120 Paintings

#342 - No Doubt Pear

2023-11-19T14:51:00.001-05:00

2.5"x 3.5" (ACEO) oil on canvas paper Sold

Hiatus

2014-07-16T11:31:00.006-04:00

I'm on a painting break right now, but if you are looking for me, I'm on Linked In,Facebook, and Instagram :)

#341 - Lounging Leo

2013-12-31T14:42:00.003-05:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard Sold

Here's Leo, lounging for his portrait. As I mentioned yesterday, this is the second of two pet portraits commissioned by my step-sister Christie. JB was the first:

I notice Leo has more of an intensity in the portrait, perhaps from the harder strokes and angle combined with a more intense warm color key. It's funny how different people preferences are. I prefer the more cooler subtle color palate of JB but my special lady (and painting constant) prefers this more intense one. Either way, I also simply like seeing these two side by side. They make a good pair, like warm and cold, complimenting each other. :)

If you'd like a pet portrait of your very own (or as a gift for someone like these two were) check out my commission information page or email me about it. Here are some more pet portrait examples to help you think about it. :)

#340 - Just Being JB

2013-12-30T17:35:00.003-05:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard Sold

I usually like to play a word game with the pet commissions that I paint for people. It's fun to find an adjective that describes the image of the pet (and also has the same first letter). I don't get the feeling from the image that this handsome pooch is quite "jittery" or "jovial". JB is sitting there, being himself. He's just being JB. :)

This is one of two commissioned pet paintings that happen to be for my step-sister, Christie. These two dogs, JB and Leo(post coming tomorrow) were both a real joy to paint, but then again I haven't met a dog or cat I didn't want to paint. Didn't Will Rogers say something like that?

Anyhoo, If you've been thinking about a pet portrait, ask me more about it or take a look at my commission info page.

p.s. I couldn't resist, here's a tiny-size sneak peak of Leo that I'll post tomorrow:

Hmmm, maybe "Lounging" Leo?

#339 - Cypress Sheds

2013-12-23T10:43:00.004-05:00

12" x 12" Oil on 2" cradled hardboard $295

#338 - Nascent Gander

2013-11-18T17:49:00.000-05:00

12" x 12" Oil on 2" cradled hardboard (currently NFS)

I love canadian geese. In my mom's neighborhood in north Durham, me and my special lady (who's work is quite an art itself) know a spot we like to call "goose corner". The Canada geese almost always hang out there and are completely unphased or afraid of any traffic. Perhaps it's because we usually stop to gander (no pun) at their beauty.

The geese in this composition I actually found from the reference photo I had used for my little painting missing gander that is still lost in the wild somewhere. Que Sera, sera. Loose a goose, find a goose. I like this one better anyway, plus he's got company. :)

art nerd notes:

Nascent Gander is #3 in my color scheme series. I wanted to try a different arrangement of the color scheme as opposed to the striped background that I'm a big fan of. I kept the background color edges hard but this time, I'm experimenting with having the subject break the compositional blocks in a more intentional (and not incidental) way in an attempt to integrate the foreground and background more. I like it, and it's very graphic, but I think I might try softer or brushworked edges next time to see what the effect is.

#337 - Little Tank

2013-11-15T15:27:00.001-05:00

12" x 12" Oil on 2" cradled hardboard $295

"Eyes I dare not meet in dreams"
-T.S.Eliot

This painting was done on the same 2" cradled hardboard that I am enjoying making and painting on lately and it is the second in my Color Scheme series (I'm planning on posting the third on Sunday/Monday). So, more of them to come.

And now some meandering (yes, I'd skip it)...

I like this painting, though, I don't know who the boy is or even if I like him.

Perhaps he is (as I was a long time ago) a young teen, scrawny, defensive and hiding his eyes. He's ever-wary of the present, but also looking to the past and the future. Wearing the trends of his time, wanting to fit in but never quite feeling at ease—apart from things because he's scared that the rug might be pulled out at any second.
…He doesn't realize he has forged his loneliness: He longs for deep intimacy (with god and man) but he also fears it, because all intimacy is temporary.

Loneliness is in the nature of the soul, because to be incarnate, by definition, is to be separate from God. Loneliness is the reminder, an umbilical cord to the earth, and a memory of paradise (the intimate place you are from).

So, this young hollow man lives guarded against threat or invasion, tensed for impact, and so lives hyper-vigilant for threat, but also looking, searching for what?
Hope? A sign? For safe ground to embrace (at last) with enough gravity that might pull him back down onto to earth, so that he might let go of what he cannot control, and finally fall asleep.

Little tank, all is safe in that nothing can be safe: all things are impermanent. Life is this misunderstood gift: It's just for a little while. Enjoy what you have been givin, while you can.

May serenity come to you little tank.

