Friday, October 21, 2022
Burgess Shale Fauna
Monday, October 17, 2022
Lightbox Expo 2022
Artists from all over the world and with all sorts of stories hung out as I painted. They asked good questions about brushes, paints (I'm using gouache), perspective, skyholes, and the adventure of painting on location.
Sunday, October 16, 2022
Corner Shop, Final
Friday, October 14, 2022
The Corner Shop
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Knitting Hands
Jeanette's hands as she makes a sweater with slip-stitch knitting. She's looking at a chart she made from graph paper to get the pattern right. Gouache.
We're heading to Lightbox Expo in Los Angeles, and I'll be doing a book signing at Stuart NG's booth on Friday from 4-5pm.
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Hopper's "Early Sunday Morning"
In my recent painting of a street scene in Ireland, I decided not to include people in the scene.
The image that occurred to me was Early Sunday Morning by Edward Hopper, painted in 1930. He says that the word "Sunday" was tacked on by someone else.
With or without the title, the painting gives the feeling of either a quiet morning when people are still asleep or a desolate row of shops stilled by the Great Depression.
Hopper said the scene "was almost a literal translation of Seventh Avenue" in New York, but it wasn't literal at all, as you can see from the photo.
He rolled up the awnings, cleared away the far buildings, and blurred the signs on the shops. He also originally planned to have a woman looking out of an upper window, but he removed her.
By holding back on specific details his painting transcends a literal portrait of an actual street and achieves a more universal appeal.
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Painting a Night Scene in the Daytime
You don't have to paint exactly what you see.
Sunday, October 9, 2022
Smooth, Ready for Takeoff
OK, one last dog portrait: Here's Smooth with his ears in flight position.
Painted on craft foam with liquid acrylic.
Saturday, October 8, 2022
Border Collie in Action
In this little portrait sketch, I misplaced one of the eyes and had to move it over. Easy to make such a mistake, but it's easy to fix, too.
Friday, October 7, 2022
Cottage in Cleggan
I paint this cottage near Sellerna Cove, Cleggan, Co. Galway, Connemara, in the fabled west of Ireland.
When the owner notices me painting, she brings in the laundry. Then she invites me into the kitchen, which is lit by just one light bulb.

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