Old Glory on a Spanker boom - block in

I started this painting of Old Glory on a wooden Spanker boom on a wooden sail boat.  I have the basics painted in.  I will need to add detail to the water and then I will add a bunch of detail to the boom, lines, folded sail, and metal work.

Copper Pan and Bottle study

A bit of a rough start on this one.  The pan is ok, not so much on the bottle or jar or whatever this is.  I lost some of the shape and will need to go back out it tomorrow in the light of day and after some sleep.  All moving towards the 10k hours needed to master something.

Lettuce and Pepper Still Life Practice

So it's a little rough but, it is a good start on a green color challenge of these vegetables.  I need to work on the edges and shaping the leaves to give this depth.  I will tweak this later.

Red Onions Still Life Practice

So this is the start of another practice of Still Life - this time Red Onions.  This was pretty quick and I will probably just add a few highlights and then leave it alone.  Back at regular work today so only quick time on the brush tonight.

Post Christmas Still Life study

So after recovering from Christmas, I worked on this study of brass pots.  Not an original design but it's something I need to work on, capturing different surfaces and textures in paint.

Happy holidays and merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!  I little Reindeer study for the holidays.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom's Birthday.  I do cards for my family members and I did this one of the State Flower of Colorado, the Columbine.  I did this with colored pencils and Ink.  So enjoy your day Mom and stay warm.

Merry Christmas Snowman!

So the wife, daughter and I went and did a drink beer and paint tonight at Calvert Brewery.  We did a Snowman with moonlight and Christmas tree.  It is fun to do these paintings and I enjoy the fun of painting with my girls.

Syrup Bucket and Onions

More studies of still life in oil paint.  These are not original designs but are like playing the scales on a piano.  They are ways to practice mixing paint and evaluating - lighter/darker and warmer/cooler on colors.  Its a fun way to spend an evening, nice and relaxing.

Wicker Bottles study - the block-in

I have been working on getting more paint time in as I get home.  My block-ins are improving and I am getting things better set with the first applications of paint.  I need to add depth to the shadow and details in the wicker on the bottles along with highlights to give the shapes substance, but it is a pretty good start.

Ocean City Channel Inlet Marker

I worked on the Ocean City, Maryland Inlet Marker painting.  I added the Marker tower and its shadows down to the beach sand.  I started the highlights on the tops of the breakwater rocks.  I want to finish this by adding better tower colors and shadows.

Ocean City Inlet Channel marker - Block-in

I worked on this oil painting tonight.  It is the start of the Ocean City Inlet Channel Marker.  I have not put in the marker, but i put the cement block mounted in the rocks to hold back the ocean at the Inlet to the back water at Ocean City.   I will need to add the tower and the shadows cast by it.  I will need to add the highlights on the rocks and the waves.

Ocean City Fishing Dock - Block-in

Sometimes a painting just works and this block-in worked pretty good.  I think I will have to make a few corrections but this one is pretty good as is.  This was done from a picture I took during a really low tide during the Super moon last month.  We were in Ocean City Maryland near the breakwater and Amusement Party near the inlet.

Lyon Lion Fountain - Block-in

I have been out in North Carolina a bit before the Holidays, so I have not done much artwork.  This is the start of a small study of A Lion Fountain in Lyon, France.  I need to refine the Lion head for the fountain mouth and set the background and grate right to make them believable.

Rocky Mountain Stream - Adjustments

I worked on Rocky Mountain Stream tonight.  I added branches to the dead trees and I worked on the shorelines and the water to make them clearer and more convincing.  I will add a few details but this is 95% finished now.

Water Lily - the final tweak

So I thought I was done with this but it was bothering me as I looked at it.  So I added small details of dark blue color in the middle shadows around the yellow center and the little white strands surrounding it. I think this is the final piece which gives it its final depth and detail.

Stuffed Reindeer

As Thanksgiving passes by we march on to Christmas.  This is an Oil study of a stuffed Reindeer usually reserved for the mantel here in the house.

Small Business Saturday

I went to Small Business Saturday at Calvert Brewing Company today.  I sold some paintings and enjoyed their Milk Stout beer.  I worked on doing an expanded version of the Sunlight Spruce trees.  The original is 6 inches by 12 inches, the larger is 12 inches by 24 inches.  I finished a pretty good block-in and the start of details  All around a great day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I meant to post this last night, but I forgot in the prep for the holiday.  I am going to Calvert Brewing Company, Upper Marlboro, Maryland on November 26, for Small Business Saturday.  So come out and drink some beer and check out some art.

Palm Trees - the three trunks

I worked on this sketch of three Palm tree trunks done in pencil.  Enjoy, especially with the chill coming to Maryland.

Octopus - the Experiment

This is an experiment of an oil painting.  The design is not original but I thought the challenge to do this in oil would be interesting to paint.  So this is partially complete.  I need to work on the arms, improve the tentacles, and add eyes to the head.

