Archive for

November, 2009

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Shadows, Glass, and Leaves

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Shadows Glass and Leaves (12 x 14)  $100.00

Shadows Glass and Leaves (12 x 14) $100.00

Driving down Commercial last summer, I was struck by the shadows of leaves on a stucco building.  I reached for my camera and discovered I’d left it at home.  I drove home hurriedly to get it.  My daughters in the back seat were remarkable patient with me as I drove round the block twice looking for a parking space.  Only eight or nine pictures later did it dawn on me what I was photographing.  It’s a local mortuary.  Never mind,  the shadows and the glass bricks were beautiful.

The shapes were so simple that I drew them freehand onto the watercolor paper.

Most of the painting was done in what I think of as controlled wet-into-wet painting. First I moistened the the small area I wanted to paint and then I dropped the wet color in. I created each glass brick this way.  After the paint dried I went back with a wet brush and  added the darker shadows to each brick. I used phthallo blue, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow, and yellow ocher.

The shadows on the wall are two separate layers of controlled wet into wet.  The first layer was phthallo blue, deep red rose quinacridone, dull a hair with cadmium yellow.  The second layer was cobalt blue and deep red rose.


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The Sweet Shoppe

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Sweet Shoppe (10 x 13)  $100.00

Sweet Shoppe (10 x 13) $100.00

This is another Central City Painting.  I started it this summer at the Artisan Village at the Oregon State Fair.  But I felt it lacked something and set it aside.   Yesterday when looking for something to paint at the gallery I picked it up again.

What got me started on the painting in the first place is the Victorian decoration.    I brightened the colors to go with the sweet shoppe theme.   The result was interesting, but lacked something.

Yesterday I decided what it needed was more omph, or in other words more contrast.  So I darkened up both the sky and the shadows and here it is.

The palate is cobalt and phthalo blue, quinacridone deep red rose, and cadmium yellow.


Or purchase a print at Fine Art America.com.

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After the Slumber Party

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After the Slumber Party (8 x 10) sold

After the Slumber Party (8 x 10) sold

This Friday, my daughters went to a slumber party.  Predictably they stayed up until one.   They got up at eight.   When I picked my girls and a friend of theirs up at noon, they had just finished breakfast and were wide awake and chattering.   We stopped to drop our guest’s things at her house and then took all three girls to library. Chatter, chatter, chatter.    A very late lunch at the Road House followed.   Chatter, chatter, chatter.

It was it was 2:30 by then.   The chatter continued through lunch.  But Road House lunches are heavy and plentiful.  Stomachs full, the girls were suddenly overwhelmingly tired.  My youngest leaned against her friend and both girls would have fallen asleep right there had we let them.   I snapped a picture.

Reference Photo

Reference Photo

Today I painted it. I did my best to correct the ugly green blue light of the restaurant. I made red-purple shadows of blue green ones, and removed the excess pink from their faces.

The palette is cadmium red, cadmium yellow and cobalt blue. Which the exception of some yellow ochre along the jaw lines, those were the pigments I used on the faces. I defined the eyes, nostrils and shadows in cobalt first. Then I painted the faces working mostly wet into wet.

The girls’ hair is various combinations of burnt sienna, cobalt blue, and yellow ochre. I used these three for the brows and lashes too. I added a little phthalo blue to the jacket and the wall.

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Summer Shoppers

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Summer Shoppers

Summer Shoppers (11 x 12) $150.00

This could be anywhere.  What I liked about my photo was the sunshine and the interaction between the young women.

Poured Version

Poured Version

I intended to pour a very atmospheric painting, and I did pour one reserving only the womens skin for direct painting.  But I was unhappy with the reflections in the windows and the draping of the sundress.  I really liked the bright pinks, oranges and yellows I got through pouring though.  So at the gallery yesterday, I repainted the image using not only my photo, but also the poured painting as a guide.

For most of the painting I used hansa yellow light, new gamboge, quinacridone deep red rose, and phthalo blue.  Using two yellow helped keep things bright.  I added burnt sienna to the hair and the leather bag.

I tried to keep most of the poured feeling by mixing the paints freely on the paper.  I added the windows and other darks in many layers of transparent color.

I’m happy with the results, but were I to do this over, I would pour the windows, sidewalk, and shadows and perhaps the dark bag and pants.  Then I would paint the women directly.


Or purchase a print at Fine Art America.com. See more of my people paintings here: people art

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Cass Up Close

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Cass Up Close (8 x 7) $75.00

Cass Up Close (8 x 7) $75.00

This pretty young lady is a friend of my daughters.  I took the photo almost to years ago for drawing practice.   Browsing through my photo files yesterday, I decided to crop it close and paint it.  After painting landscapes and not much else at shows, I really wanted to do a portrait again.

The palate was simple, cadmium red, and cadmium yellow, burnt sienna, and cobalt blue.   I added some burnt umber for her hair and lashes.

Or purchase a print from Fine Art America.com.


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Garlic on Blue

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Garlic on Blue (7 x 10)  $35.00

Garlic on Blue (7 x 10) $35.00

I’ve been doing framing and back to back art shows rather than painting lately.   And lucky for me the shows have been too busy for much painting, but here is a little still life I snuck in.


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Clouds over I5

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Clouds Over I5 (5 x 7) SOLD

Clouds Over I5 (5 x 7) SOLD

This little postcard sized painting is home. The view is looking west at the Coastal Range off I5 just north of Salem. I took the photo for it coming back from the airport this summer. But I could have painted it from memory. It is yet another painting done at the art fair in Tigard.

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Clouds over Boot Hill

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Clouds Over Boot Hill (9 x 12) $75.00

Clouds Over Boot Hill (9 x 12) $75.00

This is one more painting of the storm clouds gathering above Boot Hill in Central City. In this view the graves are not visible. Like the Dynamite Dome, I painted this one at Art in the Burbs in Tigard, Oregon. The palette and the method are the same.


Or purchase a print from Fine Art America.com.

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