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.