"Red Roses in a Ceramic Pitcher"

Here is my new painting, in oil, on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.



Here are the notes I've taken over time as I have painted it:

For session one, I did the under-painting. Unlike previous still-lifes, where I've primarily use transparent oxide brown as the main pigment, this time I used a half and half mixture of transparent oxide brown and ultramarine blue. I like my under-paintings warm, but I felt that the straight transparent oxide brown was too warm. I did use more of the pigment in the wooden table, however, because I felt that that was appropriate. For the roses, I used terra rosa.

For session two, I wanted to do the background. At first, I mixed up cadmium yellow and ultramarine blue, and tried to cut that with transparent oxide brown. That, however was too yellow, so I mixed some permanent green medium to pump up the green a bit.

Next, for session two, I worked on the pitcher and bowl. I got that to a place that I am satisfied with.

Session three brought me to the roses. The trouble I had with the roses is making them light enough. I used cadmium red medium, and I wish I had a cadmium red light. I tried to use titanium white to lighten them up, but that made it too pink. I tried to use cadmium yellow to lighten them up, but that made them too orange. They are the way they are, I guess. I just wish the value was lighter.

For session four, I added a reflection to the table, added the missing legs for the table, fixed one of the leaves that was too cool, and that was about it. It might be done. I might sit on it for the rest of the week and see if there is anything I want to change.

Here are links to images for each session to show the progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Final

Under-drawing

This is the under-drawing for my new painting:

Plein Air Class, Week Seven

This week, I completed my painting in one session. It is a desert scene. I do not paint a lot of desert scenes, even though I live in the desert southwest. This is a rare exception.

Plein Air Class, Week Six

For two weeks in class, I worked on this painting, of a plant with white and purple flowers in a terracotta pot.

Plein Air Class, Week Four

Here is the painting I did for week four for my plein air class. It is in oil on a 11 by 14 inch canvas. It was painted at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

Since I was not there for week three, I had only one session to complete this painting. I went as quick as I could with no under-painting, finishing it in about three hours.

Plein Air Class, Week Two

This is last week's panting completed. It is in oil, on a 11 x 14 inch canvas.

Plein Air Class, Week One

I'm taking a plein air class at the Drawing Studio. For week one, we went to Agua Caliente Park, on the east side of Tucson. There we had a scene of reeds in water, with palm trees and vegetation in the background. Below is what I painted. It is using one color, a mix of transparent oxide brown and ultramarine blue. Next week, I will add color.

Artist's Statement

I have been working on my artist's statement over the past week or so. It took a lot or writing and rewriting on my iPad to finish it.

They say an artist's statement should be two to three paragraphs long and about 100 words. Mine is three paragraphs long and about 150 words, which is a bit long. That is about as short as I could make it and still say what I wanted to say, though.

This is what I came up with:

Some have described me as worldly; I enjoy international cuisine, fine wine, and world travel. All that would be meaningless, however, if I could not put it on canvas. I guess then that I am a worldly painter.

Many of my paintings show scenes in the kitchen, the most important room in the house, a meeting place for friends and family. Others relive the travel adventures my wife and I have taken to intriguing places. Through it all, I try to use the classic techniques of the old masters but with modern pigments and mediums.

Painting time is a peaceful time, a time of deep concentration. It is alone time. It is a time spent between me and the canvas. Each painting I do is like a journey to a city that I've never been to before. No matter how much I prepare, I do not know what it will be like until I get there.

"Pumpkin Pie"

Here is my latest painting. I wanted to do a kind of Fall themed painting, something that would be good around Halloween and Thanksgiving. This is what I came up with.

This painting is an oil on linen, 24 by 18 inches.



Below are the notes I've taken while painting it:

Session 1 was basically the under-painting. I used transparent oxide brown for the whole thing. I think it turned out pretty well. The transparency of the pie dish comes through. You can tell what the various things are in the painting. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I may go in with a glaze of ultramarine blue to really darken up the deep shadows.

For session 2, I started on the pumpkins and the rim of the pie dish. I used terra rosa, cadmium yellow deep, cadmium yellow pale, cadmium red medium, transparent oxide brown, and a touch of ultramarine blue.

Session 3 saw a lot of changes. First, I laid in the background, a mixture of permanent green light, transparent oxide brown, titanium white, and a touch of ultramarine blue in the light areas.

Second, I worked on the pie dish. Here, I really struggled to mix the turquoise of the transparent glass. I mixed up all sorts of combinations of cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, permanent green, and titanium white with no success. I then searched my paints to find another green. That is when I found viridian. I had never really used it before. However, I found that it was the turquoise I was looking for. I used that directly, and then some mixed with titanium white. It was perfect.

Lastly, I darkened up my darks with ultramarine blue, mixed with transparent oxide brown. I also added a light glaze of ultramarine blue to my wood areas. I may go in with another glaze of transparent oxide brown again, to darken things up and add a little warmth back in.

