Still Life. Sweet Life.

Come visit my new blog of little paintings I do in the evening on the porch . . . Porchlight Paintings

little painting

2.5 x 5 inches

no place like home update 2

And here it is . . . the finished postcard. And now you can read about the play at www.mainstreetstage.org

No place like home update

First layer of glazing complete. Keeping it simple -- thanks for the comment, William!

No place like home.

As things heat up in rehearsals, Jenn and I are working on getting the postcard made for her play, "Like Home." Here's how it looks so far. This should work for the under painting . . . glazing tomorrow.

update to landscape 24x48

the latest on the horse portrait 16x20

2 color layers are in place . . . work to be done on the details next.



And here is the under painting that I'm also using as a reference and guide for what the final painting will be like.

a few from the past . . .

A couple of folks have asked to see some of my work and exercises from the past, so here we go! I even dug up a few that show the progress from sketch to painting.

1) Apples; 8x10 inches; umber and sienna under painting:



2) First color washes:



3) Color glazes:



4) Final painting:



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1) Milkmaid (Vermeer) copy; 16x20 inches; sketch in burnt umber and sienna:



2) Value under painting:



3) Color layers, and some glazing; still in progress:



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1) Roadbridge at Argenteuil (Monet) copy; 18x24 inches:



2) Still in progress:



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A house in Williamstown (commissioned work); 16x20 inches:

2 paintings in progress

Here are the two studio commissions I'm working on. The first is a horse portrait, 16x20 inches. Displayed here is the under painting done mostly in burnt siena, raw umber, and white.



The second, a landscape, 24x48 inches. I've started to lay in some color washes on top of the under painting. I'm keeping the values slightly lighter for now and plan to add much more contrast as more layers are added.

Why dirt on paper?

Many moons ago, a beautiful, soulful woman taught me how to draw in the small private room of a Montreal youth hostel.

"This is hard . . . how do I know what to do? It's so intimidating," I complained.

"Nonsense!" She said. "It's just dirt on paper . . . nothing more . . . dirt on paper."

And that was enough. We spent the next two days in the room together sipping tea and drawing.

We continue our journey together through life and art, joined now by a pair of kids and two furry, canine companions.

Welcome to Dirt on Paper.