another pineapple painting
Pineapples #3, 24x36", $850 (framed)
wess foreman studio
creativity by wess
Index
pineapples means hospitality
Pineapples #1, 18x36", $400
Pineapples #2, 18x24", $300
fishing trawler
Dear blog,
Yes, it's been awhile. Ever since the new year I've been down with a cold and a lingering cough---and, as far as I'm concerned, incapacitated beyond all possibility of creative thought . . . I'm useless when I'm sick.
But it's a new month now and the cough has diminished somewhat. I just finished this Fishing Trawler painting. The reference photo has been sitting on my hard drive for a year or two now; I took the shot on the Tchefuncta River in Madisonville. I kept the style loose and I'm pleased with the final painting.
Fishing Trawler, 18x32", $400 (no. 1007)
Bailey Commission
I started this one at the December New Orleans Arts Market. The background changed a few times---from dark to light, from busy to sparse to a combination of the two. I was happy with the four dogs from the beginning, outlining everything in black gave it an immediate abstract quality and adding blocks of color only added to that effect.
Bailey Commission, 48x30", N/A
leaning live oak
SOLD
a gaggle
Canadian geese. I like the convergence here of subject matter and style. I will probably be doing more of these "gaggle" paintings.
Courage Kitten #2
Courage Kitten #2, 40x40", SOLD
Live Oak, diptych
Had fun painting this one. Will most likely return to this image.
Live Oak, diptych, 2-36x24", SOLD
everyday saint
This is the fifth or sixth of these "everyday saint" paintings I've done---a loose series with no particular big idea behind them---something interesting about them though.
Everyday Saint, 48x18", SOLD
overcast landscape
Overcast Landscape, 16x16", SOLD
early frost
I went crazy with the complimentary colors here, but I managed to reach a good balance, I think. I especially like the upper half of the painting (the bottom half is acceptable---maybe one too many colors in the mix).
Early Frost, 30x48", NA
slow river #5
Returning again to this image which I originally captured via snapshot of a paused TV screen---think it was an interstitial shot in the show Treme. I've been told this is Algiers Point in New Orleans. At any rate, I like it.
Slow River #5, 30x48", $800 (no. 1001)
two more untitled landscapes
Oh, and these two. Two more landscapes in my yet-untitled series. I like them both, and they might be framed by this weekend.
Untitled Landscape #2, 16x20", $250
Untitled Landscape #3, 24x36", $500
untitled landscape
This painting is one of an emerging series of paintings that I have yet to come up with a title for. They are all fun, energetic landscapes painted with a pallet knife. If you have an idea for a series title, let me know.
Untitled Landscape, 20x16", $250 framed
untitled blue #2
I painted a small square version of this last month. I liked the simple design of it so I painted another. This one is larger and stretched out tall.
Untitled Blue #2, 24x18", $300 (no. 1017)
sunset with old dock
Sunset with Old Dock, 16x20", SOLD
dog portrait, the process
Another dog commission. This time I took snapshots along the way. Enjoy (and forgive all the "thens").
I started off with a pencil sketch, something which I don't typically bother with. Then I traced over the soft graphite with black paint. Then began filling in with color, starting with mid-tones, then with the lighter, highlighted areas. The second to last shot is nearly to a finished state but does not look close enough to the subject in the reference photo---all that's left is details. Final shot is the finished painting.
two dog commission
This week I had five commissioned paintings to work on for five different people---most of them intended as Christmas presents so I was never really swamped---but it was enough on my plate to get me motivated to finish a few of these post-haste. If nothing else it would clear the way for new commissions between now and the end of the year.
The painting below was one of the five, and it was the largest of them at 24x18". The reference photo dictated, in some way, the style of the painting as it was low on detail and awash in sunlight. The first decision I had to make was whether to change things up a bit---I didn't mind the overall design but the sunlit sofa could be darkened or I could have altered its color (this would have had a great effect on the painting and, though it could have improved things, I decided to start by replicating the feel of the photo).
Per usual, I went right in with paint, roughing in the positions of the two dogs and the lines of the sofa. The painting came together quickly and I found this somewhat loose, abstract style to be a good fit for the subject matter. The German shepherd in the foreground worked for me right away--in fact most of its body is made up of paint from my first pass on the painting. The proportionally small beagle in the background gave me a little trouble but a shortening of its size and a reshaping of its head made the thing work in the end. The only other major thing that needed changing was defining the shape of the sofa more clearly and creating a darker boundary for the top and bottom of the painting, in the form of the gray shadowy areas and the line along the top---this just helped to hem in the piece so that the two reclining dogs weren't just floating untethered in a sea of white. I also added a touch of color (red-orange and blue-green) in the edges as well, repeating the colors of the dogs and unifying the otherwise monochromatic painting.
In my opinion, the finished piece turned out magnificently, and I am pleased to report that the client loves the painting!
24x18" commission
pit commission
Want one of your own? Click here for my price list!
Recent pit bull commission, 11x14"
sunset with clouds #2
I've been painting with a pallet knife lately and decided to go a little larger. This is painted on Masonite hardboard and looks great in its fancy gold frame.
Sunset with Clouds #2, 24x36", SOLD