Bighorn Sheep Study

I am continuing to work on these little studies to improve the drawing skills.  This is a black and white chalk pencil on grey paper.  Drawing on toned paper helps with figuring out lights and darks and tones for painting.

Happy Birthday Logan

It is the nephew's birthday today.  He likes the video game Halo, so I drew this for him for his card.  It is a pencil, ink and marker drawing, not an original design but a fun way to practice.

Cherry Blossom Buds - Block-in

This is a study of Cherry Blossom Buds in Oil.  Sometimes a painting comes together easily and sometimes it fights you, probably because you are thinking to much.  Anyway this is a very rough start and it is going to need a lot of massaging to get the roundness of the twig and the Buds to be convincing.  It ain't even close yet.

Cherry Blossom Close-Up Study

Today is the Sister-in-Law's Birthday.  She likes my Cherry Blossom stuff so her card is a study of a close-up of the Cherry Blossoms which are a month or two away from reappearing here in DC.  I did this with watercolor pencils.  It is first shot at something I want to paint but I am not sure how I want to approach it.  So Happy Birthday Michelle!

Elk Snout

I am considering doing another Elk painting so I have done a couple of Elk Snout studies.  They really have strange noses if you really look and if you want to paint them convincingly you need to look.

Rusty Anchor - working to the finish

I took a sick day today to not spread my cold to my co-workers.  I did check in on the computer and then did a little painting on this this afternoon.  I reworked the ship side and added some rust detail, to the anchor.  I want to add some more welding detail and to work the water a little at the bottom and then this little 8x10 will be done.

Ocean City Channel Marker - Finished

It is cold and gray here today, so I decided to finish the Ocean City Channel Marker painting to remember sunnier and warmer days.  This is a 8x10 oil painting and I will probably make it into a bigger painting at some time in the future.

Stone Lantern Cherry Blossoms - Block-in

Since Spring is not that far away, I started on this Cherry Blossom painting.  This is a Stone Lantern down by the Tidal Basin in Washington DC.  I will need to finish the blossoms to bring some of them forward and I need to add detail to the Stone lantern.

Bull Elk Bugling

I great way to spend the day is to sketch.  I worked on this sketch of a Bull Elk Bugling in the Fall.  This was done on grey paper with White and Black Charcoal.

Cow Elk Sketch

Another in the series, of white and black charcoal.  It is late so enjoy and i got to go to bed.

Elk Sketch

More work with two tones of charcoal pencils.  This time I experimented with working on a Bull Elk with a full set of antlers. I sort of move into sets of things I feel like working on and I decided to work on these as a way to improve sketching and painting.

Wolf Sketch

This Wolf is yawning from being tired of winter weather or at least the yo-yo stuff we have been having recently.  So Yawning Wolf is done with white and black charcoal on grey paper.

Grizzly Bear Sketch

I worked on this with some other stuff today.  This is the best of what I worked on.  It is a charcoal sketch, white and black charcoal on grey paper.

I am back, and looking forward to Spring

I am back and I am looking forward to Spring.  It was warm today, but its sleet and wintery mix tomorrow.  Spring is not too far off.  Cherry Blossoms are not too far behind.

Steamboat Spruce - larger edition

I had started this back in November.  It is based off a small 6 inch by 12 inch painting for something I saw at Steamboat Ski Area, These back lit Spruce Trees.   I did this larger at 12 inch by 24 inch.  It needs a little bit of refinement and it will be complete.  I am finishing up the work trip and should be back to regular posting by this weekend.

The start

I had a late notification work business trip which has screwed up my posting schedule.  This is not as blocked in as I would like but it is the start of a tonal sky near the Great Salt Lake in Utah.  So enjoy for now ans wait for more to come on this one.

Bear the Labrador Sketch

This is Bear the Labrador.  He was the 15 year old Retriever of my Son-in-Law's Father.  He has headed off to chase birds in Doggie Heaven.  I really liked this picture of him waiting for his next run to retriever.  Rest in Peace Buddy.

Rusty Anchor - block-in

Happy Friday, I started this study of a rusty anchor from a tall ship.  I can't remember the name but it was a steel hulled Danish sailing ship which visited Washington DC a few years back.  I liked the tonal shades of this one and will need to work on the ships side the most.  The rust and paint mix on the anchor is an interesting exercise in spot painting or pointillism.

Book Cliffs Painting

This is something I have been working on for a bit.  It is not an original but it is something I have been working on to develop my skills.  I added more brush in the foreground, I added foliage in the middle ground, and I added colors in the rock faces.  I want to add details to the cliffs, more foliage, and a fence line in the foreground.

South Plate River Pine Roots

This is a sketch of a Ponderosa Pine Tree root system from the South Platte River system in Colorado.  I started this last night but I had been fighting a headache all day and did not get much done on it. I finished this tonight.  This is a tree along the shoreline of the Platte River, it is near the banks of the South Platte River on the Rampart Range south of Denver.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I don't really have any resolutions as such.  I think they don't work real well.  I do have general goals and one for this year is to try and finish more things.  Part of this goal is a by-product of finishing 2016 with more painting, which has gotten me to a point were painting is coming easier and I am mixing better paint and I am seeing things more easily and I am able to fix them.  So today, after waking up late, I worked on this painting of Engine 487 on the Cumbre and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  The reflected light on the front of this engine had been vexing me and now it is coming together.  Some of the details and the background still need work but I am much happier with this one now than last year when I last worked on this.