Rocky 2

This painting for sale.  7 1/2 x 11  $15

I'm not sure which one of the two of these is better.  I think I like the first one better, but I am not fully convinced.  This Rock got a bit cluttered, but I like the sand a little better.  The other sky, i think is a bit better...   Hmmm, well, I guess its in the eye of the beholder.  Hope you like this one too.

Morro Rock

Continuing with the theme of painting things from around the area, here is one of Morro Rock.  Well, part of Morro Rock anyway.  Please enjoy.

That same Monterrey Cypress, only a little different

First off, let me apologize for the poor image and the blue painters tape.  This painting is too large for my scanner, so I had to take a photograph.

That being said, i think i did a fairly good job with this.  The tree looked great when I was painting, but it could be a bit fuller.  If I were to do it again......  But the stump at the left looks much more forward than yesterdays.  I like this one too.  Maybe I'll stick with these trees for a while.

Monterrey Cypress 2

Here is the second part of the Monterrey Cypress series of paintings.  I think I will continue them next week as well.  I think this one turned out fantastically and am charged up to do another one. Hope you all enjoy it.

Monterrey Cypress 1

If you are not lucky enough to live in an area that has these trees, you are missing something.  They totally look like the wind is blowing on them all the time, and it is all they can do to stand up.  They get these fantastic long branches on them, and their trunks and branches branch and bend at crazy angles.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to paint them.  I rather like the way the middle trees turned out.  I definitely will be trying to do a few more of these.  Check back for them

Still Trying

Found a tutorial on line about how to paint this picture.  The tutorial came out a lot better, but I think I gave it a good go.  If you remember several months back, I painted this same picture from the same tutorial.  I think this one came out better.  I guess if I keep at it, and paint this one a dozen more times, i just might get a great one.  Enjoy

Another Wooden Wall Sculpture

 Here is the newest sculpture.  Some call it the winking eye, others call it the wooden football.  I call it cool.  Its hanging in my office and if nobody buys it that will be alright with me because I think this is the best sculpture I've done.

Its a good thing that this is the one I like most because it might be the last one I do.  I've just about run my  course with these wood sculptures, so....
Well, maybe i've got one more, but I'm definitely gonna end this line of sculpture and start a different one.

Going to the Birds (or Bird in this case)

Flipping through the pages of a book i came across a picture of a flamingo, and for some reason felt the need to paint it.  I am trying to draw black lines on my paintings, which is something that a lot of artist do, and I think it works on this painting.  I'm not sure why a few black lines make it look right.  And I am not sure why i have been against doing it for a year or so now, but I think I will be adding pen to my paintings more often from now on.

Doors and Stairs.

Alright, I added to the stairs just a bit.  Everyone needs a few nice plants growing on your porch.  I think the plants really help the picture.  They somehow give it more depth.  I only with she rest of the picture was a little better.

This picture is one I copied nearly directly from a picture (save the plants) of  some stairs.

This picture is my take on the first one.  Tried to do it a little differently.  The rocks are done with a little different technique, and the stairs too.  I am not sure which one turned out better (or worse if you are a glass half empty person).

simple little door

Just a simple little doorway to try to get perspective right.  Not quite sure I've got it right, but, I'm gonna keep on trying.

The newest sculpture

Here are the pictures of the newest wall sculpture I have made.  It took me a whole week of lunch hours to complete, but I did it, and I think it looks fantastic.  Hope you all enjoy it, and don't forget to look at my Etsy store.

Staircase - Work in Progress

There will be additional details painted on this picture as it is a work in progress, but can you just imagine this as a staircase in some old european town?  I know I can (especially since I saw the picture it came from).  White stucco walls with a little moss growing on them, and even more moss growing on the steps themselves.

Actually, Im just glad that the staircase looks as though it is coming forward and not completely flat.  Ive got some plans to put some foliage in the foreground and maybe on the landing.

Enjoy.  I hope to have more up on Monday.

Study of Covered Bridges

Here is a study of 4 covered bridges.  I ways think back to childhood in the fall and the covered bridges in Newton Falls.  While none of these are the  one in Newton Falls, I think they do a perfectly good job of reminding me of fall and home.  Hope they bring back some fond memories for you too.

Another Sailboat? Awww, Come on!!

