30 in 30 - Day 2

30 in 30 Challenge

Day 2

Mexico Beach 2

Oil on Canvas Sheet

5” x 5”

Bid Here

Day 2 was also painted while on location on the beach! It’s painted on a flat piece of canvas, not stretched, but would look nice framed.

30 in 30 - Day 1

30 in 30 Challenge

Day 1

Mexico Beach 1

Oil on Canvas Sheet

5” x 5”

Bid Here

Day 1 was a first for me in a couple of ways! This is my first 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and also, this was my first experience with plein air painting. I painted on the beach! I received a very generous gift card to my local art supply store for Christmas and with upcoming beach trip for New Year’s Day planned, I spent part of the card on an outdoor set up. Honestly, this may be something I never would have purchased for myself otherwise.

I tried to limit my palette and really only bring necessities. Here is the result of my first effort. It’s painted on a flat piece of canvas, not stretched, but would look nice framed.

Hallelujah Waves - Seth's Birthday Gift

"Hallelujah"

Paint Marker on Canvas
36" x 12"

My son Seth turned 20 this weekend. 20 is the age that I was when he was born and we've been through a lot together. I wanted to give him a piece of my work that I hope is meaningful to him and he might just keep forever. 

Seth is an artist, too. And while I am a visual artist, his talents lie with words and sound. He's a skilled musician and a magnificent writer, prose and poetry. I wanted to blend our talents. We had a long discussion one day about our favorite songs. A musician really can't narrow it down to one, so he ended up with 2 choices. I picked "Hallelujah", the Jeff Buckley version. A co-worker assisted me in getting a visual of the song's soundwaves. (It has a "nice spine", he said) I translated it with paint. 

Mundane Glory - "Flavor"

"Flavor"
6" x 6"
Oil and Gold Leaf on Gessoboard

I recently discovered gold leaf. My idea with this potential series is to shine a little glory on everyday objects. Things you may not pay too much attention to, but deserve their moment. If you want to feel metaphorical, this could be me trying to balance my introverted side with the part of me that can sometimes be an extrovert.

Gilded

Gilded
Oil and Gold Leaf on Gessoboard
6" x 6"

This is the 2nd portrait of my friend Becky. For the first time, ever, I experimented with gold leaf and I am very happy with the results. It adds a depth to the portrait and depending on where the light is, the painting changes. I left the light pretty dramatic in the photo to demonstrate the effect. The 'light spot' changes depending on the source direction.

The palette for this one is raw umber, titanium white with a touch of yellow ocher, ultramarine blue.

Becky

Becky
Oil on Gessoboard
6" x 6"

My friend and co-worker Becky was in my office one day recently and let me shoot her picture. I've painted two paintings from her images and this is the first one.

I used a limited palette of titanium white, yellow ocher, alizarin crimson, napthol red and ultramarine blue. I started using Pthalo Blue at first, but switched it up about half way through when I became frustrated by the results I was getting.

Some Men Are Baptists

Some Men Are Baptists
24" x 24"
Oil on Canvas

I attended a car show with my father over 4th of July weekend this summer. I was blown away by the car and attention given to these classic cars and when I spotted this lovely 1941 Oldsmobile, I knew I would have to paint her.

The title comes from A Christmas Story. Grown-up Ralphie narrates, "Some men are Baptists, others Catholics. My father was an Oldsmobile man."

Seems appropriate.

I Painted All Weekend!

What a productive weekend!

I rarely have a weekend with no big plans. It seems like there's always a race or a game to attend or something going on. This past weekend I had one early appointment on Saturday and the rest of the weekend was wide open. So I decided that I would paint as much as possible.

In my head I imagined that it would go something like this... around noon on Saturday, fed and well caffeinated, the muse would blast into my head and the next 36 hours would be a unfettered painting frenzy! Not quite, BUT I did get a solid 12 hour of painting in before bed on Sunday night. And I am extremely pleased with what came out of it.

The first thing I worked on was this purple pear. I had just bought the paint (Cobalt Violet - Gamblin), I had to use it! So, VALUE STUDY TIME!

Who says a pear can't be purple?

After the value study, I moved on to full color:

Single Pear
5" x 5"
Oil on Gessoboard
Click here to bid in auction

With the pear and the following rose, I worked from still life set up on the coffee table with a desk lamp providing the lighting:

New Rose
6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard
Click here to bid in auction - Begins 9/26

That was it for Saturday! Sunday was spent working on this...

This is the 3rd session for this painting. I've spent around 12 hours on this one now. i've been posting progress pics on Facebook.  Check them out!

So there you go. I would love to have a marathon painting weekend, minimal sleep, stopping only for bathroom and food breaks! I've heard of artists that challenge themselves to 12 in 12 hours or 24 in 24 hour challenges. I wonder if I would have what it takes to do that. 

