This small waterfall caught my eye while exploring along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia; it was too appealing not to paint.


A Cascade in Virginia, II, 8" X 10", oil on canvas

$125.00, plus $12.00 S/H

Inspired, almost solely by a combination of harmonious colors, this painting came together in a pleasing and inspiring composition...

Pretty Colors all in a Row, 12.5" X 33.5", acrylic on panel

$350.00, free S/H


In private collection

This painting was executed to provoke the senses and the imagination by joining like colors and textures... What do you See?


Ethereal, 20" X 24", acrylic on canvas


$400.00, free S/H

Notes on Composition

Through composition, the artist tells the story of the subject in relation to the other objects in the painting. Begin a composition by dividing the painting surface into areas. Decide how much space to set aside for the sky and for the ground plane, especially for a vista. The line that separates the two is the horizon line. The position of the horizon line on a painting makes a big difference. The lower you place it, the more the horizon will appear to recede into the distance. In other words, the composition of the painting will appear to have greater depth.

If the ground plane makes up most of the painting, then focus on it. For the time being, leave the white of the canvas to act as your sky, and begin to paint the darker colors of the ground plane and its fields, trees, houses, mountains, and so on, until they are well established.

            Remember that you are interpreting a three-dimensional landscape on a flat surface. One way to approach composition is to break down a painting into its two-dimensional elements, which ultimately combine to create the sense of three-dimensional space. These elements are the shapes, patterns, and planes. Squinting your eyes helps you see your subject in two dimensions. It eliminates the surface details and groups together all the large shapes.

Try to see the landscape in patterns of light and shadow. Establish the largest shapes in the composition first, then the large shapes that comprise shadows. They are the easiest shapes to see and group together. Squint in order to see them more clearly. Follow this with adjacent shapes. You can use a single color to relate the shadow masses. Afterward, different colors can be painted into this single tone. Varying detail leaves something to the viewer’s imagination and leads the eye from specific areas to suggested areas. To keep the shapes unified, use colors that are similar in value.

            

There are so many gorgeous orchids, and the "thals," as they are commonly called, are extremely varied, and the "tiger," as seen here, is an outstanding variety not commonly seen in the marketplace. In my experience, they thrive on neglect.


Rosie's Tiger Thalaenopsis, 
11" X 14", acrylic on canvas


$250.00, free S/H

NOTES ON COLOR


One of the things that, as a painting teacher, I'm often asked, is how do you know how to mix the colors you want to apply to a painting so easily. Even though I show them how to mix the colors they want and provide them with written material and demonstrate, they still seem at a loss at my facility to get the colors I want. It isn't a mystery, but lots of studying, hard work and doing, doing, doing and doing some more. The ease with which I mix colors is not just something that happened. Often artists, especially new painters, think they have to buy every pigment in the store in order to obtain what they want. This is a very big and costly mistake, that only leads to the dreaded "muddy" colors all artists strive to avoid. 


In my classes I use a very basic color palette of strong pigments, that when used alone are not optimum, but when mixed with each other in varying degrees, and applying white, will obtain brilliant hues that do not frustrate. I use only high quality pigments in any medium I chose to work in, be it oil, acrylic, watercolor, or pastel.  You will get better results with "Artist Quality" paints, as the cheaper ones are loaded with fillers and have a watery consistency. This will reflect in your finished work. It is the same for canvas and/or paper, and brushes.


This is my palette for acrylic: Napthol Crimson Red Medium, Cadmium Orange Medium, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Hookers Green, Quinacridone Violet, Red Iron Oxide, and Titanium White. I do not buy gray, black or ready-mixed brown in any shade. When I want these colors, I can mix them easily with the basic palette above to get what I want, and rarely, if ever, do I get "mud. "

This is a colorful scene in autumn of a side street in hilly downtown Asheville, North Carolina, circa1986...


A Street in Downtown Asheville, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$110.00, free S/H

One of my favorite subjects to paint, beautiful old wooden historic structures with historic value.


Cade's Cove Cabin, #One, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$200.00, free S/H

There is magic in the autumn colors that inspire artists to try and capture some of the splendid beauty...


A Forest in Autumn,#II 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$135.00, free S/H

For many years Wolfie's Restaurant was the place to go for  a great corned beef sandwich after a dip in the ocean on Miami Beach. Many very colorful people frequented this truly great old sandwich shop.

Wolfie's, 8" X 10", oil on canvas

SOLD

Beautiful little girl...


Jordanna, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


Sold

One of the many seals that sun themselves on rafts at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf


Seal at Fisherman's Wharf,
8" X 10", oil on canvas


$135.00, free S/H

Interesting store window...


Phil's Barber Shop, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$135.00, free S/H

I am truly obsessed with the Pacific Ocean, so this is yet, another view of the California cliffs along the PCH...


California Cliffs, #V, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$135.00, free S/H

 A homeless man getting dressed after "bobbing" for coins in a park fountain in Chicago...


After the Dip, 8" X 10", oil on canvas


$135.00, free S/H