Agave - March 28, 2010

Took a photo yesterday of this wonderful agave cactus and painted it today. I love the blue-grey-green color and the contrast of the shadows.

Burr Oak in Winter - March 26 - 27

It is always fun to paint this tree. This time I did the sky, background and road first and let it dry overnight, then added the tree and foreground.

Listen to the Music! March 21 - 23

Went to a Doobie Brothers concert Sunday night and was inspired to attempt this. The effect from a distance is pretty good. I masked the figures, but forgot to mask the lights - big mistake! I started with the colored streams of light, then did the darks, then back to the colored lights at the end. I think in retrospect I should have masked those as well and saved for last. I might try one like this again - it presented a lot of challenges.

Orchid - in progress

I took a lot of photos today - mainly of birds in the snow on the first spring day. But decided to paint this orchid.

Lake Sundance Spring Sunset - March 18

Finished this one last night. I am happy with the colors and overall look.

I tried some different techniques on this one. Obviously did wet on wet. But started with glazes - yellow, then pink, then blue, then purple. I took the picture tonight - it is always fun to paint something that I saw just that day. I will work more on this tomorrow but I like it so far.

I have really struggled with this one. I think it is done and I am looking forward to starting something new tomorrow. In some ways I am happy with it. Who knows, maybe I will love it when it is dry and I take off the tape.

Roses - in progress - March 14

Well, its not a complete train wreck - yet! I think this looks better in the photo than it does in person. I am sticking with this but I have to admit, I considered just ripping this one up. Amazing though how adding some blue really helped. Whoever came up with the idea of complimentary colors really had something...

Roses - in progress

I promised myself I would do another larger painting - this is 1/4 sheet. I had a nice photo of roses to use as a reference. I always seem to go through a stage in a painting when I think to myself, "Oh what a disaster". This one is at that stage. Time to let it dry and give myself some space.

I am glad that I am thinking of all of these as training exercises.

Lake Sundance at Early Spring - March 10-11

Finished this one last night, just didn't get a picture taken. I like the shine in the water. But did not get quite the effect I wanted in the distant trees. I might add a little more shadow back there.

Lake Sundance at Early Spring - March 10-11

Back to my comfort zone. Still need to remove the masking fluid and touch up. But very close to done. Didn't have much time to paint the last two nights. Tomorrow is also busy. Plan to do something more courageous over the weekend!

Tulips - March 7 - 9

I am afraid I may have over painted. I tend to want to fill in all the blank spaces. But I still love it!

Tulips - almost done - March 8

I have to admit, I am pretty psyched with how this looks in the photo! Hopefully it will still look good in the morning after it dries. I also still need to remove the masking fluid and touch it up. But, cool!

Tulips - more color - March 7

So far I am enjoying this experiment with bigger and more. Good thing I have the Academy Awards to watch tonight while the paint dries!

Tulips - first color - March 7

In wandering around on artist web sites I came upon Nicholas Simmons -http://www.nicholassimmons.com/artist/index.htm

In an interview he said that he felt it was best for artists to start painting from their imagination rather than from a reference photo. Hmmm. Then he said that an even bigger mistake was to use a reference AND paint small. Ouch!! So tonight I went big and pushed my envelope. Here is the first step.

Turtles on a Spring Day - March 6, 2010

I had to be stealthy to get the photo I used for this painting. As soon as the shutter clicked these turtles were gone. It was amazing how fast they were!

Pont Alexandre II

Sunrise from Pont Alexandre II makes you understand why all the gold leaf!

Les Invalides - in progress

Normandy Reflections

My friend Greg walking on the mud flats at Mont Saint Michel.

True False - Feb 28 - March 2

True False Film Festival. Had so much fun going to 9 great documentary films this weekend!

These guys were really cool. I wish I could capture them better. They used an overturned paint bucket and bells on a shoe for percussion. Banjo or guitar or mandolin plus accordion for chords. The next night we had a full brass New Orleans band playing "Oh When the Saints Go Marchin' In".