Octopus in Seagrass

19"X14" Framed

I am fascinated with Octopuses.  Empty Bowls is a event in Naples, Florida to raise funds for the food challenged.  To date I have painted 3 different octopus on platters to be auctioned for the charity.

This is the only octopus painting that I have in a frame.  At our grand opening in my new studio, there was a lady who kept staring at this painting almost a loving way.  I asked if she needed to take this one home.  Her response was that she wanted to eat it.  Her favorite food was octopus.  Her family caught and ate octopus regularly, when she was a child.  That lead to a discussion on these creatures, with her answering many of my question about the octopus.

Jane in Sun Hat

           Jane in Sun Hat

         I think this painting is done.  It has been out of the frame a couple times.  The eyes had a major rework an well as how the hair effected them.  The light reflected and the shadows on the face was a real struggle.   How the hair effected the left side was one of the last issues.  Finally I think the right combination of elements exist.  

This painting has received a lot of interest in my studio.  I will get good photos and then put it back in the frame.  Let's see how it is received in its 'finished' state 

Pelican Takeoff

Pelican Takeoff

11"X 15"

Incomplete

This painting is coming along.  Most of the woke is the background.  Must use the water to strengthen the composition.  

And It Rained

18"X14" Framed

In Oklahoma there is a hundred mile bike ride.  One year the weather turned really ugly.  Trucks were sent out to pick up the bikers and the ride was canceled.  When they had their yearly banquet donations were requested for an auction for the charity.  I painted this and offered prints of the painting.  Many of the riders also bought prints from the galleries or outdoor shows.

I painted a group of bikers. The lower part of the painting was created with Josh Groban's song, "Raining Down," in mind.  The rain was created by using the sharp end of a paintbrush to made gouges in wet paper.  Dark lines are formed with paint flowing into the lines.  Scratch a little harder and the paint is removed to form the lighter lines.  The subdued tones in the trees added to the rainy mood.

Jelly Fish

Jelly Fish

30"X31"

This painting is almost a square.  When a painting is reversable, the choices are between portrait and landscape presentations.  This is the first time that maybe a painting could be hung turned completely upsidedown.  If a painting is reversible I will sign it on two sides and install two wires.  The wall options are not changed because this is a square.  The option would be preference of view.

Friends from my neighborhood visited my gallery at the November show.  I explained that this painting was based on a photo taken in an aquarium.  The jelly fish seem to hang heads done in this setting.  Not sure why.  When observed in outside bodies of water their heads are on top.  That is when someone suggested the painting could be hung upsidedown.

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What do you think?  which way would you hang this painting.  Should I take this painting out of the frame and sign it on the opposite side too.

Wading Great Blue Heron

Wading Great Blue Heron

37"X27" framed

Hanging in Art2Amazae, 6210 Shirly Street, Suite 108

Naples, Florida

These are magnificent  birds.  You will find them many places around the country.  This one hangs out south of the Naples, Florida pier.  He has posed for my camera quite often.  The pelican has always impressed me even from childhood.  The great blue heron is my second favorite shore bird.  

This painting took several sessions of work over many months.  Once on display in a gallery where I also work and teach, I often find it useful to live with the painting on the wall.  Over a period of time, what bothers me begins to speak to me from the painting.  It comes off the wall for more work. 

The light in the sky and water as well as the distance suggested by the rocks were issues.  The original photo did not give me any useful background information.  I chose the rocks close to Gordan Pass as the backdrop.  At this point, memory and other photos were an inspiration but the background was totally fabricated as well as the lighting in the sky and water.  This would be a sunrise painting because the bird is lit from the shore.  The size of the rocks as well as the stick had to have believable sizing.

  Every time the background was changed the bird had to be adjusted with the 'light against dark, and dark against light rule'.  Photos can give excellent information for a painting but very seldom tells the whole story.  

At this time I believe this painting will not come out of the frame again.  It is finished.  

