Farewell, Edythe!

Last Breath

Edythe, circa 1946

Farewell Edythe, my dear wife.  May your soul rest in peace.

The New Work, "Cloudy Days"

2013, oil on linen, 16" x 18".

Here is my latest life painting effort.  I wanted to just use a natural light from the window, but we had a succession of cloudy days, so I devised to hang an artificial light at the window.  It worked pretty well for getting a consistent main light source.

The model was a trooper.  She was always on time, conscientious, and held the pose well.

Plein-air Study 2

Winter Dorostkar Park

Another quick plein-air study at Dorostkar Park of west Reno, Truckee River running through it.  Oil on illustration board, 8" x 10".

Plein-air Studies

Westpoint Hill (After the Morning Rain)

Galena Creek Forest

Two quick plein-air studies done in oil on illustration boards, 10" x 8".  Sometimes it is challenging to do an outdoor painting during winter months, especially when you have to fight the bitter cold temperature, but hard to resist the beautiful winter palette.

The New Work, "Christmas Wish"

Oil on Masonite board, 14"x 11".

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The New Work, "Summer Days 2"

2012, oil on linen, 36”x 24”.


For sometime I’ve been looking for a background scene which has a vivid blue lake amidst dark trees.  I finally found almost exactly what I had in mind at Jackson Meadows reservoir.  Although nothing beats the majestic view of Lake Tahoe (at least around in my neck of the woods), Jackson Meadows was quite attractive.

I don’t mind if the pine cone staff was interpreted as a fertility symbol; I just enjoyed the message it implied.

Preliminary Drawing & Color Study

Here are the images of a preliminary drawing and color study for my upcoming piece titled “Summer Days 2”.

I felt the drawing was a bit over-rendered, since its primary purpose was for the painting.  But this time, I felt inspired to do a full rendition.  I don’t think it’s a loss by any means. (If I solved more problems in the drawing stage, I would be a step ahead of the game.)

I’m also pleased with the color study I did.  Each time I do it, I’m grasping the concept of this exercise better and better.  It is not a process for detailed rendering or finding to develop small forms.  It’s an exercise to identify the overall color and value relationships of the piece.  Therefore, it is best to execute this process with bold brush strokes and in an abstract manner.