2 days until art market

Finished four more paintings for the art market. These are all smaller [11x14" and 12x12", respectively] and are all priced at $100. From left to right, they are "Blue Closeup," "Watchful Eye," "Lake Arthur Cypress," and "Lily Elegant".

I'm still not sure how many paintings I will be bringing. The wife bought a popup tent thingy which I will test out today in the backyard. Then I will have a better idea how much space I will need to fill with paintings. Anyway, more to come.

pug mug

I painted this painting once before from a photo I took years ago of our friends' pug. It was such a natural for a portrait that I had to paint it again. (Turned out almost as good as the first one, by the way.) I took a few photos showing some of the process. All told, this painting took a couple of hours.

First step was to do a quick sketch - I wasn't concerned with details, just the placement of the major parts of the portrait. As you can see from these photos, I was using a photo on my computer as reference. This works fine for small paintings, but large paintings just don't fit in my little computer room. Second step was to block in the painting. I usually like to start with dark areas, as in this painting, because I know I will be applying several layers of color, preventing the shadows from becoming dead areas in the painting. And then comes the fun part - step three, if you're keeping score - I quickly block in the rest of the dog, repainting all the lines as I go, so as not to lose them.

And in between the third step and the final painting, I sprinkle a little fairy dust and turn around three times and viola! The finished painting: "Pug Mug," 20x20" $250 - One more painting down on the road to Art Market.

5 days until art market

This coming Saturday is the Northshore Art Market in Covington, LA, where I will be showing my paintings and hoping to sell a few. My brother Tim asked me how my preparation was going, and my only response was to reach through the phone line and strangle him where he stood. Okay, that didn't happen, and I'm not nearly as "on edge" as I probably should be. Here is where I stand: I've got my cousin Robby (thank you, Robby) and the wife to help setup and tear down - Robby's got a line on a tent to fend off the sun or the rain as the case may be - and Tammy's folks will be here to help take care of the little one while this is going on - I have no solid idea how the paintings will be displayed - and I have yet to print off any business cards or bio sheets, both of which I plan to do before the big day. Did I mention it will be this Saturday?

I was planning to paint many many new paintings for this big event but have not really painted anything until yesterday and today [that's okay, I have plenty of backup paintings]. But I managed to complete four decent paintings today. Here they are:

They are, from left to right, "Lone Egret," 20x16"; "Looking Back," 20x16"; "Railroad Landscape," 20x20"; and "Lounging Cat," 16x20". Each are priced at $200.

Well, that's all I can think of - lot's of work left to do. More to come.

french quarter #2

French Quarter #2, acrylic, 12x12", $100

first dance

First Dance, acrylic 36x24", $400

cat-kat

Cat-Kat, acrylic 30x24", $350

under new management

It's January and I've been reorganizing the world around me. I've been easing into David Allen's GTD system of daily organization and I'm feeling empowered by it and all that, but the real test will be whether I'm still on the system a couple of months from now. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'm under new management - expect to see more regular updates here.

I've been focusing recently on figure paintings. Here are three that I recently dropped off at the Louisiana Furniture Gallery in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, where many of my paintings are sold.

More later. Here's a link to David Allen's website . . . davidco.com

Feeding the Gulls

(original photo left) Feeding the Gulls, acrylic, 18x24", $300

Merry Christmas!

Mason, acrylic, 14.5x11.5", not for sale

This is our four-month-old, Mason Douglas. He's the best baby in the world. I painted this for my wife for Christmas.

strange forecast

Strange Forecast, acrylic, 30x24", $400

strata #2

Strata #2, acrylic and china marker, 24x24", $300

dancing clover

Dancing Clover, acrylic, 28x24", $300

This painting went very quickly.

identity

Identity, acrylic, 24x24", $300

strata #1

Strata #1, acrylic, 24x24", $300

four acre spread

Four Acre Spread, acrylic, 24x24", $250

garbage in, gospel out

I've been experimenting recently with some nonobjective abstract painting, an area of painting I've shied away from until now [it's hard to get it right and if you do, you're left with something of questionable interest to others - to this I reason: if it interests me, it's bound to interest someone else out there]. Palpable texture and interesting shapes along with dark, inquisitive line [or at least the potential for these things] are what interest me most about abstract painting.

As for the title, it is a play on the phrase "Garbage in, garbage out" - this from wikipedia: "This phrase is a sardonic comment on the human tendency to accept the results from computer systems with unquestioning faith. An example of this blind-faith GIGO mentality is to believe that your work, stored in a computer, will be there whenever you need it even though you never perform data backup or virus scan."

Garbage in, Gospel out, acrylic and china marker, 34x30", $600

when he was alone

When he was Alone, 22x28", $300

waiting to exhale (winter oak)

Waiting to Exhale (Winter Oak), 30x40", $700

robot graveyard #4

Robot Graveyard #4, 30x24", $400 

grid 1 and grid 2

I have been experimenting a lot lately on nonobjective abstract painting [a catagory I never had much interest in until now] - and although I have painted "grids" before, they were always part of, or superimposed over, a landscape of some sort. These are just grids, that's all. Nothing much to them really - color and line and a bit of positioning, that's what little grids are made of. They are colorful, aren't they?

Grid A, 24x24", $250

Grid B, 24x24", $250