Plein Air Session-SOLD

6x12- $150

Here are the two plein air painters together. i really love them in this long format. it looks like they were made for it dont they?

Wahoo!-4x6

i'm on a kick painting these big game fish scenes lately. i'm enjoying being loose and painterly on the scene. this is like the bride series i did a while back. dont know or care about their marketing potential. i'm having fun pushing the paint, finding and losing the edges, playing with the shapes and generally goofing off while i wait impatiently for my move to the florida keys in a few weeks. right now a huge winter storm is going past. temps in the thirties and a foot of snow a few hours to the west. i hate winter. i'm a sun and flip flop kinda guy, for sure! maybe thats why i'm painting these sunny fishing scenes. trying to transport myself somehow.

i'm still working on a 6x12 of the two plein air ladies together in the scene, so i couldnt post it today. maybe tomorrow.

Plein Air Painter-SOLD

6x6-$75

another plein air painter doing her thing.

i saw an online Youtube video of this guy painting one of those little mannequin looking things that you can buy at the art store. the joints are flexible and you can put them in any pose and draw them, you know the ones i'm talking about?

well he took one and painted from it. watching that was very instructional because he just painted in the limbs very straight and didnt try to make them look cylindrical too quick. ive started doing that early in the painting of figures and they seem to be drawn a whole lot better now that i'm doing that. soooo glad i saw that little 7 minute youtube video. too me, it was every bit as useful as a daylong workshop or class. the internet is a great learning tool. we live in a great time in history!

Plein Air Painting-6x8-SOLD

$75

Painted this from a photo of some students painting plein air on Kathy Weber's blog. thanks kathy! i'll show you the other one tomorrow.

today was a weird day. i started driving around looking for something to paint at 10 am. By 3 pm i still hadnt found anything that caught my fancy. i went to the beach, nothing. drove to swansboro where i have never struck out. nothing. what?!!

all that time and all that driving and nothing to show for it.

and some people think all us painters do is paint all day. its not like everywhere you look there are great paintings. alot of my time is spent looking for them. cops dont like people driving around real slow looking at stuff. its suspicious looking! so i spend alot of time telling cops what i'm doing,too! havent figured out yet how to get paid for that :D

The Longest Pier- 6x8

SOLD

the sign on this pier says its the longest pier on the east coast, and goes 1000 feet out into the water.

Sound Glimpse-30x40-SOLD

this is the finished painting i started in my step-by-step demonstration a few posts below this one. its on a 1 1/2" gallery wrapped canvas and doesnt need a frame if you like a more contemporary look on your wall.

its funny that while i'm painting these big ones i can be transported back to the day that the study was done. you can feel the sun on your back, feel the atmosphere (or clarity) of the light, remember other ones you painted that day, everything. the whole morning comes back to you. like when you look at a picture that transports you back 20 years just by looking at it. i guess in my old age, i'll have permanent memories of all the places i've ever painted. another blessing of this painter lifestyle i didnt even think about. until now!

Houses in December-8x8-SOLD

SOLD

if these old houses could talk imagine the stories they could tell. all the towns in eastern nc have plenty of these old houses built close to the turn of the century. i imagine they were regal in their heyday when the towns rich folks built em.

Winter House-5x7-SOLD

$75

got outside the truck on this one. wow... it was almost 50 degrees the afternoon i did this. but that was probably in the sun. to keep from setting up the easel umbrella i stood in the shade of an outbuilding so it was cold.

funny how all the warm greens, yellows and oranges you'd probably see in late afternoon if this was a few month ago, are gone.

i'll have to wait for my extended Key West painting trip i've got planned for the end of january. hoping to rent a room down there for a few months so i can keep plein air painting thru the winter. maybe then my feet will thaw out!

Dont forget the Blog Holiday 1/2 price Sale is going on!

(all 6x8's and smaller, on a post dated before oct. 1, 2009)

Tank Cul-de-Sac-6x6-SOLD

SOLD

another "mobile studio" piece. found a cul-de-sac with a cool view of storage tanks (of gas) for ships in the port of Wilmington.

has that wintertime feel to it too with the bare trees and winter sky

Below is a step-by-step demo of a 30x40 painting on a gallerywrapped canvas.

Here i draw on the shapes and lay in some cool temperature shapes the rest will be warm


here i laid in the warmer shapes in the "somewhat" right values. at this stage thats all i'm going for. this is just the underpainting and kinda gets me thinking about temperature and value.

now i knife in large shapes into the "somewhat" close "real" colors. you can already see the feeling of light at this early stage. i've probably been working on it (up to this stage) for about 45 minutes. its like adding some skin to the skeleton and i can go this way or that now, adding form and variety to this jigsaw puzzle of flat shapes. up to this point its not too fun, but whats coming up is... pushing paint around and making everything look 3-D. Now thats why i do what i do!

i'll post the finished painting when its completed.

River Reflection-4.25x7

Turned the cab of my truck into my mobile studio yesterday doing this one. i was on the Wilmington waterfront and liked the sky and the way the reflection was on the water. there were wind gusts up to 45 m.p.h. and just didnt feel like fighting it. made a neat little steering wheel easel out of some wood. maybe tomorrow i'll show that cool little invention. no more holding the paint box in my lap. its nice and secure in just the right angle on the steering wheel. i can paint in rainy, cold or windy weather in complete comfort, radio jammin' some bob marley and the heater running full blast on my feet. ever notice the older you get the colder your feet get? why is that?

