figure painting beginnings

I am painting with a group of friends, and this is at the end of four hours. Painted on panel, 14 x 22. Normally, we have twelve total hours of painting, with nearly no talk, save on breaks. Funny, as I don't recall EVER having the luxury of such time back in school. It is so utterly engrossing and I almost forget to  breathe, at times. I missed last week, as I was on a deadline, so am painting to 'catch up', but not really.

I am painting because it feels so completely absorbing to do so.  The predecessor, Ms. S. standing I am not sure that I can post until I figure out the restrictions on nudes.

has beans

I was cleaning out some old files and ran across this cartoon.

another painting session

Painting with friends, what fun, what a challenge! Our model arrived in leathers, and sat in Victorian dresses.

babies for lunch

This charming baby stared at me long enough while I was awaiting my lunch at Water Street Bistro that I had to draw him.Need a TERRIFIC lunch in Sonoma County? Go there. the models are pretty darned cute, as well.

another Post cover

It is now real, another Saturday Evening Post cover. This one was a bit of a tooth puller in the making, and after he sees this, Mike might not talk to me again!

A Very Merry Christmas to all!

The way of things

Every year, the Buddha sits, slowly cracking a bit more, and each Fall, the leaves fall around, briefly fierce in their color, blanketing the grey of the hillside before they slip back to soil, before the little Buddha itself finishes its journey back to earth.Some fast, some slow, we all walk the same path.

View from our temporary pied-a-terre in San Francisco

couple more oil sketches

Here are two more oil sketches, The lady in the pink blouse, Bilge (pronounced Biel-geh)

being a while back, and the black bustier number, Sarafina, being last Sunday. the artist relaxes by, uh, creating more art.

Here is a shout out to Victoria Davis and her start up Space Dog Books. December 15, their first ipad book, brilliantly illustrated by Matthew Cruikshank, goes live on the Apple app store. If you thought that Stevenson's tale was not able to be reinterpreted for today's readers, think again. The text is still the same gripping tale, but the interactive illustrations, done in Matthew's midcentury modern style, are a super enhancing delight. I will be downloading my copy on the 15th, and, you can even GIFT them for Christmas if you have young or old reader friends who love pirate stories.

Why is this man looking this way? You will have to wait for the February issue of the Saturday Evening post

Acrylagoauche. Who knew. I have switched. I am a convert. What can I say? If you are not painting in Photoshop, and deadlines are short, this is great stuff. I have used gouache, and acrylic (BLECH!), over the years, in fact learned to paint in gouache. My favorite is still oils. That said, acrylagouache has all the virtues of acrylic, as in once dry it is impermeable. None of the YUCKY aspect of acrylic, i.e., looking like plastic. It dries matte. It has the same color range and pigment quality as gouache. It is mostly opaque. It is liftable for a while after it is put down. Mostly it is fast. Great fun.
For acrylics, I am now using the archival brand, it is actually WONDERFUL paint, for acrylic.

Merry Christmas. At the 79 New Montgomery space, you may see a selection of my Holiday Art. Serita Sangimino called and asked if we had any holiday imagery at Powell Street, where I teach, and I suggested she raid my studio as I have done a fair amount of Christmas art over the years. I expected one window with a cluster of old paintings, but to my surprise, they blew them up to five or six times size. WOW! Thanks to Serita, and to Elisa Stephens, the university president,and the Academy for giving something fun to the public, and a second chance for these illustrations to be seen.

In an unusual closing of the circle, I have now done a 'Saturday Evening Post' cover. I was honored, and more than a bit cognizant of the ghosts that came on the heels of the commission. Yipes! Luckily, I had two very good models, who soldiered on through major wardrobe malfunctions (no, not THAT malfunction!) and curious onlookers wandering by the setup.

In a display of the generational divide, I asked the magazine clerk if she stocked the Post, and she really had to think what that might be. Took her a while. And of course, they were out of it. The Post on your ipad? Maybe some day....