Pear Demo over Grisaille

9.5" x 6.5"    Oil over black and white grisaille on gessoed cotton paper
 
This is a demonstration that I did for my "Beginning Painting and Beyond" class at The Art League 
School. First we paint in Mars Black and white, establishing the shapes and forms of the pears. After
that dries for a week, we glaze the grisalle ("gris" means "gray" in French) with Gamblin's Transparent
Red Earth, blot it where we don't want too much of the influence of that color, and then paint the pears
using a limited palette. This study was probably completed in about twenty minutes, but I still like it, and
think it is a successful, loose painting.

Two Life Studies of Alan from Class

6.5" x 8", Pencil and White Gouache on Brown Paper

I did this page of studies during a class I was teaching at The Art League.
It is called "Figure Drawing in Varied Media", and every quarter I have the
class try some new materials. This was done when we were using a combination
of pencil (could also be colored pencil and a different colored paper) and
white gouache highlighting on toned paper. I was happy with these studies
and saved them. -  I am so sad that Alan moved to Florida. He was such a
wonderful model, and a real gentleman. We all miss him.

Artichokes on a Pink Plate



Oil on Gessoed Ragboard laid down on wood, 5" x 8"   SOLD

I really enjoyed doing this painting. It was truly a challenge analyzing

the colors in the artichokes. Who ever thinks about actually mixing pink

and green together? Of course, they are complementary colors, but we

usually think about mixing red and green to create a muted, neutral

color. Here, I had to create many different versions of green, and some

spots were almost iridescent. I love these colors! -  I think I may keep

experimenting with artichokes, or, I bought some beautiful small

Indian eggplants at an amazing international supermarket that we

go to. They are a rich purple/rose color with contrasting green/brown

stems. Now I just have to come up with a composition that will do

them justice. Color is an amazing thing - it is almost alive in its

ability to interact and create any effect that you can think of.

Josef Albers was correct when he described color as being the

most "mercurial" aspect of art. But mastering color -- that is the

challenge that every artist faces, and for some it is a never-ending,

totally absorbing pursuit. I know that it is for me.



Boston Sunset for Teresa Toulouse

Oil on Board, 5.5" Square                                                 SOLD

If it seems as though I am obsessed with this image, that is correct.
Perhaps it is because I lived here for nine years, and looked out of
this window every day. I just find the shapes to be endlessly fascinating,
and the opportunities to play with color presented by creating skies to
be endless fun.

This was painted for a dear friend whom I have known for forty-two
years  - I can't believe it...time really does fly.

Caribbean Seascape for Patrick Toulouse

Oil on Belgian Linen, 4.5" x 7"
Sold

This is my first post since last August....it has been a long,
difficult and enlightening year. However, it was a year

without any artwork produced, and I am so grateful to

be painting again. I have so many ideas and subjects, and

mediums that I want to work in -- I wish I could work
twenty-four hours a day! Right now I am really interested

in producing landscapes and figure paintings, so that is
what you will probably see here. We'll see.....

Thanks for your faithfulness, and thanks for visiting.

Cloud #21 - Boston Evening Star

Oil on paper, 5" square

This is an image I have worked and reworked many

times. It is the view from my studio (and after that,

my newborn daughter's room...) when I lived in

Boston in the 80's and early 90's. Like some figure

poses, there is something about the shapes in this

image that I find endlessly intriguing. I witnessed

many sunsets from this window, and I could prob-

ably do 25 more of these paintings and never get

bored, mining my memory for colors.

This was supposed to be a "daily painting", but

ended up being a "two-day daily painting" because

I needed to create two layers.

Thanks for visiting today.

Cloud #20 - Ocean Sunset

Oil and Acrylic on Gessobord, 7" x 5"

Cloud #19 - A Potomac Afternoon

Oil on linen-covered panel, 5' X 7"

I really enjoyed doing this painting on linen panel today. I have

painted this composition before in gouache, and I'm happy with

the way it came out in oil. More colors, more complex water in

some ways. It is fun to make it up using what I know and remember.

