Downtown 2

Acrylic on Canvas - 20 x 24 inches

So I worked on this a bit more and fixed a few things that were bugging me, but tried not to fix "everything" or overwork it. It's not wildly different, but overall, I think it works better.

Downtown

Acrylic on Canvas - 20 x 24 inches (destroyed)
This is downtown SF, though I'm not sure of the exact block. I found this photo on my phone, and thought I'd try turning that tiny little reference photo into a BIG canvas.
I actually started this on top of a failed painting from last year. There was a lot of texture already there, which makes it a bit more of a challenge. Not sure how this will impact the finished painting when I'm done. I'm hoping to build on top of that with even more texture, but at this stage, it's just not there.
The building in the front/right is more brightly lit in the photo, and I like how that looked, so I'm gonna see if I can get that in, fix the sky and correct the scale of some of those people-looking shadows.
I love the taxi in the bottom/right. It's just a complete mess of paint, and yet says "taxi" loud and clear.

Brunch Pause

Acrylic on Canvas Panel Ω
A crop in on the same reference photo I used for the previous "Brunch" pic. Just trying to simplify and work larger, so I decided I'd work on one figure. This was fun to do, since I'd already worked out a lot of issues with the previous one, and with a bigger surface and bigger brushes, it'll be easy to keep the brush strokes loose and energetic. Well, that was the plan.
Actually I did mange to stay fairly loose. I did a quick sketch, blocked in the major areas, and then once I could see the relationships, slopped on another layer with adjusted values, and a few details. Pretty rushed, but still fun.
There's probably a few things I'd touch up before calling it finished, but then again...

Big Factory III

Acrylic on Canvas Panel - 11 x 14 inches

I had a bit of free time, and the palette was out already, so I decided to tackle this one, one more time. I liked the idea of seeing through the fence, so I added more of that sort of detail here, and corrected some of the poor geometry. It still doesn't have that fresh quality the tiny sketch had but it's a little better. Still not entirely sure why I'm bothering with this one, other than it's been lying around.

Lindsey Mae

Acrylic on Canvas - 8 x 16 inches sold

One of those lucky snapshots on my last trip to Florida, this is a shot of my buddy's daughter, trailing behind the group, dancing with her shadow.

In other news, the show up at Apollo is doing pretty well. One piece sold before I got it up, and another on the night of the show.

I also made a nice display of about 15 postcard paintings, mounted in those "show kits" with a beveled bit of matte board fitted over another 11 x 14 inch board and then put into a cellophane envelope. I think so many people are used to seeing prints displayed this way, I'm not sure many of 'em got that these were actual original paintings. Oh, well. I may try this again, some time.

Brunch

Acrylic on Panel - 11 x 14 inches sold

These women were having a very intense discussion about something during brunch, on what was otherwise a balmy spring day at an outdoor patio eatery.

In a related story, the show is all up at Apollo, and this one's in it. The reception is tonight, and I'd probably be nervous or excited except I'm too tired and too busy.

All week long I've been hating my work and feeling like a phony, but I knew that would pass, and finally it has. Mostly because of the nice comments I got while hanging the pieces.

Fingers crossed.

Independent View

Acrylic on Panel - 11 x 14 inches sold

Another neighborhood scene, in between rain showers.