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Pelican Takeoff

Pelican Takeoff

incomplete 

This painting is nearing completion.  The left side needs more development, and I am considering leaving the accidental splashing in the image. I will matting angles into the studio tomorrow to lock in what to included for framing.  Not pushing this painting too far and knowing when to quite may be very crucial with this one.  Hope to have an update on progress tomorrow.

Green Parrot

Teacup

I am getting ready for an open house tomorrow.  There are three paintings I wish to get into a frame tonight.  I think I will finish that early in the morning.  The Red Octopus was cleaned up a lot today, and I am putting it in the show.  I will post the final photo tomorrow.  I have not edited it photo yet.

The teacup was started earlier, to my dismay, the cup has totally vanished.  I can not find it anywhere.  Oh well, I just make things up for the finish.  I am happy.  The cup will probably appear in the morning.

Pelican

Where is this painting going from here?  I want to work on his. The tail feathers need adjusting.  I am not sure I will add the bird further down the railing, but then what do I do in the space he occupies.  

I was using cerulean on smooth 300 lb. paper.  It was intriguing to see how this color did color played on the paper.

This is a good start, but it needs work.

Ibis with a Destination.

This is the first day of the thirty day challenge.  This ibis knows where he is going.  His posture definitely gives him an attitude.  These birds are a little bigger than a pelican.  most of them are snowy white, and are often found at the shore of the gulf.  They have very distinctive curved beaks and orange legs to match.

They can often be found in other places, like parking lots, in neighborhoods, but always close to water. Many times they roam around in groups.  Blue eyes are another feature.  Ibis may be white but the colored parts make them all the more fun to observe.

Looking at this painting I will probably tweak it a little and pop it in a frame for next week's open house at Arts on Fire.

Lily Pads in the Fountain   24"x30"   $675.00

This painting was put together from several photos taken at the fountain at Jane's Restaurant, in Naples Florida.  This was a great place for breakfast.  The French toast was to die for. 

 I always checked the fountain out for blooms after we had visited the farmer's market on 3rd Street.  Over a period of time I had collected several images of the lavender lilies. 

 Then  task of printing off and blowing up images, exactly to the size as I wanted for the painting. Hours were spent in constructing the drawing.  Lighting also had to be adjusted, because of the different times the photos were taken. 

 After first painting each lily in detail and then the water, I put the photos aside and worked to pull the piece together.  This one came in and out of the frame a few times.  Now It is ready.

Speckled Crab   17"x20"  $320.00

I found this crab washed up on the beach one morning.  He was dead and on his back.  Flipping him over I positioned all his legs to a good pose.

Originally, this painting was started as a day painting.  Returning to it, I worked on detail and the sense that he is resting in a hole in the water. 

One of the hardest tasks was finding out what kind of crab this was.  Hours were spent on the internet to find his picture with a name.  Finally I had it: The Speckled Crab.

Feeding Time

This is the second painting of this small octopus.  I have several shots of him.  It was feeding time at the Key West Aquarium. 

Seeing this photo I think that I still have to work on the leg that goes over the body.  It does not pull forward enough. 

Tomorrow I think I will try a made up doodle of an octopus.  The suction cups fascinate me. 

Music in the Night.

Night Jazz

On Thursday nights in Naples musicians are on the street on 5th Avenue.  People dance in the streets.  It makes for a very pleasant evening.  There was another singer but very obscured, so I had to make up the background.  The microphone was there.  I just followed my gut and was going for look good. 

This is an appropriate painting for today.  I had my piano swapped out changing from a digital to an acoustic.  The sound is much better.  My ears are happy, and so is my paint brush.

Hermit Crab

Hermit Crab

This is about as loose as I get. 

Larger hermit crabs are red.  I ran into one once in the surf, just before sunrise.  I was the size of a 1lb. lobster.  It was red with a fleshy tail, and without a shell.  It looked like a lobster, but lobsters are red after they are cooked.  It took me awhile to find out what this red clawed thing was on the internet.  Finally I saw a poster showing the parts of a hermit crab.  Bingo. 

