The Outdoor Studio

Dulcinea Refined 8x10 Portrait shown in progress

2012-02-13T12:28:00.000-10:00

Dulcinea finished portrait 8x10

First transparent sketch with toned background.

Establishing lights and darks.

Midtones and skin far enough along it's time to start on hair and clothing

Final notes from the pose, just a few finishing touches needed back at the studio.

Our model Dulcinea and some great lighting that day.

Really loving these monday morning sessions. Most of my portrait experience has been fast 20 minute sketches. Really been nice to slow down and explore new techniques on mondays.
up for bids on DPW:

Sergio 8x10 Showing all the steps!

2012-02-12T11:47:00.000-10:00

Finished Portrait, Sergio 8x10

After the first transparent sketch with toned background.

Darkened the darks with more of the trans. mix and brought out highlights by wiping clean some areas.

Starting to add mid-tones and the cool side highlights.

Added the warm side highlights, more mid-tones and started on the clothing.

A view of my setup.

Our model Sergio.

This was one of our recent monday morning long pose sessions at the Linekona. Remembered to take a photo at every break to show a work in progress. These are just un-cropped camera shots so please forgive the poor quality. Leave a comment if you like this behind the scenes look at my process.
This painting is up for bids here:

White Orchids 6x6

2012-02-11T12:12:00.001-10:00

My entry to the Daily PaintWorks White On White Challenge. 6"x6" oil on gessoed illustration board. Up for bids here:

Sold, Mud Portrait of Helen.

2012-02-07T18:33:00.000-10:00

A "Mud" Portrait of Helen the model. Posted before but now it is sold.
(SOLD) Gets to stay here in Honolulu!

Model in Blue 6x8 Alla Prima Portrait

2012-02-01T10:17:00.001-10:00

A new portrait from the monday morning long pose sessions at Linekona in Honolulu.
6x8 Available at:
Daily PaintWorks Art friendly auctions, $40.00 opening bid

Winter Sale, over 50 paintings starting at $9.95

2012-01-18T14:57:00.001-10:00

Check my eBay Listings this month for a huge sale I am having to make room for new daily paintings.

eBay Sale! Click Here

Dreaming of snow!

2012-01-04T16:21:00.000-10:00

I know poor me stuck in beautiful Hawaii all winter but I do miss seasons. Here is an older pic of when I was living and painting plein air in Colorado.
(The painting in the photo is sold btw)

Seneca Lake Sunset 6x8 plein air

2012-01-03T23:15:00.001-10:00

My family has a boat docked right here where I did this painting. Finally got to catch this scene last July while in NY. Seneca lake is my second favorite Finger Lake after Keuka. But it is a very close second.
(SOLD)

View Of Waimanalo From Bellows Beach 8x10

2012-01-02T21:56:00.000-10:00

Here is the "sketch" I did plein air at the beach about a year ago. One of those unfortunate paintings that gets left un-finished for various reasons. Mostly I think it just got too dark and I did not have any lights with me. so....

It sat in the closet for the longest time and I never knew if I should finish it or not. Tonight I had a great invite to see "My Week With Marilyn" which I have heard good things about but I was disciplined and stayed home to paint. Not feeling like starting something new I decided to give this one some love. Did the entire re-paint with only three colors! Alizarin Crimson, Hansa Yellow Light, and one of my favorites Indanthrone Blue. I have used this tight palette before for a Koolau mountain scene and really liked the way you are forced into a very harmonious color scheme. Below is an example of the many colors that spin out from this combo and the great "mud" that lands in the middle.

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T21:54:00.001-10:00

Some purple orchids from the garden.

Harmony Rose 6x8 Oil on a RayMar gessoed canvas

2011-12-28T14:30:00.001-10:00

A single white rose with a yellow glow in the center. My friend David grew this one here at home. Always has more meaning for me than a store bought flower. Hope you like it, feel free to bid at DPW or leave a comment please.

Zinnias,Cosmos, and Lavender 6"x6"

2011-12-21T13:30:00.000-10:00

I love painting these easy to grow zinnias. Need to branch out and do more roses again. My favorite flower to paint are irises which you almost never see here in Hawaii. They have such great contrast of form: curves and straight lines, vertical and horizontal planes etc. Up for bids at DPW click the link on the right side of the blog!

Orange Lillies 8"x10"

2011-12-18T17:06:00.000-10:00

Love to paint flowers. Each one is its own interesting little character. Some are young, some are old. Some are grabbing the spotlight, and others are turning away.
(SOLD) Off to Fort Worth Texas!

Paint Your Shoes Challenge! 6"x12"

2011-12-17T09:24:00.000-10:00

Another Daily PaintWorks Challenge. Had fun with this simple command of "paint your shoes". So I picked my favorites, grey leather Sketchers and painted them on a perfect sized 6"x12" canvas. Up for bids on my DPW Auction page click the link on the right of the blog.

Soldiers Marching

2011-12-10T08:50:00.001-10:00

Some x-mas ornaments on the move. 6"x6" up for bids on eBay click the link on the right of the blog to see the auction.

Sunset in Hau'ula Hawaii 8x10 Plein Air

2011-11-24T10:26:00.001-10:00

Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday Painting Posting.

