Viva Los Colores-sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
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At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art I observed this contemplative couple and their attire in stark contrast to Frida Kahlo's colorful painting. What would Frida say? Maybe "Viva los colores!"
This may be my last post for 2011, as I'm running Camp Gramma this weekend. Happy New Year, everyone!

Warhol Watches-sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
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I hadn't painted in over a week when I took this on. Museum goers are a popular subject with us daily painters, and so I thought I'd have a go at it. I wiped the floor :-) three times. Finally decided enough is enough, and on to the next painting. There are aspects of this that I'm happy with, so it was spared from the wipe-out. This is a busy time of year with family and good times, but not much time for painting. Hope to get some time later next week.

King Cracker SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
private collection Chattanooga, TN

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, Everyone! Thank you for your interest in my work, for your comments and encouragement. Love and joy to all!

Red Bridge SOLD

watercolor and gouache on Arches 7.5 X 10.5 inches
private collection Granite Bay, California

On Sunday I attended a great watercolor demonstration by Keiko Tanabe. I got inspired by her approach and materials largely because they were so different than what I normally do in watercolor. So on Monday I had fun here with rough paper, squirrel mops, dark washes and gouache.
Keiko's work is amazing. I was not surprised to find out that as a young girl she studied calligraphy for several years. She seems to "draw" with paint, the brush an extension of her arm. On one wall of Watercolor West's exhibit I read, "Watercolor is like golf. Every stroke counts." Keiko's marks are sure.

Cold Perch

oil on Gessobord 10x8 inches FRAMED

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In November our bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge ended in Sausalito where this huge seagull posed for me. The ferry passed by and "ooh, ooh--the yellow and the yellow!" I thought all the grays and blues with yellow accents might make a good painting. My first piece in a long time painted on a black ground and a smoother surface than usual, I had a lot of fun. It's so energizing to try something different.

Two Little Islands SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches
private collection Chattanooga, TN

From Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco you can see this tiny island, "Forbes Island", and the notorious Alcatraz in the distance. I don't know if Forbes is a real island, or if the little lighthouse is a real lighthouse, as both are so small. Anyway, the reflections on the very glassy bay water caught my eye. I painted this piece on a black gesso ground. As I experiement with this I really enjoy the texture that can be achieved and the bits of black peeking through as well. I submitted this to the current DPW challenge; reflections on water. To see the other entries click here.

Did You Say "Walk?"

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

not for sale

The current Daily Paintworks Challenge is to paint man's best friend and his/her favorite thing. This is my own little studio dog, Sandy. She's a lovable bundle of love, fur and dog kisses. She waits patiently while I paint and knows exactly the moment I'm finished. Here she is on my studio rug at just that moment hoping for her favorite thing: a walk. When I talk to her about anything she cocks her head like this. Yep, she's adorable. Oh, but back to the painting!

She's white, which I knew would be a challenge, and that maltese (silky) and poodle (curly) hair was a challenge too. Luckily for me, my studio lights both cool and warm showed up in her fur. The color seemed to tie in with the rug, so I used consistent paint application throughout to further unify the painting. A limited palette helped too: burnt umber, yellow ochre, alizarin, ultramarine, cad yellow medium and T white. I really enjoyed painting my own little sweetheart.

To see the other entries to this challenge, click here.

Bike The Bridge SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches
private collection Brighton, Colorado

The day we biked the bridge I got a great photo reference for this painting by hanging over the railing a bit. The photo had a great design to it, so all I had to do was edit out a few cars and more bikes leaning on the rail. This might be my favorite of the San Francisco pieces so far.

I just realized Christmas is a little more than two weeks away. Yowza! Got to get ready, so I'll post when I can.

Bridge View SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

private collection Alexandria, Virginia

One day in San Francisco we rode bicycles across the bridge. This is one view I caught with my camera as we approached the bridge. Middle and foreground were in cloud shadow, the bridge, buildings and Sausalito were hit with morning sun.

Evening Ride -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

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San Francisco's famous cable cars run on miles of underground cables and are the only ones in the world still running on a daily schedule. Stepping aboard is a trip back in time. The glow of lights on the cable car, the streets and in the trees added charm to a wet, cold night. This is my first nocturne--a lot of fun to paint.

Frisco Streets -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

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The sun was trying to burn through the clouds, but it was still dark enough for the glow of tail lights and street lights. I tried to capture this in-between state of light. I love those San Francisco streets that scoop upward in the distance. The buses and cars move the eye from side to side, so I tried to use line to direct the eye into the distance and up the hill.

Tie Dye Toaster-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Here's my "paint your toaster" entry to the DPW challenge. I have never owned a pop-up toaster. This toaster oven has toasted for us since 1974. As for the color reflections....uh....I was wearing my tie dye T-shirt. It seemed fitting on the '74 toaster so I went with it and just had fun.

