Summer Slices and PaintCast Podcast on YouTube

"Summer Slices"

10 x 10 inches

oil on canvas

$450

Click to buy

I painted this with my friend Chris Long on his new PaintCast Podcast on YouTube. Join us for a laid-back conversation - ranging from Tik-Tok to UFOs! And paint along. My reference photo is below.

Enjoy!

Orange Slices and Silver

"Orange Slices and Silver"

8 x 13 inches, oil on canvas on panel

$350

 

Available here

I'm loving this little cream pitcher lately. The reflections in metal are so satisfying to paint. I think I'm going to have to go on a mission to find more silver inspiration!

Greensward

"Greensward"

16 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

Hello, it's been a while! I've been teaching a lot lately - both workshops and online - and having a blast. My studio panting time has been falling into two categories - quick studies and oil sketches, both for personal research and as teaching tools - many of which can be seen and purchased directly through Instagram -- and larger works, of which this is one. 

Thanks for looking!

The Fish Dish

 "The Fish Dish"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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Here's the value study for this one. Kind of fun to get back to ballpoint pen and sharpie! My forays into digital drawing have taken me away from sketches like these lately. 

And wow, here's the first time I ever painted this dish, in April 2008! Reminding me that this fish once had a buddy. But he got broken. 

 "Fish Dishes no. 1"

6x6" oil on gessobord

2008

Slices on Blue

 

 "Slices on Blue"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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First painting of 2019! I begin the year as I intend to go on. In the studio!

Thanks for joining me on this journey. 

For my upcoming shows, workshops, and other juicy tidbits, please subscribe to my newsletter. I promise I don't send them that often! (Not that much juice around here ... ;)

Happy New Year!

Pool Party

 "Pool Party"

8 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

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More fun with my new white ceramic pear. I showed this painting to my dad, and he said "That white thing is unnerving." Do you agree?

Here's the value plan for this composition. It got a little skinnier from sketch to finish....

Sluiced

"Sluiced"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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This was day five of my seven paintings in seven days. After two days of painting tulips, my thought was, "I'm going to keep it simple today." You can see how that worked out for me!

Room For Two

 

 "Room For Two"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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Lots of teaching lately! I started this one yesterday with a private student, and finished it up this afternoon. This bowl makes me pretty happy.  That dark rim is so satisfying to paint. 

Color Swoon

"Color Swoon"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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My eyes pretty much want to live inside the color of this ribbon all the time. It's like the feeling of exhaling a deep breath - your body relaxes. 

That's how my eyes feel when they're full of this color.

A New Painting of Some Oranges...With Videos!

"One Turned Away"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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This was the painting demonstration for my online art mentorship students at our monthly group session in Februray. It's a fun little piece! I love composing with cast shadows, and this is an excellent example of why. 

I just published a full-length video of this demo on YouTube - walking through my 3-step process for alla prima painting. Here's a clip!

(If you're reading this in your email - thanks for being a subscriber! You may need to click this link to watch, though. ;))

Simple is Best

"A Small Bowl of Oranges"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

This little painting makes me happy. Sometimes simple is best.

Blue Diamond

"Blue Diamond"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$500

Click to buy

I've been getting a lot of questions about my Tarot series paintings - mostly, are there more of them? For now, no - there are only the three. But who knows what this weekend will bring in the studio?

I really want to insert a pun here about whatever's 'in the cards,' but nothing's coming to me. Stay tuned!

The Hermit

  

"The Hermit"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

The four stages of this painting: still life setup, value study, underpainting, and finish! 

 

 This is a pretty simple composition, but I find it very satisfying. That grouping of lemons on the plate, seen through the viewfinder, makes me want to paint the whole thing all over again. Something about it just clicks in my eyes. 

Value study, oil paint on Arches oil paper, approx. 8x8 inches:

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Six Cuties, and Stages of the Painting Process

 

 "Six Cuties"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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Here are the stages this painting went through: still life setup, underpainting, and color application. My favorite phase of the painting process is definitely the underpainting. Still life setup is the hardest part, and the finishing touches are so agonizing...but the end stage can be fascinating.

