Carmen (2005)

B pencil on acid-free sketch paper

For some reason I find myself drawn to images of dancers, especially the Latin dances. This is a sketch from a photo of a woman dancing the flamenco during a production of Carmen. I found it on Google Images, a great source of material for painting and sketching.

The original is on this German flamenco site; since I don't read German, I'm not sure exactly what it's about.

Maternal Instinct, after Pino (2005)

Oil on canvas, 11"x 14"

This is an exercise which the whole art class did together for
the last three classes of the session. It was very interesting
to see the range of interpretations of the same original painting.  After another hour of playing with it at home, I think I have it about the way I want it, not identical to Pino's original but complete in itself, with a soft but slightly rough look to it.

The original is Maternal Instinct by Pino. I had never heard of Pino before this class but I have since learned how indebted we are to him, as the man who discovered and made famous the irreplaceable Fabio.

Maternal Instinct, after Pino (2005, Unfinished)

Oil on canvas, 11"x 14"

This is still in progress, an exercise which the whole art class
did together for the last three classes of the session. It was very
interesting to see the range of interpretations of the same source
painting.

The original is Maternal Instinct by Pino. I had never heard of
Pino before this class but I have since learned how indebted we
are to him, as the man who discovered and made famous the
irreplaceable Fabio.

At The Beach (2005)

Oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

This one only took a few (I think 5) painting classes to get to a point where I would sign it. I worked from a photograph of the three kids at the beach and, instead of transferring it directly to the canvas, drew a pencil sketch first and, when I was happy with it, transferred
that onto the canvas. So in a sense this is the first painting I've ever done without cheating.

I particularly like the muscles in Sam's legs and some of the folds in Max's bathing suit. I've also had quite a few comments on the trees on the far shore, which my art teacher called "painterly" (a great compliment, as far as I'm concerned). What's funny is that they were the first thing I did on the painting and they took me about 10 minutes, after which I haven't touched them.

Three Studies of the Live Model (2005)

Charcoal on newsprint

We spent two and a half hours sketching this model in our drawing
class. The poses ranged from a series of five one-minute gesture
drawings to two twenty-five minute poses for detailed sketches.

I thought that these were three of the best, each of them either a
five or ten minute pose. In each I felt I captured the weight and
movement of the subject without getting bogged down in a lot of
detail. I sketched the two longer poses with 4B pencil on newsprint;
I was pleased with the execution but the result is not worth
reproducing since I think pencil looks terrible on newsprint.

I was amazed at how tense I became, trying to capture the essence
of a person's stance and bearing in under one minute. By the time
we had done ten or so my body was beginning to ache from unconsciously
twisting myself into the same poses as the model! After that, five
or ten minutes seemed like all the time in the world to put down the
essentials of what I saw.

Amaryllis (2005)

Oil on canvas, 24" x 30"

This is the biggest painting I have done to date and also the
fastest, at least by the calendar. It was a present for my
sister-in-law's birthday so I worked on it more regularly than
the usual creations in art class.

The photograph I worked from was somewhat overexposed so I had
to use my imagination as far as lights and shadows. I think it
turned out quite well, all things considered.

There are some shiny areas on the photograph from the flash
reflecting off of areas where I mixed the paint with glazing
medium, giving that silvery look. In real life, those areas
look like the rest of the painting.

Hog's Back Park (2005)

Charcoal pencil (black and white) on tinted charcoal paper

Our teacher brought the whole class to Hog's Back park in Ottawa
to practice drawing the landscape. The idea was to see for ourselves
how things become lighter and more indistinct with distance and try
to reproduce that in our drawings.

I also learned that trees, especially in large numbers, are difficult
to draw. I do like the old-timey feel that the tinted paper gives,
though.

Seated Model (2005)

Charcoal pencil on acid-free drawing paper

My first charcoal drawing and my first real work from a live
model. This was executed in the drawing class which I'm taking
instead of painting during the summer. The model is the
instructor's ten-year old son.