Rocky Mountain Stream - Block-in

I did this small oil study tonight in the Calvert Brewery while drinking Stout and watching the Capitals Hockey game.  Yes, I may be a little ADD, but it is not a bad start.  The water, the mountains, and the ghost trees will need the most work to improve and make believable.

Bristle Cone Pine Marker sketch

Tonight's sketch of the day is a marker sketch of Bristle Cone Pine trees.  They like to grow t the tree line near high attitude in the Mountains across the mountains of the western of the US.

Scraggly Pine Tree Sketch

I used the brown markers to finish these Scraggly Pine trees tonight.  I have a little ADD and I did this sketch while watching the Washington Capitals play hockey against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Caps won tonight which makes the sketching the most enjoyable.

Scraggy Pine Tree sketch

More tree work tonight.  I survived another day of regular work and enjoy this part better than the stuff today.  So I did this quick sketch to work on the quick capture of trees and sketches.

Pine Tree Study in Ink

I worked on this tree study tonight of Ponderosa Pine Tree done in Ink Markers.

Kite Shop, Ocean City Maryland

I spent the weekend in Ocean City, I did this plein air study of the Kite Shop from our hotel balcony.  I want to do more paintings like his in the future.

Mountain Cloud Study - Block-in

I worked on this tonight, more of the cloud study series.  Trying to get better initial block-ins.  Though this will need some work to get it right.

Rose Hips

So I refuse to watch election crap.  I painted this and had the Hockey game on as background noise.  I did this oil study of Rose Hips.  This was a practice in quick, one touch style painting.  I want to get to the point I can do one of these paintings in one go and to not have to go back and make changes or additions.

Winter Foliage - Part 2

I worked on this small study and did some small adjustments and added some branches.  This will need some work and adjustments, before this is finished.  Anything is better than the election cycle.

Beach Clouds - Finished

I tweaked the Beach Clouds painting by making some small fixes to the clouds, horizon and the beach area at the bottom.  I added a two masted sail boat anchored off shore.  This was done in oil painting.

Water Lily - the Finish

So, I worked on this today, I started back painting after a bit of a sketch of no painting, just pencil sketches.  It felt good, so I worked on this Water Lily painting from August.  It helps to leave something alone and then see it after some time with fresh eyes.

Happy Birthday James

Happy Birthday James! He would have been 31 today. I miss my adventure partner.

Palm Fronds sketches

Tonight's practice, a couple of Palm Frond sketches with pencils.

Happy Halloween Tree

Sort of a hell traffic day, I guess everyone wanted to get home to Trick or Treat.  I messed around with this tree.  I am not totally satisfied with it but it will do. Happy Halloween.

Pippa the Pug or Happy Birthday Sister

Today is my baby sister's, Michele's birthday.  I won't say how old she is but one of her current babies is this Pug, Pippa, so I did this colored pencil sketch of her for the Sis.

Colored Pencil Harbor

This is another small study of water and boats with thunder clouds in the distance.

Welcome Back

I am back for the work trip and hopefully things will be a little calmer and I can get more artwork done.  I did not get much done of the trip but I did do this little pencil study of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Coconut Palm Sketch

I finished this up tonight.  I enjoy the challenge of these trees with the white fronds and dark fronds behind.  I like how it looks and gives depth.  So I am out on business travel and I will be posting intermittently for the next two weeks.

Palmetto Palms Sketch

I have been working on this on and off for the who;e week.  It is a little bit complicated and not a quick draw.  All pencil and sort of fun if a bit slow.  Enjoy it, I certainly do enjoy the draw and the relax.

Hawaiian White Hibiscus Flower - Block-in

I started this Hawaiian White Hibiscus Flower Oil sketch this evening.  I have not been painting, just sketching so I decided to wet the brush this evening and start this up.

Happy Halloween - Part 2

I have further refined some of the tree and house detail.  I added cartoon like Trick or Treaters who represent my kids when they were little and their favorite Halloween costumes.  I need to add branch detail, stars and a few details here and there.

Bristle Cone Pine Tree Sketch

More of the tree series.  This is a Bristle Cone Pine tree.  These are very old trees which grow at the timberline at nearly 10,000 feet.

Wind Swept Cypress tree sketch

Happy Saturday, tonight's or I guess this morning since I am posting this late, is a pencil sketch of a wind swept Cypress tree.  This tree is shaped by the wind and produces great graphic shapes for sketching.

Bar Art - The Stout

So we went to Calvert Brewery on this Friday night and I decided to draw my Milk Stout Beer in pencil. It was hard to not drink it and get it drawn but such is the drama of the artist life.

Live Oak Sketch

More of the tree series, I worked on this tonight.  The Live Oaks are down in South Carolina and are impressive.  They were used back in the sailing ship days for making the stout parts of the wooden ships to include the USS Constitution hence the name Old Ironsides.