In the Studio Today... Green VW Bus; Session #3

Monday, April 30, 2007
"Lynda's Green Bus" 8" x 10" Commission
I finished this painting today, which was inspired by a previous painting of a VW Bus I had done. In this one, I can see my own improvement with capturing the details on the bus. This painting was created 4 months after I painted the original, "Blue Bus on Mariposa" and started my art blog and preparing for my May show of paintings. I spent more time on this green bus than I did on the original painting.

In the Studio Today... Green VW Bus; Session #2

Sunday, April 28, 2007
Lynda's commission continued... I added more details to the bus this afternoon, including highlights and shadows on the front window, and front of the bus.

In the Studio Today... Green VW Bus; Session #1

Saturday, April 28, 2007
"Lynda's Green Bus" 8" x 10"
Today, I started this commission. A woman was reminded of driving her children around on the East Coast in her pea green VW Bus in the 70's when she saw my first painting "Blue Bus on Mariposa". She asked if I could make her the same painting to give as a gift, but with a green bus instead of a blue bus. I hope to finish this tonight in a second session of more detailed work. This took about 3 hours painting time, and a prior hour of photo manipulation and printing from Photoshop.

In the Studio Today.. Heart's Desire Beach; Session #3

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
About 2 hours outside today, working on the beach foreground, sand, and a mother and child, walking hand in hand. I love how painting sand and water, you can continually change the look by layering more colors and strokes and it never looks "wrong", it just keeps changing as you progress. One thing I try to remember when I am painting is to never be afraid to add more paint, more colors, a new texture. This was drilled into me by a drawing teacher in college who kept telling me that sketches were never something to save, but practice work. So, it forced you to go for movement, and try to capture things quickly and with out perseverating on details. When I paint sand and water, I often think of Harriet Matthews, telling me not to feel any one spot of my painting is sacred. Things can always be changed and made to feel loose and fresh if you keep the attitude of a quick sketch in mind. Detailed views of "Heart's Desire Beach" below (Click to enlarge):

In the Studio Today.. Heart's Desire Beach; Session #2

Thursday, April 19, 2007
I had just an hour today to block out where the boats are, and add detail to the cliffs. This painting will become a collage of 3 or more photos I took at Heart's Desire Beach, Pt. Reyes National Seashore, in the summer of 2005. The people on the beach will be from separate photos, and I may add a bird flying into the forground from a third image.

In the Studio Today... Heart's Desire Beach; Session #1

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Today I started a new painting of Heart's Desire Beach. The canvas is 24" x 30". The scene involves several sailboats beached on the shore before the trees, some people walking on the beach, and the buckets and seagull in the foreground. It should be a fairly detailed painting that focuses on the boats and characters in the scene when it is finished.