Taking one for the Team

Happy Halloween

this painting will be sent to bed without any supper and thrown in the trash asap

Our GJWP topic this month is 'Neighbor'. This house is across the street from my studio and always had an elaborate Halloween display but it's been scaled down to just the gravestones.
Sometimes I see a painting and I think to myself, "that should never have made it out of the studio." and this one is a good example. It's pretty bad but sometimes you have to take one for the team.
I spent the day down at Green Harbor painting boats on a cold and cloudy day. It was a struggle to get my drawing correct even though I was using a viewfinder but I ended up with a passable study. The fisherman were abuzz pulling boats and traps out of the water for the winter pressed by a Nor'easter in the forecast for this weekend.

Progress

Winter Storage

24x24

Apologies for the glare-y photo, I think it's done. 
The opening for my Bella's show will be on Sunday, November 16th from 5-7 PM.

Work in Progress

Work in Progress

24x24

I don't like to post WIPs but I will take a chance here and give you a sneak peek of my large paintings.
I've mentioned that I will be showing my work at Bella's Italian Restaurant beginning in November and through the first of the year. Because the space needs larger paintings, I committed to working much larger than I'm used to and let me just say that from 6"x6" to 24"x24" is a jump.

Here are a sequence of photos of my process in enlarging a small painting. My process is to grid a printout of the original painting and draw it onto newsprint. I then chalk the back, along the lines of the drawing and transfer it to the toned board. I'm using Ampersand unprimed hardboard which has a 2" cradle to eliminate the need for framing, although the buyer can always add a frame. I give it three coats of gesso, sanding lightly between coats and tone it with an underpainting that will enhance the color harmony of the final painting. There is a lot of blue in this painting so I chose an orange ground. 
For those of you who've emailed me about taking my Painting from Photos workshop, I will be scheduling it for after Open Studios which is November 22 & 23 from noon to 5 PM,the weekend before Thanksgiving. 

Also, this weekend is The Hingham Arts Walk featuring my GJWP homies. Please stop by and visit Kelley MacDonald, Paula Villanova and of course Page at the studio of Page Pearson Railsback, at 35 North Street from 12-4 on Sunday, October 19th.

drawing

traced onto board

Classic Oldie

"Classic Car"

8x8 oil on Pintura panel

$225 click to buy

There's a little garage near my studio, where some 'car guys'  restore classic cars. I've been driving by it for years and have always wanted to paint this beautiful peridot green car. Now that I'm posting, I realize that I should know what kind of car it is. But, I'll have to tell you next time.

The Pink Cottage

Pink Cottage

8x10 oil on canvas panel

I love color and pushing this pink into a glowing 'presence' was really fun! I can see cropping this differently and painting a few different versions of it. 
I've been invited to show my work at Bella's Restaurant, which is a local favorite serving Italian cuisine. They've been supporting area artists in the 'Little Bar' gallery for at least a decade and I am psyched to have this opportunity. I need to do some LARGE paintings for this show and I'm ready. Stay tuned.

Expression

"Wendell"
9x12 watercolor abstract 

The topic for our GJWP Challenge this month is "Expression". There are so many ways to interpret that word but for me, it's all about my art. This is a watercolor/abstract painting of my Wendell.