Doc on Holiday

12" X 16" Original Oil painting
Click here to bid on ebay

Today I had the pleasure of painting with some friends here in Tucson. The model was a delightful cowboy in a very authentic costume. He actually had a gun holstered on his hip, but I left it out because it didn't help the painting. Besides, he looked very much like and old country doctor to me and made me think of  "Doc Holiday" in the westerns I watched as a kid. He looks like he is taking a break from his practice, hence the name, "Doc on Holiday".

This is very wet paint, hence the glare. If anyone has helpful advice about how to photograph wet paintings, please leave a comment!

Courtyard Foxgloves

click here to bid on ebay

The courtyard where I studio is quite beautiful. There is a beautiful fountain surrounded by planters full of flowers. On Sunday, all of the galleries are closed so I painted with a friend today. This 10" X 20" canvas is rather large for a quick plein air study, so I was nervous about taking on too much.  I was looking directly into brilliant sunlight so it was a real challenge to judge my values. I think the value range may be too narrow to create the effect of brilliant sunlight, but I didn't want to sacrifice the color. I plan to try it again and really push the values. It will be interesting to see the difference between the two paintings.

First White Roses

Sold
The roses in my garden are just beginning to bloom and I am determined to learn how to paint them this year. My first attempt was a total bust, so I wiped them out and started over. I was much happier with my second attempt.

Most of the roses I have are antiques. I like the roses that have so many petals that they look more like peonies than roses. Not so easy to paint. These white ones are planted in beautiful turquoise ceramic glazed containers. They bloom all summer long, so I should get plenty of practice painting them. My painting buddy, Ruthie, liked these so much that she bought them right off the easel. Naturally, it was good painting day for me!

Fruit Salad

8" X 8" Original Oil Painting on Panel

Click here to bid on ebay

Wet Paint, now we are cooking! I tried out my new still life set up based on a combination of tips from Qiang Huang and Carol Marine. It worked out pretty well and got me a little more accustomed to working with the lighting in my new studio.

I hope you all notice that the photo today is much better than my previous post. I have been playing with a couple of editors and I have to say that I think iphoto did a better job than photo shop.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with this little guy. I have always wanted to paint kiwis and I like the contrast between the green flesh and the pink ground. White coffee cups are just an artist's excuse for painting reflected color. I had lots of fun with the kiwi on the shadow side of this cup.

While I was painting this set up I kept thinking that the cherries were trying to escape from the cup while the kiwis were feeling left out.We always want what the other guy has!

Red Gerber, Baby Bottles

Click here to bid on ebay


Well folks, I can not believe I have let so much time go by since my last post. This daily painting business is a habit that requires some cultivation but I have been very busy cultivating my garden. With my new studio and my new blog I am having a bit of an identity crisis. My studio keeps wanting to be a gallery. This, of course, implies that I be available to meet and greet visitors rather than painting. Eventually, I figured out that I can't run a gallery and paint at the same time so I have worked out a compromise that involves being open on Thursday nights for the local Art Walk.

The other challenge to my focus is whether to work on bigger paintings, mostly portrait and figure, that take longer to paint or focus on the small daily paintings. On top of that, the weather is so gorgeous that I have been enjoying painting outside in my beautiful garden, which is very exciting, but doesn't always yield an ideal result at first pass. I have several paintings working and hope to share them in the near future. I know a lot of you are daily painters so I would love to hear what you think about my current dilemma; perhaps you have faced similar challenges.

Meanwhile, here is another 6"X 6" that I painted in Carol Marine's Sedona Workshop. Gotta love those Gerbers!