Thursday, November 20, 2008

My Buddy


November 20, 2008
This 10"x 8" oil on canvas is our golden retriever Rio, our longtime companion who is no longer with us. I hope to get a lot of practice painting dogs. I was looking at Maggie Mayer's dog paintings of Banana Puddin, Champ and Francis and I got the fever just from looking at those. She does a fantastic job of capturing a dog's spirit. This one of Rio was going to be for sale but my daughters want to keep it. However if you would like a similar painting done from a photo, feel free to contact me about a commissioned piece.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Girl With Death-Ray Vision



November 15, 2008
I had some loose fun with this one. In Karin's photo the girl had shadows in front of her face that made it look like she was putting out death rays as she walked along. I played with the colors and shapes, trying to add more interest and loosen up the boxy structure of the lines I had to work with. Every once in a while I like to go more abstract, and this was one of those times. 8" x 10", oil on canvas. http://www.differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Streetwalkers


November 11, 2008
This is my first attempt at using pastel. The couple at the left, I perceived to be young and in love, with two older ladies watching them, reminiscing. The guy to the right has things to do and places to go and has no interest in the show, he's just waiting for the light to change. So this was my interpretation of the scene. It started out as just a drawing to nail down my composition ideas, then I decided to try some pastels I have, "just trying out colors." Before I knew it I had too much work invested and made it my final submission because the deadline was fast approaching! http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ 8" x 10 1/2", pastel on paper.