In Monet's Kitchen -SOLD

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase info I thought I would work a bit from my b-zillion photos I took in France. Yes, Monet's entire kitchen is bright yellow. I enjoyed painting this because of the yellows. I love mixing the various colors of yellow in shadow. That's why lemons are so much fun. For my fellow oil painters out there: I always mix my own yellow ochre rather than using a tube of yellow ochre. I use cad yellow light (Utrect), cad red light and ultramarine blue. I can get a richer yellow ochre than what's in a tube, and I can swing it cool by adding more blue, or warm by adding more red and yellow. You have to play with your ratios in tiny increments, but it's a lot of fun to see the beautiful range of yellow ochres you can get. Try painting a lemon in light and shadow with just these three colors. You might need a little white to mix in, but only for the highlight.

Beater Bikes

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info I took some photos of the old bikes at Treasures & Junk in Ontario. Sometimes called "beater bikes" by serious cyclists, they're all beat up and pretty much theft proof. Great for riding around in the city. Painting from photos lately I'm seeing progress. Finally I can make it a painting rather than just a copy of a photo. Simplifying shapes, loose brushwork and not fussing it to death.

Bumper Cars

oil 9x12 magnify not for sale This is my granddaughter, Grace driving a bumper car for the first time at the LA County Fair. I had so much fun with color and highlights in this one! UPCOMING EVENTS: Next month I'll demonstrate for the Redlands Art Association on the 23rd at 7pm. Then on the 27th I'll teach a Saturday one day workshop for RAA titled "Painting the Lively Still Life in Oil." The workshop is limited to 12 students, so sign up early! For more info or to sign up, click here.

Rocky Range Ranch -an oil painting from Colorado -SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info I don't really know the name of this ranch. It's a made up title. :-) One of the drawbacks of painting from photos is the danger of just copying the photo. I can end up with a too accurate stiff rendering. I'm particularly happy with this one however, as it has some abstract qualities and expressive boldness.

Boats & Bouys -a plein air oil painting from Balboa Island, CA -sold

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Happy New Year everyone! This is my last painting of 2015. I took off down to Balboa Island on the last day of the year for some plein air with my feet in the sand. The sun was out and it was about 68 degrees in the shade. I was overdue for this kind of stuff, so it felt like Heaven. I used a very limited palette of color: T white, Cad Yellow light, Cad Red light, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt and Alizarin. I painted pretty fast in an effort to keep it fresh, not overworked. It took me two hours to drive home in the holiday traffic, but I don't mind. It was a great way to end the year.

Hollyhock Window -a Colorado ranch scene in oil -SOLD

oil 14x11 inches magnify/purchase info While painting on an old ranch in Colorado, storm clouds began to blow in fast. We packed up our stuff quickly to avoid getting soaked. It lasted about five minutes. Rather than set up again, I went out with my camera. I found these gems near the back porch of the little old farmhouse. I painted this back in September. Happy New Year, everyone!