BONSAI CLUB

NIPOMO BARN (5x7 oil on Masonite)
I have been a member of the Santa Maria Bonsai Club for years, and write our club's Blog. For our end of year party we have a Santa Maria style barbecue, a bonsai demonstration, and gift exchange. For the last several years I have created a small oil painting as my gift. I like to include an interesting tree in the composition. I found this great tree framing an old barn just south of Nipomo Ca.

NOVA SCOTIA PAINTOUT

Peggy's Cove (11 x 14 Oil on canvas panel)
This is my Nova Scotia painting for Bill Guffey's Virtual Painout Blog. Peggy's Cove is a terrific painting location with weather boat docks, storage sheds, crab traps, and net floats. There is a light house just up the road. My painting location was 130 Peggys Point Rd, Halifax (sorry I can't load the hyperlink, for some reason when i do it takes you to "'Peggy Texas").
I am not quite finished with this one, the foreground needs some work. The dark water area looks more like mud at the moment. It needs some submerged rocks to give it depth. Also I am not happy with the big shed it doesn't look much like wood shingles, But I am not sure how to make it look right. Any suggestions?
"HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL"

BELFAST PAINTOUT

Farm Road (11 x 14 Oil on canvas panel)

This is my Belfast paintng for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout site.

I enjoyed hiking around Larne, Northern Ireland. Everything is so lush and green. I almost missed this image at 109 Deerpark Rd. It must have been late in the day because the image was very dark [Ref: Photo]. After bringing up the brightness on the monitor I discovered a potential plein air painting site, There is good composition with a nice light/Dark pattern. The old farm machinery in the foreground adds interest .

LISBON PAINTOUT

Lisbon Laundry (9 x 12 Oil on canvas panel)

This is my Lisbon painting for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout site. This alley can be found by going to [69 Campo de Santa Clara, Lisbon] on the Google Map, or just CLICK HERE. This is an interesting find. I was looking at sites around "Panteao Nacional", and set the yellow guy down at 63 Campo de Santa Clara. I moved two clicks toward the Panteao and suddenly was transported into this alley just east of Campo although the map shows me to still be on Campo.

I loved the multiple colors of the wall, and the tall double doors. The hanging laundry brings in some additional color to the painting. The perspective was changed so that you are looking more toward the wall as opposed to looking down the alley. Can you find a person in this painting? It's like the picture from our childhood, where you had to find the hidden objects.

Their are two sketches form this Virtual Paintout on my Sketch Blog PHIL'S SKETCHES.

HAPPY CLIENT

My client Tracee accepting her new painting.

BORA BORA

I just completed this commissioned painting. As usual I start with a red under painting, and then sketch in details as needed. In this case the mountains and canoe were sketched in to ensure they are correctly drawn.


These two objects are now painted in.

Now the sky and water have been painted in. The general shape of the clouds with the lightest lights have been defined. The general color tones for the water have been laid in.

Bora Bora (24 x 36 Oil on stretched canvas)

This is the finished painting. It is the largest painting I have ever done and the task was somewhat intimidating. I am pleased with the results and will now feel more confident with larger paintings.

LONDON PAINTOUT

Back to School (12 x 9 oil on canvas panel)

This is my London painting for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout site. This is the York Bridge in Regent's Park, Paddington, England. CLICK HERE to see the Google Map reference photo. I painted most of this one loosely as though it was a plein air painting. I did however photo the image so I could draw some grid lines to aid in getting an accurate drawing of the boy.

BLACK MAN IN DENIM

DENIM (12 x 9 Oil on canvas panel)
This is my latest attempt at Karin's DSFDF project. The reference photo was terrific, and the thing that caught my eye was the jeans. I love to paint the light as it catches the folds in fabric. I made the door a burnt red orange to help bring out the denim. The block wall has been simplified a bit to emphasize the blues. The canvas was toned with a deep dark red and and grid lines were used to help me transfer the image to the canvas.

FLORENCE PAINTOUT

DUOMO of FLORENCE (12 x 9 Oil on canvas board)

The Dome of Florence is the most recognized structure in Florence. This is the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore which was built between 1296 and 1436. It is hard to think of this structure being completed 56 years before Columbus discovered the Americas.

You can view my reference photo by "CLICKING HERE" which takes you to 16 Via dei Servi on the Google Map System. Then click on the fourth user photo.

Corn, Tomatoes, & Onions

Garden Fresh (8 x 10 Oil on canvas panel)

This is my latest entry to Karin's DSFDF blog. Thank you Karin for the terrific reference photo. I did not have to do any preliminary sketching for this one. I cropped and resized the photo on my monitor to the size of my canvas. Then started with the three tomatoes making sure they were placed correctly on the canvas. Then worked left to right on the painting always comparing size and position of each element.