I used to find shells hard to draw.  I think it was more of a perspective thing. Now shell are not such a challenge. This comes with practice, practice, practice.

Sunflower Stages

Sunflower Stages

12"x9"

Watercolor

on watercolor canvas

This is a rework of a start from many years ago.  I did not have the reference photo, so I winged it.  I am sort of happy with this.  I did go back to get rid of some hard edges that formed with drying.

I don't like to paint on watercolor canvas much.  It is hard to build rich dark color.  I find little brushes becoming a go to tool, because they will not hold much water.  Water does not have much opportunity to soak in like paper, so it pools quicker. 

The good points about this support is that it can be taken back to white without much effort and there is no damage like on paper.  I thought this was not interesting enough, so I hit the piece with a spray bottle and let it drip and run. 

Of course some pigments will drip and run better than others.  Then some pigments are heavy and stay put.  

I will spray this with UV spray and then matt varnish, then frame without glass. 

I prefer regular canvas coated with watercolor ground.  It gets rid of the canvas texture and does not reactivate with water like gesso.  There is a little more water absorbency.

I went with less control on this painting which is fun, and can be very rewarding.  I am still in there pushing and pulling to control the final outcome, but must also go with the flow. 

White Welk

Day 5, 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This is also card size.  I have been working on a larger painting most of the day.  Being white the darker background helps define this shell.  Lines play an important role here.  I usually have a hard time getting the inside to curve and fall in.  The Welk has a bend at the upper part of the inside.  

When live, the animal buries itself in the sand point up.  Must watch where you step in low tide.  Smaller ones are sharp.  I wonder it the whelk's eyes are near the point.  I will have to pull one up and check this out.

I heard today that I may be able to enter the Gallery group I want to I have been waiting for a space to open up.  Fingers crossed.  The will put me into super paint mode. 

It is off to bed tonight.  I want to get the tree out of the living room and then I am having friends over for pizza night.  I better hit the brushes really early tomorrow. 

Yellow Rose

Yellow Rose

This is small enough to glue onto a thank you card.  I used one rose from my photo of my farmer's market bouquet as a reference.  It was a little difficult to draw one rose and not include petals from other roses.  The drawing was not exact, but I was able to paint using the photo for value and color changes. 

I used different yellows.  I probably have about 10 on my yellow pallet.  Red and orange was used for shadows, with a hint of green.  Before the painting was done, I stopped looking at the photo and just tried to make the painting make sense. 

Hookers green and violet were used for the foliage, being complementary to yellow and red.  at the last minute I decided to use cobalt blue with texture for a sky, throwing in rose hints. 

I like the composition of this painting.  It does not bother me that a couple of the roses pedals kiss the edge.  Sometimes breaking rules works. 

Ripples

Ripples--I started this painting using a liner brush to make ribbons of color that would show up as light.  Then I splattered Opera with a large sloppy brush. HWC finally makes an Opera that is lightfast.  This hot pink has always been rated as fugitive and never allowed it in my palette.

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I used Indigo, Sepia and Ultramarine Aqua for the darker ribbon.  I used  a violet watercolor pencil, dipped in water,  to do the lining. It added interest and pulled the colors together.   I switched to a fine liner brush in violet paint to painting lines when the pencil became frustrating.

This was just a playful abstract.  When painting the light ribbon it was foreground or subject, but after the lining I now see the dark coming forward and the lighter colors receding like a sky in the background. 

Floral Design

Here we go again.  This time I plan to be a little easier on myself.  The paintings this month will be smaller.  In February I want to enter a show called the power of small.  I may prepare a few canvases also.  Then the allotted space will be all painting and not matting.

This one was in a journal.  Using different reds, but getting contrasts between the shapes.  The green areas were a balance in color and then I went  to all play in the background.  I do not shake paint on the surface often, but it is a good way to add interest and keep an otherwise tight painting loose.