New self portrait

Did a self portrait in Anna's class last week from a photo of myself. It turned out really well but there were a few brush strokes of Anna's so I didn't want to publish it here, although I really love it. So I decided to do another one on my own and here it is. 11 x 14, oil on canvas panel.

Copy of a Stephan Cefallo

I love the work of Stephan Cefallo and decided to copy this painting of his as practice of his loose style 

Another one of Chandler

In Anna's class a couple weeks ago, we worked from photos. Now understand that I have discovered that painting from life is SO much easier, but having a live model is not always convenient. This is a photo I took of my granddaughter, Chandler, over the Thanksgiving holidays. I liked the shadows on the side of her face and decided to use it for the class. I think it is some of my best work because I did not over blend (a really bad habit of mine).

Thanks, Josh!

A friend in Seattle is a professional photographer and gave me permission to use his photo of Justin Timberlake. This was fun to do.  Josh covered one of his concerts and did lots of photos. I really liked this pose and shadows.  Oil on canvas, 11 X 14

Ashley, the yorkie

I did this commission of this sweet little dog as a gift for my daughter in law and her sisters to give to their mom for Christmas. Ashley passed away a couple years ago at the ripe old age of 18.  She was a much loved little pet of Janie's and is dearly missed every day. 

Kelly at five years old

I've been wanting to do a painting of Jim's daughter, Kelly. I have the one of my son Freddie  (the gunslinger) when he was four. Just had to find the right one of Kelly so that we have a pair to hang together. Not sure if this is the "right" one but it was my favorite of the ones we have. 

Lots of work!

I've pretty neglectful of this blog lately. What with the bad weather and thanksgiving celebrations there has not been time to get outside and photo my work. I have painted almost daily and here are some of the pieces I have finished.

This a painting of a good friend, Bob.  About 90 minutes work, 9 by 12 on canvas. From a snap I took to work on skin tones for the next large work.

And here's the large work. 24 by 36 oil on canvas. This is a commission for the couple. The reference photo was night flash shot taken on Bourbon Street in New Orleans a few years ago. They love the photo pose but the actual photo was a nightmare to paint from. I learned that lesson!  All the shading you see is from my mind as it did not exist in the reference photo.  Yikes!  I'm pleased with how it turned out though and it gets a coat of retouch varnish today and then gets delivered as soon as it is dry. 

Another large work, 30 by 40 oil on gallery wrap canvas.  This one sits on our mantel as a part of our Asian decor. I started this last July and probably would have done a lot of things different if I was doing it today, given all I have learned from Anna Bain.  Still, I'm pleased with it and so is Jim.  

This is Kia, a model from my classes with Anna Bain.  This was done over two 3 hour classes.  16 by 20, oil on canvas mounted to board. 

These last two are of my beautiful granddaughter, Chandler. She sat for me during the thanksgiving holidays.  A really pretty model and great at holding a pose!  Thank you, Chan!