"Florida Imperial" - SOLD

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Daily Paintworks has come up with a really fun idea, it's called the "DPW Challenge". I noticed the challenge this morning and decided to give it a go. It was difficult for sure. I had fun though, and as usual I learned a thing or two. This painting was done from a photograph taken and posted by the amazing Carol Marine. I look forward to future challenges!

"Bottle & Oranges"

I decided to stick with the glass theme. Clear reflective objects can be such a challenge to paint. There's a lot going on. You've got the glass itself, the reflections on the glass and then there's the background. Yikes! It's easy to let your mind overcomplicate things. I keep reminding myself to keep it simple.

"Bottle & Jar" - SOLD

I decided to work a bit more work on glass. I've got to go to the Salvation Army and look for some good bottles and glasses to paint. I found these around the house but it would be nice to have a variety of shapes, sizes and colors to choose from. I particularly like the old blue-green glass but the only bottle I have is way too tall to fit on a 6x6 inch panel.

"Two Eggplants"

I was forty five minutes into this painting and it wasn't really working. I stepped back about five feet and it became obvious. Wow... there was so much red in the skin of the eggplant that I wasn't capturing. So I added what I thought was a lot of red and stepped back again. Not enough! I was surprised how much I had to add to get it to look right.  I've got to remember to back up every few minutes. As artists we all know this, but it's so easy to forget.

"Pepper & Salt" - SOLD

I've got to get organized! There are a lot of things I didn't foresee when taking the daily painting plunge. For one, I've got a lot of paintings to manage. Some are drying, some need to be signed and photographed. I need to make some sort of drying/display rack so I can keep them organized yet visible. These little paintings are taking over my house!

"En Garde!"

I've been trying to decide what these peculiar little eggplants look like ... shorebirds maybe? I was surprised at how much red there is in the lighter areas. One frustrating thing though is that my photos seem to be exaggerating the blue in the shadows. Can't figure it out. Anyway, I think I'm going to saute them and put them on some homemade pizza!

"Plum Quartet"

Painting red objects can be a challenge. I try to create a convincing sense of light in my paintings by pushing the warm/cool relationships in the subject. However, when you lighten red it often turns a cool pink (too much white) or it turns orange (too much yellow). The solution I've found is to darken the darks with blue/purple and lighten the lights with yellow/orange. This may be too much info! Anyway, the key is to push carefully in both directions.

"Pink All Star" - SOLD

This is NOT my sneaker. Not that there is anything wrong with a man wearing pink shoes.

Ok.. on a more serious note,  I've had trouble photographing my paintings since I started laying on the thick paint. I seem to be getting more glare than I used to. I'm contemplating using a scanner instead of a camera. Has anyone done this? Would love some feedback. 

"Salt Shaker and Limes" - SOLD

I've considered painting this salt shaker for quite a while. It's been in my kitchen for at least ten years and I use it every morning making breakfast. I've reached for it no less than a thousand times, but had I ever really looked at it? I mean REALLY looked at it. The time to paint it had come. I ignored my failed attempts at painting glass objects and went for it. Now I have seen it... and the above is what I saw. How's that for drama?!

"Polk and Vallejo"

Since my glass painting didn't turn out I figured I'd post a larger painting that I just finished. It's 28x22" which is the largest cityscape I've done. San Francisco is full of amazing architecture and the light is so beautiful this time of year. This painting was exhausting to do! There's a lot of drawing to manage when doing any building, but victorians are in a class by themselves. Another challenge was to make the purple awning look like it was in bright sunlight. Purple is obviously a cool color so usually you'd use it in your shadows. This painting will be included in an upcoming show "Cityscapes" at the Studio Gallery on Polk St.

"Plums On The Run"

I thought it would be fun to try a sort of monochromatic painting of plums. The first was a wipe out as usual. I like this one though. I'm getting used to the wipe out process actually. Last night I tried to paint some empty glass bottles and I wiped my panel three times! I just couldn't make it happen. I tried again this evening and got a bit closer. Hopefully I'll have some bottles worth posting soon. Meanwhile, the learning continues.

