I wanna be a Cowboy, Baby!

 

"Jamie & Fred"

12 x 16

 

I painted it for a good friends 70th birthday. His son Jamie, who is also a good friend has Down Syndrome. I was lucky enough to work with his dad for 15 years and he would go get Jamie everyday and bring him back to our work. Jamie doesn't have any bad days. He is the most consistent friend I have ever had and greats me with hugs and smiles every time. I was very proud to give it to them.
On a side note this was my first horse painting too.

 

Texas Sunset

 

"Everythings Better with Bluebonnets On It"

9" x 12"

This was my first real attempt at painting Bluebonnets. Living in Texas, it was just a matter of time. I did this as a study for a commission that I'm about to start. I wanted to suggest the details and the size of the flowers without painting each one. I like how the orange sunset plays off the purple. I also created a grass path for the viewer to walk into the painting and leading your eye to the sunset.

My Fathers Shadow

 

"My Father's Shadow"

12" x 16"

My painting above won an honorable mention award in the Outdoor Painters Society Associates show. I was honored to win something in this talented group. I tried to focus on the design of this painting and be a little more abstract in my approach. I like how the trees looked with this approach. Also, I'm working on warming up my highlights because I tend to make them too cool. I'm also getting more comfortable painting outside and have been increasing my panel sizes lately.

 

 

I Will Work for Food!

 

"Steak on a Stake"

9 x 12

 

I painted this during a local street festival. If you can paint in front of thousands of onlookers, I guess you can paint anywhere. It was so crowded that I had to walk around at points just to get a good look at my subject. It was a ton of fun and the owners of the food truck treated me great. They gave me and my wife lunch and even purchased the painting proving I WILL paint for food! 

 

( She thinks I'm smiling for the photo, but I'm really thinking about Funnel cake! )

Muffler Man

 

"Muffler Man"

8 x 16

 

  I drive by this everyday and I design signs for a living, so it was just a matter of time before I

chose a subject like this. The painting was difficult because I had to stand very close to a major

road with cars rushing by to get this view. I think it was worth it, but I'm in no hurry to do that again.

 

  I have never noticed how big his feet are until now and I can't figure out is why this guy has the face of Mad Magazines Alfred E. Neumen?

Must read comments!

 

"New Garden"

10 x 10 oil 

I asked painter Colin Page, whose work I highly look up too, an interesting question on his Blog and he allowed me to repost his answer.

“Are you at a place where your paintings please you and become what you hoped for? I hope I don’t see my work as flawed forever.”

Colin wrote... This is a tricky question, and the answer really depends on my mood on the day in question. Sometimes I am struggling with every part of a painting and I get in such a funk that I don’t think anything I have painted has any value, and other days I feel like I can do no wrong while standing at the easel. Of course it feels better to have a good day, but they are rare. Usually I am seeing things I want to get better at. Even though it is frustrating to constantly see flaws in our work, that is the only way to improve. If we don’t see flaws in our paintings, we become repetitive and uninteresting. To push painting to better results we always have to be a little disappointed in our work. We have to know that we can do better, and even though the painting you just finished may be the result of your most sincere hard work and effort, we have to know that the lessons from that painting will help do the next painting better. The painters whose careers produced the highest quality work were all searching for something just out of reach and doing everything they could to capture something fleeting. It may drive you crazy and be disappointing. But look at your earlier work and the improvements you’ve already made and imagine how much further you can go from here. A creative life is a constant battle between the disheartening and the hopeful.


“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is given to the less talented as a consolation prize. Indeed, the idea that doubt can be heroic, if it is locked into a structure as grand as that of the paintings of Cezanne’s old age, is one of the keys to our century.”
                                                                                               -Robert Hughes

I plan on printing this out and keeping it next to my easel to help encourage me on those tough days.
Thank you Colin for your thoughts and for allowing me to repost. I encourage you to check out Colin's work because his paintings are every bit as inspiring as his words.

