Early Mornings

3-18 moon

I am used to getting up early every morning, which means the opportunity to capture "night" scenes is always there. I've always had a desire to create night scenes.  It's a challenge to create the light and shadow.

39th Crossing

 This Painting was difficult to capture on camera because the water marks came out over pronounced and blotchy looking.
I will try to get a better picture of it.  The original is much more subtle.  The idea was to create the nuances in the dark picture.  Im not sure the photo shows that.

Carlton St. Landsapes

I started an new 4panel watercolor yesterday. 4 views of Carlton St.  I will count this as 4 daily paintings

I got some fairly dramatic photos of the sky the other day. Carlton Street is just a few blocks from here and sits on a hill. You wouldn't know it but downtown Portland and the West Hills are just below the tree line.

Update on Albina Fuel Yard

Albina Fuel Coal Bin

My friend Jon saw this painting, and thought it might be an old coal bin. That would make sense. I found it interesting that it was still standing when I photographed it some time ago.
The old Albina Fuel yard on NE 33rd Ave. was gone yet there sat this structure with four doors in the front. It was surrounded by debris.

More Still Life

Two Reds 12 X 8"

Sliced Apple with Orange  12 X 8"

 

 

In these two I used  Strathmore 3ply Plate Bristol.  If you look closely, you can see how the paint behaves differently on this paper.  The pools of paint help form the image. I was happy with the way it worked out.

Daily Watercolors

Pomegranate and Bananas  11 1/2 X 7

On the Vine 12 X 11

Snake Tail

Reference photo courtesy of Sandy

Painting rocks was of little interest to me until I saw some fantastic work by Geoffrey McCormack.  This snake in the rocks was too much to resist. I really enjoyed the challenge.

Coos Bay Beach

Another  painting from an old photo of Coos Bay, I forgot the exact location. I enjoyed the challenge of painting the breaking waves.and rocky cliff.

Still life

As time goes on, I will continue to post some of these quick still life paintings.

Beach Scene

I did this watercolor pretty much out of the gate in January.  In fact, it was the first of this year.  I liked the composition of the picture which was taken a few years ago. My daughters were laughing at something so my wife was actually the only one posing, which is why I liked it so much.

Three Pools Watercolor

The top is a photo lent to me by my friend from work, Sandy.  She is an avid hiker and took the photo of  Three Pools near Salem.  I painted this photo as an exercise.  I have rarely attempted to paint water, so this proved difficult for me.   The lower pic is my watercolor.

Welcome to my new Blog

This is the first posting in my new blog.  I will try to update this at least weekly if not daily, but since I have another full time job, you might  hear from me only occasionally.  Right now I am trying to get all my paintings uploaded so you can see what I am doing, and give me feedback on what you think. I am also in the process of getting a new website where you can view my work extensively.  I've been painting again since October of 2010 and find it to be much easier this time around.  I credit PBS' Oregon Art Beat series and in particular, Cathleen Rehfeld who inspired me via the story about her Painting a
Day.  I found that with this Painting a Day mindset, I can paint freely without getting stuck on one idea.  This has also helped me learn much quicker about what I want to accomplish and how to do it. I am excited about sharing my work with the public. I hope you enjoy it, I think you will.