House on Main St.-SOLD

a little ditty from the 'friendly city by the sea' Swansboro. this place has these cool cottages from the turn of the century all over the place. i know i say i love alot of places. i do. every time you paint somewhere for any length of time you fall in love with its particular personality. things and places have personalities and physical properties to them that make them unique to anywhere else in the world.

Boats are this way too. each one in a marina or boatyard is unique and there's not another one like it on earth. its run aground on this side or that, or needs a coat of paint, or was retrofitted here or there particular to the owners preference. so when i paint a town or a boat i think of them as portraits like you do when you paint a face. Ears smaller than average, nose reddish or not, hair unique to that particular person etc. inanimate objects deserve this same "distinguishing introspection". wow i've been waiting awhile to pontificate like this LOL

its all about REALLY seeing...!

on a lighter note--- here's a good day for me.... ive eaten some buffalo wings and smell like paint and bugspray at the end of the day. what can i say... i'm easy to please.

here's one from my ocracoke trip last week.

Not titled yet- 8x10

email me for a price if you like this one

slated for Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke unless it sells here first!

AirStream Near Coinjock-SOLD

The Ferry Ride-SOLD

this ones on a 1 1/2" gallery wrap canvas painted on the sides so no frame is needed! sorry......this photo has just a bit of glare on the dark colors.

This could be a ride on one of the many ferrys we have to get to different coastal islands we have here in NC. lets see... these are the ones i ride regularly..... the one to bald head island from southport. .... the one from cedar island to ocracoke.....the one from ocracoke over to hatteras island... the one from ocracoke to swan quarter... to name but a few. i love how you have to slow down riding them. something akin to having to slow your life down a minute when a swing bridge makes you sit in line for fifteen minutes to get on Topsail Island. we need these little R and R times to keep our sanity in the hustle and bustle world we've created for ourselves.

I love riding ferry's where i can just enjoy the ride!

Airstream in Coinjock- 9x12

SOLD

Studio Sale for 07 and 08 Work

Large pieces priced at the same cost as my small dailies. these are works from last year and year before. theyve been sitting around my studio and need a good home.


Worked on a commissioned piece today. might get it on tomorrows post once i tweak it a time or two tonite to finish it up.

Ready to Set the Nets-SOLD

HUGE STUDIO SALE OF '07 and '08 WORK

i'm clearing out my studio and i'm letting these larger older pcs. go for the price of my new small ones. Get 'em while they last

This ones from Wanchese on the Outer Banks.

Capt Charlies From on High- 6x8

at Woods Gallery on Bald Head Island

contact me for the price if you like this one.

Was breakfast, lunch and dinner for every biting fly, no-see-um and gnat on Bald Head Island today. the only time i wasnt being chewed up by the critters was on the ferry in the middle of the sound. Jeeez if it aint the weather giving me a fit, its the bugs. gotta love outdoor painting. you can probably see bugs embedded in the paint on these photos. they were thick, buzzing everywhere. havent seen it that bad in years.

On Borrowed Time- 12x12

at Woods Gallery on Bald Head Island

contact me if you like this one and want to know the price

An old boathouse from a friends back yard. The light seems to change color here every hour or so. never get tired of painting this area.

Front St.- SOLD

HUGE STUDIO SALE OF '07 and '08 WORK

All this week i'll be offering pieces that have been hanging around my studio and need a new home. i'm willing to give away these 8x10's for the price of my small dailies.

So keep an eye out for them all this week and get in on this great sale!

The weather today was awesome, warm and sunny. i love the warm weather and the waters warming up nicely. painted in the marina this afternoon, but not before a stand-up paddleboarding session in the sound. click here to see what thats all about. you can surf or cruise around in the sound. i want to rig up something that i can drag behind in the water that will hold my tripod and paintbox. then i can paddle to some remote spots on the marsh and paint. if you know how to make a waterproof box that'll float drop me an email.

Ocracoke Cottage-6x6

this one's at Down Creek Gallery now

$100 unframed plus shipping

One of those classic water front rentals from the island. sits right on some beautiful blue-green water. this is off season so i can get right up to them without making the renters mad or suspicious. wont be much longer that i can do these cottage paintings with water in them. everybody has gobbled up all the waterfront property and water access.

Today i was in morehead city teaching a color class and had six wonderful students. the weather was perfect, and we were on a beautiful waterfront. i was showing them how to mix any color imaginable with red, yellow, blue and white. even beginner painters were mixing color like seasoned painters in just a few hours. way to go you girls! you made today seem really easy teachin'!

Ocracoke Morning-12x16

to ask about the price/purchase email me with the title in the subject line

Ocracoke Evening- 8x10

SOLD

Oyster Creek Crab House-8x6

SOLD

We Got it Made-SOLD

A "banger" i painted while hanging out with Doug Hoover on Ocracoke. We were getting a drink at a convenient store and here was this little beauty of a scene. who says you gotta go far away to find things to paint. i dont have time to paint all the ones i see in a square mile radius.

check out dougs stuff here. he has some really nice stuff and is a cool guy as well.