#336 - New Fish

2013-09-12T13:40:00.000-04:00

12" x 12" Oil on 2" cradled hardboard $295

"Water which is too pure has no fish."
-Zen Proverb (Ts'ai Ken T'an)

A new fish for a new experiment:
Perhaps I've been spending too much time on color lovers and using the color schemer app, but I think about colors schemes all the time. Plus, I've always loved color field painters like Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. So although I love color field, it's a little too pure for me... so I put a fish in it! :D

Behind the literal is the metaphor that I still need the organic creation and expression of representational painting. The judgment of color is what painting is all about to me. I fumble my way through the drawing (the judgement of shape) part of painting, but a color is first to me. HOWEVER, a close second is "brushwork" which I really don't even know what that really means, BUT I know what I like: I feel brush size for the stroke is almost as important as the color of that strokes. Hell, I have every flat brush size (often doubles) and wish there were half sizes in between.

Anyhoo, my point is that, I love color field/schemes but I love brushwork and representational painting also. So now my experiment in these next few paintings (+ some after that) is to try to combine these things. Stay tuned and I'd like some feedback (including constructive criticism) on the this and forthcoming "Color Scheme Paintings" as I explore this area.

BTW- I'm painting bigger for these because I need the space and I want to be able to hang them on the wall unframed (it could always be framed later). The sides are around 2" thick and currently gessoed black, but I might experiment with that. It would be included in the color scheme? Perhaps a "black" or dark that reflects the overall color key of the painting? Currently I handmake these cradled hardboard frames, but I might have to look at some good/affordable premade ones. We'll see.

I can't decide how hard or soft the lines that separate the colors should be. Maybe I should work those edges for variety and cohesion the same as I so for any subject? Many thoughts. Tell me yours in the comments. :)

#335 - Kash is King

2013-06-20T12:31:00.000-04:00

6" x 6" oil on hardbord Sold

Yes, Kash certainly is king, or at the very least he has the heart of a lion (king of the beasts). I got to spend some quality time with this fine little pug, when my brother and I took him over to Fullsteam for a walk and a beer. Jim and Jenny (his wife) actually had me make this as an engagement gift for Jenny's good friend Stephanie. Congrats on the engagement! As you can see, Kash is also thrilled.

In other where-the-hell-have-I-been-news, I've been/am tweaking the website (+adding a commission info page) doing some a bunch O' graphic design and also a bit more oil painting on larger cradled hardboard (12"x12"). I'm trying to combine some color field theory with the organic broad brush stroke subjects I usually do. I know it doesn't sound like me to actually be doing anything, but just to prove it to you (and you know who you are), here's a tiny sneak peek:

#334 - Ms. Super Star

2012-10-08T16:23:00.000-04:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard (currently NFS)

Ms. Super Star was working a concession stand at the Back Porch Music On the Lawn Concert Series at the American Tobacco Campus. She wasn't up on stage but kept striking poses for the camera anyway. The least I could so was to put her in paint.

#333 - The Last Beignet

2012-10-07T15:52:00.000-04:00

6" x 6" oil on hardbord Sold

This painting (commissioned by my cousin) was made from a photograph I took, the last time we were together in New Orleans having coffee and beignets. I hope it's not really the last real beignet I ever have. No one makes them quite like the Cafe Du Monde.

#332 - Pooped-Out Pups

2012-08-22T16:40:00.001-04:00

18" x 18" oil on hardbord Sold

This was my biggest commissioned piece yet. The size was kind of daunting for me at first but I really liked the way it turned out (and most importantly so did the client). To keep up with my broad brush stroke technique I went out and bought the biggest brushes that I could swing at this puppy (no pun). It was lots of fun and I look forward to the next one. Never met a dog I didn't want to paint and these two tired cuties were no exception.

Side note for myself: It was surprising how much simpler and how much better (stronger) the composition became once I took out the background behind the pups and substituted a simple supporting color to help pull it all together and focus on the subject. Also, now this newly created color palette helped give it all a bit of an americana kind of feel that I'm digging. I think the framer keyed into this because I really like the frame he chose for it:

P.S. (or S.P. for Shameless Plug) I've always got time for another so don't be afraid to ask me about a commission folks. :)

#331 - Kind Kia

2012-06-29T15:25:00.002-04:00

12" x 12" oil on canvas Sold

This is a commissioned piece of a sweet miniature pincher named Kia. Once upon a time I had a minpin and although she wasn't as kind as kia, I loved her very much anyway. All dogs go to heaven and so I like to imagine she's getting plenty to eat in her pampered afterlife.

I've done a few checkered backgrounds in the past and I'm really enjoying doing them again (+ per client request)

Again, apologies for the small photo, but next week I'll have my fancy photo apparatus up again.

