Oil on 18”x24” canvas.

Sanctuary

Painted from photo, after recent trip to Northern California.

Oil on 24" x 36" canvas.

Yellow/Blue Mirror Image

Self-portrait in progress.

Oil on 18" x 18" canvas.

Woman Looking Right

Oil on canvas, 36" x 24".

Fairytale Setting

Another painting I have been living with for years, in its latest version.

Oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Reaching for Life

Oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

This is a painting that started from a photo I took of one of Pasadena's ficus trees.

I have added to it over the years, and decided to post the updated, and re-named, work.  (The first title was something like "Ficus on a Sunny Morning.")

Profile in Light

Painted from life, November 18.

Oil on canvas, 12" x 12".

Orange/Blue (Oil Painting)

Painted from life, last Monday.

Oil on 18" x18" canvas.

Quiet Time (Work in Progress)

Painted Saturday, from imagination and sketches from life.

I've stopped here, for now.  I may make some changes, but I'm going to wait on this one and see what I think in a few weeks.

Oil on canvas, 16" x 16".  Work in progress.

NATURE WATCH:

We play tourist at the Oasis.

Austin Summer Blues (Re-photographed Yet Again)

Oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Still not able to capture the lightest yellows in a photograph.  For example, the sky in my painting is actually predominantly pale yellow.

June 22:

Oh, no!  I just saw this on a different monitor and the colors were wildly off and highly intensified, compared to what I see on my old laptop.

So I have photographed it yet again, outdoors in the afternoon, out of the glare.  I think this is closer to the way the painting looks, at least on my laptop.

For now, no matter what colors you are seeing, I hope you enjoy this painting of summer.

NATURE WATCH:

Austin goes to the dogs.

Austin Summer Blues

Oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Last summer in Austin, from my memory and imagination.

NATURE WATCH:

Austin goes to the dogs.

Some of the "Taheerah" Paintings and Drawings

For a change, I thought I would post a group of drawings and paintings done over the last couple of  years.  The last two drawings, a pastel of a reclining woman and a graphite drawing of gestures, have not been posted elsewhere on this blog.

These all have the same model, Taheerah.  She is a working artist, mainly doing animation.

She is one of my favorite models.  Even though none of these works are "likenesses," you may recognize her distinctive regal confidence in other drawings and paintings I have posted within the last couple of years.

The top drawing, a pastel, is the first drawing I did with Taheerah as model, and it is still a favorite of mine. 

For the curious, here's a list of the rest of my posts featuring Taheerah as model:  March 1, 2012; June 11, 2011; January 24, 2011; December 2, 2010; November 23, 2010; and September 7, 2010.

My drawing of Taheerah titled "Floating Woman" was also used, with my permission, to illustrate this blog essay by Margaret Diehl.

NATURE WATCH:

Tacodeli goes to the dog.

UPDATE . . . 

on Daniela Rossell and her book of photographs, Ricas y Famosas: 

I now have a copy of  Ricas y Famosas.  The photos are gorgeous, and the context of the work is much clearer.

The photos, taken together, are beautiful and strange.  They also tell a bit about wealth in Mexico; how the very very rich live. Rossell is a member of this privileged group.  Like photos of extreme poverty, these photos make you aware of extraordinary disparities in society.

She started this series of photos with a core of close family and friends and expanded outward from there.  The subjects decided how and where and with what objects they would be photographed.  They are mostly women.  They are mostly rich, though some are not (several are servants of the very rich).  They are all fascinating.

Austin Summer Blues; Under-Paintings; Grey Abandon 2

I started some paintings last week.

First, Austin Summer Blues.  Oil over acrylic on 30" x 40" canvas.

Painted from memory and imagination.

I tried to paint this entirely in acrylic, but I missed the sensuous feel and look of oil paint, so I painting over the base of acrylic with oils.

I don't know if it is done.  I'm going to let it sit awhile and then re-assess.


Next, Under-Paintings, two canvases, waiting for additional work.

I like to make my under-painting interesting.  It gives me something to paint in reference to, that I can work into my final composition to a greater or lesser degree.

Finally, Grey Abandon 2, a digital version of Grey Abandon  (8" x 8" total, with image at 6" x  6"):
Grey Abandon 2 

NATURE WATCH: 

Three dears at rest.

Flower Seller on a Cool Morning (Work in Progress)

Update:  One thing I'm thinking of is changing the composition to enlarge the bouquet, so that it fills the upper right quadrant of the painting, something like the mock-up, above.

Below, is the painting as it looks, now.  Still a work in progress.

I'm going to put it aside for awhile and then re-evaluate the composition.

 


Flower Seller on a Cool Morning: oil paint on 30"x40" canvas. Still a work in progress.

 Meanwhile, be sure to check out the swimming turtle, on my other blog.

Head In Orange And Purple; Woman Reading At Mozart's

From life.

Head In Orange And Purple was drawn this morning, indoors.  Water-soluble marker and ink on 11"x14" Bristol paper.

Woman Reading At Mozart's was painted Monday morning, outdoors by the water at Mozart's, a local coffee place.  Oil on 20"x24" canvas.

Lavender/Blue 1

Painted this afternoon, from life.

Oil pastel over oil paint, 16"x20" canvas.

Woman Waiting On A Sunny Morning

Painted this morning, from life.

Oil on 30"x40" canvas.

The figure in the foreground is the figure I painted today.  I painted her on top of an old painting (actually one of my first tries at oil painting on a large scale), probably painted three or four years ago.

Today is unseasonably warm, expected to be in the 70s (F).  We were able to have windows open while we painted.

Crying Woman

 Painted this morning, from life.

Crying Woman is oil and oil pastel on 12"x12" canvas.

Woman With Cowlick Holding Rose; Woman Holding Rose 2

 Painted this morning, from life.

The top painting is oil on 16"x20" canvas.

The bottom painting is oil and oil pastel on 12"x16" canvas.

It was overcast this morning when I started the top painting.  Just about an hour later, the sun had come out, just in time for the bottom painting.

 Both of these started with underpaintings. The top painting had some light blue and some yellow and burnt sienna acrylic paints rubbed on the canvas first. 

The bottom painting has a canvas that was started in oil pastels a couple of months ago at Rutamaya, so the background that shows represents the walls there, with some oil paint added on top.

What I had on my palette for the top painting was titanium white, ivory black, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, and alizarin crimson.  Basically, a version of the limited Zorn palette, which I've been using lately for my paintings.

For the bottom painting, I added a little ultramarine blue to the palette.

The model was actually wearing a simple black knit hooded pull-over.

Young Woman Looking Down

Painted yesterday morning, from life.

Oil on 24"x36" canvas.

Despite it being so large, this is a quick--under two hours posing/painting time--sketch.