Mona's Pear-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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We visited San Diego over the weekend so I've missed a few days of painting and posting. Got a chance to see some great art in museums, though. This painting was done about a month ago and inspired by Duane Keiser. He had combined a Vermeer with a pear. I used a page from an old desk calendar. While painting I discovered that Mona Lisa has no eyebrows! Weird. Then recently I started reading The Secret Lives of Great Artists by Elizabeth Lunday and found out historians don't know if Da Vinci didn't paint them, multiple restorations lost them, or if the poor girl over-plucked!

Favorite Shoes

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Daily Paintworks gave us a "paint your shoes" challenge recently. These are my favorite shoes for style and comfort. I live in flip flops, so I don't wear these very often, but still they're my favorite shoes. I thought about leaving out all the gold stitching to simplify the painting, but the stitching is part of the style, so I decided to paint it in a simplified way. The color palette was enjoyably limited: burnt umber, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, cad yellow medium and Twhite.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Stretch your imagination a bit, and my shoes could be 21st century pilgrim shoes: black leather with buckles.

Truck 'N Cluck

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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For this painting I used a photo taken at Gold King Mine in Jerome, Arizona. There were chickens walking around and I was lucky enough to get a few in shots with the vehicles. I liked the living, moving element in with the "graveyard" of old vehicles.

Funny, I'm posting from San Francisco a painting I did at home in Chino from a scene in Arizona. Today we rented bikes and rode across Golden Gate Bridge, visited Sausalito and took a ferry back. We've had some sun and quite a bit of rain, but rain means great cloudy skies in my pictures. Yay!

One Persimmon SOLD & San Francisco

oil on canvas panel 4x4 inches

Here's my last persimmon painting for the season, I think. It's from a few days ago when I was trying out neutral surfaces. I'm missing painting, but having lots of fun.

Today was our first full day in San Francisco. This morning we took a tour boat around in the bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. The sun was out, and the water and city just sparkled. We ate a SF lunch of clam chowder and sourdough bread then visited the Aquarium and toured the Boudin bread factory. Picked up chocolate at Girardelli, rode a cable car to the concert hall to hear the San Francisco Symphony perform Brahms' "A German Requiem." Then back to our room by 10:15 for dinner: chocolate! Whew!

Thumbnails & Value Studies

I'm posting this one with some hesitations (since it's not a painting), but hopefully it will be of interest or value. Yesterday I busied myself planning the next watercolor for my Monday night class. I almost always do thumbnail sketches and value studies for my watercolors and occasionally for my oils.

Here's the process: I find my painting within the photo by moving little mat corners or strips of paper around on the photo to "frame" a design. Using a Papermate Flair pen, I make little sketches-maybe 3x4" or smaller, moving shapes around to fine tune the design. I pay attention to line, pattern, shapes, and how the picture space is divided into larger shapes. (The design chosen here is from the center of the photo reference.)

Next I make the thumbnail I like into a value study planning out where my darks, lights and mid-values will be. I may do several of these. I try for unequal amounts of dark, light and mid-values. I like to think of the design as the skeleton (support) and the value pattern as the soul the painting. When I paint, I'll follow what I've planned here more than what the photo tells me.

I learned this from several very good instructors along the way. There are probably many of you out there that do something like this. For me, if my design and value pattern are not strong, I might as well not waste my time painting it!

Next I'll come up with a limited palette of colors for a harmonious painting. That will be another post WAY down the road.

Speaking of road, we're headed off to San Francisco tomorrow just for fun. I'm taking my camera but not my paint...ouch! It's time to celebrate our 37th anniversary! I'll post if I can.

Fall In A Jar -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

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Just as I was finishing this on Friday night, the accountant left his easy chair and entered my paint cave (because there was nothing on TV, he said.) He pronounced this painting "confusing" and said I can't confuse my viewers by painting stuff that they don't know what it is. Well, "Yes I can if I want," I said. So here's a guide left to right and top to bottom: acorn, pussy willows, acorn top, crab apples, chestnuts.

Cup 'n Cutie SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Recently I discovered the work of David Lloyd. I love the clarity of his color, his luscious neutrals and masterful edges. He was kind enough to share with me a list of colors he uses for mixing neutrals. With this painting I tried out raw umber for the first time. Design-wise, I usually try to avoid diagonals going off into a corner, but since the spoon kinda points to the tangerine, I thought I might get away with it. Hopefully the eye loves that reflection enough to stay in the painting instead of sliding up the spoon handle into oblivion! I welcome your opinion.

Car Around The Corner -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

click here to bid

Finally got around to painting this car that sits in a driveway just six or eight houses away. I walked my dog past there in the morning and the light was just right: dappled through the tree and the reddish fence throwing color onto the shadow side of the car. Painted in my studio from a photo on my laptop, I took my time and really enjoyed this subject.