Studio Pals

photos: Devlin (top) poodle 

         Callie, shitzu mix

I've been busy today with family, and with letting my studio pals in and out, and in and out, and...well, anyone who shares their lives with active pups knows what I mean.  Devlin (top) came from the wonderful no-kill shelter Hearts United in Nebraska.  I'm not sure where he got his unusual name, but since he was 3 when I adopted him, I didn't think it would be right to change it.  The shelter docs had amputated one of his hind legs because of an injury.  He gets around like gang-busters anyway.  Happy guy that he is, I probably could have called him Tripod, and he wouldn't mind.  

Callie came to join the family a year later from the Prince George's County SPCA.  A friend of mine is a volunteer there, and was fostering Callie for the weekend.  The rescue group  labeled her a shitzu mix.  After two years of her joyous company, I can confidently say the other part of the mix is: kamakazi/squirrel stalker/bird catcher/biscuit thief/snuggle monster. 

Look Up

Study: features

5" x 5"

oil on gessoed paper

sold

The eyes at an angle, looking into light, posed a challenge. How to keep them properly shadowed and in the socket, yet feel illuminated and wet, all within a relatively narrow value range. Like most painters I know, I've spent a good deal of my life studying the works of others - past masters like John Singer Sargent and John White Alexander, or contemporary painters like Burton Silverman or Jeremy Lipking --wondering about paint handling and mediums, light direction, the colors in shadows, and what gives a particular painting life. In the end, it isn't until I tuck the mental analysis away and just paint that things begin to come together.

Thanks to my first blog followers, things are looking up!

Listen

study: features

5" x 5"

oil on gessoed paper

sold

The wonderful painter and instructor Ed Ahlstrom recommends that painting students continue the practice of close-focus studies of features beyond the classroom. Excellent advice.

Up Close

study:features

5" x 5"

oil on gessoed paper

sold

I had lunch with a good friend today who asked if the last post was cropped or the full image. Good question! These studies of facial features are the full image. I was zeroing in on the parts of the face I wanted to practice painting. Keeping the format small and intimate, I could concentrate on developing skin tones and color mixing without worrying about the dreaded "rest of the picture." Thanks, Clare!

Smile

study: features

5 x 5"

Oil on Gessoed Paper

sold

I've been wrestling all day with understanding the technical side of blogging and search engines. Whew, do I have a lot of catching up to do. So I'm posting a study that I did a while ago to remind myself to smile.

"Darla"

7x10"

Oil on gessoed paper

gift

This is Darla who was a foster pup at PGSPCA. She was hanging out with the Townsend pack until she went to her forever home. Pam Townsend took some amazing photos that she graciously let me use for reference. Thanks, Pam!

"Bloom Where You Are"

White Rose in Window

7" x 10"

oil on gessoed paper

This is my first post.  I'm a life-long painter, but I'm new to the blog party.  I'm trained as a classical realist, and decamped the corporate publishing world to paint full time fourteen years ago. Life, death and health intruded, as they do, and I'm now finding my way again.  Have been studying with Ed Ramsburg for the past year, and having great fun painting abstracts in acrylic.  Ed's critiques coupled with the freedom and challenge I've found in non-objective painting have informed my representational painting.  At least I like to think so.  Thank you for stopping in!