Afternoons Glow on House-6x8-$50

$8 s/h
to purchase instantly click the "buy now" button to pay with PayPal or credit card or be the first to email me with the title in the subject line

Ocracoke Reflections-12x9

if you like this one email me for the price

This is a cool building that sits on the backside of the harbor at Ocracoke. love the way the one side was lit up and orangey versus the cool dark red on the shadow side. and of course the fishing nets and an out of place red barrel (which was a nice accent to the green tree and grass.

Last Voyage-8x10

if you like this one drop me an email for the price

The last of six today... what!!!.... lets see a 12x16, 6x6, 9x12, 8x10, 6x8, and this 8x10. thats gotta be a record. the sun was great and not a cloud in the sky all day. work 8 to 7:30 yeah it can be done. then blog. get something to eat and check emails. oh yeah!

The cemetery is a place where the sailors of a ship that wrecked off ocracoke are laid to rest. they were british (reason for the british flag) and the coast guard here keep up the place in their honor. next to it is a cemetery for island residents as well. a very beautiful scene in the fading sun, late in the day. these will most likely go to Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke.

Ocracoke Rental-5x6

$100 plus s/h

at Down Creek Gallery

I'm still on the island of Ocracoke, home for a while to the infamous pirate Blackbeard. He used to hide out here and strike out at ships robbing them blind. now they do it legally in the restaurants and motels. it's very expensive to stay here even in the off season. so i'm trying to paint four a day to keep the price per painting down. i'll use any excuse to paint alot wont i.

doing that many in a day makes you use your time wisely. i see paintings everywhere so i dont have far to travel to get one. thats one good thing.

i bet i havent gone a mile from where i started to do all these and one more.

SOLD

From the Pinnacle-8x10
to purchase contact me by email with the title in the subject line

I stood high on a hill of dirt to paint this view of the cove where the ferry comes in. this was done later in the afternoon and i like the color harmonies on this one.

Ocracoke Hiway-8x8

SOLD

One of the many roads that lead to the sound. i left the house out that was to the left of this one. this is what it looked like hundreds of years ago before folks inhabited the island. Love the early light on this one. pinks and subdued shades of lavender everywhere.

i think all these will be in Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke soon.

Turquoise View- 8x10

SOLD

Saw this while scouting down dead-end roads that front the water. how cool is that view! i left the tiedown off it for artistic reasons but it had a strap attached to anchors sunk in the ground. the owner told me they kept it from floating away like it did the last time the area flooded. too funny!

Cedar Island Shores-SOLD

Here's a fast and loose one from Cedar Island, NC. i had a few days free when i got a commission done early so i decided to gypsy around the Outer Banks for a few days since they're calling for good weather all the way thru sunday. when i got to the ferry to get over to Ocracoke i had an hour wait, so i whipped out the paint box and tripod and banged this one out right around the beach a little from the dock.

i like the looseness of it because i was really painting intuitively, so worried about missing the ferry. i think when we have too long to work on a piece we overthink it to fill in the time allowed. kinda like..... how come when the road crew has four guys there's only one working and they get the same amount of work done as they would if they had one or two? but we have to pay for all four regardless dont we?well paintings the same. we sense that we have all this time to work on it (especially if you work in the studio) and we use all the time after its "really done" to add a bunch of detail that wasnt needed anyway, and just kills the spontaneity we loved about it before killing it. the definition of TOO much detail is- anything that isnt ABSOLUTELY needed to tell the story.

when people see my paintings alot of them comment on how i edit a scene into the basics needed and nothing more. well there's the secret. dont put anything into the painting that isnt absolutely necessary. as in -- if you didnt paint it, folks would have a hard time figuring out whats going on. like the shadow lines on a clapboard house. if you squint and dont see them when youre out there painting, why paint them in.... thats unnecessary detail. you dont need to paint in every window for people to know its a house, right? do away with that stuff and the painting will be fresh, and not overworked.

Yellow House on the White Oak-SOLD

Another little ditty from swansboro, a quaint little village by the sea. i've done this house twice now. once in the sun and once on an overcast day.

The color class i'm teaching Saturday is filling up so let me know if you're interested in coming. its from 10-4 in Morehead City. i'll teach a whole day on how to mix any color imaginable from a limited palette of red, blue, yellow and white. if you arent blown away by what you learn, i'll refund your money! i'm that convinced that it will revolutionize the way you mix and look at color from that day on. drop me an email to hold you a spot. its $75 and worth every penny. i'll also have a bunch of my daily paintings, dvds, and plein air painting book on hand for sale too. "Baby need a new pair a shoes" LOL

Capt.Phillips Shrimpers-SOLD

Went to Swansboro to paint today. the wind was blowing steady at about 20 knots so i found a windbreak in a dock, stayed low and painted this nice little arrangement of shapes and harmonious colors. my lightweight painting box attached to a tripod was just the ticket for a day like this. you have to minimize what the wind can blow over when youre painting. i'll do anything to keep painting no matter what the conditions

the harmony has to do with the blue having some orange in it, darkish green has blue in it and the greyish blue has green in it. all courtesy of nature! its really there if you look.

this one was 100% knife painting. keeps you thinking of the big shapes and you really CAN'T get a lot of detail in, even if you wanted to. its a piece of thin steel after all.