I guess it was a slightly sunnier day when I painted this picture.  I think I've actually got a better hull shape on this boat, but not sure I captured the boat as well as I did on the last one.

comments please.

Sailboat WIP

Yes, its still a work in progress.  I need to add some railings, and some cables, but I think for what I have so far, its turned out pretty well.

comments?

bunny, veg, woman

Ok, so these two aren't really related, they just happen to be posted at the same time.  and to answer your question, no, there was no model for the bottom pic.

I think i got my proportions off just a bit on the first one.  I've got a rabbit as large as a pumpkin, and potatoes and corn that are dinky in relation.  Hmmmm, well, it is just a first attempt.

Enjoy

A boat for the weekned

Here is the same boat as yesterday, but this one has a little different perspective.  Enjoy it.

Catching up with some things

I haven't done much painting lately because work has been so busy.  I am desperately trying to  reclaim my lunch hour and painting.  I thought I would step back and do something simple to start back up, so I did the orange door.  It, of course, didn't turn out like I wanted.  But I still like it, there are some good elements there.  Then I did the little boat, and again, good and bad.  I've been wanting to do some different kinds of paintings for some time, and my friend Carrie was nice enough to volunteer for this painting.  Let me know what you think of these.

Boat at Dock

Well, a few things.  This one was really fun to paint, but I made like a million mistakes in doing it.  The clouds are almost non existant, the reeds in the front are there because I painted the underside of the dock poorly.  The antenna on the boat is really supposed to be the mast of a ship behind the boat.

But its all good, I had a great time painting this picture and for all its faults, think it turned out great.

Castle on a Lake

This one took me two lunch times to complete.  Well, it took one, plus about 15 minutes, but who's counting.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I really like the reflections in the water.  Maybe this will be the start of some really good paintings for me.

castle

Here is a castle up on a bluff.  A road runs along the fence up to the castle.  The castle itself is in ruins and casts a shadow on the ground to the left .

House in a field

Well, it's been a while since I posted a painting.  I hope you all enjoy this one.  The stone wall doesn't quite have the depth that I hoped it would, but I'll work on that and make it better.  The house looks good, the trees, not too bad, and the grasses have good colors.  Admittedly, it's not the most exciting picture in the world, but I wanted to give it a shot.

Return to Catalina

Well, I wanted to do a little bit different with this.  I wanted to simplify the boats, lighten the water and move the horizon down just a bit.  I think I managed to do those.  What I am not sure of is if I painted a better picture or not.

26 miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is waiting for me

This is the first painting of the Casino on Catalina Island. The building is an historic landmark. Built in the 20's and home to the worlds largest ballroom dance floor. I've wanted to paint it for quite a while, but have been afraid to do it. This is my first attempt, but it wont be my last. The good? Well, I think it is that I really captured the essence of the building; The isthmus that it sits on, with the palm trees around it. The rest of the picture is questionable. The building itself is almost smack in the middle, the boats in Avalon harbor look terrible. But like i say, its my first attempt. My second will be much better.

San Luis Obispo Mission2

If you liked yesterdays painting, you will probably like this one a bit more.  The wall in the foreground is a bit darker for a bit of contrast and the building is just  a bit lighter.  There is some definition between the tree on the right and the rosemary growing over the wall.  The shadows are pretty good, and the sky is pretty good.  Enjoy.

San Luis Obispo Mission

Ok, so the August watercolor painting challenge on the artist site to which I subscribe is "local historic buildings."  I am bound and determined to learn to paint buildings.  Most pictures of the Mission are not all that interesting, at least imho. This one, though, rather caught my attention.  I thought I could have a go at it.  So here it is.  I didn't wet the paper totally before I began, and found out that I should have.  The tree behind the rosemary on the right hand side needed to be a different color so that there was more of a distinction between the two.  I didn't include too much detail in this because it was my first attempt and I wanted to try getting the essence of the building before I tried mastering the building.  Its a big stucco building, but I think I did a fair job for my first attempt.

Tuesday Lunch - Dexter Patio

This is the second week I've gone outside to paint. This picture, while not all that good, probably, is miles ahead of what I did outside last week. It is such a learning experience to do this. Do I sit in the sun or shade? How fast is the paper drying? How come the colors in my travel pack don't look the same as the ones in my studio? Will I finish in time? Do I have the right brushes? Whew! I think the trees on the right turned out great, the trees on the left got a little muddled. The shrub infront of the window is supposed to be behind the tree on the left... and right for that matter, but its the look of it infront of the tree on the left that really throws the picture off.

