Skull on Green 255

Working on my drawing skills... need to do more of these, apparently. At the beginning of the summer I had pipe dreams of drawing or painting the skull everyday for a month. Maybe I'll try that later, I think that would really help me get creative with setup and composition

Three Peaches on Green 254

The county where I live in Georgia, Meriwether, is the second poorest county in the state and as far as I know, the number one or two producer of the best peaches in the world. There are 3 peach orchards with 10 miles of us. A couple of which are several generations old. If you have never had a true Georgia peach, you have yet to live. They are fuZZy, soft, sweet and about the siZe of your fist. None of those puny little peaches around here. One thing we do down here is keep up with the local produce. We have peaches everywhere. I plan on painting them until I can paint them no more.

Two On, Two Off 253

Trying to get my rhythm going. Life has been a bit hectic and I mow 3 acres with a push mower. I have 4 days to myself to paint, paint and paint some more. It was really hard to get it back together for this, took me all day to work up the nerve.

Santa Rosa Morning, 252

Started going back through my masses of pictures from this summer looking desperately for some inspiration or something. This piece goes back to when I first started painting and I was using house paint and some pictures of trees I took in Costa Rica. I used a color combo I painted last week. It took a long time to do, so I am pretty sure it doesn't have the freeness I really want for it to have. Either way, It was an experiment and a strange siZe and was fun to do!

Galvaston Caddy 253

Thar she blows! This is the piece I entered for the OPA Eastern US Show... I don't know if it will get in or not. My style and application are pretty wild and don't show a great deal of control... but that's me. I like the loose feel of my work, I have worked very hard for that. The subject matter is strange as well, but you never know! These guys are pretty damn good... the best really. But I feel like there is a place for me in there, but that is up to them.

After looking at the booklet from the national show, I felt like I was ready to at least start trying! This piece will be on hold until after I hear if it made it or not. If it does not, it will be the first David Boyd, Jr. auction piece on EBay

This piece is a departure for me... I painted it on a tinted background... aliZarin Crimson, instead of drawing in great deatil in pencil, I drew rapidly with the brush. I normally do not do an underpainting when I work this large, but I did this time. I also went back to some old palette knives I used to use... both over 3" long. I hope to work larger later this fall, I have some canvas over 6' wide and a couple of large trowels. This piece took several large tubes of Gamblin oils, I am going to need to invest in a great deal more if I work larger.

Lilies I 251

Finally found my groove, it only took all summer. I switched from my little palette knife (1.5") to my larger (3") knife that I used to use. My large pieces we missing energy, they were too tight even though they were loose. Things are funny like that. Looking forward to cranking out a few larger pieces for the OPA regional show this weekend with that in mind. I may be holding pieces more than usual as I feel that I am ready to participate in some of the regional shows. You can't compete if you are selling those key pieces... and I have let too many of those go!

Avocados on Blue with a Knife 250 SOLD

Galvaston Caddy 249 SOLD

Fresh from the photo exposition in Galvaston. I have really enjoyed working on these 11"x14" and 12"x16" panels. They are great... problem is, they need a frame. I have these old barnwood frames I put them in to hang in the studio, but not everyone is going to love barnwood like I do!

Three Tomatoes on Green 248

Jules picked up these great tomatoes from the peach farm down the road. Our garden didn't get started this year due to the wedding, and my Topsy Turveys haven't worked either because they stink or because of operator error! I miss tomatoes and all the other great stuff we got from our garden.

Peaches, a Plate and a Knife 247 SOLD

Been to hot to get outside and paint. We have been on the road a great deal and have yet to get to "play" with some of the ideas I have had floating around in my head. I usually do that during the summers when I am not teaching, it gives me the opportunity to fully submerge myself in the painting without the pressures of other responsibilities outside of the studio... a time for me to be selfish and to re-invent.

Also on my list of things to do this summer: incorporate more objects in my daily paintings besides just the fuit themselves. I do love the close cropped images I have been painting, but I need to stretch it out a bit more and give myself a challenge.

Mt Carmel Morning 246

This is the finished piece I completed yesterday. I did several studies in different palettes and I am very pleased with the outcome. I missed some of the subtlety in the values as things move away, but I hope to correct that. It was difficult to be subtle with a palette knife and so many values.

Houston Day 4

Houston no more. We drove straight to Houston the first time, 12 hours worth, but not on the way back! I wanted to visit Avery Island and roam around the bayou, but New Orleans called. We snagged a room at the Inn on St. James, ate dinner a Couve and roamed a bit around St. Charles before heading off. Hit Cafe Du Monde, the cathedral and Central Grocery for a mufuletta before stopping by a cemetery on the way out.

