Lunch at Alamo Square

Acrylic on Panel - 11 x 14 inches - Click Here to Bid

This week's assignment for the Daily Paintworks' Challenge was to paint using the limited palette of Anders Zorn. Titanium Whie, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red and Ivory Black. Well, I don't really have those colors, and I thought I'd actually like it so much that I might move in that direction any way. So, along with white, I used by acrylic versions of Carbon Black, Pyrrole Red, and Hansa Yellow.

Well it was quite a different experience. I knew I could make greens with black and yellow, but what was going to do without blue? Well, they grey's I mixed with black and white wind up taking on a blue feeling, when seen next to the other warm colors. Wow.

With less paint choices, I think I actually made decisions faster and mixed colors faster. I think I really like this limitation. But I really miss having blue around.

As to the subject, I'm doing a series of images of Alamo Square, but trying to show it from unusual angles. I swore I'd never paint the cliché victorian "Painted Ladies" row, but I really liked the way this guy was sitting, almost perched on the shadow of a lamp post. So there.

At the Beach

Acrylic on Panel - 14 x 18 inches - NFS

These were for a commission for a dear friend of mine. Like the last one I did, I didn't get a chance to meet these kiddies and had to work from the only photo provided. That left me with the decision of how close to crop in. The top version was my initial plan, but someone looking over my shoulder suggested a pull-ed back version to show more of the sea. I tried to argue my case, but decided to shut up and just paint two. I'm not telling which one my friend picked.

Bike Man

Acrylic on Panel - 4 x 6 inches - Click Here to Bid

This is my entry for the "Bikeman Challenge" at the Daily Paintworks. Certainly an interesting source photo. I chose to crop way in and see if I could "hint" at the figure without putting in too much detail. My method – postcard sized panel and half-inch wide brush. Oh, and the kitchen timer (settings known only to me). 

Holding Hands

Acrylic on Panel - 11 x 14 inches - SOLD

This was a commission piece, and I didn't even know I did commissions. The father had seen some of my work, including a painting I did of a young girl dancing with her shadow. He sent me a photo that he thought would work well, and we was right, which is so rare. I prefer to take my own reference photos, but I knew I could make this work. I simplified the background a lot, but kept the figures pretty close to the reference. This practically danced off my brush, which is odd because I'd take a pretty long break from painting. 

Long Barn

Acrylic on Panel - 9 x 12 inches - Sold

Another one done on location up North where the weather is always warmer. 

Sonoma House

Acrylic on Panel - 9 x 12 inches - Click Here to Bid

Painting on location in the countryside. Came across this interesting building and had a great spot in the shade to paint it. I tried to keep it loose and let a little of the underpainting peek through, and not pay too much attention to the details (and there were a lot of architectural details on this building). 

Thistle

Marker, colored-pencil, pastel, laserprint transfer - 6 x 4 inches - NFS

Here's my submission to the Daily Paintworks Touchy-Feely Challenge, which is about "texture" this week. I started with a photo of a thistle I took, output to laser and transferred to panel so I could attack it with all sorts of color and the scraping of the X-acto knife.

Notan Challenge

 

Acrylic on Panel - 5 x 7 inches - Click Here to Bid

This weeks Daily Paintworks Challenge was the Notan Challenge. You can read all about it there.
We were assigned to do a sketch first to unite the darks into a harmonious patter, and then do a painting based on that drawing.

This is a funky little building in my neighborhood, and I've painted it before, but not from this photo.
For some reason, I sketched in the tree on the left, but left it out of the painting. I was kinda rushed. I set the timer for 20 minutes on this one, but went over by about 5 minutes.

Hidden House

Acrylic on Panel - 7 x 5 inches - Click Here to Bid

This is the home of a local farmer. I liked how overgrown the property was. There are tended gardens all around, and fields that have been cleared, but right up against he house was lots of trees and bushes.

Lilly Pond

Acrylic on Panel - 8 x 10 inches - Sold

Not Giverny, but Sonoma. The light was changing rapidly so I tried to quickly capture the spots where it was still hitting the pond before it was too late. It was quite a bit shadier by the time we packed up, but I think I managed to convey what it looked like when we arrived.