Just doodlin'

I trust everyone had a good holiday season. A new year is on it's way so that means plenty more opportunities to paint! I did a picture of Kyle and Cassie in their Bahama dreads hats but I forgot to take a picture of it and I already gave it away. Maybe I can get them to send me one.??? Here is one I did just doodlin'. I am open to any constructive critique you might have. It doesn't seem to have any "pop" and I have no idea what to do to get it. It is an 8x10 format on canvas. If you look closely you can see the front wheel of the truck is broken. I am also working on an aerial view (of sorts) of a vineyard right now. We'll see how that turns out. As always, feel free to comment. Dean

Brush-ka-teers strike again!!!!

We painted last night and it was so much fun! Very seasonal though. Here are the pictures from the shoot. The first is Stephen's, then Bernie's, Mitchell's and mine. We enjoyed the fellowship and cookies! As always feel free to comment.

Old Barn

Here is a painting I did from a photograph I had taken earlier this year. As tou can tell, I was working on some shadowing and brush strokes. Please feel free to leave any comments. Thanks for looking, Dean

A tuesday paint night

Here is a video of a few paintings I have done. I hope you enjoy the video instead of still pics. Let me know. I am learning how to use this flip recorder so please bear with me. Thanks for looking, Dean

"Retired"

SOLD

Here is a picture I did about 6-8 months ago. I called it "retired". It is a pictured of a Marine Corps cover with a broken strap across the top and a tattered flag. Both had seen better days. I took this painting to a gallery to see if it would sell. I visited the gallery two weeks later and noticed the painting was missing. They have a small coffee shop in the gallery and the woman who runs it told me this story: Two days after I dropped it off a woman came in to the gallery and saw my painting. Immediately she started crying. She said her husband had retired from the Marines and when he got out he was a bit disillusioned. She bought this for him for veterans day. What was even better was I was told that he too cried when he saw it and especially loved the torn strap. The woman had it framed with a black frame, brought it back to the gallery to show the coffee shop woman and I was told it was beautiful. It was a great lesson for me on how powerful art can be and how it effects people. I am thankful I got to hear the story. Thanks for listening, Dean

What's for dinner?

Well can you guess?

Once again the self proclaimed "brush-ka-teers" struck. We had dinner on our mind! See the fish? This was a great painting exercise in so many ways. First of all, Mitchell, had to take one for the team and go catch these fish that day. I am sure he was miserable having to tell his wife he had to go fishing so his friends would have something to paint. Thank you Mitchell for the sacrifice.

Secondly, what a challenge. I was especially perplexed as to how to paint this. They had a sheen that Stephen and Bernie captured well. I was thankful mine looked like fish! I especially enjoy seeing the difference in each of the artists style. Bernie's, shown first is in a "old masters" style. He uses oil paint usually with a burnt umber underpainting. He has since painted in a tail of another fish under the chin of the prominent one just to give the head a reason to be lifted. In fact, the fish had been on ice all day so they were stiff in their positioning. Next seen is Stephen's. The picture does not do it justice. The "shine" on the fish is amazing in person. It was fun to watch it take form in person. Mitchell had once again the most challenging angle. I love his freedom with color. I hope to acquire an eye like his so I too can transpose what I see into what I feel. It is exciting to watch him paint. Lastly is mine. I am extremely happy with the outcome. I learned about linear perspective when finishing the board. Angles are important! Ha! I was very pleased with the eye of the fish in the back and the lemons. I am going to frame this one and see how it looks. If I like it I will keep it, if not, off to the gallery to be sold. If you are interested in it just email me and we can talk. As always, feel free to comment and thanks for looking, Dean

Free Advertising!

Two weeks ago the Onslow Outdoor Painters society, otherwise known as "OOPS", volunteered their skills to help raise funds to restore the Yopp meeting house. The Yopp meeting house was established in 1813 making it the oldest building in the area. We all painted the meeting house and donated the proceeds to raise money for the renovations. Our paintings can be seen at Thurston Art gallery, Sneads Ferry, North Carolina. Here is a black and white image of mine and a write up of the event that appeared in their local paper. I also enclosed a picture of what I was looking along with the color painting too. Thanks for looking!

Dean

Big month!

SOLD, SOLD, SOLD, SOLD!!!!

I just got a call from Red Willows gallery in Trenton, NC. That is a small gallery where I hang my paintings to sell. Anyway, they opened a coffee shop in the gallery two weeks ago and the owner called to tell me that two of my paintings sold. That is 3 that sold there this month! The first one to sell was "Pop Tucci's". Pop Tucci's is a diner in trenton. I was told a couple from Buffalo NY were passing through and picked it up. It was an exercise for me in that I did not adhere to any "real" colors. The buildings were painted as I wanted and the people were added for fun . I was very thankful it sold. The two that sold today were a great surprise! The orange water and bushes were a play on complimentary colors. I was actually going to get that from the gallery because another person saw it on line and wanted to see it in person. They were just curious though. The other painting sold today was one I did about four months ago. It is the still life with the china and the eggs. When I painted that I was very pleased. I learned in that exercise that white eggs (or other things) are not necessarily white. It was a great exercise in learning to "see". Lastly I wanted to share that I sold the smallest picture I ever painted. It is 2x4". What blessed me the most about this sale was that it went to the executive director of Onslow County's Council of the Arts. It was a real boost to think that if she wanted to buy one of my works than I must be improving. I really liked her advice too.... she said I needed to charge more for my work. Well I would live to but first I want to sell enough to support my habit! Until then I will keep the prices low. Thanks for looking and as always, feel free to comment. Dean

Cotton

Here is a picture of cotton that we did last as a still life exercise. When I say we, I am referring to me and three other artists known only to ourselves ( and very close friends) as the

"Brush-ka-teers". We gather every other tuesday and paint together. It is a great time of fellowship and fun. You will be seeing their work on this blog too from time to time. This painting is an 8x10 and available for $40-