Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Still Life Paintings Completed


I just completed these still life paintings working from life in my studio. The bottle for the painting on the right was illuminated with a daylight light bulb, whereas the setup for the painting on the left was illuminated with a regular incandescent light bulb. This was a good exercise to observe and paint objects under different lighting situations, but now I am tired of painting blue bottles, and so I am moving on to a portrait!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Salmagundi Non-Member Show


I just found out that my colored pencil piece, Smile, has been accepted into the Salmagundi Club 34th Annual Juried Painting and Sculpture Exhibition for Non-Members. This show of original oils, watercolors, pastels, colored pencils, acrylics, mixed media, and sculpture will take place at the Salmagundi Club in NYC, and be on from August 8-19. For more information on this and other upcoming shows, see my Events page.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Still Life In Progress


Pictured here is a still life I'm painting from life in my studio. I have a light shining on the setup, and blackout curtains to keep daylight from interfering. I think that the next time I might try painting something illuminated with daylight, and try to restrict my painting to the same time each day (or paint really fast!)

I definitely appreciate being able to see so much more working from life. I also think that working from life makes it easier to stay aware of the object as a whole and keep colors and contrast in check. Probably the most difficult part is the initial sketch, having to compose the image without seeing it already cropped as in a photograph. 

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Picnic Completed

Below is the scanned image of my latest work, Picnic, 28" x 20", colored pencil on sanded paper.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Colored Pencil Work in Progress Preview


Above is a snapshot of a portion of the colored pencil drawing currently on my drawing table. I expect this piece to be done early next week...

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

On my easel


Above is a snapshot of the portrait currently on my easel - 14x18, oil on board. I don't usually keep track of how many hours each painting or drawing takes, but so many people ask, so this time I did. In terms of pure painting time (not including several hours of planning, sketching, and sometimes just staring at the painting looking for problems), this has taken 21 hours.