My Blog

I think we all are stuck with the winter blues, waiting patiently for the arrival of spring. We have had a rough winter this year and I think we are all tired of it. So in anticipation of spring, I've been thinking about my blog and if there are ways of improving it. So I wanted to touch base with my readers on where I should be going next. So write to me about what you have enjoyed seeing and would like more of. Also let me know if there is anything else you would like to see me posting. I'm looking forward to your comments.

Thank you all for being so kind to me reading my posts and communicating how you enjoyed them. I hear from all of you through emails, and on facebook as well as in person. I really enjoy posting on my blog and hope to keep on going. So if you are so inclined make a comment. This will let everyone else know what your thinking.

I sure hope the winter is over soon and I know that spring is right around the corner.

Sirrico

Here's my latest portrait. This is the second time I painted Sirrico and I probably will paint him again. I am pleased with him and can see my improvement from portrait to portrait. But I am not 100% satisfied with him. Sound familiar?

Sirrico is a very nice young man and I met him when he was working with children at the Kempsville Recreation Center. He also is involved with music and writes children's books. He was the first person that I approached to photo for a painting and he was very kind about doing so.

I have been studying with Rieneke Leenders and concentrating on painting portraits. She paints magnificent portraits in watercolor and oils. Check out her website at http://www.rieneke.com/.

She has taught me a great deal about glazing colors. In this portrait I put down yellows, then reds then blues and browns mixed together. The yellows and reds shine thought the skin and gives it great tones. The problem that I had with this portrait is that I put so many layers down that the paint was just sitting on the surface and it was difficult to continue to work on and to touch up. In the future I need to try using 300 lb. paper which will hold more paint and/or using less layers by putting down more color for each layer.

I must apologize for not posting as frequently as in the past. I have been keeping very busy and am feeling a little stressed about not having enough time to do everything I want to do. Hope to visit with you again soon!!!

Koi III

I recently finished my latest Koi painting. Unfortunately the background is a little darker in the painting than in the photo. Whenever I paint the same subject over again, I am prone to compare the two paintings. And as usual there are things I like better about the first two and things I like better about this one.

In my previous Koi paintings the colors were more coordinated and I feel as if the fish and the water were more connected. In the water I had poured yellows and reds and they brought out those colors in the Koi. In this painting I think the fish themselves are more three dimensional . I also have slowly improved with the use of the fluid acrylics. Yes I will paint Koi again and this time I want to vary the shapes of the fish a little bit. They are certainly fun to paint.

Right now I'm busy going back to teaching and that means I'm getting into my teaching mentality. I keep striving for the perfect classes and yet I always end up finding somewhat better ways of presenting the same materials. I want to entice my students to come out of their selves and allow their paintings to soar. It is a very moving, changing and growing process.

"Blizzard" of 2010

This is Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach on Sunday the day after the "big" snow storm. It was amazing to see the city and the beach under a carpet of snow. It snows so rarely here that it really is an event when it does. The snow is so beautiful, the people are so animated and the children are really enjoying themselves playing in the white stuff. Now I need to start painting another scene of the snow! After all I sold Central Park.