Hay Bales 6x6 in.

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I couldn't help but think of Monet when painting these hay bales. I thought about his persistence with certain subjects like hay stacks. He returned to them again and again, painting each piece different in some way. Some people might think he was obsessed with hay stacks for a time but I think the only thing Monet was really obsessed with was light.

Peppermint Patty 5x5 in.

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M&M's 5x5 in.

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Hershey's Chocolate 5x5 in.

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Cows Under Tree 6x6 in.

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Orange no.4 6x6 in.

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Recent Figurative Paintings

A few weeks ago I said I was going to post more figurative paintings... so here are a couple of recent ones. I don't consider these to be Daily Paintings, as I spent more than the typical three hours on each, but I thought you might like to see them.


Afternoon Laundry 14x9 in.

I started this painting with the intention of painting two figures but soon realized that just one made for a more interesting painting. Sabrina was standing with the basket resting on her hip, head pointing downward and the clothesline leading to her face. These subtleties were more interesting to me than what was actually going on...ahem...laundry.


Natalie 10x8 in.

This one's a straight forward portrait of my wife, Natalie.

Both of these paintings will be in the Richeson Art Exhibition next month (June).

Green Apples no.2 5x5 in.

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White Onion no.3 5x5 in.

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Gerbera In Jar 5x5 in.

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Cherry Tomatoes 5x5 in.

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Thistles 7x4 in.

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White Roses 6x6 in.

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limes 5x5 in., and Art Calendar Article

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Steven Yahn, of Art Calendar Magazine interview me recently about showing and selling paintings through the Internet using a blog. If you'd like to read the interview you can find it in this month's issue of the magazine (May 2008) or read it here (Adobe Reader file). If you're an artist you might want to pick up a copy of this issue. It's full of great articles about using the internet to market your paintings and has some great tips for those wanting to start. Art Calendar Magazine can found at most national bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble. Thanks Steven!

orange gerberas 7x5 in.

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Most of the time I'm drawn to subjects with muted colors so painting these bright gerberas was slightly outside my comfort zone. I rarely use paint straight from the tube because of the intensity of the color but there are some spots in this painting were I did just that. I think the blue vase compliments the flowers nicely.

avocados no.2 5x7 in.

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apricots 5x6 in.

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From one of the great daily painters: "I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing." -Paul Cezanne
This quote makes me chuckle because lately I can relate to this. The more I paint the more I realize how much I have to learn. Does that make sense?

mountainside 5x6 in.

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alpine evening 5x7 in.

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This is a sketch of the mountains near Alpine, Utah at sunset.

dandelions no.2

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One man's art is another man's weeds.

I'll be traveling this week to be with family and I hope to get some paintings in but we'll see how it goes.

lemons no.3 5x7 in.

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egg no.3 5x5 in.

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red vine 7x2 in.

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jelly bellies 5x5 in.

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vase and bowl 8x6 in.

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I pulled a tube of Ivory Black out of my "not often used" box of paints today. It's a "color" I don't use very often. However, for this painting I wanted to get a monochromatic look so black seemed to be the right choice. I also added a touch of red and yellow to the mixture which gives it a subtle off-white look.

watermelon no.2 6x6 in.

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As an artist sometimes you've got to do a little editing on the fly. Sometimes it comes in the form of leaving something out. Other times it comes in the form of adding something that isn't there in the subject. Today it was the latter. I intended to paint this seedless watermelon without the seeds but when it was finished it didn't feel complete. A few seeds later... voila, complete!

blue sky no.6

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Here's a good one from John Carlson, a great landscape painter:
The sky is the key to the landscape. Its majesty permeates outdoor nature. It is the dictator of conditions and of moods--not alone the moods of nature, but our own as well. I know that there are men who never see the sky at all. A certain man of our hills at Woodstock once said: "You know, before you artists got here, I never used to see the sky."

hill country 5x7 in.

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abandoned farm 5x7 in.

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One of the things I think about toward the end of a painting or a sketch is when I should stop. Finishing can be a little tricky sometimes. I want to "finish" the painting but at the same time I don't want to over work it. Over working it amounts to me meddling with the painting until I've taken the life out of it. The variety and freshness of the painting are lost. The ideal painting in my mind is one that is complete in it's statement with a degree of variety and immediacy in the brush strokes. Sometimes I feel I get this right other times... well I don't.

This morning I came across a quote by Robert Henri where he compares two great artists and their view of "finish" in a painting. He said, "The demand we so often hear for finish is not for finish, but is for the expected. Judging a Manet from the point of view of Bouguereau the Manet has not been finished. Judging a Bouguereau from the point of view of Manet the Bouguereau has not been begun."

Comparing these two great artists you can see how both artists define "finish" from different ends of the spectrum. William Bouguereau's take on finish was a highly detailed almost photographic appearance while Édouard Manet's take was simple shapes, colors and values.

garlic no.4 5x5 in.

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sketch of a young girl

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Although it's been awhile since I've posted a portrait I really do enjoy painting people. For me it takes more focus to paint people because the facial features are a real challenge. I plan to do more of these sketches in the future.

sunflowers 5x7 in.

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pear no.7 7x5 in.

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If you've been following my work within the last year or so then this painting will be familiar to you. I haven't painted this before exactly as it is here but the lighting in this piece is the same as in many of my paintings. It is overcast daylight coming into the studio through a medium size window. There is one corner in my studio that produces the best light and I find myself sitting in that corner often. Sitting and painting that is.

tree top no.2

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kiwis 5x5 in.

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church 7x5 in.

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Comments are ON and Video

Hi guys, no painting for today but I did want to let you know a couple of things.

First, comments are now enabled on my blog so feel free to comment on the posts if you'd like.

Second, I put together a short video of the Two Stawberries painting I did awhile back. If you can't see the video below go here. Or you can view the painting video on youtube. Enjoy.

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grapes and tangerine 5x7 in.

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tree trunk 7x5 in.

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tangerine and bottle 5x7 in.

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There is a rule about light that many painters follow, that is, if a subject is lit with a "warm" light then the shadow light will usually appear "cool" and vice versa. Sometimes it's difficult to see this color relationship. When the light in the scene is subtle, much like in the "cows" painting I did, it's hardly noticeable but when there is a strong light it's very obvious like in this painting. It's really amazing just how blue the shadow of the tangerine appears.

yellow mangoes 5x7 in.

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cows 5x7 in.

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I've seen a lot of cows since I moved to Texas, so it was only a matter of time before they ended up in one of my paintings. It's really interesting when these black cows congregate... their bodies form very unique shapes as they overlap each other. The familiar "cow" shape is replaced by a new one.
I've mentioned before how I am drawn to these types horizontal compositions. You can see that here in this painting, the lines of the landscape are echoed in the fence and in the positioning of the cows. It was fun composing these cows on this gray and rainy Texas day.

yellow onions 5x7 in.

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redbud tree 7x5 in.

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teaspoons 5x7 in.

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red delicious 5x5 in.

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snickers 5x5 in.

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cinnamon roll and milk 6x6 in.

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three grapefruits 5x8 in.

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cadmium red 5x7 in.

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