Sometimes A Day At The Office...

...doesn't really feel like one. Like this day, hiking down Panther Creek, looking for a subject for my next painting for a show entitled "Fluid" at the Vendue opening in June. I was beginning to be as discouraged as you can be listening to a river gurgle while flowing down a forest, when I found a log above the main falls. Very carefully, I slid out to take pics. 

The resulting photo is actually two photos, one exposure to stop the water, with a second to capture its surroundings. Merged in Photoshop, the result made a nice square composition. 

But I decided to use a different format and angle to focus more on the theme, which is this last photo:

My Latest Painting...

...ul 114 (joy parade) is complete! The first view is it on my easel, while the second shows it from another angle. 

Long skinny paintings don't show up well in traditional formats, and I really wanted to show the pop of the passing sunlight on the marsh, so the final view is a detail shot of the left side of the the painting.

I'm particularly proud of what's going on in the trees, with the individual trunks and silhouette on the sky.

Considering This Painting...

...is for the gallery's anniversary show, I decided to make it a collaboration of sorts. The sunrise photo shoot was courtesy of a collector and friend of the gallery, Ed Shehab, who took us out on his boat to this glorious location, the photograph was taken by Rob, and I get to paint it. Big thanks to those who made it possible! 

My Next Painting...

...measures 10x10" for our ten year anniversary show. Not being able to get out to my printer's place, I'm continuing the experiment of painting from my iPad. We'll see how it goes...

Sometimes It Is Hard To See...

...the difference between the first layer of paint and the second, but I use far more shades of color in the second layer to create life-like tonality. 

In the first photo, you can see two shades of white replacing the singular tone of white in the first layer in the upper right corner. 

You can compare and contrast the level of detail between the first and second photo, and still see the bottom quarter incomplete. 

The third image completed that remaining area, and is fully covered by a second layer of paint. 

And finally, the last image shows the entire painting completed. The detailed section I just showed you is almost dead center in the painting.

Water Is Coming...

Ovals Are Coming...

The Progression...

...of my latest painting.

I've Restarted The Habit...

...of working on several paintings at once. This way, I always have something to work on while another is drying, or simply to change things up. 

Pictured here is a few nights work on the under painting for the waterfront fountain at night. 

It's nice that it is just a few steps from my studio, so I can wander down the street when I get stuck on a section.

I am starting in a monochrome of browns to build in the stark differences between light and dark inherent in the painting.

When A Day Starts...

...before sunrise and ends on a boat, it is usually a day of work, but it is hard to think of it that way. Thanks to generosity of a friend of the gallery in Ed Shehab, I spent a pleasant three days out on and around Kiawah Island photographing.

Here I am out on the beach in front of the Ocean Course clubhouse just after sunrise, with my trusty but awkward photo science bucket tripod contraption.

This a view of Kiawah and Seabrook Islands taken from the 16th hole at Cassique.

I'm not sure where this is, but it will most likely end up being a long skinny painting.

A view from a tree stand that is set up to show prospective owners the view from their future home, used here for art type purposes. 

And deep on the backside of Kiawah Island, a panoramic of a pond.  With luck, there are a few paintings in here to be had. Thanks again Ed!