Shallow Waters-10x8

i did this one while on Bald Head a few months ago. i had gotten to the ferry and had about an hour to wait so i set up really quick and painted this one. but you wouldnt recognize it if i showed it to you. what it looks like now looks nothing like it did, when i first did it.

i've had it that long just staring at me from across the studio for months. it had two large trees on the left AND the right. something about that bothered me but i couldnt put my finger on it.

today i was going thru some reference photos i took in cape cod and found a shot i had taken of a sailboat and distant marsh and it hit me. get rid of the tree on the right to open up the view and add a sailboat. as i was painting out the tree on the right i had made a small bush and i thought STOP, leave it a bush.

added the sailboat, changed the background to simplify it and BAM, i started loving the thing.

painting everyday teaches you something everyday. todays lesson..... dont be so quick to gesso over one of your flub ups, and take lots of reference photos to spark ideas to save em!

Swimming Sushi-12x12-SOLD

Been cravin' sushi all day. instead of going and getting some i painted some! One problem with that plan....it makes the craving worse!

Loved how the soy sauce came out. like how you can see thru it, and it looks wet. yummy!

the photo for this came from karin juricks "different strokes from different folks" blog.

1/2 Price Sale!

Dreamy Marsh-30x40

$900 framed

i'm putting all my older small daily paintings (6x8 and smaller) on SALE for the holidays!

any available painting on a post older than October 1st, 2009 will be 1/2 price. even if it was listed for only $50 its now $25!

so go on the right side bar --->, click "September".

scroll down to posts before October 1st and start finding some stocking stuffer gifts for your Christmas list (or yourself!)

when you get to the bottom of September, just keep hitting "older posts" to find more paintings that are 1/2 price.

NOTE
to purchase the painting--email me with the title in the subject line. dont hit PayPal buttons because they wont reflect the 1/2 price deal!

Sale ends Dec. 31st 2009!

End of the Dock-8x10-SOLD

$275

From my "honey hole" in sneads ferry this afternoon.any fisherman will tell you that they have certain spots that they always catch fish in. they call em honey holes. This spot always produces a painting for me. even if its winter, slightly overcast, and cold, i still find things worthy of a painting at this place, on the New River just down the road from where i live. after decluttering at the house till it got above 50 degrees outside, i was dying to get outside and paint. it feels good to get a room or two straightened up and to have a painting in the wet box. it doesnt take much to make me happy.

Capt. Charlie Sunrise-22x28

Contact me for price and availability

Another larger one from the 8x10 plein air study i did while in the residency program on Bald Head Island a few months ago. this one has a more landscape/horizontal format than the square one i sold a few weeks ago.

i've found the secret to big ones! do em with a huge brush and keep it loose until right at the end. then quit right before you get to the end! :D

Ferry Travelers-6x6-SOLD

A ferry scene from my travels over to Ocracoke Island this summer. i love the light on the people out there in the water. the folks always look so interested in whats off in the distance too.

People are getting easier and easier to paint when i just think of them like any other 3-d object. the biggest problem in the past was the drawing phase and i never really "saw" the gesture. i can see now why figurative painters do what they do. its a blast to catch that gesture.

Landed Him-6x8-$200 framed

SOLD

I'm not a big fisherman but i love color and light. the skin of the fish was fun to paint and the gestures of the fishermen were too cool!

Farm Glow-8x8-SOLD

$75

A sundown scene from a rural farm. loved how the light glowed thru the windshield of the truck.

Spent most of the day building shipping boxes and shipping paintings to Provincetown for an auction i'll be in at Outer Cape Auctions. also shipped out a commission and then checked emails, updated inventory records etc. i did paint a commission piece today, but since it's a present for Christmas, i dont want to ruin the surprise and post it here.

Most non-artists think all we do all day, every day is paint. Not so! there are so many other things to do like ordering frames, framing the pieces, keeping up with inventory, emails, phone calls to galleries and commission clients, taking digital photos of all the paintings, delivering the paintings, and depositing all the money into the bank! just kidding. just trying to see if you're still paying attention LOL

Soundside Summer-12x16-$175

was $400 framed, NOW...$175 unframed

$8 s/h

to purchase click on the "buy now" button to pay using PayPal or credit card

Older Works Studio Sale

another mid-size painting hanging around my studio for far too long. this ones super thick and luscious. i used a palette knife and Painting Butter for great texture.

Get this for the price of a much smaller painting!

Intercoastal Dreams- 12x16- Commission piece

SOLD

Scallop Trawler-12x16-$175

was $400 framed, now $175 unframed

$8 s/h
to purchase click on the "buy now" button to pay using PayPal or credit card

Older Works Studio Clearance

This ones been leaning against the wall of my studio for too long, and it should be hanging on somebody's wall instead! throw a nice frame on this and you've got a great present for somebody you love for not much money. Nice thing about this type of gift? if you give it to somebody who lives at your house, you get to look at it everyday too!

Wilmington Waterfront Summer-12x16-SOLD

Did a demo at my wilmington gallery, Fountainside this afternoon. its always a lot of fun painting and talking in front of a group. some people hate it but i think its a blast. describing the process while i'm doing it comes very naturally. Guess thats why the instructional DVD's i did for World of Art/Jerrys Artarama are selling pretty well. its just paint and a sheet stretched on some wood. why get so nervous and worked up? if it doesnt come out there's this stuff called gesso!

if you'd like a DVD or two drop me an email and i'll ship it right out to you. over an hour and a half of teaching for $24.95 each.