Smile

I once read a column in which the writer talked about his wife turning 50; he therorized that she could easily be a spy because no one noticed her nor would remember what she looked like. I normally share this gift of ananomity, and use it to get candid  pictures of people. The Tri-State Rodeo is in town this week; it draws large crowds and big time entertainment; there's also a great parade. I went to the parade by myself ( I was tired and grumpy.) I sat down with my camera, blended into the crowd,  and waited.  A red pickup came by with this famous rodeo clown; he looked right at me and said, "Smile it doesn't cost a thing". My first thought was "Is he talking to me?' Indeed he was; as he gave me a big thumbs up, I laughed, picked up my camera and shot this picture, The result is this painting of Leon Coffee doing what he does best, making you smile.

6x6 oil on Raymar panel. NFS

Brahma Bulls and other sketches

The rodeo is in town this weekend. This is from a photo I took last time they were in town. I was up on the fence when I took this and they were laying down.

I bought a bamboo dip pen and walnut ink. I once borrowed someone's bamboo dip pen and just loved it. I have since tried to find one with the same feel but no luck. This was tricky but you can get a variety of widths in your line.

This is from a photo of my daughter when she was 18.

Red Wine and Green Grapes 2

The last bottle of wine I bought was white which I liked better but it was harder to paint. So I bought a bottle of red wine and even if it doesn't taste as good it made a better painting. Either way I'll still get to drink a glass of wine when I finish. I'll admit I don't particularly like the grapes, so they are used in the next painting.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel.

Getting Ready to Show

This is a recent sketch done in pen and ink wash. When I sketch I don't draw a rough draft in pencil. You will see several lines on the outside. I am just warming up for painting and these are just practice. Just fast and loose, and this one is fairly accurate for anatomy. They are not always sucessful and usually I will just quit in the middle and move to another one if it is really off.

Three Big Pigs

SOLD

This is my entry for the latest Daily Paintworks Challenge which is to paint a pig. It could be a cartoon, toy or ceramic pig. That would be the best ideas, because pigs are not that photogenic. They don't look at you unless they think you have food. They don't have that cute face like a calf or fluffy fur and who likes looking straight into a nostril. Years ago I wanted to enter a local contest, Pigcasso art contest, which required a picture of a pig in some form or shape. I took many pictures of these uncooperative animals. None of the pictures had a ready made composition and I never did enter the competition. So when the challenge came up I decided to suck it up and try. This is a composite of three different pictures, and a made up background.

6x6 Oil on Raymar panel.

Sliding Stop

I would often go to the local Rodeo for reference shots. This is a sliding stop and I seemed to have gotten the photo at the right moment. This is another example of a challengeing subject matter. I had to scrap the horse's head off two times and move it up to get the right length on the neck. Also the hat another tough one had to be scraped and repainted. Again I will come back to this one and reevaluate it.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel.

Trail Riders

This is one of the those paintings that I will do to really challenge myself. Painting the front view of horses is something I don't do enough of, note the back legs of the last horse on the right. Also cowboy hats are tough, mine sometimes look sort of like Stan Laurel's(was he the skinny one?). This is a painting in progress, I had corrected it too much and now have to wait for the paint to dry to fix it. I also need to walk away for a day and come back to it.

lemon Pie

Soybean Rows

SOLD

This was created for a challenge. Create a painting using only rectangles. It was very challenging. The light hit the soybeans and the rows went at an angle. I did enjoy the background which went a lot better.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel.

Grayscale Rabbits

SOLD

The ideal for this painting came from the last one where I added color to black. The original photo for this was three rabbits rangeing in color from black to light gray. The center of interest is to appear in various shades of black and gray and the background various shades of bright colors and still make the painting work together.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel.

Black Cat

I added the palette knife painting method to the background when the original compostion drew your eye to the left side of the cat and the tail. I like to add colors to white and this is my attempt to add colors to black. I learn from other artists on the internet and both the palette knife technique and the colors in the black came from looking at others successful paintings.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel

Camouflage Cow

SOLD

One of the things that attracted me to this scene was the challenge of the cow against the white barn.

6x6 Oil on Raymar Panel.

magnolia no5

I live in Iowa and the magnolias up here only bloom in the spring of the year before the leaves come out. This year they bloomed a second time in August. I took photographs of them for painting references. Green is a color I struggle with so this is another of those paintings that forces me to work it out.

Cherries no 4

I used to hate working with red. The cherry paintings were a way of forcing me to keep at it.

If you looked at the previous painting of cherries you may have noticed that the bowl looks smaller in this one, actually its the same size. I don't paint it exactly as I see it.

6x6 Oil on Raymar panel.

Balancing on the Fencerail

This was a challenging angle. I am not sure that I have the face right, I will probably work on it again and repost.

6x6 Oil on Raymar panel

Bowl of Cherries no 2

The cherries was such a fun thing to paint that I tried a another variation.

6x6 oil on Raymar panel.

A Sparkler for Mary

This painting was from another reference photo taken at the same time as the other one. My camera does not take very good night photos or I just don't know how to work it.

6x6 Oil on Raymar panel.

Grazing on the Hillside

The contrast between the reddish brown of the cattle and the green and blue is what attracted me to this scene.

My Screw Cap Wine

When I did the set up for this I noticed that this is a screw cap bottle of wine, so I went with it.

Just a Small Glass of Wine

I am returning to one of my favorite subject matters. I started with a dull green background that contrasts with the red of the wine. I bought a set of oils on sale and it contained Pthalo Green which in in this painting in some of the dark areas. I often get stuck on certain colors and am forcing myself to use this color in my paintings.