Houston Day 3

Today I few solo back to Galvaston. I was fascinated by this city. It reminded me of 2 of my other favorite cities... Savannah and New Orleans. It had a great edge to it. Some nice parts, some not so nice. Obviously recovering from Ike which brought a storm surge of about 5 feet. The city had plenty of color and really pulled me in. I had a blast taking pictures and would love to go back for more pics and painting.

Houston, Day 2

Went to museums today, Houston has an amaZing museum district. Museum of Fine Art Houston, Houston Museum of Contemporary Art, Rothko Chapel and the Menil Collection. I could only take pictures in designated areas is MFAH. I was very impressed... they had a ton of Clifford Still, my new favorite artist of the year. We also saw a very cool Westy, same year as ours with the history of 60's music painted on it, Beatles, Hendrix, etc.

Houston, Texas Day 1

Family illness took me to Houston, Texas last week. Of course I packed my plein air gear and my camera and did NO painting. However, I got enough great material to last through next winter. Houston is a Googie Art mecca, they never tear down a good neon sign.

Stand of Pines 245

Wanted to play today, I experimented on an aliZarin tinted background with my usual palette. Normally my pines are based on analogous colors and are very graphic. Time to impart to knowledge into the series and to get back to the knife a bit.

Thanks to all of you who are glad to see the knife work it's way back into my technique. Got lost out there for a while.

Peggy Kroll Roberts Inspired Studies 244

Been going to a workshop with Millie Gosch, she has been using some Peggy Kroll-Roberts inspired techniques with us. Each small study was painted in 25 or less brush strokes. The largest piece is 6"x8", the others are 5"x7".

We have been doing a great deal of painting with black, white and gray and then working accurately mixed color/ values on top of that. It has been great. It really makes you check your colors.

Basically, it teaches you to design the painting well in gray and then stick to that value plan.

Schmid Color Study 243

Every now and again when I need to have my brain melted I pick up Alla Prima by Richard Schmid. He is an amaZing painter and I love his stuff, but after the most thorough reading yet, I have discovered that I disagree with a great deal that he says. It could be that I don't understand him, but I think it is because we approach painting from different perspectives. Could be I read John Carlson first. Either way, our habit are different but I am sure I can learn a great deal from him.

One thing I wanted to do this summer was chart different palettes I use, although these do not go 5 value steps, I felt 4 was plenty. I also use a great deal of grays, which are not represented in these pure color mixtures. Next timeI do these I may mix my green, orange and violet to add to the mix. Maybe later this summer.

My palette consists of cad yellow lemon, permanent red and cobalt blue light. the other panels are each primary mixed with the others and value stepped down.

Mt. Carmel Morning, 243

Yeah, yeah, I know, you have seen this one before. Doing this just to make me happy. The finished piece for a client is going to be 24"x30", but after the last debacle I had going large, I really needed to work out all the kinks and reservations I have. The colors in this one are a bit more green and way brighter in the foreground. Don't know how I feel about that, guess I'll leave that up to the person who will have to live with it!

Mt. Carmel Morning, 242

Working up to a much larger version of this piece. Going to try to go a step larger next and work in a bit of palette knife, try to regain my momentum and experiment a bit more. This was done from a picture I took down the road last year. I may even try to go back to that spot to do avery large version with the knife or a trowel.

Lower Field, Morning 241

Wanted to get back to the palette knife when out doors and doing plein air work. I want to work bigger and faster and more expressively... like I used to! It is amaZing how quickly become lost in doing something else before we come back to who we are.

Tennessee Gate, 240

Larger version of the study I did in Tennessee. I am playing with the palette knife again.

46' Willys, 239

Trying to build some creative momentum. I only get summer vacation once a year and I try to take advantage of it. This year my creative peak and vacation are NOT lining up and not for lack of trying! Hoping this piece will get me back into the groove of things again.

this month in my itunes...

Delta Spirit, History from Below

David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames (my favorite Van Gogh painting BTW)

I love listening to music when I paint. I find new groups or revisit old ones an go nuts with them, I get everything I can get my hands on. Some of it is great to paint to, some... not so much!

My favorites to listen to whilst painting include:

RadioHead, Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, Philip Glass, Miles Davis, David Bowie and Yo-Yo Ma

I am a huge blues fan, but not so much while I am painting. Lately I have gotten into the bad habit (?) of watching or listening to old movies while I paint. I don't so much watch as listen. I really enjoy it because I really get to hear the dialogue, whereas when I am watching it I am almost too engrossed in "watching."

It is the same with music, I never remember lyrics because I am always listening to the music.

I am trying to limit the number of purchases of audiobooks and music, so I try to get one of each every month.

Tennessee Gate, 238

Saw this view while enjoying lunch poolside. I had to make some of it up in order to make it interesting. Still need to work on my color shifts and atmospheric perspective. It is starting to come back a bit but being outside again has helped me to see what I need to learn more about. Hoping to get some reference pictures of the field before we leave, it is much more interesting up close than I could see from my vantage point across the street!