Wednesday, December 29, 2010

'RUNNING MAN'


An itty bitty original:
The line work is pressed hard into
the rag board and
oil pastel is rubbed over the whole surface.
Watercolors 'stick' to the
recessed lines.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

COMING UP....


THE NICE FOLKS
at the
KEY WEST FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL
liked my 'Nice Hat" giclee and
asked me to do a similar image for their
poster next year.
Alkyd oil on Raymar panel; 11 X 14

Monday, December 13, 2010

Giclee prints


'RHTHMN ON THE REEF'
is one in a collection of
Giclee prints I am now displaying at the gallery.
I like the permanence of the pigments
on canvas. And it's nice to have the pictures out from under
glass or acrylic panes.
Lighter and easier to ship as well.

See the framed prints;
many with gold.Click here

Friday, November 5, 2010

PARROT HEADS....



PARROT HEADS
are in town this weekend to celebrate
all things Jimmy Buffet.
"Margaritaville" is just in the next block from our gallery.
Very breezy with Hurricane Tomas south-west of Key West.
Oil on mounted paper.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

How fresh?


I often clean up my brushes by putting the last paint
onto some good rag board.
This painting started on one of those
abstract backgrounds.
It's mixed aquamedia and oil pastel
and measures 7.5 X 9.5 inches.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

"OLD FASHIONED'


'OLD-FASHIONED'
is Illustration Fridays word this week.
I DO like a cocktail and almost wrote out the recipe
for that tipple.
Here tho' is a gent with a rotary phone
and springy cord
acknowledging a rarity in his mail box.
dulled the whole thing down in Illustrator with sepia.
What else came to mind was something called
'ettiquette':
i thought of someone doing something nice
like holding a door open for a lady.

Friday, September 24, 2010

'QUINTET'


'QUINTET'
is not so big.
Watercolor on Canson Bristol
with collage borders.
I like the way the eyebrows bridge together
and the eye is eclipsed by the
singer's nose.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

'GRATIS'


'GRATIS'
Acrylic and oil on paper.
The acrylic background of monoprint
and brushwork.
The bowl, bird , fruit and lettering
in alkyd oils.

Sometimes a stencil is the quickest way to 
conjure and lay down a simple
strong shape. That's how I arrived at the
bird's shape.

'MAKE UP'


'MAKE UP'
is a little oil on rag board.
About 8 inches square.

A Fabric design

Cute , huh?

Monday, September 20, 2010

Some more acrobats.....


'ACROBAT'
is this week's word on Illustration Friday.
I remembered this painting from several
years ago. It's called 'One Dog Circus' and the title was
faux-elegant in French.
I was going to the gym a lot then and was
doodling lots of nudes like this.
And, like this, most were humorous
and light-hearted.
Acrylic on paper; about 10 inches square.

Blue Gourds

A fabric design. Corel Painter.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

PEARLS

A quick sketch using Corel Painter.
I want to make more creative backgrounds;
this one is done using the sponge feature followed by a smear with 
the palette knife feature.

COCKY

LOTS OF SWAGGERING
on Duval Street this week.
It's the bikers time to bring their  beautiful Harley's
into Key West. Generally nice folks who like the wind
in their face; and their faces cozied up to mugs of cold beer.
Perfect weather for this big fundraiser.
Key West has a bunch of wild roosters running around; they
hold their own against the stray cats. The hens and chicks fair worse...

Did this in Corel Painter.

Friday, September 17, 2010

'MY TALENTED FRIEND'

I LOVE IT
when I have an existing image for Illustration Friday.
This week's word is 'acrobat.'
The clown is letting his buddy hog the lights....

Acrylic, watercolor, watercolor crayon and type correction film on papers. About 8 inches square.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

'PROVERB'

THIS WEEK'S 
word is "Proverb."
I didn’t want to illustrate a proverb, but illustrate the nature of shared oral history and wisdom. Just a doodle of different costumes and ethnicities with utterances passing through time from lips to ears. There’s even a learned robot and parrot who have absorbed some phrases.

Quickly in Corel Painter.

Friday, September 3, 2010

'DESSERT GODDESS'


POSTING THIS AGAIN
as
ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY's
word is 'dessert.'
I love the convenience of having this 
pic' handy!
The original is oil on rag board with
collage of measuring tape.
Private collection.

'COMPANION PLANTING'


ACRYLIC on Fabriano 300 lb. hot press paper.
This is nearly an artifact: I used to work in the garden
when I lived in Laguna Beach years ago.
The title refers to the benefits of planting certain
types of plants near one another.
For example, marigolds benefit tomatoes.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

'DORI'


'DORI'
is our girl. 

My buddy, Bill has a birthday coming:
he doesn't need a thing.
So today I did this alkyd oil sketch of
the greyhound as she lounged on the couch
in our library.
This is much easier than painting an abstract or fantasy subject:
just so I get the drawing correct.

9 X 12 inches; stretched canvas.

Friday, August 27, 2010

'YELLOW STRAW'



'YELLOW STRAW'
Alkyd oil in linen panel.
11 X 14 inches.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

'SUMMER READING'

YEARS AGO
I used to do free-lance illustration.
I came across this square original in my files.
The larger markings are
yellow oil pastel on acrylic.
White acrylic makes up the negative spaces
between the flying books, as well as
the designs on the bindings.
Black watercolor is brushed over the oil pastel
to provide textural interest.
About ten inches square.

Monday, August 16, 2010

'WANDERER'

MIXED MEDIA
on collage.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

MIXED BREED

DOGS
are basically good.
This is a second rendering of this topic: the original collage image.
The print is embellished with a touch of gold
on the halo and ID tag.

