principessa,”  had been purchased in 2007 by a Swiss collector for $19,000.  In 2009, forensic art experts found a fingerprint of da Vinci in the background.   Multispectral scans showed layers of work that resembled da Vinci’s style.  Many leading art experts agreed it was the real thing.  It’s value soared to $160 million.
            “La Bella Principessa,” was painted on vellum with black, red, and white chalk, pen and ink and watercolor.  Mounted on an oak panel, it is only 13” by 9.”   (My reproduction is five feet tall. )  The girl is believed to be Bianca Sforza,  the illegitimate, conveniently changed to legitimate daughter of a duke of Milan.  In 1496, at age 13, she was married off to a captain of the duke’s military forces.  She died a few months later, possibly from an ectopic pregnancy.
            When half finished with my reproduction, I came across an article by Richard Dorment, recently published in the Telegraph, UK, April 12.  Here’s the link.  Well worth reading!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/7582591/La-Bella-Principessa-a-100m-Leonardo-or-a-copy.html
            Richard Dorment lists many reasons why he believes the painting’s a fake.  The detail that stood out to me...  the same expert who used a fingerprint to prove a Jackson Pollock painting which later proved to be a fake,  was the same expert that found the da Vinci print.  I think too many people involved with this painting have financial interests to gain.  
            I finished my reproduction which has been purchased.  It will not go to auction but the art center will gain. 
I now consider My La Bella Principessa a “real” painting of a fake. 
           

The Pictorialist

Edge House

oil

6" x 8"

Punta Gorda plein air painters met at Live Oaks Park in the morning while it was still cool.  I painted the house on the edge of the parking lot.  Was in a hurry to finish because I had to leave early.   A couple of tourists walked over and got very excited seeing me working.  

"You must be a pictorialist, aren't ya?" the man said.  "Why you must be a pictorialist.  I'm from Massachusetts and I use ta be a sign painter.  We had pictorialists there too and I use ta hang their pictures.  You're a pictorialist,  aren't ya?" he asked again, this time putting his sunburned face between my face and the painting.

"I guess I am," I nodded, trying to be polite.

"And my sister," whispered his wife, "she was a pictorialist, too."

"Really," I replied, cleaning my brush with a rag.

"How long have you been doing this?" the man asked.

"My whole life."

"Must take a lot of patience," he said.

"Oh, it does," I answered, trying to focus on my work.  They chatted like birds for several minutes more, until finally wandering off to look at the other pictorialists painting nearby.

Next time, remind me to wear my iPod earplugs even with the music off.  Sorry to sound cranky.  But then, on second thought, I never would have learned I was a "pictorialist."

Venice Portrait Studio

Copper Earrings

pastel

10" x 7"

Portrait studio sketch at the Venice Art Center.  A lot of excellent work was created by many talented artists. 

Workshop Demo

Ponce Park

oil

8" x 6"

Last day of my Punta Gorda Artist's Bootcamp.  Will miss everyone!  This demo demonstrated blocking in darks with ultramarine blue.  Karen liked how the blue showed through, so I left some for her.  Squawking and chirps from the bird sanctuary nearby cheered us on as we raced to capture the changing light.  A heron strolled across the sand, pausing long enough to have his photo taken.  Sailboats and powerboats headed out the channel.  Beautiful day to paint outside!

Placida Fish Market

Marker 10

pastel

7" x 11"

Monday morning with the Punta Gorda plein air painters group.  Clare, Lanni, Sharon, Jim, and I gathered under the trees and by the edge of the water.  Much nicer painting with others nearby.   Some tourists snapped our photos.  Lawnmowers kept their distance.   Cormorants perched on the pilings spread their wings in the sun.

Punta Gorda History Park

Cigar Makers Cabin

pastel

8" x 6"

Cottages like this were built near the El Palmetto Cigar Company, 1890's-1901, in Punta Gorda, Florida.  This cabin was moved to the history park in 1999 and restored by volunteers.  Distroyed by Hurricane Charley, 2004 and rebuilt again by volunteers.

This pastel drawing was twice the size and almost distroyed because I didn't like it.  Cut it in half to save the bits I liked.  Worked plein air in the shade but glare from cabin's tin roof was blinding.

Demo Sketch

41 Bridge, Punta Gorda

oil

6" x 8"

Demo of bridge over harbor in Punta Gorda with the sun shining on Port Charlotte water tower.  Some of my students painted outside for the first time.  Great experience.

Pastel

Devil's Trumpet

pastel

10" x 7"

Teaching a workshop at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda this summer... The Pastel Experience.  Found this Devil's trumpet growing in the history park in Punta Gorda last summer.  Sketched from a photo I took.   It's in the datura plant family, extremely POISONOUS!  Keep away from pets and children. 

Pastel Portrait

Rachael and Bucky

pastel

10" x 7"

Pastel on Wallis sand paper.  Practice for pastel workshop I'm teaching this summer at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda.  Wanted to see how realistic I could get with soft pastels... not as easy as oils!  This was over a landscape I had wiped off. 

