Checking In On Arthur

Those of you just joining me may not know that I have a pet avocado plant that I named Arthur. I had a difficult time getting him off the bottle he was sprouted on. It seemed that when I transplanted him the first time, I had the wrong kind of dirt (who knew?).  So I […]

My Oyster

“The world is one’s oyster” is a saying that means a person feels like he or she can do anything. That being said, I thought I would try a still life of an oyster shell I found on the beach. First I drew a pen and ink sketch: Since the subject has two basic tones, yellow […]

Commission

My wife had a photograph of a vase with red and white flowers. She wanted my rendition of it in watercolor. Since the photo was hazy and, for some reason I could not transfer it to a larger screen, I looked for a similar picture. Last week at the graduation party, I took some pictures […]

Field of Poppies

Yesterday’s post was about the differences between portraying one object of interest, such as a piece of fruit or a flower, versus a collection of subjects. A single flower has so many intricate and beautiful parts – all pre-designed. An artist ‘merely’ has to express with visual elements, how he or she is changed by seeing it. […]

One versus Many

It wasn’t until I finished today’s experiment that I thought of the real theme for this post.  Previously I had painted a sketch of two California Poppies. One in full face, the other in a profile, like a mug shot, I suppose. Today I wanted to revisit the poppy, as they have a stunning color […]

Blue Diamonds

I had a nice sleep last night. No more of the UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN of the ocean from my fishing jaunt. When I went to pick up my fillets from my cousin, he hadn’t started cutting up the fish I pulled in. So, nice guy that he is, he filleted it […]

Flower with a Secret

I always try to learn a few things every day. With painting that’s not hard, because I have a lot to learn. I do keep my mind open for other things, which I’ll get to after today’s experiment. Today’s Experiment I love color. In the flower I chose today, there was the palest of pink-ishes […]

Slight Road Trip

We attended a ‘celebration of life’ today. It was sad for those who knew the man that died, one of Joy’s cousin’s exes. Everyone was supposed to come in casual attire; he was a surfer – until the very end. His last heart attack was on his surf board. I met the man once or twice […]

A Second Go at Jack Fruit

Today’s experiment Unlike the pointillist experiment of yesterday, I tried a different approach to sketching the elusive Jack Fruit. First of all, I worked from a much better photograph: a close up of a single fruit. I saw that the spiny projections were more fully formed (although smaller), the further they were away from the […]