It's cooler at night...kind of.

"Last stop and Last Light"

11 x 14 Oil

Texas is so hot it has slowed down my plein air painting, but I did manage to go out a few

nights ago and found this scene. It was still 100 degrees at 7:30 at night! I haven't been out much, but I have been working on several big studio paintings that I will share very soon. I'm finding that my studio work never feels finished. I always think I can do something a little bit better, where my plein air work finishes itself when the light changes or it flat out goes away like this one.

Boldbrush Painting Contest

"That'll do, pig"

16"x 20" oil

I  decided to try something different and entered my newest painting in the Boldbrush online painting contest. If you want to help me out, follow this link and click the "like" button. The contest is over at the end of this month. I'm currently in forth place and already have over 100 likes!

I will post some progress shots of this painting soon. Thanks for the vote!  

http://faso.com/boldbrush/painting/35565   

*nothing to sign, just a simple vote. :?)

The Old Mill

"The Old Mill"

16" x 20"

I've been waiting for the right opportunity to paint this old mill in Grapevine, Tx. I did make two other attempts, but both went south on me for various reasons. I was leaving the new convention center, looked up and caught the perfect orange light streaming across the mill. It was around 8:30 pm and it was the last minute of light from the setting sun. The mill was aglow with beautiful blues and oranges. I painted this in my studio in one sitting the next day.

I used a quick grid to help me draw the layout and then I washed in Indian Yellow and Phthalo Red Rose. Both are translucent colors. I wanted to maintain the glow from the board shining thru for as long as I could.

 Midway point. Every things blocked in and I'm happy with it so far.

In the home stretch. I waited as long as I could before laying in the juicy thick orange glow.

GAP Members Show

 My painting "Waiting for You" won top honors in the Grapevine Art Project ( GAP ) Juried membership Exhibit that is being held in conjunction with the National Watercolor Society's traveling exhibit. I had five paintings juried into the show. This show is being displayed at the new Grapevine Conv. & Visitors Bureau and will run thru June 15th.

http://www.grapevineartproject.org/

"Papa's Truck" is one of my other paintings on display

Note - I have been very busy in my studio working on several large pieces that I hope to share very soon!

I'm Still Standing - Oklahoma Barn sketch

"I'm Still Standing"

10" x 10"

This was a painting for a friend of mine of a barn close to her childhood home in Oklahoma. I painted it from a photo she provided. I hope I can do a little road trip one day and paint this plein air style. It's a great subject and I know I could see even more character in person.

I used Liquin and tried to give it a different look. I think my initial effort looked very nice and I was happy with the results, but the next day I went back into it and I "flattened" some of the cool depth it had. Sometimes, more is not necessary better. I never touch my plein air paintings after I get back home and I still struggle when I try to go back into a studio painting. Most of my real successful studio works are finished in one sitting too.

Tornados, John Budicin and Phthalo Green!!

"Bluebonnet Storm"

9 x 12

This was a painting I did during a recent workshop with painter John Budicin. I attempted this with John's recommended colors added to my palette, plus I used all round brushes like he does. I had added Thalo Yellow Green, Phthalo Green, Dioxazine purple & Cad. Yellow Orange and was using many of them for the first time. The Phthalo Green was creeping into all of my colors and I couldn't wait to remove it! Normally my only green is Sap Green. John uses these colors to modify his basic mixtures. 

The hardest thing John did for me to get used to was painting the sky first and moving outward and painting light to dark, both of which are the opposite of my normal approach.

I struggled, but wanted to share anyway. By the way, my previous post was also painted during the same day and I used the same approach for that one.

ps I named this "Bluebonnet Storm" because that was the same week we had a reported fourteen tornado's hit Texas that day. We heard sirens go off from miles away. My wife called me and informed us that tornado's where all around us. It was a pretty scary day for everyone, but I'm happy to say we all made it home safe.

Here is a shot of John Budicin enjoying his Texas weather. lol