Tips and Techniques

My new watercolor painting, of local musician and friend Jerry, is one I painted in my brain long before it landed on paper! I took reference photos nearly 2 years ago, when Rick and I happened upon Jerry and his friend Mike, playing music on a sunny afternoon in front of his wife Dona’s pottery studio and shop, The Castle. Once I viewed my photos, I was inspired to capture what I saw in a painting – visually, capturing Jerry’s … Read More

  My newest painting “Jesus Saves” is in watercolor, depicting a barn I have often photographed on a nearby rural backroad. It has so many fabulous textures – the old barnyards, rusted metal panels as siding, rusty hinges, an overturned water tub, a field of wildflowers. I could hardly wait to get started. The first step was designing my painting. Even though my art largely duplicates the scene, I keep basic design principles in focus right from the start – … Read More

The monochrome tones of this painting are quite a departure from my usual use of color, bright lighting and shadows. I wanted to do something different from the snowy barn in sunshine that I most recently completed. And I admit being influenced to try a primarily gray painting after seeing the oil paintings of an artist I met on Christmas Eve, Phillip Anthony, who does exquisite landscapes entirely in black, white and grays. Still inspired by our recent snows, I’ve … Read More

My newest painting is a result of our Christmas Day snowstorm, which left 6+ inches of fluffy snow. Freezing temps kept it on the ground, and, when the sun came out two days later, everything twinkled like a fantasy-land! The roads were a mess, so I donned my hiking boots and grabbed my camera and set out to capture the beauty… and ended up with oodles of inspiration. There are working farms with aging buildings all around this area, and … Read More

I couldn’t spill the beans before Christmas since this was a surprise gift, but here is my newest painting, a portrait of Jeb. I was commissioned by Jeb’s mom Pam, as a surprise for his dad Jim. The biggest challenge with this portrait was taking reference photos. Not only did we have to sneak around Jim, but Jeb is a very active, big, 2-year old lab. We did the first photo shoot indoors since the weather on our rendezvous day … Read More

In my newest painting, a commission called “Greenhouse & Gardens,” I used a technique of layering in the bottom right corner, to get the effect of masses of leaves. This technique is often called GLAZING. I do this in acrylics by painting with white (I actually use acrylic gesso for maximum opacity), letting it dry, then painting over the white with very transparent acrylic colors. As with watercolors, some acrylic pigments are more transparent than others. I can choose those … Read More

I made a resolution to experiment with my art techniques, and here’s my first exploration. It’s a technique I learned years ago using watercolors, but I’ve applied it to acrylics (which I often use much like watercolors, but they react differently). It starts with a sheet of watercolor paper which I coat with a layer of gesso. Gesso resembles white paint but it creates a harder surface and blocks the normal absorbency of the paper so paints applied on top … Read More

When I do pet portraits I work from photographs, often taken by the pet owner. For my own dog’s portraits, I’ve gone through the struggles of getting good photos. To get the best possible references, I’ve created hints for photographing pets, and many of my pet-loving friends use these tips to get good photos of their dogs and cats, not necessarily for me to paint from, but for their own enjoyment. So here are my tips:– Take photos of pets … Read More