Well, some good some bad in this one, but it was definitely an experience.

Hearst Castle Tower

Here is a quick work of one of the towers of Hearst Castle.  If you don't know, I am scared to death to paint buildings.  For some reason they cause me fits.  Well, I am bound and determined to be able to paint them reasonably well.  This is an effort to paint in a very loose style.  I was trying hard not to focus on the details like the gargoyles, the cross pattern in the windows, the molding, railings, or the joint of the granite, rather just to paint the essence of the building.  I guess its like trying to paint what you see if you were to look at the building through a piece of gauze or hosiery.  I think for a first attempt at it, and for being a bit afraid of building, I did a pretty good job.

Wood Wall Sculpture

Here is another wall sculpture.  The first three I made sold right away, with any luck this one will too.  Its funny that I started my Etsy store to sell my paintings, and just kind of made these on a whim, but these are what I ened up selling.

A second attempt at that same vineyard.  I love the new tree method.  Painting them now really is fun.  I think I got a bit heavy handed with the colors in the foreground, but the building is much better than the previous one.  Hope you all enjoy.

Vinyard

Well, the lesson from this one is that Michael really needs to work on his buildings.  I like the pine trees, the grass is ok, I can even live with the vines, but  the building is hideous.  I guess I've got my work cut out for me.

I really like this technique for the pine trees though, i think they look great.

lone boat

Just like the other sailboat that I painted, this one it still kind of a work in progress.  I like where it is at so far, but I need to put a sail on the boom on this little boat.  I love that there is actually depth to the water and that the trees in the distance just give the hint of detail.    I think a little more work and this one will be really nice.

Tuesday Lunch

So, today, I and one of the faculty members here, decided to have a paint-n-lunch. We went to the lawn by the College of Business and painted. Rules are you can paint whatever you see in any manner you want to paint it, but you have to be done in less than an hour. As we found out, by the time we got there and got ready, we really only had about 40 minutes. This is my picture of the Cork Tree in front of the Rotunda. There is a building behind, and steps underneath along with a pathway that goes in front of, and around the building.

We are trying to learn to paint faster and looser. For the most part, I like the painting. My cork tree turned out a bit funny, but for a first attempt at painting outside and with a hard deadline, I think it turned out pretty good.

Moored Sailboat

Before

After

Just a quick one.  I wanted to make some killer reflections on the water, but, while I got some reflections they didn't quite turn out like I had hoped. I think I should have used a bigger brush for the water.  And the picture I took this form had almost no detail in the background and upon reflection, I should have put a little more.    Well, just wanted you all to see what I was working on.

So I have done just a bit of extra work on this one. I still have to go in and fix the trees in the distance, but I think just the changes I made make it look much better.

Another one From Montana de Oro

This is another one from Montana De Oro State Park near where I live. This one looks north toward Spooners Cove. I really think I am making progress. The last two pictures I've painted, I've felt like I knew what I was doing while painting. I know its not the most technical painting in the world but I finally feel like I could reproduce this with consistency and an nearly ready to tackle something more difficult.   I would like to do something a little different with the grass in the foreground, but I need to figure something different out.  Still one of my favorites.

Montana de oro

Just a little one from here on the central coast.  This is Montana de Oro State Park.  I love the picture an tried to do a few special things with it.  Most notably, let the color get a little lighter from a background layer to the one in front of it.  I tried scratching in some highlights too, but I think I waited just a little bit  too long to do it.  We'll see if I get any better on the next try.

final dock

I like this one better than all the others.  The dock looks better, the water looks better, the sky looks better, even the boats look better.  I got some advice on painting water.  I think it really helped.  I'm just really pleased with the way this one turned out.

3rd times a charm?

The dock seems to have shrunk, though I think its the best one I've done.  The land around the lake I like, but the boats didn't come out as planned and the water seems a bit dark.  Not sure if I should try a fourth time.

dock 2

Not sure I really got any better with the one today.  I do like the reflections in the water, and I think i got the deck on the dock better, but I'm not sure the whole thing is any better.

Sittin on the Dock of the Bay

Ahhh, another nice relaxing venue.  A  little dock over the water and a few sailboats.

You may see this one repeated several times until I get it the  way I want.