Meriwether Daybreak

Meriwether Daybreak, 11"x14", oil on RayMar panel, $225, unframed

This really got me excited. This is the limited palette with yellow ochre, aliZarin, burnt umber, and ultramarine blue. I did more pieces in this same palette including a plein air piece (actually I used transparent red oxide instead of the burnt umber). This palette is great for a cool misty morning, but that may be the end of it.

Earthtone Limited Palette

Limited palette of yellow ochre,  aliZarin crimson, burnt umber, ultramarine and titanium white

Anders Zorn used a limited palette very similar tho this one. In the last post I used raw sienna as my red... along with aliZarin, for the pieces to follow and on this palette, I have used a burnt umber to cool the palette down with exciting results.

Ford Decor

Ford Decor, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $640

Before we moved from Gay, I took a ton of pictures around a new business area that had sprung up. I made friends with a mechanic down there who knew some people who had great old stuff. The guy that owns the business park had this truck stripped of it's engine and had it out in front of the general store. Now it is painted with the logo of the store. Great idea and a very cool truck. This piece is another smaller one, but I love the color scheme and I think I will do it at 30"x40" or larger.

The color palette I used is a bit of a departure for me.... and I love it. It has given the mystery I have been looking for in my work. Since painting this, I have altered it and used it on a few more pieces. This was painted with yellow ochre, aliZarin crimson, burnt sienna, ultramarine and titanium white.

Palmetto River View

Palmetto River View, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Did this as a study for a larger piece, but just do love it like I should. It will just have to grow on me.

Darien Boats

Darien Boats, 12"x16", oil on linen panel, unframed, $250

Came across some of these old pictures from a camping trip to Jekyll Island. Darien is just up the coast towards Savannah and is known as a shrimping village. I found this to be quite a challenge... the water, the reflections, the boats, the clutter. Looking forward to more boat torture in the future!

From Below

From Below, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $250

Painted this guy en plein air last week when I went to Athens, GA... not your friendliest plein air town, BTW.

I asked a guy with a junk yard in downtown if I could take pictures of some of the cars (he had a '59 Caddy, old pick ups, old sedans, etc.) He said he didn't let people take pictures of his cars... then followed me out to my car to make sure I left. On my way back by he had some large dudes hanging around the gate. Weird.

The following day I was asked to leave a cemetery while setting up to paint an old bridge. They were polite, explained that they had had a lot of vandals and the families wanted to tighten things up. They also had a few suggestions of other bridges and cemeteries to paint.

From Below, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, unframed, $250

Chat Hills Creek

Chat Hills Creek, 11"x14", oil on RayMar panel, $200

Painted this this morning with a group of gals I enjoy painting with... that was enough for one day.

LaGrange Street Bridge

LaGrange Street Bridge, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Went out and painted with my buddy, Martin Pate. High noon, 95 degrees... glad we found some shade. I had to get out of the studio and start knocking the dust off for the Scott Christensen workshop.

Sunset, Small and Large

Sunset, 16"x20", oil on RayMar panel, $640

Sunset, 8"x10", oil on RayMar panel, $175

Another series of large and small pieces based on a sunset. I have found it very valuable to do a small study to work out the colors and composition. Then, when producing the larger piece, I can tweak whatever it is about that piece that wasn't working.

Peach on Gray

Peach on Gray, 4"x4", oil on panel, $75

Thought I would give it a go since I already had the colors out and time to kill. As Robert Genn always reminds us, you should never forget to play.

Peaches on Gray

Peaches on Gray, 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel, $150

Once again, playing with the shadow box but lacking in confidence. Lately things have reversed. I used to be most comfortable inside in front of a still life, now I am most confident standing in front of a landscape. Just trying to get y still life stride back.

Homestead

Homestead, 24"x30", oil on museum wrap, $1100, SOLD

Did this piece for a client who wanted this for his mom for Mother's Day.

She moved this house to the land in Texas years ago. She actually lived in it for years before she had plumbing and electricity put in.

His mother was going to live in assisted living and he wanted her to be able to take her house with her.

This is one of those pieces that I love to do and I hope it can be all they want it to be! From what I hear, she loved it. That makes me very happy!

Fried Rice, Steam Rice???

Fried Rice, Steam Rice?? 8"x8", oil on RayMar panel, $150

This came with my Thai take out a couple of weeks ago. Thought it would make an interesting study of an all white subject... it was hard to do!

Shadow Box and Painting Wall

A few of you have asked to see what my shadow box looks like, so here it is. It is not front and center in this these images, it is off to the right side and is holding my Mac and my monitor. It is roughly 18" square and has 2 slits in the back... one in the middle for light to go through and one in the very back so slip fabric or paper down for a back drop. This one is made of 1/2 plywood. I have another one that I made of 3/4 inch ply and it is 24" square and too big and heavy for the current study. It is also painted a midtone gray instead of black.

When I use it, I move it and the small tabouret onto the dresser where I have it lit form above. I used to paint looking down on subjects, but since the shoes series began... I like to look straight at it eye level.

When I was painting this Caddy, I had to use my old Julian easel, my paints and plein air gear were left in Florida so I did not have to fly with them. My larger pieces are painted hanging on the wall over the dresser.

PLease note the two monitors... the one on the right IS a monitor, the other is my TV. I have a bad habit of watching/listening to the TV... especially my races. They are mindless. I listen to music quite often as well.

Castaway

Castaway, 18"x24", oil on linen panel, NFS

I painted this same '59 Caddy years ago. Thought I would revisit it on my last linen panel for OPA Regional. Gotta say, I'm very happy with it.

Maritime Morning

Maritime Morning, 18"x24", oil on linen panel, NFS

While I was painting the lighthouse in Ponce Inlet, right across from me were these beautiful maritime forest trees, shaped by the wind and lit with that warm morning side light. I made a mental note of the colors and snapped a few images just in case I wanted to paint them in the studio.

Of course, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted them to be by entry for the OPA regional show. This was painted on the new linen panels I just got.

Signature Linen

The siZe constraint for the OPA regional show is 18"x24", so my piece Sky View is WAY too large. I ordered some Signature linen (CL 15DP) panels at 18"x24" to do 2 new pieces for consideration. I had painted on linen before, but this stuff is the bomb. I am afraid I am hooked on linen now, the paint just slips and slides all over it with little or no effort, something I really like.

Mine were mounted on 1/2" gatorboard and light as a feather. They were expensive, but worth every penny... somewhere around $48 a pop.

Beach Painting

Julie and I just got back from the family vacation in Ponce Inlet just south of Daytona. Our house was at the south turn of the original Daytona Road Course where NASCAR had their first sanctioned races until they were moved the super speedway in Daytona in 1959.

Ponce Inlet is beautiful and a great place to paint. You have the beach, and the on the backside you have the river. Lots of boats, sunrises, sunsets and of course, the lighthouse.

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, 203 steps. Great view from up there, too.

Easel system by James Coulter, artboxandpanel.com

Big and Little Heels

Ma's Heel, Study, 6"x8", oil on Raymar panel, $125

Ma's Heel, 12"x16", oil on RayMar panel, $250

Had this shoe from my grandmother, Ma, in the bag of shoes I keep at school for the kids to draw from. I brought it hope, painted a small study and then went for the larger piece.


I have enjoyed using my shadow box and using transparent red oxide and ultramarine or burnt sienna and ultramarine for my grays and blacks.

I have been trying very hard to work on my draftsmanship and my use of color and value. I feel like I have been making my own rules for the past couple of years. I am ready to take it to the next level. I am not using the palette knife nearly as much as I have been. Mostly, I use it to mix my paint and then modify my edges... not to mention adding some texture!