Paint Faster - I Am Freezing Here

Standing on the coast painting is wonderful... even when it is freezing. It just motivates you to paint faster.
Here are three. Yes, three oil paintings I painted this afternoon with my oil brushes and mp3 player.
This work will be in the Crescent Harbor Gallery in Crescent City, California.

6x6 Oil On Canvas  simplified without surrounding brush

5x7 Oil On Canvas with simplified brush work

9x12 Oil On Board with minimal value change

The Art of Juggling

So, I was a volunteer whale watcher  for the WhaleSpoken.org organization this week in California talking to people about the grey whale migration. I swung by the Tuesday Painters in Oregon to pickup some art supplies for a friend when I was offered a juggling demonstration by a local artist, Mary Jo. Rob Decker, well known pastel artist and drawing instructor,  turned the tunes to an upbeat Japanese cowboy singer and Mary Jo's hips started swaying as she started to juggle.   Her juggling balls actually light up which makes it not only fun to watch but easy to find if she drops one.
Whale watching, Japanese cowboy music and  juggling artist all in one day. What are the odds of that happening? 

Alive and Well - Celebrating My Son's Graduation from College

Devin, The College Graduate

Me and My Husband

My Brother, Brady and My Sister-in-Law, Patricia

Uncle Brady and Devin

I am alive and well after swearing I would not get the local cold virus going around. Well, never say never. I was down for two weeks which meant no painting nor drawing... just slept and whined.  The cold could not stop me from celebrating my son graduating from college so here are the pictures from the Casablanca Moroccan Cafe. Still had fun between sniffles and coughs.

Still Life Drill

I met with fellow painters Tuesday to study, talk and work on our art. I did a still life drill of persimmons. I made the same mistakes that I have done in the past. I continue to not push the dark or push a bright and I forget about proportions.  I have a tendency to make objects larger as they recede. Where is  this logic coming from?  I need a good old fashion paradigm shift to push me past this.
How?  Practice, practice and more practice.

Side By Side

I decided I would push myself in open studio today by painting two side by side paintings of the model. I found I worked on one more than the other. Then the last 15 minutes, I had to make a decision as to what  strokes I needed to finish. It was a fun challenge.

One canvas sheet is larger than the other.  The model's  head was slightly tilted and sure enough... I straightened her face out. Darn.  And she has Kewpie doll lips and I just couldn't capture them. But, hey, I was painting today and that is a good thing.

Blonde's Are More Fun - To Paint

This was a fun portrait. The model was blonde with very pale skin and large blue eyes.  I didn't want to paint her skin too pale because it would look chalky. So, the instructor suggested I kept the under painting on the light side.