"Reaching"

I saw some great paintings over my trip. One artist (I don't remember the name) used a lot of black, and it got me excited to try this painting.

"Black Plums"

"Finish Line"

"Spouts" - SOLD

Squint!

"Green Glass" - SOLD

Well, I am glad I got this one done. I have a busy day, and well, I have got to run.

"Red Glass" - SOLD

My internet has been acting a little funky. I painted this yesterday, but could not post it till now.

I was asked what boards I use. I actually don't buy canvas boards or panels from an art store. I think they are nice, but I have always been in the habit of just cutting and priming boards myself. I generally use MDF (but I think I am going to switch to Masonite). I try to put at least three coats of gesso using a seven inch squeegee so that I can get a nice smooth surface to paint on. This is the way I was taught how to prep boards, and have done it ever since. Sometimes on the last top layer I will lay the board flat on the ground and spray a thin film of water on top and let that dry. Once that is dry, the surface is usually really smooth...except for the time I went back outside and found twelve little gnats stuck to the nice white surface.

"Tamarillos"

I saw these at the store and their skin color begged to be painted.

"Kinks"

This one is very dark. I have been trying to work out the kinks in my studio, including lighting. I built a new light attachment to my easel that moves up and down, and on this one I had the light too close. This caused the colors to read fine until I took the painting down and looked at it in a different setting. Way too dark. So, I'll keep moving forward. Happy to be back.

"Spout" - SOLD

I accidentally dropped this one on my wife. I walked upstairs to show her, and the darn thing just slipped out of my hands. I think I might have actually pushed it toward her quicker in my poor attempt to grab at it. The bottom edge then made contact with her shirt and bounced off toward the ground. We both watched as it flipped around trying to decide what side to land on...luckily it decided to land face up. Phew. I took it back down to the studio cleaned up the bottom edge...good as new. (painting one, shirt zero)

"Three Pears" - SOLD

"Staged" - SOLD

I think I could have kept going with this one, but I decided to pull it back and let it stand. Sometimes if I keep going it becomes too labored. But, if I don't take it far enough it looks...umm...undercooked.

Well enough about me. I have a link below to a friend of mine, Joseph Alleman who paints amazing watercolors. As long as I can remember he has preferred watercolor over oil paint. I have always admired him for going that direction since oils (unjustifiably) seem to get more attention. But, he is great. So, check out his work and drop him a line.

"Lime Line" - SOLD

"Line Up" - SOLD

"Hiding" - SOLD

I really liked how the tomato (behind the jar) completely saturated the water. Just in case it is hard to read, there are two tomatoes in this painting.

"Brian's Potatoes"

I was sitting at the stop light the other night, looking at the tar on the road. It had the red of the stop light reflecting in them and then the color instantly changed to green. It was so ordinary, but cool. I don't know if you have to be an artist to appreciated (or even notice) things like that but I have always felt that my goal as an artist is to explore color. I love to see how color bounces off one object and affects another.

"Three Zucchini"

"Kickstand" - SOLD

I am going to try selling on eBay for a lower price...for a while. I think I'll do this for a month and see what happens. I am kind of torn with this idea but I, well, I guess I'll just see.

"Grazing" - n/a

Ha ha. I liked this one in the beginning.

"Challengers"

It's Red. Actually this painting is a lot better in person. I think I will try and get a better photo tonight. We will see.

"Apples with Glass"