Dharmsala Shepherd

Here is the underpainting for this oil portrait. Next is to glaze in colors and then highlights. This painting, so far, is painted with two colors: a transparent Earth red mixed with ultramarine.

Why Nothing Gets Done

Here are four main projects that I'm working on simultaneously, as well as many associated smaller projects. No wonder nothing seems to get done. I feel compelled to work in many different mediums doing all different kinds of work. Considering art as a career, I suppose this has been the bane of my success. But considering my evolution as an artist, I suppose it is a necessary path, as I am constantly impelled to search new areas of interest. When all these projects are eventually completed there will be some nice work. But it takes a long time. If only I could just focus on the artwork and not on making money to support myself . . . . That is the struggle of artists everywhere. The images are: Passionflower in watercolor; wooden carved sculpture; Oil painting goat; Folded paper sculpture using bits of NYTimes.

What is it?

What the heck is this? It's the center of a passionflower (Passiflora incarnata). I'm working on several paintings of the passiflora. One will be of the garden hybrid P. x belotii and several will be of the native flower P. incarnata, commonly called the 'Maypop'. The larger version of this will include the passionflower fruits, which are small green orbs about the size of hen eggs. More to come on this project.

Figurative sculpture in clay

Ahhh...here is another diversion for me. Working three dimensionally in clay has been very different than anything I've done before in painting or drawing figuratively. Working "in the round" with a model was new and intuitively it worked fantastic for me. I could model the clay equally well with either hand and often I worked with my eyes closed to get the feel of the surface curves correct.

Sorbus aucuparia

This is a small sample painting that I've done prior to a larger version. These are mountain ash berries. They are not indigenous to Colorado. The trees are common in decorative landscaping. They are European in origin, but are now naturalized in the wild in the north east US.

Colorado Grasses

When I moved to Colorado, I was amazed at the shear number of different kinds of grasses. After all, Denver is only just outside the prairie. Here is an example of one of the most common kinds of grasses in my neighborhood alley. This is Cheat Grass (Bromus tectorum) and it is an invasive grass that is now one of the most common grasses throughout the state. This is a small watercolor painting of the flowering head early in the spring.

Best in Show!

The drawing, "Back Alley Grandma, Varanasi" (shown below) won the top prize, Best in Show, in the 5th Annual Colorado Drawing Exhibition. 

Daffodil in Dry Brush

This is a botanical illustration in watercolor. I recently completed a weeklong workshop given by Lizzie Saunders on dry brush technique. This daffodil is an example of the method. There is no water placed on the paper, no washes, no wetting at all. The entire image is created with overlapping small brushstrokes, with very minimal water to dilute the pigment.

Back Alley Grandma, Varanasi

This is a finished graphite drawing of another travel photo from India. The subject was a grandmother and family who lived in one of the alleys of Varanasi. Like most women of India, the colors worn in the Sari were outstanding. The continuous tone blending of the graphite helps to soften the impact of the black-and-white image. This image was juried into the 5th Annual Colorado Drawing Exhibition May 23-June 27, 2008.

Dharamsala Shepard

This was a rough pencil sketch of a travel photo that I took in Dharamsala, India. It is a Tibetan refugee who was carrying this small goat through the town. I plan to complete this study as an oil portrait of the man and his charge.