Step 4

I've covered nearly all of the canvas, now comes the hard part. Refining and modeling light and dark, deciding whether colors are on the cool or warm side, too light, too dark, correcting contours, determining flesh mixtures in light and shade, etc.

Step 3

More color.

Casting Long Shadows--oil, 8.5x11"

Location: just outside of Athens, Texas, started onsite last October.

Step 2

Beginning to add color.

Step 1--oil, 40x20"

I will be posting the progress of this painting of my daughter. Here I've drawn the outline on a canvas toned with Vermilion, and the darker areas are painted in with Burnt Sienna. This full length painting is the largest one I've done in a while.

Yvonne--charcoal, 14x11"

NFS

A quickly done charcoal study from life.

After Sargent--oil, 10x8"

I copied this head done by John Singer Sargent from a book. It was done as a demonstration of transferring a photo to a canvas using the graph method.

Alamo Christmas--color pencil, 6x10"

Tree by the River--oil, 8x10"

Blanco River scene again. This one was done as a demonstration while I was at the Rain Bird Gallery.

Colorful Canopy--pastel, 6x8"

I liked the way the tree framed the water and its reflections. I tried to capture the colorful greens of the leaves and grass.

This small painting was done on Canson pastel paper.

SOLD

First Painting at TAFA--oil, 16x12"

My first painting assignment at the Texas Academy of Figurative Arts in Fort Worth, Ron Cheek, Director. This represents two three-hour sessions. I had time to paint in lights and darks in the whole figure, but it is fairly rough , no refinement.

This is the approach for beginning figure painting instruction, where a very limited palette is used, in this case only black, white, and raw umber,

Old Blanco County Courthouse (Study) oil, 8x10"

Hopefully I'll get around to doing a larger and more detailed version of this 1886 courthouse in Blanco, Texas, which is no longer used for its original purpose. The county seat moved to Johnson City in 1890 and this building is now a museum. My parents lived in Blanco for many years, and to me this has always seemed a very peaceful and beautiful little community on the Blanco River in the Texas hill country.

The history of the building can be found at http://www.historicblanco.org/history.htm

Heidi Outdoors - study oil, 10x8"

I posed my daughter outdoors for a portrait; took a lot of pictures, and did a color study in oil. The oil didn't turn out good, so I did this from the oil and one of the photographs. I will do a larger more finished one now that I have a better idea of the outdoor colors on her face.

Painting people outdoors really gives you different colors and values, and few shadows in some cases, which make it hard to show the structure of the face. I saw lots of blue reflections from the sky in her face, but painting them looked out of place, they are much more subtle than I saw them, I had to tone them down.

Old Bank Building, Kaufman--oil, 10x8"

Something I've been interested in for quite a while is small town downtown buildings. I've spent a fair amount of time driving through them in Texas. I'd like to publish or exhibit a series called "Texas Small Town Downtowns".

Doing them as small as this one, it's hard to paint architectural detail. It may be best to do small studies like this one, then do a larger one in studio based on the study and a photograph. I'm particularly interested in the way light creates interesting shadow shapes and colors as it falls across the warm brick colors. Something that creates a mood. I like Edward Hopper's paintings, his most famous is "Nighthawks" http://www.edwardhopper.info/night-hawks.html

These paintings sold in an auction to benefit a little girl sponsored by the Children's Organ Transplant Asso.

Both SOLD

Garden Entrance--pastel, 6x8"

Donated to a non-profit

This morning was overcast and misty, but I was determined to make a picture while waiting for church. A painting shouldn't always depend on color and light to be successful. Composition, edges, brushwork, and value treatment are also important.

I travel with a pastel assortment that doesn't have the greatest selection of colors, and I was limited by time. I wish I had used a different color of paper. Those are my excuses.

Turtle Creek Idyll--pastel, 10x5" on Canson paper.

SOLD

This small vertical pastel was done recently in plein air. I've done this scene before, but of course each painting has its own look. I liked the varying reflections in the water, and the contrast between foreground and the late afternoon background. It's one of the prettiest places in Dallas.

Rosie--oil, 10x8"

This painting of my wife's dog received a First Place in Oil award at the Irving Art Association's Pet Portrait Show.

You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to get an animal into a good pose, let alone be still for a picture. They're either too close, too far away, the light's not good, they won't be still, they're looking directly at you, they're looking away, you have to lie down on the ground... It's probably best to photograph them when they are asleep. (ditto for little kids.)

Bench with Blossoms--pastel, 8x11.5

I've always liked this plein air painting. I'm not good at thinking of interesting or "poetic" names.

Driveway--oil, 8x10"

While driving and looking for something to paint in Kaufman, I spotted this scene of flowering shrubs and late afternoon shadows, and I stopped to paint it on site, or "en plein air".