monkey gum 9x12

I found this strange product at the dollar store the other day and I couldn't resist it.

reflective balls and goblet 9x12

light bulb and glove 8x10

marshmallows 5x7

Giant Gap #2 8x10

This was painted on a rare nice day this month. Normally I would be doing a lot more plein air work by this time of year but the weather has been uncooperative.

orange bell 8x6

This is another quick classroom demo. It's fun to work fast and somewhat loose sometimes.

bartlett #5 6x8

This is a classroom demo.

She-Ra 6x8

This is a gift for one of our teacher's who is retiring this year. I don't usually start with a tight drawing but in this case I needed to get the likeness of a specific dog.

After the drawing I do a loose under painting.

After the under painting It's just a matter of blocking in the fur color. I try to make an interesting combination of warm and cool values while maintaining the dog's likeness.



once the pooch has been blocked in I paint in the background. Sometimes I will start putting in the background sooner so I can adjust the other colors to the dark value that will be surrounding them. In this case, I chose not to do that. During this phase I try to pay close attention to my edges.

scissors etc. 11x14

I had a lot of fun painting this one. Reflective and transparent surfaces are endlessly fascinating to me.

dogwood #2 6x8

leaning crayons 6x8

two pez dispensers 8x10

pez with mirror ball 8x10

wrench, Pez, bottle 11x14

broken crayons 8x6

fries 8x6

Converse #2 8x10

calendula #10 6x8

poppy 6x8

My apologies for the glare in this one. Dark paintings are a challenge for me to photograph.

high heel 8x10

teapot with dandelion 11x14

leaning hammer 9x12

water with bosc 8x10

monkey dots 8x10

I like painting these little plastic monkeys. They're a nice color and they remind me of being a kid.

broken scissors with tools 14x11

dandelion with wrench 8x10

My students all think my paintings start out sloppy. I'm trying to teach them the virtues of doing a loose under-painting and then gradually refining the color and the drawing. I like to get the initial drawing down pretty accurately. It's hard to make major fixes if the initial layout isn't generally accurate. I like to do the under-painting with a transparent wash. Sometimes I thin my paint with Liquin and sometimes I use turps. The Liquin seals the panel with a pretty tough film that doesn't lift when I paint on top of it and I generally like that. as you can see, my under-painting is pretty loose and essentially a value study.





















If I want to keep working on the piece I will dry the under-painting with a blow dryer and then start blocking in the background and more color. While I do this I continue to refine the drawing.





















Here's the finished product.

avocado with water 8x10

calendula with three bottles 11x14

key with apple 9x12

oil can 9x12

crayon monkey 6x8

I'm painting a lot and still trying to get caught up with my posting. This is not a very large painting but it still took me a couple of days.

Burger 8x10

I am pretty pleased with how this one came out.

spray can 8x10

tea with honey 9x12

I've been painting a lot more than I've been posting lately. I'll try to get caught up by this weekend!

Hoho with milk 8x10

I'm pretty happy with how this one came out.

Red Bull with Snoball 8x10

I love the colors but it's hard to believe that people actually ingest this stuff!

peeled clementine #7 8x10

green beans with lemon 10x8

This one started off a little shaky. I was almost done and it just wasn't working for me so I wiped it off and started over. I am much happier with the second effort.

lemon, avocado, creamer 11x14

This is a pretty large painting for me at 11x14. It took a few days to complete.

salt with lemon 8x10

I have a few students who snack on salted lemons.

gum goblet 8x10

water with tomatoes 8x10

calendula and gumballs 8x10

I've been painting pretty steadily for the last week. I have a backlog of pictures to post. I'll try to get to them in the next day or so. It's nice to be back in the painting routine.

Red Bull #2 5x7

I haven't painted in a while. It feels good to be up and running again. This one is a commission for a mother's day gift.
Sold