Things like this aren't always successful, but it's a wonderful feeling

when it is.

Cloud #18 - Storm over Fields

Oil on Belgian Linen, 3.84" x 7.15"

I decided to paint on some of my canvas today for a change. The

texture of the Belgian Linen is so fine - it is just beautiful. It was

a nice change to work with bristle brushes instead of soft hairs.

Thanks for visiting.

Sharon Reclining Redux

Oil on board, 10" x 6.5 NFS

Andy in Color (hand-colored drypoint etching)

Drypoint Etching and Colored Pencil

2.6" x 3.8"

Andy was a great model who used to pose for

my figure drawing class. He had a beautiful

profile, and that is why I was inspired to do

this drypoint of him. I decided today to enhance

the print with colored pencil, and I am very happy

with it.

Italian Twilight

Oil/Mixed Media, 3.74" x 2.86"

This tiny mixed media piece depicts the last rays of the

sun illuminating a building in an Italian piazza. I lived in

Italy many years ago, and have always been fond of

depicting Italian scenes.

Thanks for visiting today.

Cloud #17 - Starlight over fields

Oil on archival gessoed ragboard, 5.25 x 5.25 "

bid here

Cloud #16 - Sunset over fields

Oil on Archival Gessoed Ragboad, 4.1" x 3.4" SOLD

I am continuing with this series, for as long as it lasts.

Thank you for visiting.

Cloud #15 - Storm in the Mountains

Oil on Gessoed Ragboard, 7.5" x 8.5" SOLD

Cloud #14

Oil on gessoed ragboard, 4.75 x 4.75" SOLD

I know it has been a long time since I have posted

anthing at all. A broken wrist and a nagging physical

problem, unfortunately, conspired to keep me from

painting. But, I am better now, and glad to be getting

back to work.

This is a continuation of my cloud series - apparently

I am not done with these yet. They are fun, I have to

say. Just free and easy painting on a small scale --

a good way to ease back into the discipline of regular

working.

Thank you for visiting today.

Wave and Reflections

Gouache (opaque watercolor), 4 1/4 x 3"

I'm teaching gouache again this quarter at school,

so I've been practicing the medium in order to be

able to give demonstrations in class.

I was quite pleased with the overall appearance of

this piece - particularly the reflections. (love those

little pieces of blotter paper!)

All of my work in this medium is small, and as a

matter of fact, I keep it all in notebooks. This was done

on Fredrix watercolor canvas, which I love. I cut

it out and pasted it in my landscape notebook with

all the other paintings. I love my collection of notebooks!

Thanks for visiting.

Woman from Giza

Pencil Drawing, 2 1/2 " x 3 3/4"

I went to Egypt in 1972 - many years ago. But

I still vividly remember the women and their

sometimes ornate, but usually, black, clothing.

I found this image in an old book about Egypt.

There was no credit for the photo, or I'd give it

here.

Thanks for visiting.

Reworked Iris

Oil on Archival Rag Board, 7" x 11"

bid here

I actually presented this piece quite a while

ago in my blog, but, the other day I was looking

at it and realized that it was not done yet.

So I got out my paints (particularly transparents)

and went to work finishing it off. There is not quite

as much pink in the background as it appears in this

photograph.

Every spring I get the urge to paint flowers - well,

actually I like to paint them all the time, particularly

in gouache. They have such wonderful shapes and colors,

and it is always a problem to figure out how to portray

their delicacy and ephemeral qualities, as well as the

color. This is especially fun in gouache, which can be

used either opaquely or transparently. One can

communicate a lot of information with this combination.

It is great.

Thanks for looking. Sorry about the lack of postings recently.

I've been on a small "vacation" from my work. Hope to be

getting back into it now.

Cloud 15 - Autumn Afternoon

Oil on Gessoed Ragboard, 4" x 4"

click here to bid