clouds

5" x 5 1/2"

acrylic on panel

I've been having fun playing around with clouds.  I took a lot of reference photos of clouds while I was up in Cooperstown, NY this August and I am just now getting around to painting them.  The clouds are so amazing up in the mountains.  They seem to change every minute, or maybe that was just the weather while I was there.

Swiss Village Farm, Newport, RI

5" x 7"

acrylic on panel

This summer I was able to visit Swiss Village Farm during their annual Visitors Day, the one day a year when they allow the public onto the farm grounds.  The scenery was amazing and my reference photos don't do it justice, never mind my painting.  But I will keep trying...

coleus clipping

coleus clipping

6" x 6"

acrylic on panel

This little clipping has been sitting in my kitchen window since late summer.  It is actually a clipping from a clipping, of the pot of coleus from my front porch.  Talk about hardy!

I just love the chartruese of the leaves and the way the red splotches look painted on ( on the actual plant, here it is obviously, actually painted on...)  Since this guy is so resillient, I may have to do a few more paintings.

Back to the beach

8" x 8"

acrylic on panel

This is my youngest daughter by the water's edge at Sachuest Town Beach in Newport, RI. She absolutely loves the ocean and strides right in whenever we go to the beach, barely giving me time to apply sunscreen.  This was from a photo taken in July or August but we actually made it back to the beach as late the last weekend in September.  I took a ton of reference photos and can't wait to paint from them.

 I worked on this for longer than usual, and could probably keep going, fiddling with the water.  However, I decided to leave well enough alone and move on.  I really enjoyed the color scheme here, modeling it after a Joaquin Sorolla painting entitled "The Young Amphibians".

Zorn

Liam
5" x 7"
acrylic on gessoboard

This was an attempt at using the Anders Zorn palette that one of my  favorite painters, Sarah Sedwick, uses often.  However, I think my reference photo was a little washed out, and so I didnt have the opportunity to try and use the depth of color that she can get from this very limited palette. 

long time no see

20 minute pose
18" x 24"
vine charcoal on toned paper

Over the summer I did some figure drawing.  It was a nice change of pace from working from photos or still lifes. I enjoyed the shorter poses, even feeling 20 minute drawings were too long.  Given the opportunity to have the model stay in the same pose, most times I decided to start anew.  Call it impatience or lack of stamina, but I think I was just trying to capture a freshness and not overwork things.  Also I think there is something to be said for starting slowly and getting everything in the right place before you polish thing up. 

Signature Look, or Finley #1

Signature Look/Finley 1

6" x 6"

acrylic on panel

Finley is a Border Collie mix with the softest fur imaginable.  Her signature look is one ear up, one ear down.  There was a lot I liked about this little painting, but also a lot of drawing problem that I could not fix without losing what I liked, hence the #1... There will be more attempts at Miss Finley.