"Golden Peppers"

I had a few wipe outs painting these peppers. They have a translucent quality that I wasn't quite capturing. It was frustrating but I'm glad I finally arrived at a happy place. They were under the lights so long they were partially cooked!

"Cucumber Slices" - SOLD

This cucumber was in the refrigerator way longer than it should have been. I don't think it would have been very good eatin' but it was fine for paintin'.  It smelled rather nice too. Is that why they're used in spa treatments?

"Kiwi Wedges" - SOLD

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I had to do three kiwi paintings before I was happy with the result. The first one was a wipe out. In the second one the kiwis looked good but the composition didn't really work. So here it is... the one that worked! I've been noticing that it often takes a few attempts when painting something I haven't painted before. The biggest challenge for me in painting kiwis was deciding how to handle the seeds.

"Jacks #1" - SOLD

I've wanted to paint jacks for a while but to be honest the idea made me nervous. I wondered how I'd paint something so detailed in a broad sort of way. Finally I decided the best thing to do was to just roll the jacks, stop thinking so much, pick up my brush and get to work!

"Lime Wedges with Knife"

More fun with thick paint! I went and saw the Van Gogh and Gauguin show at the De Young about a month ago . I had only seen Van Gogh in print and it was inspiring to see his work in person. I must confess it made me feel that my approach to painting was somewhat careful and cautious. Since then I've been trying to let go a bit more. Let go.... but still try to keep the drawing somewhat accurate. It can be a tough balance.

"Two Red One Golden" - SOLD

When I first finished this painting I wasn't very happy about it. The painting looked way too careful. I decided I might as well have some fun with it, so I loaded on the paint. I used all of the white and most of the red I had left on my palette. Not only was I happy with the way it turned out, I found a new avenue to explore. More thick paint to come.

"Brushes" - SOLD

These aren't very good brushes to paint with but they make fun paintings subjects. They're pretty old I think... from the seventies. They were given to me recently and I wasn't sure what to do with them since the bristles were in pretty bad shape. I think I'll keep em around for a while.

"Pomegranates #2" - SOLD

I gave the pomegranates another try. I just found out that the seeds are called arils. So I made the arils a deeper red this time. This was a fun one to do, unlike the pair of golden peppers I tried to paint tonight. I couldn't get em to work no matter how hard I tried. And believe me, I kept trying. Hopefully I learned something, that's what it's all about.

"Oranges" - SOLD

When I first started painting I was primarily inspired by landscapes. One exciting difference I'm noticing with still life is the opportunity to explore saturated color. These oranges were just so.....orange!

"Rolled Coins" - SOLD

I was feeling inspired to paint something unusual so I figured I'd give these coins a try. My daughter and I had recently rolled em up.... $83.00! Anyway, the painting didn't really work for me until I added the individual coins. Sometimes a little change can make a big difference. Wow... I seriously did not intend that pun.

"Pomegranates #1" - SOLD

I wasn't sure this was going to work. I wanted to paint the seeds without getting too detailed. I suppose I wanted to "suggest" the seeds. My first attempts didn't really work out but it came together when I started experimenting with the highlights. I love pomegranates! They sure are messy to eat though.

"Crayons" - SOLD

Wow... this was a challenge for sure. Coloring with crayons = easy, painting them = yikes. It's funny how adding the dark little patterns at either ends of the crayons really pulled it together. I like the idea of painting everyday objects... more to come.

"Apples" - SOLD

I picked these apples at my daughter's school. We were there doing the annual clean up and I couldn't resist grabbing a few for a painting. They've actually been in my refrigerator for a few months and they're still in good shape. I haven't tasted them yet ... maybe I'll do another painting first.

"Limes" - SOLD

Well I bought a sheet of masonite from Lowe's and cut it up into 6x6" inch squares. You can get a lot of panels out of a 4x8'! Next I applied three coats of gesso, let it dry, and I was ready to go. I've painted on gessoed panels before but found myself a bit frustrated with how the paint handled. It felt good this time around though. I love limes. Ever squeeze em' into Diet Coke? YUM.