newest boat painting..and day 30!!!

30x30 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas

so here's an image I've been wanting to paint for a while...my palette knife mentor, leslie saeta, said that in order to do a large piece on canvas you need to use acrylic..canvas sometimes resists the palette knife in oil..i'm thinking of doing an even larger piece..only in oil..and I think if I gesso the surface it may be more amenable to the palette knife/oil technique...this will most likely go to my gallery in Georgia..we head down next week and I absolutely can not wait!!!!!

our friend nikko

 

8x8 oil on gallery wrap canvas

this is a tribute to our friend nikko...she lived next door for many, many years and we will miss her so much!!  safe travels nikko...

on my easel...day 26 of 30 in 30...

9x12 oil on canvas panel

not sure this is the best photo...i was too lazy to bring it downstairs and photograph it with my camera on it's tripod...may tweak it a bit more tomorrow...probably it will go in my georgia gallery...

on my easel

18x24 oil on canvas

so this is something I've been working on...lots of palette knife...just so I could slash around a bit after working on my commission pieces...just for fun...

betsy and margy...the last of my four-piece commission...

 12x12 gallery wrap canvas

12x12 oil on gallery wrap canvas

so these are the last two of my four-painting commission..we had "Major".."Sophie"..and now "Betsy" and "Margy" ....it's taken me a while but my client wasn't in a hurry..a birthday present for his wife and I don't think it was going to be a surprise...i'm quite satisfied with the way they all turned out and i'm very grateful for the opportunity to paint his beautiful family...

birthday for james...

11x14 oil on stretched canvas

so this is the final painting...we went out to dinner last night to celebrate jimmy's birthday and I officially gave him his present..and then immediately took it back so it could dry and I could wire it for hanging...i'm thinking i'm happy with the result...at last...

BETSY...sneaking up

12x12 oil on gallery wrap

so this is the third in my four-piece commission...i'm almost done...may have a few more tweaks yet but i'm liking her so far! - heading to dinner with four out of five of my grands...and will finally give jimmy his birthday present!..i'll post that tomorrow

jen and kids...further progress...

so this is getting closer...still have a teeny bit of tweaking to do..spent the day in indy with one of my other grand's joe and his momma boogie...we did lunch and the childrens' museum..what a cool place!!..really have to get this finished tomorrow..as it is it will never be dry by the weekend..he'll just have to be very careful when he takes it home...this IS for jimmy's birthday, after all.....

jen and kids...in progress...

so this is for my son-in-law jimmy for his birthday...coming up this Saturday...YIKES!...I just decided to do this today so i'm dashing and it's in the freezer as we speak.  the big thing in something like this is to get the values and shapes correct..at this distance, i'm never going to capture a true likeness but if the vales and shapes read, the painting will "read"...this has a long way to go and so  it's in the freezer so the paint will stay workable when I get back to it.. I had a lot of fun today..last day of our club championship but I played my way out of the tourney last week so this was just fun...I know it's in there...just have to let it come out all the time...I truly don't know how the pros can concentrate for four straight days...I can't even do it for one day..maybe painting was on my mind....

betsy...in progress

so we're back from Chicago...wonderful weekend..dinner out Friday and wedding Saturday..we stopped into one of our favorite haunts..the billy goat tavern..remember the old john belushi skit.."hamborger, hamborger, hamborger..no fries..cheeps...no petsi..COKE!!!!"...it's still there and they still do it!! ....anyway..after recovering a bit yesterday it was back to normal today..laundry..bathrooms, dusting, sweeping..hit a few balls in preparation for the second round of our tourney tomorrow..but most importantly..got back to the studio!!! this is the third in my four-painting commission..i'm sneaking up on her...i'll post as I go along....

off to chicago...

we head to Chicago today..big wedding doings tomorrow and we're going up a day early to have a chance to do a nice dinner and enjoy the town a bit.  i'm working on a "grand"..didn't want to post it yet because it's not quite there...and obviously no painting til I get back so I find myself a bit behind in the challenge...had to play golf at greenbelt today...glad I did because I certainly had a better day than my usual lately...I guess it's just called "golf"...

30 in 30 day eleven..."Wolf"

                                                                            12x9

original oil on canvas panel

so this is my painting for day 11...first off..i remember so vividly 12 years ago..being in my kitchen..sky a perfect blue..and then the horror...said prayers for the lost again as i do every year on this day...should be praying every day....ok..so this is a painting of the "child" of one of my daughter's friends...his name is Wolf...for obvious reasons...black is a very hard color to do..since i don't actually use black, it's a combination of several colors...hope her friend likes it!!...spent some really good time with my tennis buddies today..i really miss them over the summer when they're still playing tennis and i am golfing! - we were celebrating my friend Moon...and I loved being with them again!

                                                              

day 10 of 30 in 30...."Ballet shoes"...iin progress

 

12x9 oil on canvas panel

so after playing a horrific round of golf in the first day of our club championship...90 plus degrees  and a very bad swing didn't help....I retreated to my studio for some solace...i always feel better when i can lose myself in my work..i put this is the freezer so I could continue working on it tomorrow...a few little tweaks, i'm thinking.....



day 9..30 in 30..."Boat"

6x6 oil on panel

this is a little boat painting for day 9...I sold a few of these small paintings at my gallery in st. simons so i wanted to take advantage of this month's challenge to replenish my stock...

"Daisy" day 8..30 in 30...

10 x 8 oil on stretched canvas

so this is daisy...she is one of the ménage of dogs and cats at my daughter jen's house..she happens to belong to matilda, my first-born grand daughter who will be turning 11 on Thursday...my gawd...where on earth has the time gone??????....this is not the best photo..i took it upstairs on my easel...trying to finish it so I can present it to her on her birthday!...maybe a bit more tweaking but I wanted to post something after taking a few days off..last week was a beast...starting with jimmy's surgery on Thursday a week ago, we/i have been on the road almost every day!..went to a follow up for davey on friday..then to a smokey robinson concert in carmel on Saturday..then on to the cottage for a family celebration on sunday..home on monday..golf Tuesday, wednesday, thursday and Friday..two of them travel days...i was for sure "on tour" last week...lots of fun but not a lot of time to paint!!...lovely dinner friday night in indy with dear friends and then laid low yesterday and had family over today for the colts game...who has time to paint anyway??????...(promise to do better...)

day five 30 in 30...

"Sophie"

12x12 oil on gallery wrap

 

this is day five...the fifth of September and the fifth day of our challenge...I have painted a little ahead..this has been a very busy week for me so I really needed to...this is the second painting in my four-painting commission..i think I finally captured her!

day four..30 in 30

12x9

"Through the forest"

original oil on panel

this painting is done from a photograph taken out west..i think in northern Arizona..and i'm not sure what these trees are...but i have several photos i'd like to work through...

day three

8x6 oil on panel

so here's day three of our challenge...this is a very small version of a painting I sold years ago.. from a picture I took on st. simon's.. 

day two..september 2nd

8x8 original oil on gallery wrap

"Bulldog"

so here's my day two offering.  I have an upcoming commission for some Georgia bulldogs...of course this guy's for sale if you just have to have him!!

 



day one of the 30 day challenge

"Portrait of Major"

12x12 oil on gallery wrap

so this is my first post..it also happens to be the first of a four-painting commission..i posted it yesterday on facebook so in my mind, even though I was away from home this weekend, I got it posted in time!..