I have learned that drawing paper is not the best choice when
using charcoal, as you can see by the lines which I tried to
erase that linger, ghost-like, at the edges of the figure.
Still, I am very happy with my first attempt.

Tango I (Almost finished)

Oil on canvas, 16" x 25"

A little work on the background and perhaps her upper arm and this one
will be ready to sign.

Girl #3 (2005)

Pencil (2H & B) on acid-free paper


A bit of a departure for me in that I have only really sketched head
and shoulders up to now. This one turned out really well, except that
as usual I feel I have made her look a little older than she is in
the original photo. Of course, she is a little older than she is in the
photo so maybe it will all even out.

Girl #2 (2005)

Pencil (2H & HB) on acid-free paper

This sketch is from a school photo.
At first this sketch looked a lot older, but I went back and
fixed the size of her chin, the nose, the eyes...pretty much
everything. I think it's much closer now.

Self-Portrait (2005)

Pencil (2H & HB) on acid-free paper

My first self-portrait, from a photograph taken by my wife.
In the photo I have a goatee which I have since shaved off
because of the startling amount of white in it. Hair is hard
enough to draw when it's on top of the head so I omitted the
crumb catcher altogether.

Tango I (Adding colour)

Oil on canvas, 16" x 25"

Having roughed in the sketch with a mixture of Burnt Sienna
and Ultramarine Blue, I started to add some colour. The
dress is Cadmium Red with Phthalo Green to darken it for the
shadows, while the highlights on the shirt are pure Titanium
White. I also extended the background colour to separate the
dancers from the space around them.

Smiling Boy (2004)

HB pencil on acid-free paper

This was the second sketch I did after starting my oil
painting class, and to me it is still the best. It
captures the essence of him with just a few strokes of
the pencil.

Girl #1 (2005)

Pencil (2H & HB) on acid-free paper

I sketched this from a school photo. I still haven't quite
mastered proportion in sketching faces, and as a result she
looks a little older in the sketch than the original photo.

Tango I (Initial sketch)

Oil on canvas, 16" x 24"

This painting of tango dancers, after a photograph found on the
Internet using Google Images, is a work in progress.

The base coat is Raw Sienna acrylic. The photograph was projected
onto the canvas and sketched using pastel chalk which dissolves when
painted over with oil. I'm now filling out the sketch with oil,
using Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue.

Alstroemeria I (2005)

Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"

Painting of alstroemeria (sometimes called parrot lilies)
after a photograph taken by me. The flowers are about 5 times
life size.

No base colour was applied, in order to keep the white of
the primed canvas for the bright highlights of the petals
in the foreground.

Mortal Game (2005)

Oil on canvas, 24" x 12"

Portrait of the boys playing chess, from a photograph posed
specifically for this painting. The name of the painting derives
from the position of the chess pieces on the board; they are
laid out in the endgame position of The Immortal Game between
Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in London in July of 1851.

The boy on the left has his finger on a piece, ready to move.
Unfortunately, this is not the move which actually won the game
in 1851, so we are reduced to a mere Mortal Game.

The base coat is Bright Yellow acrylic to give the feeling of
bright sunlight coming through the central windows.

A Portrait (2004)

Oil on canvas, 16" x 20"

Portrait from a photograph posed especially for the
painting. The base coat is raw sienna acrylic and the figure
was built up from a sketch in burnt sienna and ultramarine
blue, with colour and white highlights added in the later
stages.

The painting is photographed on a slight angle because I
found that the flash reflected off of those areas where I used
Liquin to glaze colour on.

Lemon Girl (after Weistling) (2004)

Oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

This was an exercise assigned by my painting teacher
in our class. It is a copy of a painting by Morgan
Weistling, an extremely talented American portrait
painter. The original can be seen here for comparison.

Possibly my most successful painting so far. It is
currently on private display in my sister-in-law's
entranceway.

First Portrait (2004)

Oil on canvas, 12" x 16"

My first oil painting.

Note the poisonous green acrylic base coat: this
was a mistake. Also, the tendons in the neck stand
out more than I would like, but it took many layers
of paint to smooth them to the point they are now.