For session 4, I worked on the whipped topping container. I like the container because of its blue color, the compliment of orange. That works well with the pumpkins.

For session 5, I worked on the reflections in the table. It really made the painting pop. I think it might be done. I will sit on it a few days, and see if I want to change anything.

If you want to see the progress over time, use the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Under-drawing

Here is the under-drawing for my new painting. This one has sort of been a long time coming. I set up the still-life, took some reference photos and was getting ready to put it on the canvas when I scrapped it, panicked, and had to reformulate the idea. I am happy with my second go-around, though. I think it has a nice fall theme. I'm hoping that I finish the painting before fall is over.

Impressionism/Expressionism Class

These two paintings were done in class. The idea was to work with a large brush and put the painting down a quickly as possible. Both these paintings are in oil on a 16 by 20 inch canvas. Each were done in about 2 hours.

"Juicy Fruit"

Here is my new still-life. It is on a 16 by 20 inch canvas, and is in oil.



Over time as I painted it, I took notes after some of the sessions. You can read those below:

For session 1, the under-painting, I used two pigments, terra rosa, and transparent oxide brown.

For session 2, I filled in some of the background. Rather than using one pigment for the whole thing -- what my painting instructor calls house painting -- I mixed up some various shades and tints of green, the lighter ones being cooler, and the darker ones being warmer. I dabbed it on making subtle variations, pushing darker foreground items with lighter paint, and the opposite with lighter foreground items. It was a little bit of an experiment. We'll see if it works.

For session 4, I toned back the background a bit. I thought that the texture of the background was competing with the rest of the painting. Also, each session, I darken up the wood using transparent oxide brown. The reflections in the wood are quite bright, so I may tone them back with a glaze later on.

Session 5 was supposed to be done. In fact, I signed it. Over about a week, however, I did some touch ups. As a result, I made it into its own session below.

If you want to see the progress over time, check out the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Under-drawing

Here is the under-drawing for a new still-life, another kitchen still-life. It is on a 16 by 20 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 6

Here is last week's painting finished. To be honest, I liked it better as a monochrome. It think it was very striking with the difference between light and shadow. Still, it is not bad, so I'm putting it up.

Actually, my instructor likes it better with color, so who knows.

This painting is in oil, on a 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 5

This week we had a live model, a (rather masculine) woman with a mohawk. We will have the model next week as well, so this is a painting in progress. In fact, it is a monochrome using one pigment, transparent oxide brown, that I plan to use as the under-painting. Next week, I hope to finish the painting.

Portrait Painting, Week 3

This is my painting for this week's Portrait Painting class. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 2

My new class, Portrait Painting, continued this week. This is the painting I started in class, and finished at home. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 1

I started a new class this week, Portrait Painting. This is the painting I did in class. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Pre-portrait, Week 6

Here is last week's painting finished:

Pre-portrait, Week 5 - Continued

Here is the under-painting for the next still life we are doing in class. It is 8 by 10 inches, done in one pigment, terra rosa. The still life is of a vase, nectarines, and a flower.

Pre-portrait, Week 5

Pre-portrait, Week 2

This week, we worked on a still-life of some pears sitting on a wooden shelf. I did this painting monochromatically using a pigment called Terra Rosa. It is on a 9 by 12 inch canvas.

Pre-portrait, Week 1

I am taking a new class at the Drawing Studio. This time, the class is called Pre-portrait, which is basically a still-life painting class, to prepare for painting portraits.

This week, we did a small, monochromatic painting. Mine was done using one pigment, Van Dyke Brown. It is on a 9 by 12 canvas. The subject is basically cloves of garlic.

"Finger Pricker"

This is my latest finished still-life. It is in oil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. It took about 25 hours to complete from start to finish, over about a month.




If you want to see progress while painting it over time, click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Still-life Under-painting

Here is the under-painting for my new still-life.

Still-life Under-drawing

This is the under-drawing for my next still-life. It is on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.

"A Little for the Cook"

This is my latest completed still-life, in oil, on a 18 by 24 inch canvas.



If you wish to see the different painting sessions while it was in-work, you can click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Final

Still-life Under-painting

Here is the under-painting for the new still-life. This time, I used three pigments: burnt sienna, burnt umber, and cerulean blue. The idea was to take the white of the canvas away, and give a little indication of value, and temperature.

Pencil Lay-in of a New Still-life

Here is my new still-life of a wine glass, corkscrew, and bottle, chef's knife and tomatoes on a cutting-board, and a stack of cookbooks. This one is laid in with pencil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. I plan to paint this in oil.

"Aisles Six and Seven"

This is a completed still life in oil on a 18 by 24 canvas.



If you want to review painting sessions on for this painting, you can use the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Final