Turquoise Glimpse-8x10

if you like this one email me for the price

This ones done on Ocean Drive on Emerald Isle. the island in this section of beach sits lower than the road and you have this nice little elevated view where you catch the water in between the beach cottages. i love it! i'll be back doing some more thats for sure.

Up the Driveway-SOLD

just loved how this house looked at the edge of the field in the late afternoon sun. so iconic eastern north carolina. it needed a little something so i used my artistic license and added a little winding path to lead your eye up to it from the large green shape....er grassy field. did it work?

also super happy with the brush strokes. kinda chunky and squared off some. i've started using flats to get these brushstrokes instead of filberts which give you a more rounded stroke. i think i'll stick with em'. you can get really thin lines with them (tree limbs) and chunky square strokes like the ones at the edges of the foreground shadow. give em a try... i think you'll like em!

I'm a Star II-10x8

contact me if you like this painting and i'll give you the price

get this one for the "bikini Diva" in your life. she'll love it!

This ones done from the one a week ago. i like her stance and her white hat.

I meant to tell y'all about this on the post about the rainy street painting in Charleston a week ago, but i forgot to, so here it is.

i was out painting in charleston when it got really cloudy and drizzly. i was almost finished with the painting and decided to try to finish it up when it started really raining. i'm keeping the painting dryish but i'm soaked.

this little girl and her mother pass me under their umbrellas and i hear the little girl say " he sure picked a bad day to paint didnt he mommy!?"

Commission 4/15- NODP

22x28-nfs

**NODP is the code i use to keep Daily Painters Gallery from featuring this on our site**


Here's the finished painting i've been working on the last couple of days. i really like the way it came out.

The final stage of this was completed by tweaking the individual shapes from step 2 on the post below. i added lots of temperature variations in each shape, blurring and tightening edges, adding lots of nice accents, that make this piece pop.

Especially love the feeling of depth i got by making the grass and field shapes bigger and more saturated in color up close vs. smaller and cooler to show distance or depth as it goes back. this was way more successful on the final than on the original color sketch.

Carolina Fields-6x6-$100

$8 s/h

contact me if you want this one

Starting on a 22x28 commission today so i thought i'd chronicle the process.
here's the first stage. washes of burnt sienna to show the values of each shape. this gives a nice warm glow under all the paint that will go on top

the small painting below the big one is the color sketch i've got approved by the client and i'll use it to guide me in the painting of the bigger one.




Now i lay in thin paint approximating the final color of each shape. color is not as important to get right at this stage as getting the right value is.

i'll stop here and pick it back up tomorrow. that way it'll dry up just a touch so i can get good clean color when i lay it on over top of this block-in. this will go to a nice lady up near philly in pennsylvania.

Beach Pair-5x5 SOLD

Like the lighting effect on these two little girls playing. theyre lit from the back but very close to side lit. thats where that little sliver of light is on their legs and arms.

i'm working on keeping the shadows on their skin lively also, adding a bit more warmth than was actually there. it works.

i'd love some comments on- if you think these paintings of figures are working or not. that's what's cool about blogging..... the interaction and growth that can happen from honest critiqueing. so chime in,...especially if its bad! i need to know so i can get better! thanks

I'm a Star-9x7-SOLD

Cant get the figures out of my head. kinda like a few weeks ago. well..... go with the flow.

Luana, if youre reading this.... look at the warm darks on the skin!

click the painting to see the luscious brush work and thick paint

Get this one for the beach diva in your life. She'll love it! go on...hit that PayPal button, you know you want to!

Girl with a Hat-9x9-$45

$8 s/h
to purchase click the "buy now" button below to pay instantly with PayPal or credit card or be the first to email me with the title in the subject line

This one's another warmup that took around 30 minutes and its kind of a gesture drawing in color. just trying to get the drawing right and capture her pose and hit a few values and temperatures with color. really fast and loose. great exercise.... i'd love to do em for a few hours straight. limit the time to 20 minutes, do about 20 and see what i get. some would suck bad, alot of them would be just ok and there would be two or three at the most that were dynamite. exactly like my plein air paintings LOL

Seated Girl with Hat-9x9-$45

$8 s/h
to purchase click the "buy now" button to pay instantly with PayPal or credit card or be the first to email me with the title in the subject line

A 45 minute figure study done in Luana's studio in raleigh this afternoon. it was really fun and the only thing that could have been better is if we really were outside in the sun.

this was the first one. just trying to warm up and figure out what underpainting colors will work. like the pose in this 30 minute study. i'll add the light flesh color to her face where it went kinda gray on me. hey it was only 30 minutes... there's bound to be some tweaks needed right? LOL