over the holidays

The first picture I did I had to keep quiet. I had heard my mother had liked the mother and child picture I had painted earlier but that sold very quickly. Here is the repainted version I did for her for Christmas. I was told it was one of my best painting yet by one of the brush-ka-teers. He enjoyed the way all the colors in the painted were combined into the background. I did not have the heart to tell him I was too lazy to clean my brush! Ha! I like this one too as does my mother. The next painting is one I have been working on bit by bit. I never committed a lot of time in one sitting. It was fun to whittle away at. I call it "supporting the arts". I was speaking to the director of the council of the arts during a show once and brought this up as how it would make a funny painting. It took off from there. You may notice for fun I thought it was appropriate for the painting in the upper right hand side of the picture to be "the scream". I know, I need to work on my humor. Anyway it was fun just painting from thought instead of a picture or nature. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking, Dean

plein aire time again!

We were at some of Bernie's relatives this weekend doing some plein aire painting on their property. It was beautiful. We also had a huge turn out for the paint out. It was a blast. The leaves are changing and the weather was perfect. Here is what I came up with. There was a huge yellow tree that caught my eye. As always, Thanks for looking. Dean

Near the jail!

And this is the view they get in jail. Ha! It is right downtown on the river. WE fished a bit then decided to paint. It was a great day of messing around. I am not a big fan of an "all nature" pic. I really have a difficult time with trees grass and water, the rest I am okay with! :)

Memories

Here is a painting from days gone by. These tobacco barns are getting few and far between. One of my neighbors owns this one and let me stand in the field and paint it today. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking, Dean

October "Apples"

Well the "brush-ka-teers" were at it again last night. The topic was pumpkins. At first they all looked like basketballs! They eventually came around! Ha! The first one is Bernie's. He did it in acrylics instead of oils and really nailed it. I watched him and it was interesting to see his brush strokes so precise as if he was still painting with oil paint. Very cool. The next is Mitchel's. Once again his impressionistic side shows. I really liked his use of color in this one. Stephen on the other hand took artistic license and pretended his pumpkins were in a field. He did a great job of pulling that one off. Lastly is mine. The thing that I really learned was to break up the background with the complimentary color to the subject using the same tonal value. That was a lesson Stephen gave me last night. I know that will come in handy a lot! As always, feel free to comment, Dean

Mother and child

Well it was another night with the "Brush-ka-teers"! We had a variety of still lifes to choose from and we all chose the same one. Well almost. Stephen did 3 portraits studies from his head that were very good. Once again I forgot to photograph their paintings. I think it is the fact that I stay up past my bedtime and am too tired to think when I go home. Oh well, you just get to see mine. Please feel free to comment, Dean SOLD!

redo

This is one that has been bothering me. I asked my wife what she thought and this is what she suggested. I like the change. By adding water to the scene it livened the left side of the painting up more. What do you think? Dean

Back to the beginning

When I first started painting 2 years ago all I did was oil painting. I got very discouraged with how long they took to dry and my lack of ability. After the first year I switched to acrylics. I enjoyed the fast drying but missed the blending ability.... anyway.... I thought I could get more "artsy" with the acrylics. If you have been watching my blog at all you can see it has been hit and miss and miss again! :) Well last night I decided to see if I could get anything half way decent out of the oils again. This is what I came up with. (It's an old movie camera) After I had started I realized I might have been a little zealous and maybe should have tried a cup or a piece of fruit! Any critique is appreciated and helpful, Thanks, Dean

last night

Last night I painted with the brush-ka-teers. We painted crystal glasses on a black backdrop. Very challenging. There were 3 of them but I only painted 2. I only had 2 hours and this is what I got. Thanks for looking, Dean

plein aire & still life

last two paintings

fishing with dad

Here is one I have been working on for a few days. I amnot sure if I am done or not. I am going to set it aside for a bit. If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to let me know. If oyu think I should stop where I am at tell me that too. As always, thanks for looking, Dean

Headin' for Home!