Friday, August 13, 2010

'STAR GAZING'

JUST A QUICKIE
for this week's word.
This is all about color choice.
Painter 11.  15 minutes.

Monday, August 9, 2010

'CAGED'

THIS WEEK'S WORD
is 'Caged."
Corel Painter.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

'HOME' again...

This little guy has found a home
and
a home in my print portfolio;
it is my most popular print now.
The signed edition of 50 is gilded on the halo
and the house's rooftop.
The print also is extended more vertically
with bands of red at the top and bottom.
Click here to see it on my website.

Friday, August 6, 2010

WORKING WITH PAPER...

'PINK SAND'
has found a new home in one of the
collage wrapped mats which I made.
This reclining nude looks sharp in the new mount and frame.

F.L.'S  dog, JACK SPARROW
explores collage possibilities in the bath/studio.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

'ARTIFICIAL FLOURS'

THIS
week's word is 'artificial' and
I couldn't resist the pun as there will be a bunch
of flowers shown on
Corel Painter.

Friday, July 30, 2010

'TRANCE'


REMEMBER
those collage papers I made
Here is a fixated dog
painted on top of one of them.
Ink, acrylic and watercolor
on collage.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

THOSE FRAMES....

The two frames I did have ink and silver wax
with studs over turquoise enamel.
The rag mats were wrapped in paper,
and slathered in acrylic mud.
Excess paint was scraped from the mats
with an old credit card (handy tool!) and
when dry, rubbed gingerly with
silver wax.
This is also my submission for Illustration Friday's word, 'double.'

THE BEST DOG IN THE WORLD

I'VE BEEN
tidying up the studio.
I buy simple frames to refinish and have been working on a matching pair
way longer than it takes to make a painting.
This hound, about 7 inches square, will 
find his home in one of them.
Ink, acrylic, watercolor 
on rag board.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

'TINY GODDESS'

I HAVE TO
post something...
This little immortal is acrylic (blue), random ink
monoprint (black) and
watercolor (hand and face details)
on rag board.
How much does the eye need to know?
Even if she was upside-down you'd know it's
a winged female humanoid.
Wings and a little gold make her
otherworldly.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

'SLIPPERY TOAST'

This week's word is 
'BREAKFAST.'
Don't shave at the table, either:
have you ever tried getting half-and-half
out of your sideburns?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

'MOM BIRD'

YOU SEE,
it's easiest for me to do a splurge of posts!
Especially this week as I pulled five shifts
at our gallery.
Not complaining; I'm so lucky to have my own retail gallery!
It's off-season so there's time to doodle in
PAINTER 11.
Me thinks I'll do a little brushwork on top of this
and do a little edition of it for my folio.

'DEER DIARY'

'DIARY' is this week's word
on
ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY.
Painter 11

'GOOD DAY'

THIS PALETTE
of muted colors gives a cloudy atmosphere
to an 
underwater introduction.
Starting as a green form on
pink background, I started to 
think of Milton Avery's paintings.
Painter 11.

Monday, July 5, 2010

'CHANGE IS GOOD'

I SEEM TO BE
making up for the days I didn't post....
From worm to wonderful, 
this little guy is watercolor and acrylic
on gessoed rag board.
A little something to put in my
portfolio of originals
at the gallery.

'WOMAN IN BLUE LIGHT'

MONOPRINT on
scan of vintage Fortuny.
Acrylic wash and color
with enamel.
The eyes are lit with
Corectype film.

'MOON TIDE'

OIL ENAMEL
makes the darkest marks on this
scroll-like painting.
I got to do
my calligraphy and play
with 23 carat gold
below the lemon moon face.

'PAREO'

THERE'S
a monoprint here first on which
I painted the line figure in enamel.
Color is provided with acrylics.
On paper.

Friday, July 2, 2010

TRIO (plus one) enhanced...


I like the lettering on this one:
that nice big 'A' at the beginning.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

'SINGERS' enhanced

I found (in my many layered studio) the antique sheet music I needed to surround the tiny watercolors of singers from previous posts. The paper is fragile and certainly not archival, so I scanned and printed it onto good rag paper. On one of these I lettered appropriate titles (TRIO, FOR THREE VOICES, FOR 3 VOICES, etc.) in nut-brown ink using old crow-quill pens. I like the way the ink bleeds and is still legible. And by now you know my interest in calligraphy and letter forms. The prints of these collages will be enhanced with these titles chosen at random, making each print unique.

A double rag mat will hold the collage away from the frames's glazing.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Bacchus

A party person .
We like pinot grigio
with fish tacos
and
pinot noir with
spicy turkey sausages
and
mashed garlic cauliflower.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

SEATED MERMAN

LAST NIGHT
I worked at our gallery and did a bunch
of sketches in my new sketch.book.
I like the soft charcoal pencils best; sharpened with a razor blade for 
uneven points. 

Monday, June 21, 2010

'YELLOW STRAW'


IT'S WARM
and I'm too lazy to look if I've posted this before.
This oil on panel was in and out of the gallery quickly
and made lots of people laugh.
It's second title was
"PLEASE ADJUST YOUR SET"
16 X 20 inches.

Last on the bill...


THE last itty-bitty watercolor drawing.
'Bout the size of a book mark.

Smokey


IF
this lady got a gig on
'FATHER KNOWS BEST'
she'd be a man-hungry widow
or
the sorority sister that made all the
home-town girls
green with envy.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

PEARLS (upper east side)


I like the ladies
on TV's
black and white
panel shows
.
They're smart
and poised.