Category — Nature

I am finally done with the frog. Earlier versions are documented in this earlier post. It still doesn’t have a name though. This is one of those paintings that I just need to declare finished so I don’t work on it until the end of time. I added some spots, and then I got rid of them. I added a glaze in the background, and then I rubbed it out. The main difference is some added highlights and shadows…plus the tree that the frog is sitting on: that’s improved.

[Read more →]

This holiday season some lucky people will be getting a holiday card from Robert and I with a hand illustrated North Carolina flower on it. I really needed to decompress today. I feel like I am constantly working and it makes me agitated and irritated. So I decided to do some drawing because I don’t always feel like cleaning up paint. I drew the below flower freehand in pen and ink. When I am sketching before I paint, I tend to spend time on proportions with a ruler and light pencil, but I just didn’t have the patience today.

[Read more →]

The most recent thing I’ve been working on (aside from some touch ups) is a frog. It’s actually inspired by the earlier post I had with a photo of a frog. He’s a friendly little guy. This is the current progression. I’ve been documenting the stages. I will also post the final when I’m done.

Stage One

I painted the background and did an underpainting of the frog.

[Read more →]

Took a visit to New Orleans last week. Spent most of my time in the French Quarter, but also visited the Audubon Park and Audubon Zoo.

My only regret on this trip is that I noticed that there was an “endangered amphibians” exhibit at the zoo right before it closed which I wish I had seen. I love painting frogs. Ah well…there is plenty of other great reference photos for painting from this trip…including a couple neat frogs who lived in the reptile exhibit.

In the Quarter

Street Musicians

It has been longer than I intended between the time I mentioned that I would post my favorite landscape photo, and the time I actually did! Without further ado, here it is. The Seldovia Harbor during sunset. (click the photo to view it bigger if you are on my blog)

[Read more →]

I visited Washington DC in April with my dad because his old college hockey team was playing in the Frozen Four. While I was there, I snapped a lot of photos, many of the resident birds, which everybody made fun of me for. Most people come back from DC with photos of buildings (boring) and I come back with 2/3 photos of: sparrows, starlings, ducks, gulls, and of course pigeons.

Final Painting: "Unseen Beauty"

[Read more →]

I had thought this painting was finished a couple months ago, but I added to it again a couple days ago. Originally, the background was quite a bit lighter with more blue and green in it. I took this into my painting class and it is a good example of how the useful feedback enhances my mostly finished work. The instructor suggested I glaze the entire background with a darker color but leave some highlights above the bird. This way, there is a nice contrast because the bird is dark on top and light on the bottom, so the background looks nice being dark on the bottom and light on top. I totally agreed with him and am pleased with how it has turned out after the new enhancement. [Read more →]

Last week, I finally finished this painting of some flowers I photographed at the Duke Gardens. It has yet to be named.

Final Version of Flowers Painting

[Read more →]