Glazing the fun part!

Some people get all bent out of shape about glazing. Artists, because they think they'll never paint it as good again. Don't worry...if you did it once, you'll do better next time. Non-artists, because they think you ruined it. Don't get bent. Just mix up Liquin with a little Boehmian Green, and slap it on. Keep it thin and work very fast. Minor flaws are actually good things. They make it look like a painting...not a photo. I'll put up some before and after's tomorrow, when the glaze is dry.

Portrait Raffle!

The Bentwater Holiday Home Tour will visit our home this December 9th & 10th. All the preceeds go to charity. Ours will be "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" for breast cancer research. To bring in additional funds we will raffle the painting to the left. I will complete the painting during the two nights. It is a still life of one of my antique golf clubs with an antique "BOLT Tornado" golf ball and a "Reddy Tee".

The painting is 8" x 24" and is valued at $400. I don't know how much the raffle tickets are yet, but would any of you be interested in buying a ticket?

It's Finished!

This is the second best thing about painting a portrait...signing your name.
The best thing is when you pull the velvet drape off the portrait and all the guests and the subject go...AAAaaaaaa!
If you like the portrait, you're welcome to post a comment back...AAAaaaaa!

Getting ready...

It's been some time since I've worked on "Getting ready..." I had a problem with the tub...it's white, and white is a hard color to paint. Why? Because it's not white. I kept painting the tub too blue, but I think I got it right this time. I also had her legs too white and they are tanned. Next paint the tile floor, white with black grout. That will be fun. Then the wallpaper, towell, plumbing, table, and yellow rose from my garden.

Then I'll glaze the whole thing and paint it again.

The towell is white and the rose yellow. Are those the best colors? I can do any color.

Give me a title...PLEASE!

After almost two weeks of traveling I had a chance to paint tonight. I added a first coat on the hair. Alizarin Crimson, Cad Red, and Cad Orange, with a touch of Cad Yellow and White #2. I still can't decide on a title for this painting. Please click comments and give me your thoughts. While your at it, please subscribe for my updates.

When will the portrait be finished?

This is the question I get often and for good reason. I tend to be a perfectionist and therefore...sslloooww... I've heard it said that Picasso, when asked when he'd be through with a painting said, "when I'm finished." Well, I do have a method. I've been working on Sam & Alex for almost 5 months now and it's very close to being finished. What I do at this point is paint for 3 hours, put the portrait on my mantle and look at it as I go through the next day until the next night and another 3 hours of painting. I try to fix all the mistakes I see in those 24 hours. When I don't see anything to fix...it's finished.

Just Figures

I need everybody's help. On most Saturday mornings I meet with a large group of great artists called "Just Figures". We work with a live model to sharpen our painting skills, usually doing very quick sketches...2 to 3 minutes a pose. At the end of a session, we usually do two 20 minute long poses, same pose. I've been doing these sketches in oil, they are beginning to stack up in my studio. Donna loved this sketch this week. She thinks it's one of the best I've done and thinks it's sellable. What do you think? Should I finish the painting? Should I sell it "as is". What's it worth? She's been reading about Van Gogh lately and she said he did some of his greatest paintings in very short settings. The idea behind the quick poses is to get our brains into their artistic right side. The true artist is exposed in this manner. Please click on "Comment" and leave me your thoughts.