Category Archives: Oil Paintings

Painting #6 – Get Me Outta Shepherdstown (For Now)! Sick of Mixing Greens! Give Me Koi!!

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My plan to overdose on Shepherdstown scenes must pause.  I’m tired of the greens there — and the extreme difficulty of mixing them from my limited palette.  I need to do some off-painting experimentation to see if I can develop some better mixes.

In the meantime, here are some koi, which I’ve been wanting to try for years. I like it, though the composition is too lopsided to the left, isn’t it?  I didn’t want to include the reference’s departing duck sailing at lower right.  Should I add a baby koi down there?  Or would that be too ‘coy’?  Should I preserve the area as the tranquil spot where the eyes can rest??  And dang – more green issues!  A problem for the future.

#6 Koi Without Duck. Oil on Paper. 10″x8″.

Koi with Duck.

Painting #5 – Secluded Culvert & Stream at Shepherdstown

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Yesterday’s painting – #5 of the daily painting project!

When we saw this scene last year at Shepherdstown near the Potomac River, we didn’t know exactly what it was — discolored parapet, water culverts, old stone pillars, small gushing stream, totally shaded by trees.  Mysterious.  Drew our attention.

I’m thinking this painting still needs a lot of ‘clarifying’ work.  May or may not ‘go back in’ and tweak it some more.  I scraped off some whites above the ‘black hole’ because they were way too bight, but probably should add some other light colored patches there . . .

Stream and Culvert at Shelpherdstown. Oil on Paper. 8″x10″.

Painting #4 – Potomac River at Shepherdstown

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Here’s yesterday’s painting, along with its reference.  I feel like I’m on a marathon and am ALREADY huffing and puffing!!

Potomac River at Shepherdstown WV – #4. Oil on Paper. 8″x10″.

Potomac River at Shepherdstown WV .

 

Painting #3 – Resting at Shepherdstown

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Here’s my third of the 100 painting project — still on the Shepherdstown WV subject matter.  This one was simple compared to those other two!

The painting & the reference.

Shepherdstown boaters, resting. Oil on Paper. 8″x10″. 2018.

Photo of Shepherdstown boaters.

Painting #2 – Kayaking at Shepherdstown

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I hadn’t gotten done with being proud of Sunday’s 1-of-100 painting when – – – – it was time to do another one!  This is gonna be tough!  Since I’ll have lots of surfaces to kill during this project, I figure I’ll keep going with more of my Shepherdstown references til I have a little collection of similars.

Here’s #2, along with its reference.  Hmmm, the minute I put the brush down I start counting the snafus.

Shepherdstown Kayak. Oil on Paper. 8×10. 2018.

Potomac River at Shepherdstown Bridge

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My Art at the Heart of the Home ~~ the Student-built PGCPS Home!

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I trekked over to PG County yesterday to attend the reception for the PGCPS students who built and decorated a primo house.  I was delighted to find that three of my works had been incorporated into the kitchen/breakfast nook — the heart of the home.  (And some of my pieces also snagged prime placement in other essential spaces — the powder rooms!  Well, someone’s had to go there! LOL). My works could also be found in the office and upstairs hallway.

Here are a few pictures from the exuberant celebration, where students, parents, grandparents, builder/mentors, teachers, student musicians, and the press mingled and munched.

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My Art for PGCPS Student House Project & Upcoming Reception

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Prince George’s County Public School interior design students selected the following artworks of mine for display in the student-built house that opens to proud parents and friends next Thursday, May 6, and to realtors on May 8-9. The young folk chose oil paintings, water color paintings as well as digital art.  They also used artwork from the Black Panther movie, an idea I’d suggested for the children’s rooms.

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I am truly honored to have been chosen to participate in this wonderful project.  Kudos to the young folks for their hard work and obviously effective results, as pictured in my last blog post.

I’m sending a painting to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art auction! Help us fundraise!

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Marsh and Blue Skies. Oil on Linen. 20×16. 2018.

Am just back from UPS, having sent one of my ‘babies’ down to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi MS. It’s a contribution to an upcoming auction to benefit the museum. I hope someone saves me from the embarrassment of it going unsold!!!! (I’m sure they’ll let you bid long-distance if you call! Help me help me help me!). That was tongue-in-cheek!  [NOT!]

For those of you in the area, the auction is going to be at a fabulous event — enjoy a beautiful home, wonderful food, and play murder-mystery as entertainment.  If I were down there, I’d definitely be there!  Contact the museum for tickets if you’d like to attend.

Painting Without Pressure

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Over the last few weeks I’ve been working on portraits of my three grandchildren — a task much less ‘fraught’ than the commissioned portrait I showed you last time.  Here’s the one that’s farthest along, after about eight hours of work.  I see lots of ‘issues’ still to be resolved, but it’s in a much better place than the other one ever reached.  Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Four Months. Oil on Linen. 9 x 12. 2018.

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Performance Anxiety in a Portrait Painter!

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I spent a helluva lot of hours on this grandmother/grandson portrait.  It took me over a year and a half(!!) — though most of that time was spent dreading painting, rather than putting brush to linen.  It was commissioned by a friend and based on her photos from years earlier, rather than observation — never a great thing.

Grandmother and grandson, with hydrangeas. Oil on linen.

My next post will show a portrait that I did in a weekend  ~~ things work (and look) much better without anxiety!