"Wedges and Blue Bowl" - SOLD

6x6" oil on Gessobord

More orange wedges! Another bowl!

I received an email yesterday requesting some info on the brushes I use. Deb asked: "Could you share with us what type of brush you use for a 6x6 or 8x8 to get these nice fresh looking strokes?" 

As for brushes, lately I've been using a Princeton 6300B size 8 for my 6x6" paintings. I've been attempting to use this size brush for the whole painting. It's pretty big for such small work but it holds a lot of paint and its inability to handle detail forces me to simplify. 

Another key to the fresh stroke look is to use medium to thin your paint.  I use a mixture of 1 part stand oil, 1 part linseed oil, 2 parts mineral spirits. The medium allows you to get good coverage in a single stroke. It's also helpful to paint on Gessobord or gessoed masonite, with the mentioned medium and the smooth surface of the Gessobord you can really lay down some creamy spontaneous looking brushwork.

When I paint on canvas my approach is a bit different. I don't use any medium at all and I tend to use inexpensive Utrecht brights and flats.

"Gang of Wedges" - SOLD

6x6" oil on Gessobord

I've been driving myself a bit crazy lately in my attempts to post the most faithful digital representation of my work possible. I photograph my paintings on overcast days, or in the shade when it's sunny. I try not to do any post production at all, just leave them as they come out of the camera. The problem is, the paintings look slightly different depending on where they're viewed. If they're in the kitchen they look one way, from a distance they look another, in the dining room different still.... I think you see where I'm going here. Yes, going nuts. I often spend a half an hour making adjustments in iPhoto and then move the painting to a different room and find my adjustments look all wrong! My conclusion? I've decided to save my sanity, trust Canon technology and post them just as they come out of the camera. Any of you painters out there having similar fun? 

"On Edge"

6x6" oil on Gessobord

My first still life in months. I ate them with breakfast and they were GOOD! I managed to pick up a new computer today. I was in and out of the Apple store in about twenty minutes, it took about ten minutes of set up at home and then I was back in business. 

"Blue Bowl" - SOLD

I've been noticing that drawing is getting a bit easier since I've been doing these daily paintings. Bowls, glasses, mugs, anything with a circular opening on top is still a real challenge. I can fuss over the drawing for a long time trying to get it right. Unfortunately painting half a bowl isn't half as difficult as painting the whole thing!

I'm excited about an upcoming show at the Studio Gallery called "Delicious". It's a group show featuring food and drink. I'll be working on some larger donut paintings for the show which I'll post on my blog. They'll also be showing some of my daily paintings, I'll post dates soon!

"Yellow Pitcher" - SOLD

This little pitcher is part of my Salvation Army "treasures". I'm finding the key to painting shiny objects is making sure you get the highlights and the reflections just right. In order to get the highlights to show up, you've got to make sure the surrounding color is dark enough. This can be tough, especially when the surrounding color is very light. As for reflections, the challenge is not making them too bright, which I seem to do every time! So I just darken them until they look right. I've been painting late at night and it's killin' me. I'm so glad the weekend is here!!

"White Teapot"

This painting begins a small series where the focus is on shiny ceramic objects. I chose this white teapot first and it may have been the most difficult. It took four attempts to get it to where I liked it! I do feel I learned a lot though.

"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.

"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!