Sangria

oil 14x11 Purchase info here. Some favorites: translucent grapes, a pretty wine label and glass.

Studio Props -a still life painting in oil

oil 11x14 magnify/purchase info All my painting panels seem to have shrunk. In my bigger studio a 9x12 appears very small, and a 6x6 absolutely miniscule! For this 11x14 I experimented with using only natural light. Two hours into the painting dark clouds came over and it started raining. I had to quit. The next day I got back at it while heating and air conditioning was being installed. Here are some progress shots. Notice how small that 11x14 panel looks on my easel! I keep thinking about goldfish and koi. I've heard they grow bigger in a bigger bowl/pond.

A Little Romance -an oil painting of roses and wine

oil 16x12 inches magnify/purchase Quotes and expressions stick in my head. "A Little Romance" was a piece of music for piano that I played a long time ago. It seemed to suit this painting. Another quote that stuck: "Never knowingly leave something wrong in your painting." I avoid going back into a painting, but the cast shadow on the pitcher was the wrong value and temperature. Funny how you see these kinds of things the next morning. I tried to ignore it, but it just kept gnawing at me along with the quote. So below see a few progress shots and how it looked before I fixed it. Still learning how to paint roses, but these are acceptable. They have some nice impasto you can see if you click on "magnify" and roll your mouse over the image.

Bottles & Corks -sold

oil 8x8 inches A few years ago I used these bottles as the subject for "Bottle Necked." I painted this piece for a collector in Maine who wanted something similar. Wine labels are an art in themselves. It's a lot of fun to include them in a painting. Their color along with the shiny glass and contrasting cork texture makes for an interesting piece.

Mighty Mandarin

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase Over the weekend I attended a workshop taught by Qiang Huang. My friend, May and I had a great time, and though I have been painting a while, I learned so much! He is an effective and methodical instructor, breaking down painting into 5 basic steps: placement, value, color, modeling and consolidation. Most helpful to me was how to keep darks transparent and lights opaque. A simple tip I had not heard elsewhere: rub a very thin coat of linseed oil on your blank canvas to ease the application of paint, then use a soft brush to paint in your darks. Below are pics of my set up and value stage, then Master Qiang at work.

Wine & Fruit -sold

oil 8x8 inches click for purchase info and magnifier Life is pretty crazy right now. My mother is seriously ill in the hospital. I managed to squeeze in some painting time last Sunday and this is the result. Happier news: My painting, Sunflowers & Eucalyptus is a finalist in the Daily Paintworks Monthly Contest. To see the December entries, click here.

Sunflowers & Eucalyptus

oil 16x12 inches click for purchase information and magnifier Some grocery store sunflowers with eucalyptus clippings. Out on old dairy land I found some huge unattended eucalyptus right by the side of the road. I love the variety of greens with the yellow sunflowers. Tomorrow night the 6 Squared show opens at the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the great little works and meeting fellow artists!

Geraniums & Glass

oil 10x8 inches not for sale at this time Finally, here's the first piece I did on Arches oil paper. Pictured below is how it looked before I wiped out the drapery several times. The paper took a beating and held up well. Still, the paint seems to die into the paper. After four paintings, going back to canvas sounds pretty good.

Unfinished stage. I masked the edges with tape before painting. Makes a nice "matted" look.

Flowers & Fruit

oil 9x12 inches not for sale at this time I've been trying some new things. This is the second of four pieces (so far) painted on Arches Oil Paper, a relatively new product. No priming needed. You paint directly on the paper. Like everything, it has its advantages and disadvantages, which I will discuss further down if you're interested. Also with this piece, I'm entertaining some suggestions made to me recently: more muted color, and a varied color scheme rather than one dominating color. I felt like I really stuck my neck out trying new stuff on a new substrate, but what the heck. I won't post the first because it's hideous, but might be worth reworking later. I would love to hear some feedback on what you think of this one. About Arches Oil Paper: ADVANTAGES: ready to go, easy to store, tear any size, smooth surface, first washes sink in without dripping, subsequent layers sit on top, dries much faster, sinking in forced me to use more paint, can be varnished. DISADVANTAGES: no canvas texture, paint really sinks in, dries to very dull opaque, dries faster, harder to manipulate edges. For framing, I'm pretty sure it needs to be mounted on board. So I'm thinking, why not paint on canvas mounted on board already??? Still, it's good to try new stuff.

Still Life With Cork -sold

oil 10x10 inches click for purchase information Here's a low key painting for sure. My intent was to create a strong sense of controlled light. I placed objects half in shadow with their edges disappearing into darkness. Does your eye go right for the green on that apple? For me, the hammered copper mug almost steals the show. I may have to make it the star of a sequel.

Old & Dusty Galleano

oil 9x12 inches Click to Purchase I paint what excites me. Sometimes I'm surprised by what excites me. Here, bottles and fake grapes are covered with a hearty layer of dust. The scene had an old world feel to it. My scruffy bristle brush made nice rough edges where I wanted them. Drawing the bottles, I used Roos Schuring's mirror trick to check for accuracy. Worked wonders. This shelf is outside, in the carport at Galleano Winery. Painted from a photo reference.

This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

Bottle Necked -sold

oil 8x8 inches Click to Purchase Don't know much about wine except it's great with garlic bread or in a nice sangria, and the bottles are pretty. I save the ones with the artsy labels, as you can see.

This painting is available at Vander Molen Fine Art, Arcadia, CA

Still Life With Wine Bottles -SOLD

oil on canvas panel 10x10 inches

click here to bid

Okay, I confess. I like cheap wine 'cause the labels have cool designs. This set up was a playground of color for me. Maybe it's a little over the top? The accountant's comment was "Wow, that really catches your eye." (Hmmm.....? ) The red grapes are a virtual rainbow of colors and the photo just doesn't do them justice. The hunk of bread is leftover from Crab Cooker (So Cal people, you know what I'm talkin' about! Yum!) I found out you can keep painting stale bread and it looks just like fresh bread. Handy to know.

Vino Berries & Grapes SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

Strawberry season is winding down, so I thought I'd paint a few more. With the reflective bottle, this one qualifies for the Daily Paintworks challenge posed by Abbey Ryan. Tomorrow I'm heading up to the mountains for a few days of plein air painting. Hope I get a few good paintings, and hope the wi-fi works!

Freesia Bottleneck-SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
As you may have guessed by now, my backyard is full of freesias. The reds are just glorious...put them with green and...POW! Yummy color.
I have great news! I was recently juried into Daily Painter Originals, another group of top notch painters. Be sure to check it out by clicking on the icon on the right side of the page.

Vino Berries SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

I was on a roll after taking yesterday's challenge, so with an empty bottle of vino I just kept painting. The strawberries were fresh from a field nearby so their green thingies were perky, not wilted and half-dried like you get in the stores. Love that red and green combo, so they are the perfect fruit for color pop. It seems shadows on white are not as dark...maybe because the white is reflecting light all around. I set the timer for these strawberries too...each one taking right around 10 minutes...I bent the rules a bit!