This commissioned painting is framed and ready for delivery. I gave the collectors several options for the frame, and was excited that they chose this one. It was my choice as well. It’s a gold leaf frame, about 2.5 inches wide, with some simple Arts and Crafts – inspired detailing at the corners. I think […]
Happy New Year! I finished this painting last night – mostly finished, that is. There are a few small issues I want to correct, so I’ll let this dry for about a week and then spend an afternoon addressing them. But, I wanted to get this to the point of being essentially done by the […]
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about the last few commissions I’ve done has been collaborating with the collectors to make highly personal paintings. We’ve done this by carefully selecting objects that tell their stories. This painting has a few such elements, and to me the most interesting is that small circular box. The […]
Up until last night I had my doubts about this project – I wasn’t entirely sure I would produce something I was proud of. It’s not that I have any lack of self-confidence in front of the easel, but the size and the tight schedule meant that I wasn’t 100% sure of the result. Now […]
Today I applied the glaze to darken the background, and in this video I talk about that process and show the results.
Last night I completed the first pass. The objective of that is to get paint everywhere so I can start to work out the exact relationships between colors – especially values and temperatures. Once paint is everywhere, I find that problems sometimes become obvious that weren’t so clear before. There are a couple of issues […]
Continuing work on the first pass. I don’t approach all of my paintings in exactly the same way. Some are done start-to-finish in just one sitting, and some have a black-and-white underpainting followed by successive color layers. This painting will be a series of “passes” – rough approximations to get some basic information down, followed […]
It’s starting to feel like a painting. As I prepared myself for this project, the two parts that concerned me most from a technical standpoint were the background and the folded cloth. I began with them, since there will be multiple steps with drying time in between. I want to give the background a deep […]
I’ve transferred the composition to the panel, drawing it in with a thin wash of Burnt Umber. This video shows the details of where the project stands at the moment:
This commission is complete, framed, and ready for delivery. I can’t wait to get this into the collectors’ hands; it’s been an honor and a pleasure to do this painting for them.
Yesterday as I was preparing the final composition, I realized that the painting would be better served with a lower point of view. The sketches I’d originally sent to the collectors were from about a 45 degree angle, and the more I worked with it, the more I realized that a lower vantage point would […]
This picture is the end point of one commission, and the beginning point of another. The frame in back is for my most recently-completed piece. I’m delivering it tonight, and am very excited to see it up on the collectors’ wall. Hopefully they will allow me to share some pictures of it in it’s final […]
This week I began a new commissioned painting to finish up the year. The family who’s requested it had several specific themes and items they wanted in it. After a few discussions and some sketches passed back and forth, we agreed on a basic composition, as seen in this small thumbnail sketch: I’ll be doing […]
At this point, the painting is largely complete. All that remains are a few details and touch-ups. These are largely concerned with harmonizing all the parts of the painting together. Once that’s done, the painting will be finished.
At this point, the central objects in the painting are complete. All that remains is the yellow cloth and the black credenza they rest on.
Work is progressing on this painting. I’ve completed the cut glass vase, and am well on the way to completing the silver pitcher.
Things are coming along with this commissioned painting. At this point, the flower is completed, and I’ve begun work on some of the metal – the silver pitcher and the bronze Thai silverware.
The 90 day challenge is not the only project I have going on in my studio. I’ve haven’t been posting much about them, so I wanted to make up for that with this video about the commission painting I’m currently working on. It’s a painting for a family that wanted to have objects in it […]
The star of this painting is going to be a vibrant red day lily from the collectors’ garden. It will sit in the large silver pitcher for a dramatic centerpiece. Obviously, day lilies don’t last long, so I needed to take some careful photos of it, and I also made a few color studies. Below […]
The drawing for the current commission is complete, and I’ve begun to paint in the background pattern.