Golden Trout "Mini-Masterpiece"

NOT AVAILABLE

Golden Trout

2 1/2 x 3 1/3

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas w/Mini-Easel

When I saw these beautiful golden trout at Tony's Fish Market, I was more excited about painting them than eating them. But they turned out delicious too! I felt this painting was above my skill level--where I am really lacking is in the area of "verisimilitude." I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to make the white wrapping paper look crisp and papery. And that was a grave disappointment. However, for a cheeky little 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 painting, this'll do.

This will be gifted to my frien Barb Blumer when I get around to shipping it to her.

Painting an "Inchie"

When you make hundreds and hundreds of one-inch-sized works of art (inchies), the question inevitably arises--what do I do with these? A friend suggested I make large paintings of them. Sounded good to me, so today I made a 12 x 12 painting of a 1 x 1 inchie.

Here is the 1 x 1 inchie:


And here is the 12 x 12 painting (due to the size of my scanner, you aren't getting the full painting, but this is pretty close:


I liked how it started to look like a landscape painting, so I decided to leave out the diagonal yellow lines, even though those are what attracted me to this inchie in the first place.

Howells: The evolution of a painting

AVAILABLE
Howells
Acrylic on canvas board
11 x 14
May 2008
$100

I've been wanting to do a series of Oregon City paintings, focusing on industry, business, and decline. I'm really attracted to the retro signage and buildings we have all over this little town. I've already photographed several of the subjects I want to paint, and I completed the first painting yesterday (above). Here is the evolution of the painting:


Here you see the painting in its very earliest stage, as well as the photo I'm working from. At this stage, I have roughed in the basic shapes and lines.


In stage 2 (above), I'm thinking more about volume and color, trying to work the entire canvas simultaneously.


In stage 3, I realize the perspective is off for the building roofline. I'm going to have to make some changes to the lines that are holding up the sign. I'm worrying a lot about how to make the lines and the metal look like lines and metal.

Here again is the final painting. I'm really happy with the composition and the sign itself. Not thrilled with the way the metal finishes turned out, but it's enough this time.

Slow Going Part Deux: Still Going

I am still working on the painting for my handy man friend (though he has probably forgotten my name by now). It is for his daughter Sophie, so my little hippo (who will be wearing a tutu en fin) is named. . . wait for it. . . Sophie. It's a terrible photo--blurry and the color's too green, but at least you can see the progress since the previous slow going post. Jeremy, if you're out there, I'll try to finish it before she graduates from college.