This painting is from a pic I took the other day at the ball park. This kid was intent on touching each base as he got an in the field home run! He was moving out! I tried to capture the dynamics of his effort. It was interesting to say the least. Thanks for looking, Dean

Ottaway Burns

Here is a painting I did of Ottaway Burns statue in Swansboro. The two boys were there fishing with their dad for father's day and decided to help. I got a lot of input on how to do the painting! Ha! One of the boys told me I should sell it and I could probably get $5.00 for it! Whoo Hoo! I told him maybe should ask $100.00 and he said not to push it! Too funny! It was a great day of fun in the sun.

Catchin' a wave

Here is one I tried of "no horizon". I wanted to isolate the subject and narrow my field of vision. I am going to try more with people. This should be fun!

curious cow

This is a painting I did from a photograph I took in the mountains last year. The calf just seemed to be asking me what I was doing or maybe just posing for the photo op! Ha! I tried to incorporate a few things I have been learning from my fellow "brush-ka-teers". The main thing was to have the focal area with contrast. I lightened the grass behind the calf to bring even more attention to the head. I also "washed/glazed" the back of the lean to to keep your focus forward. Let me know what you think. Thanks for looking, Dean

today

Sold
Today I went to a party at the river in downtown Jacksonville. There was a clam chowder cook off but I forgot to eat. I was too busy painting. I set up right in the middle of the event in front of the "Back Porch Gut Bucket band". They played the saw, spoons and wash tub bass and a bucket bass. One of the guys was having so much fun I had to paint his picture. Here it is. If you look in the background you can see him. He liked it so much he bought it on the spot. Yahoo! I can get more paint!!!! My favorite was the second picture I did. I do not have a picture of it though. Anyway, I painted some water, a dock and a little girl sitting on it. The little girl saw the picture and since it was just a quick painting I gave it to her. Her mother said that they had been walking around and her daughter was telling her how badly she wanted it. She was soooooo excited when I gave it to her! I have to say it was better than the check I got for the first one. She was ten years old and very thankful. Today was a great day of painting!

last few days

Been at the easel the last few days. The first pic is a rework of one I never liked. I changed the tree up and the angles of the picnic table then I added a man walking the path. I like it a lot better in real life than this picture. Some of these seem a blown out. I then tried a 45 minute painting and did the surfer in the morning light. I am very interested in putting people in pictures. It is challenging to get them at the right "line of sight " and proper size. It is very fun though. The next two were what I painted today. I went to the bakery for a cup of coffee this morning and stayed and painted it. Mitchell called while I was there and we got together and went to Miracle Meadows and tried some horses. I need to put a little more effort in the horses. Mine look a bit like cows according to my daughter. Anyway, as always, feel free to comment,

Dean

magnolias

Well monday was another get together with the "brush-ka-teers". It was Stephen's turn to provide the still life and he brought magnolias. They were really quite beautiful but very intimidating. I was at a loss as to where to even begin. My first attempt got washed down the drain, literally. I took my canvas to the sink and scrubbed it off. There were so many shadows that made this so difficult for me. The bowl shape of the flowers were especially challenging. All in all it was a great exercise in just flat out trying! I will get em' next time! Thanks for looking. This is an 11x14 if you were wondering. Dean

saturday

Here is a picture I painted saturday. It was from a photograph I had taken in downtown New Bern, NC. I was pleased with the perspective. Not thrilled with the tower width (it should be a bit narrower) a gave the vehicles a try. do like them farther away best! Ha! Thanks for looking, Dean

last week's work

Here are two I did last week. The first one is from an "OOPS" paint out with about 15 people. Bernie's parents had some very gracious neighbors that allowed us to roam between the two properties and paint our hearts out! We had a blast! It was cut a bit short though due to an approaching thunderstorm but it was still an enjoyable time. The part I liked the best about doing this picture was the owners of the barn were watching me the whole time given I was standing by their back porch. The woman who owned the property kept telling her husband look how nice the barn would look if he cleaned it! Ha! It was very full. I just chose to paint the tractor in it. As for the bicyclist, that was done from a photo I had taken a few years back. There were actually three riders in the photo but after the trouble I had with the first I opted out of the next two. That is why the composition is a little off. What was fun about finishing that one is I took it to show a friend and he actually knew where that place was and it is 5 hours away! I guess I did well on the scene itself. As always, thanks for looking.