May Morning

Boathouse #4

oil

6" x 8"

Perfect morning at the Bay Preserve painting with E and M.  Had lunch under a shady oak next to the dock and watched the boat traffic on Little Sarasota Bay.  Plein air painting isn't just about painting, but being outside in the company of good friends.  This is the fourth time I painted the boathouse, still not as good as the one I lost off my car roof.

Dangers of Plein Air Painting #4356

Shoe Gallery

oil

6" x 8"

   Plein air in Matlacha (mat-la-shay).  Landlord of this building asked for his 15% when I sell the painting, so I'll have to raise my price.  (Maybe landlords asking for a percentage of scene could be Danger of Plein Air Painting #4357).  Had my shade umbrella bungee-corded to a fence while the sun cooked the lady painting next to me a deep shade of hideous pink.   Painted fast so we could break for lunch.  So, Dangers of Plein Air Painting #4356 (drum roll please)... OSPEYS.  Little did we know when we picked our spot that we were under the flight path of a pair of nest-building ospreys!  And it wasn't the poop that worried us.  The sticks they were carrying were the size of broomstick handles.  We watched them drop a few as they skirted directly overhead.

Matlacha

Matlacha Morning

oil

6" x 8"

      Painted with Punta Gorda VAC plein air artists in Matlacha, FL.  Colorful little strip along a noisy road between Cape Coral and Pine Island.  Stood six feet away from trucks and traffic roaring by...  so I painted fast and funky.  Place has lots of character and claims the most "fished" bridge in the country.  Last time I painted this building it was yellow and was the Matlacha Hotdog Company, now it's a coffee shop and sells doughnuts.

Rooftop Plein Air

    Rooftop View

oil

8" x 10"

Early morning, top of Wyvern Hotel, Punta Gorda.  About a dozen painters enjoyed the view of the Peace River bridges, marina, and harbor.  It was a challenge painting a panorama in an 8" by 10" space.  Although I'm not happy with my results, it works as a painting-journal entry of that hot and windy event.

Pastel Portrait

Lady with Red Hair

pastel

12" x 8"

    Pastel sketch in Venice today.  Second in a row for pastels and oh, how I miss my brushes!  All those little pastel pieces, so many colors and never the right one.  Find oils so much easier even with a limited palette.  And can't seem to get the details with those chalk-like sticks that I can get with a good brush.  But there IS something to this medium, at least I can imagine what I want.  Will need to do many more experiments.  This model was extremely thin, and as E said, "Bird-like."  An elegant lady.

Pastel Experiment

Stan Again

pastel

12" x 9"

First of a series of pastel experiments.  Oils are my favorite medium but it's great practice to try something different.  Pastels are closer to drawing and can be spontaneous, like this sketch of Stan.  This is on Canson pastel paper, first lines with Nupastels and almost the rest with Rembrandts.  (I've had a fancy Rembrandt wooden box, about 400 colors, in the closet for years.  Each piece in order, neatly planted in protective foam.  Too intimidating!  Yesterday I snapped each piece in two, tore off the labels and tossed them in my old Guerrilla Painter 9x12, Cigar Box.  I like them much better now.  Just could not get the right red for Stan's headscarf... until I saw the perfect color in a friend's pastel box!  He snapped it in two and gave me half!  A new discovery: The Mount Vision Pastel Company!  What color!!!  And it's right here in Tampa.

Dangers of Plein Air Painting #3

Tangerine Tree

oil

6" x 4"
SOLD

I enjoy painting with groups of people, but sometimes the location doesn't inspire me.  After searching the grounds of an over-grown motel garden, I fought the urge to leave and focused on a tangerine tree near my car.  Morning light filtered through the leaves into the dark shadows spotted with tangerines.  Dashed off this postcard size sketch before the mosquitos sent me running.  (Palette: cad red, cad yellow light, ultramarine blue, white).  So, Dangers of Plein Air Painting # 3: "There's nothing to paint."  Solution: Focus on how  light and color falls on one simple thing.  Do a postcard size painting.  Experiment with a limited palette.  And don't forget the bug spray.

Boca Grande

Banyon and Park

oil

6" x 8"

Found perfect spot to park in the shade with a cool breeze from shady Banyon Street.  Sat on the back fender of my mini-van with the door up to paint and sip tea out of my thermos.    Loved the way the light hit this beautiful house with the dark, Australian pine in the background.

Boca Church

Boca Church

oil

6" x 4"

Quick postcard sketch, back view of  Catholic church in Boca Grande.  Had less than an hour before friends headed down to the lighthouse for picnic lunch.  Great painting day!

Bubbly Charm

Red Hat Lady

oil

10" x 8"

Sketch on green-toned canvas using a limited palette of cad red, cad yellow pale, ultramarine blue and white.  But got carried away with the feathers and used a bit of magenta and turquoise.  Fun!  Rita was a great  model but just too darn happy... kept breaking into a smile.  Face crinkled with laughter,  eyes sparkled,  hat feathers shook.  Many artists were able to capture her bubbly charm at the Punta Gorda Portrait Studio last Thursday morning.