# 335: Wedges Inside and Out

6" x 6" oil on canvas

# 334: Lemon Bowl

6" x 6" oil on canvas

# 333: Hatched 2

8" x 8' oil on canvas

# 332: Lady Red

20" x 16" oil on canvas

 

I an starting to feel that my efforts at abstract painting are paying off, in that when painting from observation I am more in tuned with shapes and colors and relationships with in the format of the painting. I am mostly pleased with this, though running out of time I butchered the hands...perhaps I will spend with this and paint into the hands a bit so that they are not so butch!

# 331: Triple Berry

8" x 8" oil on canvas

It has been a long time since I last posted. I have been painting, but big abstracts which I have decided not to post on the blog, because they are so different and no, tt very good. Every once in a while, when I need a break, I will do a little still life. This one with the reflections was a lot of fun, though I find strawberries a challenge, I must remember to squint more!

# 330: Fatal Attraction

8" x 8" oil on canvas

This was fun. I think that I will paint more  toys.

# 329: Asian Teapot

8" x 8" oil on canvas

It has been relaxing painting the little still lifes again. I have not had much luck with my abstract pieces, and though i am not giving up, it is good to reminded that painting doesn't always have to be so frustratingly elusive.

# 328: Warm and Fuzzy

8" x 8" oil on canvas

# 327: Plum luck

8" x 8" oil on canvas

Capturing the velvety skin of a plum is tricky. I think that I did OK though they could do with a few more highlights.

# 326: Abstracts

" Driving Out of town" 

11" x 8" acrylic on canvas panel

" Fire Season"

8" x 11" oil on canvas

These are a couple of recent abstract efforts. Please tell me what you think of them! I in the process of enlarging the first one to a 20" x 30" canvas. I am finding that it is not simple a matter of copying like I did a as scenic painter. Instead, the small painting is like a seed and the larger painting takes on a life of its own. It's tough!

# 325: Short Shorts

24" x 18" oil on canvas

#324: Apple Boundries

6" x 6" oil on canvas

A nice traditional still life again. When I start getting insecure about my new endeavors, I can always go back to these little efforts.

# 323: Campanula

7" x 5" oil on canvas

not much to say. it is a bit out of balance and flowers and leaves till tend to elude my efforts to capture them on canvas...I need to remember to squint and to look for larger areas of value and color.

# 322: Around the Bend

8" x 10: oil on canvas

Another small abstract study which I plan to paint in a larger scale.It was fun painting it and I think that I may even like it.

# 321: The Shore

11" x 14" oil on canvas board

14" x 11"

Here are two attempts at Plein Aire painting. i went to the beach last week before I got smacked down by a cold. I find it very difficult to see the colors when painting outside. It is also very conventional. Though the second composition is a bit more interesting, neither is very good.....but I will keep working at it

# 320: Hotel Lobby Blues

14" x 11" oil on canvas board

Consistency has not been one of my virtues lately. I am finally at the end of suffering through a terrible cold which my excuse for not posting and because I am exploring new things, my work has been a bit "eclectic" ( i.e. all over the place). 

Here is another study with the intent of being more abstract and contemporary in color palette and approach. Though I got a bit fussy with the details at the end, I kind of like it.

# 319: Two Bananas

8" x 8" oil on canvas

# 318: Gisala and Oliver

12" x 12" acrylic on canvas

This is a small study that I did for a larger piece. I made some bold color choices and I like it. It feels like I turned a corner and finally found a path that suits me. This is the direction that I want to go with my work....it is the type of art that I can live with. The palette was heavily influenced by William Theophilos Brown who I recently discovered through the book Bay Area Figurative art. here is one of his pieces (though not the piece that influenced the palette above.)

# 317: Figure Study 3

14" x 11" oil on canvas

Another quick 1/2 hour study from the same model. I like the movement of this one, the the shapes are a bit choppy.

# 316: Figure Study 2

14" x 11" oil on canvas

This is  a quick 1/2 hour study. I haven't done quick oil studies like this before and i was a bit fearful, but it seems that i do better when I don't have too much time to think. I did four of these yesterday and for the most part they turned out well. This is a glimpse of what one of may paintings may look like before I proceed to overwork it.