January 14 - 75% done on the Commissioned Portrait

Whew. The painting has left the "uglies" now and is heading toward completion. I've made changes to start achieving likenesses in both faces, and still building interest in those areas not the focal point. Note that I have not yet painted eyes, nor done details on the dog's paw (lower right). I will be flicking my brushes over the entire surface, continuing to make corrections from this point forward, and bringing to a finish the painting of Allie and Spunky.

Today with two hours of team water volleyball and filling a three- yard dumpster with cactus and brush, I'm kinda tired out tonight. However I still have computer work to do, sitting here by the wood fire, listening to Prairie Home Companion ( http:// www.prairiehome.org ) with Garrison Keillor. Hmmm, I see I need another walk to the woodpile.

December 26 - Border Collie Commission Finished

A full day, painting this commission to its completion. I placed Jake on the edge of a pasture, near the line of trees that borders many green areas in Kentucky. I put the opening in front of him, showing a lighter pasture on the other side of the trees, symbolic of the hope of so many of us that our pets will have a place in Heaven where we'll meet them later on. And now you can see him looking back withe the sunlight on the forest floor ready for his footfalls.

This is an an analogous painting in color, with the dominant hue being green. You'll find the blues and violets scattered amongst the fur of the dog, and the shadowed whites. The discords are in the trees as well, can you name them? If you have Hal Reed's color wheel, you can spin it and see exactly why this painting is so easy on the eyes. I learned a lot from that wheel, which is not your usual color mixing red-is-opposite-green wheel. You can order one by googling it, although Hal is gone now. I'm quite pleased with this commission, and I hope that the folks who've watched it unfold will be as well.

Tomorrow I'm shipping paintings and DVDs, and will begin yet one more commission--this time boats! I do so love the dog, cat, people and horse paintings, tho'.

December 21 - Madonna and Child Commission Finished

I spent a goodly number of hours working on this 24 x 18 oil commission, bringing it up to a state where I'd not be shy about showing it to the general public. I really enjoy looking at this painting now. It has a feeling of reverence with the suggestion of gold in the upper right (but no halos!), and the sweet cleanliness of the small, helpless baby caressed in its mother's arm. Her peaceful smile completes the image. There may be a little more work on it, but I would call it 90 percent finished at this after-midnight hour!

May all your times spent with loved ones be as peaceful as this scene. I LOVE doing commissions! I have to tell you, that if he doesn't want it, I'm keeping it for myself, to enjoy and have on the web site. In searching for similar portraits, I've not found one that is in any way similar. So I kinda like it. A lot. Do you?

JUST SOLD to the collection of Kimo Kockelman of Honolulu, Hawaii.

December 18 - Commission, and a Lesson Painting Begins

This commission (one of three on my plate this month) is of a lovely woman and child who live in Hawaii. It is a larger painting, measuring 24 x 18 inches, and is to be stylized to be a strong suggestion of the two, but not an exact likeness. I like this idea! Here is the earliest phase of the painting, with the underpainting of the warm burnt orange and the drawing placement of the heads done loosely the way I normally do. I haven't decided if this will be finished in oil or acrylics, but at this stage, I'm working in acrylic. I spritzed the wet orange paint with alcohol to create additional texture. Although most of this will be gone in the final layers, it is always intriguing to having this on the "ground floor", so to speak.

Isn't it appropriate to be doing a portrait of a mother and baby just before Christmas? Life moves in funny and profound ways....

December 9 - Not quite finished, but getting there, Commissioned Portrait

"Sara on Her Way" I've started to put in the details, but have decided that I'm going to go back in and fix some things that don't sit right with me, so please hang on to your comments until after tomorrow. This has gone on for more days than I wanted, just because I'm sorting out a lot of "stuff" outside the studio. Tomorrow promises some much needed rain (it is beginning right now as I type this, close to midnight) and I will be able to get studio time dedicated in a large swath during the day tomorrow.

I've heard from the originator who has kindly provided me with a head study without helmet so I can bring a more relaxed pose on the rider.

Although not finished yet, I have made some good progress on it, with the embelliishment of the larger areas of color to make them more interesting.

December 8 - The Horse and Rider Commission (and Art Lesson) Continues...

"Lesson on Sara" Wow, what a change! I've spent the time painting the background and wokring more on the anatomy of the mare at this point, bringing and reinforcing where I want your eye to go (the head of the horse). The rider is secondary to the message of this work, so I will downplay all but her jacket/covering.

Again, at this point I am not overly concerned with the exact outline of the horse, but rather am taking care of the "rest of the story"--the background, the values and the forward motion. Most of you know I don't do those special details until the entire canvas is covered--well, here it is almost 97% covered. Now I can "kick back" and start picking out the details, making corrections, embellishing the larger shapes. Will you be patient until tomorrow? And yes, this painting is still in the "uglies".

December 7 - Commission and Lesson Continues

"Lesson on Sara" Now this is going about as expected, but I haven't had a lot of time to put in on it. So what you see today is not as major a change as might be, however there are important things going on that need to be explored/explained. Yesterday I focused on the position of the horse, and today, I filled in the horse and rider with the major color notes and major value to set them apart (on the darker side) from the middle ground of the background. Here's where the head takes over what is visually there: choosing to keep the horse and rider backlit, and then make the rest of the painting in the middle value range, I can assure that the subject will "pop" when I add the highlights and backlit warms on the final pass. Horse = dark, background area = middle values, leg wraps and shirt and shine on the horse = highest value notes. Ka-POW.
As I work through this stage, I am correcting the horse and rider as I fill in these areas. Rest assured that they will undergo even more "tweaking" as I search for the correct pose and action.

I am planning the background with a few light brush marks as well, note that none of the to-be-dark trees will be directly behind the horse's head. We want that to be the major area of focus, so having similar values in that area would negate that goal.

December 6 - Lesson Painting, Commission of Horse and Rider

"Lesson on Sara" Time to do another lesson painting! This time a commission, and I'll share with you the photographs that were provided by the individual. This one will really be pulling out all my reserves as I work from material that isn't exactly what the client wants. I have to "cut and paste" and rely on core knowledge to depict the horse effectively. "Sara" is now an aged mare, and the owner is wanting me to paint her in her prime. She's also jet black, always a challenge, since you don't have a wide range of values between shadow and reflected light to play with. But like Jack Nicklaus, I envision the successful painting before I begin, so have in place the necessary confidence to begin. Attached is the position wanted for this painting. Hold on to it to see how it changes!
As you may know, I first prime the canvas with a color to get rid of the white. This comes from the "old days" of drawing when we were told to work on value 5 gray paper, and use black and white Conte crayons to discover your values above and below this midpoint. It is always a good exercise! Having a mid-value ground on which to start keeps me sane when I am also considering color, shape, line, mass, and texture. Wouldn't you at least want one thing easier?
The initial drawing is not detailed at all, but merely finding edges, placement of the form, and leaving enough room for the horse to move into. Her forward direction makes it essential to have "space" for her to move. The reference photo doesn't have this, and although a nice square composition, it becomes quite static. My drawing is just suggestions at this point. To do details here would be paying too much attention too soon while ignoring the entire painting, edge-to-edge. Corrections to the anatomy and thrust will be made later. Oh, this is a 9 x 12 oil.