Red Delicious

"Red Delicious" 12"x16". I have this set up next to a window. The tricky part is that the light on my easel is coming from the right and I'm right handed which means I'm often casting a shadow onto the place that I'm working. It won't be a problem once I start to paint because I use long handled brushes and a maulstick. I had this one all done and I was ready to transfer and I thought measure twice and cut once so I found some egregious errors and had to do dome major surgery.(I'm glad I caught it before the patient died. I fiddled with the idea of placing a mirror in the background, you can see a faint imprint, but I decided I liked the simplicity of the arrangement. I've been letting myself off too easy on the drawing part as of late and I've decided to really bear down and get the drawing absolutely right before I transfer. I chose the all red apples because for one thing, I like the deep reds, but most importantly, they're usually sprayed with something that causes them to last forever.(which is why I don't eat them!)

Prometheus Underpainting

I've completed the underpainting for "Prometheus" (16"x20", oil on board). Things are pretty much going as planned. Painting directly on the white ground has kept the colors a little pale which will work well when I proceed to do the overpainting. I didn't know if I was going to like the lamp, it was a last minute decision to add it in, but now that I see it I think it fits. I'm debating whether or not to oil out before the next pass. I guess I'll try a little bit without it and see how it goes. I'm off and running on a series now and I'm going forward with a take no prisoners attitude.

Prometheus

"Prometheus" oil on linen on board, 16"x20". I've been wanting to do a still life based on the theme of Greek mythology, and this image has been spinning around for a while, so I thought I'd give it a go. The mannequin is changed to a rock. The mannequin was blocked in using the sight-size method and the rock is from a litle boulder that I've chained a small wooden mannequin to, in order to get the light. At this point I'm roughing in the first layer paying careful attention to the large shifts of light and form. In the next layer I'll go for thicker paint and a bit more detail. I didn't bother toning the canvas because frankly, I just didn't feel like it. I'm trying to rattle my own cage and break out of my comfort zone. It's lit with daylight simulating bulbs so I'll be able to work on it at night as well. Yippy!

Process Shots

"Julia" oil on linen on board, 11"x14", "Dome and bottles" 11"x14" graphite on paper. I finally got that overcast day that I've been waiting for, to finish Julia's portrait. I'm pretty happy with it but there are some things that I've learned that I'll be looking for in the next one. I'm going to make a conscious effort to keep the shadow areas simpler, thinner and more unified.

Squash and Block-In

I've started a new portrait, the model that I had for the last portrait can't or doesn't want to do it anymore. I wish she'd told me before I transferred the drawing to a canvas! Oh well, I'll have to reprime it now which will cause it to lose some of the tooth. My daughter volunteered (with pay of course) to step in. I tried to graft her head onto the painting but it wasn't working out. With what I know about the way that everything in the figure links up organically, I'm not surprised. She was supposed to pose for me today but I guess she had a little too much St. Pat's fun, so that gave me a chance to finish up both squash. That's good because I think they're starting to smell (or maybe it's me!) Anyways, I plan to do another session refining the drawing and getting itready for transfer. As they say measure twice, cut once!

Squash Study and Ebauche

The ebauche (color wash), is on a 11"x14" canvas on panel, and the study is on a 9"x12" panel. I decided to do the wash in after doing the color study and realizing how complex the lighting was going to be. I was thinking about starting directly in on the vegetables but I decided to do things the way that I needed to and if I end up having to replace the squash, so be it. With the daylight savings time change, I may end up being able to get a few hours in after work each day, so maybe I'll finish before they spoil. This composition is a little different for me, obviously inspired by some of Jacob Collins' earlier still life paintings, meant more as an homage than a rip-off (hopefully it comes off that way).

So Blue

"So Blue" oil on linen on panel, 11"x14", "Dome with Bottles" pencil on paper, 11"x14". I decided to get started on the painting, I'll try and finish the drawing and painting simultaneously. It was too cloudy for natural light and I wanted to paint so I roughed in my artificial light setup. I laid in the colors without thinner over an umber wipeout. I used bristle brushes and I kept the film fairly thin so That I can do a finishing pass over it. I'm really starting to love painting on New Tradition panels covered with Classens linen. I'm getting tired of having to restretch linen canvases and these are easier to store as well, and best of all they are great to paint on! I didn't really start out with a blue painting in mind, one thing led to another and there you have it. It's giving me a lot of room to play with chroma and a variety of blue hues.