This painting has occupied me for the past three days. The 42″ x 56″ oil is from an a batch I started this spring. The red gown provides a satisfying challenge. As usual, drawing is the key. The light was poor this morning. Normally, when that is the case, I draw until the light improves.…
This is a painting I’ve been working on for several days. The 44″ x 60″ oil titled The News is part of a new series that all share the same size. I’ve been stretching canvases and working on drawings for some time now. The News is the first of the series that I’ve actually applied paint…
The widget that displays random images from the gallery on the front page is broken. After I applied the last upgrade, the widget stopped working. I am still waiting for the widget creator to provide a fix. If a fix isn’t available soon, I’ll rollback the widget to the prior version.
I took a break from my drawing marathon to finish this small (20″ x 24″) oil titled Laughing Keith.
Whenever someone asks me what is the most important thing about art, my answer is unequivocal: DRAWING!
Many artists don’t like this answer. It’s easy to attack straw men when it comes to drawing, or any other aspect of art. But the main reason this answer is unpopular is that drawing is hard. Drawing is like sports. It takes practice to develop muscles and it’s easy to get out of shape. But it’s paramount. Drawing is where you meet yourself and discover who you are and where you find your voice.
Over the past number of days, I’ve been up to my elbows in preparing canvases and working on the drawings for large-format (44″ x 60″) paintings. The drawing can take a considerable amount of time. There’s no point in skimping or rushing. Besides, I LOVE IT!
This morning I finished the 40″ x 48″ oil titled John Fishing. It should be titled John Fishing–ha ha. My son John is not an avid fisherman. Dropping his pole in the water then settling down for a nice snooze is his favorite fishing method. This is one of my boat series. Unlike the other…
As usual, here is a photo of recent unfinished work. I finished the background of Dinner in Trenton (large painting–44″ x 56″) yesterday. This morning I worked on Boat Hook (smaller painting. I continued working on the drawing for another large canvas–44″ x 60″. I also stretched another 44″ x 60″ canvas and put the…