"Wicker Vase and Obi"

graphite

18" x 15"

Well I continue to not be timely on this blogging thing... but this is the graphite that I've been intending to post.

"Storm Clouds at Dawn"

oil on canvas

12" x 12"

Above is my latest cloudscape painting. I wanted to do a simple cropped view of these storm clouds that would give the painting an abstract feel. Or at least I started out thinking that it was simple. After three tries, I finally got the colors and texture that I was after. I'll euphemistically refer to the first two tries as underpaintings...

Meanwhile, on the drawing board, I'm close to finishing a larger graphite still life. I'll post that one later this week.

Looking Up

"Lines in the Sky"

11" x 14"

oil on canvas

As I stated in my last post, although I have a renewed interest in working in graphite, I am still painting.  One thing that I've always wanted to do is to explore painting cloudscapes. I have a small canon camera that basically goes everywhere I do, and my favorite thing to photography is the ever changing skies here in Arkansas. It's quite possible that I have more cloud reference photos than any other still life artist!

So, I've decided that this is as good a time as any to start painting some cloudscapes. I feel that it will give me a balance of sorts with the graphite still lifes that I am also creating.  Above is one of my first cloud paintings.  For the present, I plan on offering these sky studies on eBay.

Happy New Year

 Winter Gourd

12" x 18"

graphite

Happy New Year! Yes, I am about a week late with the holiday wishes, but considering the fact that I haven't blogged in over a year, I don't think a week late is anything to worry about. Although I wasn't blogging, I was still drawing and painting this past year. Winter Gourd, pictured above, is my favorite drawing from 2013.  I enjoyed capturing the different textures of wood, pottery, gourds, and drapery. This one was accepted into the 2013 International Guild of Realism's juried show which was on exhibit in Tempe, AZ this past fall.

 Westward Shell                 Eastward Shell

Here's two more smaller graphite drawings from this past year.  Each one is 8" x 5".  I started out as a graphite artist and stayed in that medium for a number of years before I ever progressed to colored pencils and then to oil paints. This past year, I have developed an interest in focusing in on graphite and exploring just how far I personally can take this medium within the realms of realism.

With that said, I am still painting as well... More about that in my next post which I promise will be sometime this year!

Grey Matters

 "Mango on Blue Cloth II"

5" x 7"

oil on canvas

Sold

"Pear Duo"

6" x 6"

oil on canvas

Sold

I've been remiss on posting to my blog.  Here are two small oils that I've done recently. I've taken a break from large works for a little while and have been honing my oil painting skills on these smaller canvases.  I normally use palette paper when I oil paint, probably because I'm too lazy to clean a wooden palette.  I have a wooden palette - I just tape my palette paper to it.  A couple of weeks ago I was at Hobby Lobby and noticed that grey palette paper is now available.  It may have been around for awhile - I don't get into an art supply store very often! Anyway, this paper is made by Jack Richeson Co. and is called "Grey Matters".  I like it a lot - I think that my color mixes have improved since I started using it. It just makes it easier to see the real color of your paint when it is on a neutral background instead of on white.  I guess that's my free tip of the week!

A Shot of Cherries

 

"Cherry Shot"

oil on linen panel

7" x 5"

sold

"Still Life with Persimmons"

colored pencil

12" x 8"

Here are a couple of new pieces.  The little shot glass in the first painting was a yard sale find. I haven't painted glass very much, so it was a bit of a challenge to capture the glass pattern and how it refracted the light and distorted the cherries.  For the persimmon drawing, I used some reference photos that I had taken last winter when I found these persimmons at the grocery store. They really were that intense red-orange color. They rather overwhelm the drawing, but I think that the greater quantity of less-intense blue (background and pitcher) balances out the drawing. Or at least that's what I told myself when I finished...

Plein Aire Frames

 "Donut Stack"

oil on canvas

10" x 10"

"Wall Flower IV"

oil on panel

7" x 5"

I forgot that I had promised to show off one of the plein aire style frames that I found on the Jerry's Artarama site. The frames have a width of 3", so they look really nice in this small (5 x 7) size. Above is another donut painting which I finished recently.