West Virginia

Here's a newish painting of my friends house in West Virginia. A beautiful spot near Spruce Knob.

Shrooms, Man!

Here are three 6"x6" oil paintings done for a friend. The Black Trumpet, Chanterelle, and the Bolete. These were a lot of fun to do and a lot more difficult than I thought. Good learning experience. Look for some more farmhouses and barns soon. Thanks!

Spruce Knob, WV_Stages

Stage 01: Here's the first stage of a new oil painting, 6"x6". It's from a photo I took in West Virginia. It's a beautiful spot. I love the color of the rocks and how they work with the colors found in the pine trees.

When painting, I like to start out really loose. I try to see everything as abstract shapes, lights and darks and really draw it out correctly. I squint my eyes a lot and step back to see if the values are accurate. I'm excited to keep working on this. Look for more stages of this painting to follow.

Stage 02: Not very different and out of focus. Sorry. More to come...

Here's Stage 03. I feel like I am getting there. It's a complicated scene, but a good challenge. Starting off with an accurate drawing is really important. More to come soon...

Here's the final. It was a challenge, but I'm glad I did it. The color is closer to the original.

Open for business

OK, it has taken me a while to get this going, but it is finally here. My store is finally open. Currently there are original oil paintings for sale, but soon I will be adding a lot of new things. Fish prints, Illustration prints, and of course a lot more original oil paintings. Check it out here and thank you.

Winter Farm

Here's the final painting. 6" x 6" oil. I added some extra trees in the background behind the barn in the right. It needed some contrast. The barn roof was pretty much the same value as the sky. A l lot of fun to do.

Here's a pic I took of it in mid-stage. Still very loose. I'm trying to get the correct value of the roof on the right. Ugg. Very subtle, but still not correct. Also, I'm adding diff values to the trees to show depth.

Winter Farm (The beginning)

Here's the beginning of a new oil painting. I know we are still in fall, but I can feel winter right around the corner. I always like to start off loose and then keep tightening as I go along. Thought I would share. Look for more stages of this painting soon.

Purple Hills

Here's a new oil. 6x6". This one took a while. I spent a bunch of days working on the purple hills. I tried to work with glazes and layers. Letting them dry and then adding more thin layers. It was a fun experiment. 

Purple_Hills.jpg

Below is how it looked when I started. I'm a messy painter.

Northern California

New oil Painting. 8"x10". This was done from a photo taken by my sister in Northern California.

Sketches in Italy

Here are some recent sketches and photos from my trip to Italy. What a beautiful country.

New Barn Painting

This was done from a friends photo. It's a barn in New Zealand. Painting this was like doing a puzzle. Lots of different colors and shapes.

Covered Bridge

This is from a photo I took in West Va. last winter. Finally got around to painting it. Originally it had a barn in the background, but it wasn't working for me, so I painted over it. I like it better with out the little barn in the distance. Done in oil, 6"x6".

Mr. Beluga

New Beluga illustration for NOAA. Done in PS with my trusty Wacom.

Ski Jumper

Here's a new one for a sports magazine. A story about a dad who followed his dream to be a ski jumper.

Dog Trainer

Here's a new illustration for a dog magazine on how NOT to train your dog.

Illustration for Marriage Magazine

This one was for a story on marriage and how couples handle the first few years of marriage. What kind of positives and negatives they run into. Always great working with Susan Crocrete.