- The Finished Painting -

After fooling around with various color schemes, I ended up with this one and finished the painting. I may have been influenced by the hundreds of fires that we've had here in Northern California (smokey skies, etc.). The finished painting is in oil on a wood panel and measures 12 x 16 inches.
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- Add Color and Stir....... -

I decided to leave Corel and do a small version in real oil paint. It is 5 x 7 and the finished painting will be 12 x 16 inches. I'll post it when it's finished. I hope that you all are having a wonderful summer. It's been smokey and hot here (100+ today).

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- Revisions on the Sketch -

I moved the thunderhead over to the left, and added a few more elements (rock in forground, and more trees). I'm just about ready to work on the color sketch.

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- A Thumbnail Sketch -

Usually before I start a painting, I do several compositional drawings. In this case I used Corel Painter to do the drawing and then this drawing can be used to develop some color ideas before going on to the actual painting. This one is totally out of my imagination, which is a little harder than working from life or photos. I think this is true because we tend to go back to certain mannerisms or drawing habits.
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- A Brush With Sculpture -

Back in the early 60's and then later in the 80's I did quite a bit of sculpture, some of which was welded bronze and copper and also just working in found materials on flat surfaces. Here is a graphic piece from my website that has a few from the past. I still get the urge to work in 3d from time to time, but never seem to get around to it. The horse was a favorite of mine. It was about 36 inches high and had rockers on it. I made it with heavy metal rod and melted bronze over it.


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~~ MY NEW CD ~~

This is a bit off the drawing thing, but I have to toot my horn (so to speak) and let you all know that I am doing something with my music too.

I've been working on a CD, "Reflections - Classical Improv" that is improvised, and is classical and lyrical in style, and I just sent it off for distribution. If you'd like to take a look at it and hear some samples, you can click on the album cover (that's art, sort of) below and it will take you to the CD webpage. It is available for purchase on that page and will be available for download from Itunes, Amazon, etc. in a few weeks.