Want A Balloon? - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 8"x10"

prints and gifts also available

      Happy Halloween!

The Dreamer - charcoal

charcoal, 2017

available, 8"x11"

      Now we're talking. One Saturday in February 1986 I took a beautiful and sassy young redhead on a first date to see A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge. We're still together, though she's less a fan of horror movies than she was back then. I'm pretty happy with this one (and her!). Freddy's melted skin was pretty tough, but I think it worked out.

      Happy Halloween!

The Brother - charcoal

charcoal, 2017

available, 8x11

      I call Michael Myers of Halloween fame The Brother, of course, because his sole purpose was to terrorize and kill his baby sister, the only family he missed in his original killing spree. But this actually is The Brother #2 as I've already featured Barbra's short-lived brother, Johnny, from Night Of The Living Dead. This one was difficult and didn't quite work out as well as most of my other horror portraits. You would think the lack of features in the mask would make it easy to draw. But that's the problem. The lack of features means there's very little to give the "face" form and it was very hard to render the subtleties in the warped mask.

Laughing Skull - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      Here's my first portrait of Mr. Skin E. Bones, a.k.a. the Laughing Skull.

The Ancestor - charcoal

charcoal, 2017

available, 8"x11"

prints and gifts also available

      Good old Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows -- the good one played by Jonathan Frid for the television show of the late '60s/early '70s, not Johnny Depp's horrible attempt.

The Prom Queen - charcoal

charcoal, 2017

available, 8"x11"

prints and gifts also available

      We're continuing our month of horror with everyone's favorite reluctant prom queen from another Steven King movie about an outcast teenager. Surprise. Surprise.

The Car - charcoal

charcoal, 2017

available, 8"x11"

prints and gifts also available

      It's that time of year again. Though I'm not a big Steven King fan, per se, I did like a couple of his movies. Christine, of course, is just another story of a high school outsider finding or being given some form of empowerment. In this case, our protagonist finds a presumably possessed car that killed two people even before it rolled out of the factory. The best part of Christine, frankly, is that it can repair and restore itself back to showroom new. What gearhead wouldn't want a car like that?

Herbie - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      I thought I'd try this portrait of Herbie Hancock from an old black-and-white photo. It worked pretty well, but I still might try it larger and maybe a little looser.

Beach Baby - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

nfs, 11"x15"

      My first great-niece. I shot a few photos of her on a chance meeting between my wife and I and my nephew and his young family at a popular NC beach. Neither of us knew the other was there until they posted something to Instagram. A couple weeks later, they've got a portrait of their little beach baby. Honestly, this might be one of my best.

Backyard DeVille - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x17"

prints and gifts also available

      A Sedan DeVille that's seen better days. I'm very happy with this one in all it's loose realism.

Angie #42 - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

nfs, 9"x12"

      I haven't posted a portrait of my beauty queen in a while. This one was a pleasant surprise. I thought it was going to be trash almost immediately after starting it on Fabriano Studio paper, which I have complained about a couple times before. But, a few adjustments to my normal painting method, a fair amount of loosening and I pulled out a portrait with which I'm very happy. It's loose and painterly, but realistic and accurate at the same time. It seems the unforgiving nature of this paper forced me to be more careful and purposeful in my strokes and paint application.

Rusty Diamondback - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 9"x12"

prints and gifts also available

      Another fishing lure. This one is on that horrible Fabriano Studio paper. There were even more issues with the paper on this one. That's the reason I left some spots looking a little looser than I usually paint these lures. In spite of the fight, I'm still pretty happy with how this one works.