#330 - Serendipity Path

2012-06-24T18:13:00.000-04:00

5" x 7" oil on hardboard Sold

I was just about to write that I wish every path was like this (frozen in time), as if it would be great to know how light and dark the path is and exactly where it leads. But would it be great? Why do we remember the past but not the future? Is that just the real nature of time or is that the only way that we can experience time (and our lives)? What if forgetting the future was simply an evolutionary selection for humans? Perhaps at one point humans could, but those humans died out because knowing the future simply isn't as bearable. What place would hope and serendipity have in a set future? It would be like reading a book when you already know what will happen. It's just not as interesting.
So, on second thought, I'll take not knowing. I'll choose hope, serendipity, and faith that you are where you are supposed to be and that you are going where you are supposed to go.
It's a more interesting story (and path), don't you think?

#329 - Aquaman (Bill)

2012-06-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

9" x 12" oil on canvas Sold

And this was number 2 of 2 portraits commissioned of a handsome couple in Maui Hawaii. Since I called the first one Superman, this second one just had to be called Aquaman. Once again, Congratulations on the new home, Bill and Niko. :)

Again...please forgive me for not getting a better photo (glare), but my fancy photo setup is out of commission for the time being. I'll fix it soon I hope.

#328 - Superman (Niko)

2012-06-14T15:11:00.002-04:00

9" x 12" oil on canvas Sold

This painting was 1 of 2 portraits commissioned of a handsome couple in Maui Hawaii. I called this one Superman because he looks like the man of steal to me. He has a great chiseled square jaw that seems to echo the structure of the old ironwork building around him. Niko and his partner Bill (who's portrait I named Aquaman, which I'll post tomorrow) just bought a new home together. Congratulations guys. :)

Please forgive me for not getting a better photo (glare), but my fancy photo setup is out of commission for the time being. I'll fix it soon I hope.

#327 - Playful Peabo

2012-06-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard Sold

This painting was for a commission of an uber cute little puppy named Peabo. It was fun because I also enjoyed doing the checked backgrounds that I use for some of my paintings (though I'm a fan of the flat color backgrounds as well).

Forgive me for not having a better photo but my fancy photo taking setup is out of commission for the time being.

More commission paintings on the way. Next up are people (not pooch) portraits.
:)

P.S. (or S.P. for Shameless Plug) I've always got time for another so don't be afraid to ask me about a commission folks.

Painting Thumbnail Generator = Fixed

2012-05-31T16:47:00.000-04:00

Sweet Jebus Feet!!
Finally fixed my painting thumbnail generator (turns out my link to the .js javascript file was broken). So anyhoo, now my pages full O' thumbnail generated goodness should be working again (e.g. my first 120 all paintings, sold paintings and available paintings). Please give me a shout out if it's not working for you (or you see any other problems)!

In other news, I've got a bunch of commissions I'm working on right now that I'll post up real soon (BTW-I've always got time for more so don't be afraid to ask me about a commission folks).
:)

#326 - Hal

2012-03-14T13:49:00.001-04:00

5" x 7" oil on hardboard Sold

This was a portrait of a friend's father that I really enjoyed painting. It's a real joy playing with the temperature changes in the human face. I think I'd like to do some more of these.

#325 - Mr. McCap's Morning

2012-03-08T17:47:00.000-05:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard Sold

This is my favorite painting in quite awhile. I don't know if the digital version was able to capture the colors right but I know I hit the color key as I look at the real painting in front of me. This is the color truth of that morning light as it fell on this guy and his cap.

#324 - Red Bellied Bandit

2012-03-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

6" x 6" oil on hardboard Sold

#323 - Backroad Shed

2012-03-06T23:45:00.001-05:00

5" x 7" oil on hardboard Sold

#322 - Retro Chair

2012-03-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

2.5"x 3.5"(ACEO) oil on artboard Sold

I couldn't resist painting the colors of this retro chair. This chair wouldn't go in my place, but sure was fun to paint though. :)

#321 - Red Roof Shed

2012-02-22T17:40:00.001-05:00

8" x 8" oil on hardboard Sold

I'm starting to get my workshop together which is nice because when I decide a painting needs to be a certain size, I can just go cut the size I need. Because of the big strokes I wanted to fit into this painting I wanted it to be a bit larger than my usual 6" x 6" size. The extra space was fun to play with and I really like the way this one turned out. :)

#320 - Orange Slice Belgian

2012-02-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

2.5"x 3.5"(ACEO) oil on artboard Sold

If the painting god came down and told me I could only paint only one subject, this would be it: Light shining through a drink. I never get tired of it and I'm always captivated by the sight if it. If there's a bar in heaven I imagine every drink that angels order would have light shining through it like this. Ideally they would also be as tasty as this particular belgian beer. Conversely, bars in hell serve wormwood stout through which no light has ever passed.