"windy"

Here is a pic I painted at the beach today. I decided to throw a turned over chair in the pic since it was so windy! It was my first try at painting a person into one of my pics as an addition instead of the subject. I tried to stay very loose and just paint him with shadows. feel free to comment, Dean

2nd amendment time

Last night I painted with the "brush-ka-teers". As always we had a great time of fellowship and learning about painting. These guys are a wealth of information! It was my turn to bring the still life. I took a couple of old pocket watches, a wooden nickel, a set of 62' ford falcon keys and a old pistol that has been in our family for quite a while. Bernie and Stephen settled on painting a pocket watch while Mitchell did them all. (I have to remember to take pics of their paintings too.) I in turn just went for what I thought as 2nd amendment time. As always, feel free to comment. BTW this is an 8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas. Dean

Kinston

Bernie, Mitchell and I hit the road yesterday and went to Kinston, NC to paint. There is a plein aire paint out coming up at the end of the month so we were scoping out the lay of the land. The last 2 years it has been quite profitable for the artists that went, They were selling like hotcakes! We ended up in a parking lot looking at office buildings. The architecture there is very diverse and fun to paint. I did the side of Humphrey Realty. I enjoyed the complimentary color scheme they had going on the most. Sorry about the photo/building being a bit skewed. The painting is not! Ha! It is an 11x14 on canvas board. Thanks for looking, Dean

last weeks work

Here are a few from the last week. The first one is the last pear I did in oil. I did like trying oils again but was very frustrated with the difficulty of putting in the highlights. I think for now I am going to concentrate on acrylics. I then did this picture of a working woman. I intentionally left her features indistinct because it could be anybody for that matter. The daffodil picture was a still life I did with the "brush-ka-teers". I sent an email to someone to show them that painting and they bought it immediately along with the books and pearls painting I displayed earlier. I then borrowed some civil war items from Bernie Rosage and did my own 11x14 still life of them. Struggled a lot with choosing a background color. Lastly I did a scene in downtown New Bern, NC. I thought I was out of the way in this alley/passage way. I was intending to quietly paint and just see what comes out. Well I had at least 70 people walk through there and stop to watch. What pressure. Here it is, it is the episcopal church in the downtown area. Thanks for looking and as always, feel free to comment. Dean

Pear #2

here is last night's pear. This was mostly an exercise of wiping away. I was using what was left of the paint on my palette. As you can see I had to use up some red. I may go to a limited palette by introducing a brighter yellow in the Zorn palette. It will definitely help with the greens. Thanks for looking, Dean

pear

Again i used the limited "Zorn" palette but got a little wild and changed the fruit! Yes I am cray but I had to spice it up some! Ha! Anyway here it is! Dean

More Zorn

I have been playing with that Zorn palette again. I am going to continue to try a number of oil paintings in it. I was going to do a pear also but Megan ate it! Ha! Oh well. I will try again. Anyway I did this apple last night on a 6x8 MDF board. The tree I did today on an 8x10 MDF board. I found that you really have to think to get a variety of colors with such a limited palette. As always, feel free to comment, Dean

Just a few more

Here are a few I did in the last week. The first one is a 18x24 . I got the picture from another painting I saw and really liked. The other one was oil and mine was done in acrylic. The next picture was done plein aire. I tried to paint a picture of a woman painting by the water. It was very windy that day but we had a lot of fun. it is an 11x14. the next one is an 8x10 I painted with the "brush-ka-teers" It is a lamp, books and a string of pearls. Then lastly I tried and apple last night in oil utilizing a Zorn palette. A Zorn palette consists of cadmium red, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue mixed with black and a white. Very challenging and fun.

Spicin' it up!

This was a still life I did to donate to the Beaufort Art Council for a fund raiser. Every year they ask artists to donate an 8x10. They then sell tickets at $25 a piece. From what I understand they number all the paintings donated and then you draw a number to see which painting you get for the $25. This was done with the "brusk-ka-teers" on our tuesday paint night. Let me know what you think Thanks for looking, Dean