Study

A study done recently to get back into the
swing of it since I haven't done much
painting this summer. Took a photo of it
before it was done and as I was finishing
up with it I dropped my paint brush on it
and a blob of paint ruined it. So goes my
world.

Montana Watercolor Society

This painting was accepted into the
Montana Watercolor Society show for this
year which will be in October in the gallery
in Bigfork, Mt. I will now have signature
status with the MTWS, since this is my
third painting accepted.

"Shades of Spring"

watercolor 7" x 9"

Those who won an award in the 2009
Montana Watercolor Society
were asked to paint a watercolor for the
2010 raffle book using the theme of "It's
Hard to be Green" or "Vision". I chose the
theme "vision" and painted this one of my
youngest daughter who was then in high school
at the time the photo was taken. The youth
see the world differently than us old folks
and she admitted the other day how immature
she and those that age were in high school.
The submitted paintings are made into two books
that will be raffled off to raise money for the
MTWS at the show banquet this fall.

Portrait challenge of Karin Jurick

I was asked if I wanted to participate in the
"Thank You" project to Karen Jurick who does the
Different Strokes from Different Folks to thank
her for all the work she put in to make this
blog work. 118 artists worked from the same
reference photo of Karen Jurick which are now
printed in a book and mailed off to Karen.
Jill Polsby organized the project and
worked on getting all the paintings put
together. All 118 paintings are on Jill's blog.

A Little Skeptical

watercolor

Photographed this man a few years ago
and finally got around to doing a painting
of him. You don't have to paint what's
there in a photo, as you can see from the
photo of him below that I changed the smile
and drew in a different expression. Glad
that it worked out well.

Different Strokes Blog Challenge

watercolor 11 x 15


This is my finished portrait of the Different Strokes
challenge. Each artist sent in a photograph
of themselves and then receive a photograph
of another participating artist to paint.

Discovered I painted the portrait of
John Vander Stelt
who painted me which is posted on his blog.
This is my second attempt on the portrait,
this one giving me a hard time with the
darks which wanted to lift with each new
layer.

Italian Model

watercolor 12" x 16" Not for Sale

She looks alot like Selma Hayek, but is
a photo of an Italian fashion model that
Micky Modo took and gave me permission
to paint if I agreed not to sell the painting.

Finished the main part of the house painting
and just need to do some windows and doors!
Will be able to post some new paintings
soon.

Sweet to the Taste

An older painting that I did of an African
American trying to make the skin tones realistic
and added color to the skin to give skin tones
interest. I was happy with the soft and
hard edges in the painting to make the viewers eye
move through the painting, which also make it
not look pasted on to the paper.

Still working on painting the house, will be
able to use the spray painter sometime this
week!

Woman of Tibet

This was painted a few years ago with
permission of the photographer, Wendy O.
The Tibetan people have a very reddish
tone to their skin with jet black hair.
Painting the dark hair and coat was
difficult; thinking it would over take
the colors in the face and act as a
"black hole".

Salty Memories

watercolor

I'm posting a few of my older paintings
since I'm in the process of painting our
house. Winter will be here before I know
it and we have to get it done this year.

This painting was done during a Ted Nuttall
workshop a few years ago. It was his workshop
that really sparked my interest in portraits.

Little Big Horn Historian

Finished this painting finally, been
busy with framing and preparing the
house to paint. My reference picture
was taken of the man right at high
noon which is why the shadow on his
shoulders is so circular.

Workshop

One trick that Stan Miller uses to check
a possible change you wish to make to a
painting is to place a piece glass or
plexiglass over your painting and paint
on the glass to see if the changes will
work. You need to use thicker paint then
normal. The above painting needs darker
colors around the baby's head.















Here is the result of painting on top
of the plexiglass. Will make the changes
but will make it darker than in this photo.

Tuned In

watercolor 12" x 16"
not for sale

My daughter thinks he is babe-a-licious.
Not my type but was fun to paint. This one is
for you girl.

Biondina Challenge

Original by Frederick Leighton



















watercolor 12" x 16"

Painted this portrait of "Biondina" by English
painter Lord Frederick Leighton, which was the
subject in an art forum challenge. Had to keep
it accurate to the original, but could use what-
ever medium we wanted.

Stained

watercolor; nfs

A study I did that I was frustrated
with, sloped paint on it, staining
it. Will redo later.

"Alexandra"

watercolor 14" x 14" 140 lb cp

This is the second attempt of a photograph of
Alexandra Kitchin, the beautiful model of
Lewis Carrol, who wrote "Alice in Wonder-
land. She was his favorite model to photograph
in the 1870's.

"Yuri's Son"

watercolor 11 3/4" 15"

This boy lives in Israel and his father is
a photographer. I was attracted to his
beautiful green eyes and the stubborn
determination conveyed in the photo.

"A Happy Soul"

Watercolor on 140 lb cp
12" x 16"

This painting was just accepted into
the Montana Watercolor Society Show
that will be held this fall in Bigfork, Mt.
The paintings will be on display in Oct at the
Bigfork Art and Cultural Center.

"Ingrid"

watercolor on 140 lb cp 131/2" x 16"

This painting is of a friend who was born in
Germany and is one of the happiest
people I know. On the day I took
pictures of her, she was worried about
her husband who was in treatment for
an illness. The concern for her husband
came through the expressions on her face
in most of the pictures, but I decided to go
ahead and paint her anyway. Hope to do
more of her soon.

"Sir Henry Thompson"

watercolor on 140lb arches 11" x 15"

Sir Henry Thompson was a surgeon and painter
living in England in the 1800's. I was intrigued
by his face and the challenge to paint a large
mustache and graying hair.