Margaret (in progress)

I had the honor of meeting a friend's wife in person after having only heard of her from afar. When we met, I was struck by her pale complexion, dark eyes and black curly hair. She reminded me of the pretty women often depicted on vintage cigar box labels, so I asked if I could paint her portrait as such.

She graciously sat for me and I am now about half-way through painting her portrait. 

As I painted, I took pictures so you can see the image emerging from the canvas.

 

 

It's getting there, piece by piece. 

I have been busy with my writing lately but am trying to spend a few hours here and there on this portrait. I needed to really push myself to break out of my artistic rut. For too long I have just painted small paintings in short periods of time, rather than pushing my skill by working on something difficult. Seeing what can be accomplished when I push harder over multiple days is encouraging.

Okra pod

Okra Pod. 5 x 7". Oil on canvas.

Another small painting with oils.

Elephant Garlic

I'm trying to get the feel of oils right now by doing some simple (and small) still life paintings. It's exciting. I've been working with acrylics forever.

There's a buttery goodness to the oils that is quite satisfying.

Elephant Garlic. 8" x 10". Oil on masonite.

The thing that always gets me: paintings with expressive brush strokes look cooler up close.

Maybe I should attack the canvas with a bigger brush...

Plein-air Painting: The Back Field

I went out painting again yesterday and caught the fading afternoon light in the field behind my aunt and uncle's house. My aunt took some great photos:

Later that evening I touched it up a bit in my studio:

Almost there. When the paint dries a little I'll add some finishing touches.

Oils are really enjoyable... I'm surprised by how well I'm taking to them after being an acrylics guy forever.

In other news - I love Florida.

There aren't a lot of places in the States where you can comfortable go out painting in short sleeves during January.

Plein-air painting in the park

 

Yesterday afternoon we visited Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park. I was hoping to paint a view of the lake but it was inaccessible, so I wandered around for a bit until a pair of cabbage palms caught my eye.

I took these shots at about 2/3rds of the way through my painting session.

After I got home and had dinner and a cup of coffee, I put on the finishing touches.

I'm satisfied with it. Good first attempt at plein-air painting with oils.

Drift Seeds

Drift Seeds, oils on discarded cutting board, 5" x 7"

A tiny painting of drift seeds found on the beach at John U. Lloyd State Park.

Name the three depicted species correctly and I'll mail you a drawing.

Old Man

I've been practicing my "old master" oil techniques. I'm pretty happy with this little image. It's 6" x 8" or so - just a tiny canvas - but it took me around 8 hours.



The image was taken from an old book on Geography.

-DG