What's your favorite stage of a painting?

(Click the link to tell me!)

"Tangerines on Turquoise"....and Tons of Teaching!

 

 "Tangerines on Turquoise"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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July was a whirlwind month, busy and full. This painting was a demo I did for students in Portland, over a two-day period. Here's my palette - heavy on the red-oranges. I really wanted to emphasize the red glow that reflects back and forth when oranges cuddle up together, and those saturated contrasting colors on the oranges and the plate.

 

...And this, believe it or not, is some of the student work from that class! What a talented bunch - not beginners. They did great. 

Three-And-A-Half Lemons

 

"Three-And-A-Half Lemons"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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 I'm able to bust out these little black-and-white oil sketches so quickly because I keep a pre-mixed value scale palette on hand at all times - in my freezer. Oil paint will develop a dry "skin" after a day or two when left out on the palette, but frozen it will keep for weeks. 

I also find it incredibly helpful in my color work, not to have to start from scratch each time I set out to paint. If the thought of all the preparation involved has ever stopped you from heading into the studio, consider keeping a pre-mixed palette on ice!

 

So many tips and tricks stored (like palettes in a freezer) in the recesses of my brain... I'll be unpacking lots more of them this weekend at my still life painting workshop, here in Eugene. Spaces are still available - click here for info! 

Three Oranges, One Video, One Self-Portrait Sketch, and Some Words

 

 "Three Oranges no. 3 (Pattern)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

Click to buy

Another orange painting from Playa - and a time-lapse video of my underpainting. You can see how I tweak the position of everything just a bit at the very beginning - the best time to make changes like that, for sure! 

(If you're an email subscriber, you may need to click on this link to watch.)

Here's another of my daily sketchbook self-portraits - this one done in oils on a ground of gray gesso. When I'm using oil paint in my sketchbook, I actually prefer to paint right on the paper. Gesso, being water-based, makes the paper buckle. Paint thinners like Gamsol don't have the same effect. And, because I get a lot of questions about whether I use a special kind of sketchbook to paint in - the answer is no - it's just your garden variety sketchbook. Pentalic - this one, I think.

Back To Basics

 "Three Oranges no. 2 (Yellow Scrap)"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

Click to buy

After my initial surge of residency-ambition, I had a bit of an 'OMG, what now?' moment. We all have those, right? Well, when I have mine, I usually try to go back to basics. (Sometimes, I go shopping, but at Playa... um, not an option). And the basics for me are shapes and colors - and artificial lighting - with the added bonus that I could work on paintings like this before the sun came up...

and then step outside and take a sunrise shot like this!

 Getting up so early (ugh, yes, I'm a morning person)  has many advantages, but it tends to leave me looking like this by evening self-portrait sketch time. Looking like this - or seeing like this. Tired eyes do some crazy things!

New Year, New Art, New News!

"The Blue Fish"

10x10 inches, oil on canvas

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My first painting of the year! What took me so long? I could trot out my litany of excuses, but I'll simply say I've been preparing for big things coming - including an artist's residency - my very first - at Playa Summerlake. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to do nothing but paint for four weeks. With no plan going in, just to take what I find there and see what comes out of me. 

I'm thinking this will change the course of my work, temporarily if not forever. So...I'll be out of touch for a while, but will be back with a vengeance, renewed energy - watch out online students! And to all my loyal blog readers, thank you, and stay tuned for exciting things to come in a few short weeks!

"Orange Orbit" oil painting and work-in-progress, notan to finish

 "Orange Orbit"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Available here

While I had this still life set up, I thought I'd try a vertical rectangle in addition to the square composition I painted first. 

These oranges were really patient! They stuck with me for weeks - and I even ate one of them after I finished this today. So maybe they really were from outer space....orbiting. Hm.

Here's my progression from notan to a 4-value sketch to my underpainting to the finish! No shot of me eating the orange, though. Next time.