Three Pears

Three Pears
6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard
Click to Bid

I'm happy with this one. I began with an ocher ground wash, sketched the shapes in with my brush and raw umber. My goal was to keep from getting overly detailed.

The Baby of the Family

The Baby of the Family
6" x 6"
Oil on Gessoboard
Click to Bid

Jolly Boyz Body Shop

Jolly Boyz

24" x 15"

Oil on Canvas

I've recently discovered how much fun painting vehicles could be! This was the first one I've painted. This fun, older beauty belongs to a family member who let me take pictures and paint her. I'll definitely be doing more in the future! 

Larissa

"Larissa"

16" x 20"

Oil on Canvas

This is my niece Larissa. I shot her picture in one morning while we were having breakfast in a restaurant. She was trying to be interested in the conversation going on around her, but really wanted her pancakes to arrive. 

Brenden

"Brenden"

16" x 20"

Oil on Canvas

I took a photo of Brenden after football practice one night. The field lighting was fantastic and I shot a few pics of both him and my son. I've posted the original image with the background loosely blocked out in Photoshop below.

Original Photo

12:13 - Seth 17

"Seth 17"

16" x 20"

Oil on Wood Panel

This is a portrait from a snapshot that I took of my son after his first football practice of the season. He was showing me the marks the new helmet pads left on his neck which looked like giant hickeys. 

When I decided recently that I wanted to try some limited palette paintings, I thought of the lighting on this picture and knew it would be perfect.

The colors used are: Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ocher, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber and Zinc White. I have some step-by-step pictures on my facebook page, here.

Also, if your interested in some great expressive portraits, you should really go check out Brian DiNicola's work. He has some great stuff and he's nice and open about his materials and methods, which is invaluable. Seems like a really good guy.

12:12 Melina and the Ball Pit

Melina and the Ball Pit

10" x 10

Oil on Canvas

I was tempted to name this one "Bazinga!" after a certain Big Bang Theory episode involving Sheldon and a ball pit, but I didn't.

This is from one of my favorite photos of my niece, taken by her Mom, whom you've met before in "Melina and the Llama". Painting all the spheres was a challenge. I'm happy with some of them, not so much with others. 

It is also a challenge to paint children. They don't have many lines on their faces so you have to be really careful not to make them look old. I tried to accomplish this with color.

12:11 Pear and Back Again

Pear and Back Again

4" x 6"

Oil on Canvas

A while ago I did a few pears and they are always a favorite of mine. Having painted several apples last week, I changed it up and went back to pears.

12:10 The Forgotten Pomegranate

The Forgotten Pomegranate

10" x 8"

Oil on Canvas Board

I painted this quick pomegranate and then forgot all about it until today. And I actually really like it. It was a spur of the moment decision when I needed a break from the commission piece I am currently working on.

12:9 Even More Delicious

Even More Delicious

4" x 4"

Oil on Gessoboard
Click here to bid

My continuing saga to perfect this technique and save the world, of course.

12:8 Red Delicious

Red Delicious

4" x 4" 

Oil on Gessoboard
Click here to bid 

I decided last week that I am working too much from photos and I need a break, work from life and remember my college classes where we all painted the same set up or model. 

There is a health food store right next to the studio where I take a studio class on Wednesday night. I found the cutest teeny red apple there. While I am trying to work on some tweaks to my techniques, I also want to keep the set up simple and what is more simple and yet still visually appetizing than an apple?

So, I set this up on some white paper, adjusted the natural vs. room lighting and had at it. The is the first of two apples that I worked on that night.

Have a great day!

12:7 Emily

Emily
8" x 8"
Oil on Canvas Board
NFS

And last, but certainly in my mind, not least, there's Emily.

For a long time, there were not many girl kids on my mom's immediate side of the family. Mom was the oldest of 6 and the only girl child. She in turn had 3 children; myself, my big brother and my little sister. The rest of the cousins for many years were boys. 8 more boys. It was 9 to 2 for years. Then came along Emily and later, her sister Jacklyn and our cousin Cassie. My sister and I were thrilled. Finally, more girls to try to even things out in a very old-fashioned, male-centric family. Poor Emily had to grow up with 3 older brothers. But from a very early age, she had steel in her gaze, holds her own with the brothers and they would kill just about anyone that would hurt their little sis.

Today things are still lop-sided somewhat. My family has gained more girl children with the next generation of kiddos which consist of 6 boys and 4 girls...so far.

So even though Emily and I don't get to see each other nearly as much as I'd like and are separated by twenty-something years, we are just. like. that. (Holds up crossed fingers) and I hope she knows that in years to come, no matter what, she can always give me a call to bail her out of trouble.