Bessie - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Bessie is the car used primarily by the third incarnation of the BBC's Doctor Who played by Jon Pertwee in the early 1970s. The original car used in filming was a kit car built on a British Ford chassis and is in an automotive museum in England. The car in the reference photo I used for this painting is either another kit car or an original Ford modified to honor the original Bessie. While filming the license plate read WHO 1 or some variation depending on which Doctor was using it. But the car couldn't be registered under that number officially because it already was in use by a private citizen. I left it as it appears in the photo because I just didn't feel like struggling with the problems of perspective and lettering. 

      I initially set up this post in late December since you can schedule blog posts and I like to know I'm covered for a while and all the information above already was set two months ago. And I included that information about the original car because I was afraid (and rightly so) that someone would have an issue with this painting and it's subject matter. Sure enough, some idiot on a gallery site this week spent several hours (by his own admission) researching information about the original car used in filming to try to one-up me on calling this "Bessie" while it was "so obvious" that it wasn't the original on-screen car. Sometimes - even in art - you just want to slap some people.

Marathon - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      A Marathon cab in a dark garage. Yellows are always a struggle for me. There were times when I didn't think this one was going to make it. Then I had to deal with that black background with the backlighting. The license plate isn't misspelled; it includes my kids' initials as most of my paintings do.

Canned - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Just a little still life. I really like how the can surface and reflections turned out.

65 Bonnie - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      A 1965 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. Yellow is a pretty difficult color for shiny sheet metal.

Tulips - gouache

gouache, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      Starting the new year off with a little still life I kicked out one weekend. I think it worked out a lot better than I expected. I'm not quite as confident with gouache as I'd like to be. But I'm getting there.

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.

39 Cadillac - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

nfs, 11"x15"

prints and gifts also available

      Loosening up on car paintings always feels like a double-edged blade. I'm inclined to render cars photographically as I did for several years. But, as I've mentioned here before, I no longer want to be a camera; I want to interpret and paint loosely. So, sometimes I try to split the difference and render some parts tightly and some loosely. Baby steps. The grillwork on this one is loose partly out of necessity. If I were painting this on a full sheet or even a half, I might have been more exact in the execution of all that grill chrome. I've done it before. But, at this size I'm not sure my hand is that steady. So, we went loose and gave the impression of lots of chrome grill tines (for lack of a better word). The yellow is a factory color of the period, I think, though the original color probably wasn't so bright. The original isn't for sale because my daughter expressed an interest in it when it was still in progress -- mostly because her favorite color is yellow.

Salisbury Morning - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      From a photo taken early one December morning in downtown Salisbury, NC. It was too early for pedestrians or even much traffic. The stark contrasts and long shadows caught my eye.

Take It On The Run - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      This is from a reference photo I've had for several years afraid to tackle the detail and the shadows. I finally decided to jump in and I'm glad I did. This worked out better than I expected and pops right off the page/screen.

47 On The Block - watercolor

watercolor, 2017

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      This is from an old photo from the late '40s or early '50s found in one of those caches of "found photos" becoming popular on the web these days. When I thought I was done I felt the buildings in the background were too dark and intense, demanding too much attention. So I used one of John Lovett's tricks and added a very thin layer of white gesso over them and the most distant car to tone them down and push them back. Worked like a charm.

Ariel Atom - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

private collection, 8"x10"

      This is a quick, little commission I did for an old friend a few weeks ago.

Table Taxi - gouache

gouache, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints available

      This is from another shot I took on my phone while wandering around an antique store.

Black-Eyed Susans - watercolor

watercolor, 2015

11"x15"

prints and gifts available

      These are a couple black-eyed Susan's I painted for a logo and corporate ID for a little business my sister is starting.

watercolor, 2015

11"x15"

prints and gifts available

Coffee In The Window - gouache

gouache, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      My sister recently started selling things in a local "antique" mall. While checking out her space and helping bring in a heavier item I saw these displayed just across from her. There was a lot more junk cluttering the area and the window didn't actually look outside, just over to another space. But, I saw "something" there and had to settle for a bad phone camera shot. It seems to have worked out OK, though.

Toy Truck - gouache

gouache, 2015

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

      A Tonka knock-ff I saw in an "antique" store in Mount Airy recently.

Old Salem Tavern - watercolor

watercolor, 2014

original available, 9"x12" $150

prints also available

      From a recent trip to the historic Old Salem, a Moravian settlement/town that eventually became Winston-Salem, NC.

Gothenburg - watercolor + ink

mixed, 2014

original available, 9"x12" on handmade paper $100

This is a sketch for this month's Virtual Paintout blog. I thought I'd try something loose and wet this time. I added a touch of ink in to define some lines.

53 Bel Air - gouache

gouache, 2014

original available, 8"x10" $125

prints also available

Developing a looser style that I finally like. I need to keep this up.

Ampersand - watercolor

watercolor, 2011

original available, 22"x30" $350

prints and gifts also available

Blandwood - gouache

gouache, 2014

original available, 11"x15" $150

prints also available

Home of former N.C. Governor John Morehead in Greensboro, N.C. I took a little license in making it more yellow than its rather "bland" beige. I may do another painting of it from a different angle and keep the color more realistic.