This was the first of the two Hau'ula paintings done recently at my friend Dave's place. We drove up the coast from a point south down and around the corner from the view in this painting. Got there just in time. I made some quick hellos to the other guests and ran my gear down to the beach. After a quick setup I had just enough time to catch a great sunset with my toes in the wet sand. Really happy with how the waves came out in this one. Got some good tips from Stapleton Kearns art blog. That man is a treasure trove of valuable information. I highly recommend giving it a good read top to bottom for any artist.

Thanks for checking out my work. This painting and others are up for auction at the Daily Paintworks website. Below is a link to my gallery.

Click here for the link:

Crowd Challenge from DPW 6x12

2011-11-17T09:58:00.001-10:00

This is my response to the latest Daily PaintWorks Challenge. Carol Marine provided a photo of this german restaurant and gave us the challenge to crop and paint what we liked best as the compostion. I loved the window boxes with the geraniums and decided to stretch all the way up to there with a tall 6x12 canvas. Click my dpw link on the right side of the blog to see this auction and to see all the other versions. Below is the original photo so you can see what part I took.

(Sold) This challenge painting is off to B.C. Canada!

A very sad story, Charity auction 8x10 Kailua beach scene

2011-11-12T08:26:00.001-10:00

This was a local story that recently went national on ESPN. My friend coaches Pee Wee football here in town. One of the 5 year old players Drew Lida collapsed during practice and went into a coma. Doctors have not been able to do anything yet and he recently spent his 6th birthday in the hospital, still in a coma. The coaches organized a fundraiser/silent auction and this was the painting I donated. Not sure how much it went for but glad that it raised some money to help out the family.

(SOLD) buyer unknown

Kailua Sunrise 6x8 Sold

2011-11-10T09:13:00.001-10:00

A "toes in the sand" plein air at the beach. Finally got there early enough one morning after a very fast bike ride. Sunsets do seem to last longer than sunrises don't you agree?
(SOLD) This little baby got to stay close to home right here in Honolulu!

Orange Orchid 5x5

2011-11-05T20:01:00.000-10:00

Finished

Sketch

In studio showing palette and original flower.

A 5"x5" still -life of a single large orange orchid bloom. Homegrown from a big old plant that only blooms once a year. Previously sold but forgot to post it. Someone was asking about it today and I had to go digging through my files to find out where it went. Embarrased to say I thought I still owned it! Really need to spend some time filling in those gaps in my excel spredsheet.
(SOLD)

Jack'O'Lantern! 6x6 Challenge

2011-11-01T21:00:00.000-10:00

A real life Jack'O'Lantern painted this Halloween. Did this one for the recent Daily Paintworks Challenge "Paint Your Pumpkin". Added another layer to the challenge by painting it lit up. Really liked the way the light spills out of the top of the crooked lid. Hope you like it, up for bids at Daily Paintworks.
Click Here to see the auction:

New Computer

2011-10-28T08:33:00.002-10:00

Sorry for the break in new posts but finally had to upgrade to a new laptop. So now the long process of transferring files etc has begun. I will post again when I have gotten the photos back on.

Sunrise In Laie 8x10 Plein Air $80 opening bid

2011-10-23T09:41:00.000-10:00

     Our friend Dave lives in Brasil now but everytime he comes back for a visit we have a party at one of his vacation rentals on the North Shore of Oahu. It is a great area if you are ever looking for a more unique Hawaiian vacation. Less shopping, more kayaking and hiking etc. Google Hale Koolau for more info.
     We raced up there on a friday night and managed to get there just before sunset. I grabbed my gear and made it to the beach just in time to paint a nice low-key dark sunset. Will post that one later. Had I not done that one this one may not have happened. Set the alarm for an evil hour but almost went back to sleep as the security light out the window tricked me into thinking I had missed the sunrise. Luckily I went out and checked. Since my gear was setup from the night before (very important at that hour I have discovered) I had just enough motivation to get out on the beach. Found Dave already up in the beach hammock to my surprise, he is usually the last one up.
     Dove right into this painting which from the lighting effect that morning turned out to be very high-key. Those descriptive terms for a painting relate to where the major value groups fall. In this high key most of the values are "high" or bright? you might say. With some in the mid range, and very few in the darks. There you just learned something. Those dark clouds did turn into a brief shower which made me pack up since oil and water do not mix. Rain does all sorts of horrible streaky things to a painting.
     Hope you like it, currently up for bidding at Daily Paintworks. Click here to view the auction!

Dark Dulcinea 6x8

2011-10-20T17:26:00.001-10:00

One of two Dulcinea portraits. The first was the 8x10 I posted previously. Hard to part with this painting I love it so much. Sometimes they just "click" and everything falls into place effortlessly. Paintings like this get me out of bed in the morning and continue trudging up that hill, fighting the naysayers every step of the way.
Up for bids starting at $40 and free shipping on Daily Paintworks.com click here:

Portrait of Honey 6x8

2011-10-20T16:41:00.000-10:00

One of our Sunday Leeward Drawing Group models. Her real name is Honey and she is an excellent model, very professional. So glad that I found that group. Very small and quiet with excellent models like Honey and Chance. A portrait of Chance will be posted soon.
Up for auction at DPW starting saturday click the link to the right.