This is a narrative painting that I actually started late last year and never quite finished. It's been languishing in the time-out room for months now. I did it for a laugh, especially for the guy in the mid-distance. He cracks me up. I was also going though a phase then, living vicariously through her, lol! I hope to finish it before too long.
At the risk of anthropomorphizing my dog, here's a painting of her I did from a photo that seemed to capture her almost human-like stare. Even though it came together very quickly, I may tweak this one with some details in the near future. I love her little mouth in this one and the stray hairs over her right eye.
A little Christmas composition. Sending out some lights within the darkness...
This study is a scene that became very familiar to me when I lived near Taos, New Mexico. I needed to find safe areas to walk my little dog Lola and maybe let her enjoy some off-leash time, something she loves. El Prado is a high-end neighborhood in the north section of Taos as you're heading toward Taos Ski Valley. It is dotted with well-kept modern adobe homes, the only drawback for me being that there are no paved roads in that area; in fact, much of Taos is unpaved, a bit of a nightmare in winter. That's why many of these nice homes are either unoccupied or rented out for the duration of what can sometimes be a brutal winter. I lived there for only one year in 2018, but it was a heavy snowfall that winter and I found it to be a deal breaker, coming as I did from the California coast, where snowfall is unheard of. Alas, even in El Prado, I found free-roaming dogs on occasion. I always had to be vigilant for my dog's safety everywhere I went, which was psychically exhausting. The views of Taos Mountain and the Ski Valley were always breathtaking, though, with the high desert carpeted in sagebrush.
This was an experiment that didn't go as planned, so I adapted the composition accordingly. The subject is an African moon moth, a fascinating flying creature with eerie eyespots giving a human-like appearance. For some reason, I found it very difficult to get a decent photograph of it. Ah, the elusive moon moth!
A simple study of two little piglets I've been wanting to do for a while in a warm composition.
Persian cats all seem to have attitude, and this one is no exception. They're fun to paint.
Continuing with the wolf theme here. This study wanted to be impasto, so I let it.
This is an experimental piece that I see as largely successful. I may do more to it, but I'm happy with the overall composition.
This abstract study has grown on me. I did a similar one back in 2017.
This is the finished second portrait of Dana in Jacob Dhein's portrait workshop. It was challenging in that the light sources were multiple. I worked from a photo taken indoors during the day and with ambient light sources coming in on three sides, plus an overhead light. I tried to evoke a sense of balance with it, but more importantly with this one, I wanted to capture her innate sweetness of nature, and in that regard, I'm happy with how it turned out. I also tried to incorporate a bit of abstraction but not confident enough with the technique yet to know how far to push it. That's why I'm taking his class. Remains to be seen what Jacob thinks. Update 12.5.2023: Just swapped in the finished portrait after applying a few refinements suggested by Jacob.
I'm taking a portrait painting workshop with Jacob Dhein, an amazing figure painter, and this is the first of what will probably be three portraits in all. It is a portrait of a wonderful ex-neighbor of mine, Dana, who still lives close by, so I may try her again in an interior space. The reference photo for this was taken outdoors on a sunny day. Jacob told us not to spend too much time on these, as they are skill-building exercises. This one took a couple hours and I've got a few more details to add, but it's essentially done. I'm pretty happy with it. Update 10/12/2023: I've completed the study, applying Jacob's suggestions from his critique. I still want to incorporate abstraction, but I think I'll leave it to the next one for that.
This is a rough portrait study of Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's muse and star in a series of short films he produced and directed, one of which was titled, "Poor Little Rich Girl." Edie herself was born into a wealthy ranching family in Santa Barbara, California. Around the age of 20, she made her way back East and eventually to New York City, where she found work as a model and met Andy Warhol. Sadly, she suffered from mental health problems, and died at the age of 32 of a drug overdose.
This little painting of a damselfish kinda captures how I feel right now, but I'm really happy with the colors. Thought I'd jump in on the "ring" bandwagon while I'm at it. I may tweak it later.
This is the third and final incarnation of an abstract whose second incarnation was very different from this painting. I was frustrated when I first arrived in the studio but was determined to make the most of my precious painting day. I'm happy with how it turned out, although looking back, had I stepped away before barreling ahead and drastically changing the whole thing, I would have stopped there and called it good, and would later have seen its merits. This is why I take photos of my work at every stage. There's always something to learn.
This was just for a hoot. I tried to keep it kinda loose, but these two do look a bit to me like Barbie and a rather bloated Ken in the pool, ha ha! Makes me smile, anyway.
