The Doll - charcoal

charcoal, 2016

available, 8"x10"

prints and gifts also available

     My daughter recently reminded me it's been a while since I added to my horror character series and I was way behind. So, here's everyone's favorite possessed doll. Happy Halloween!

Edgar - ink

ink, 2016

nfs, 8"x11"

prints and gifts available

      Just a quick ink sketch I did of great American horror writer Edgar Allan Poe. And, yes, if you haven't noticed before, his face - eyes especially - is definitely NOT symmetrical. None are; his is just really obvious.

Angie's Shoes - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"

      I haven't done one of these in a while. A pair of my wife's shoes -- one of the many. A somewhat looser treatment than usual.

Cape Spear - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"

prints also available

     Virtual Paintout is in Newfoundland this month. I couldn't pass up this view.

Hatteras #3 - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"

      The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse as seen from the Keeper's House. I shot the reference for this during our trip to the Outer Banks last year. I'm quite happy with this one -- even the sky, though the scan washed out much of it. The only thing I would do differently is add a touch more warm color in the lighthouse shadow near the bottom. And maybe one more person closer to the foreground.

Angie #35 - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

nfs, 7"x11"

      Another portrait of my beautiful bride. I've very happy with how the shadows on her face and reflections on her sunglasses worked. The reference photo was taken by her BFF several years ago on a girls outing to the Grove Winery in Gibsonville NC, a one-time favorite haunt of theirs.

Pat's - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"
prints and gifts available 

      This is from a photo I took in downtown Asheboro NC a couple years ago. Again, another problem sky. But almost everything else - including the tree(!) - worked out pretty nicely. Even worse than the sky, though, is the overhead walkway crossing the street between buildings - that white mass on the far right. You just can't tell what that is here. Oh well.

Pearl Earrings #2 - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

nfs, 7"x11"

      Those pearl earrings make another appearance in this much looser portrait of my wife. The reference photo for this one was taken when my wife was in a friend's wedding just a few weeks after finding out she was pregnant with our first child. She truly was glowing. I just wish I could capture how beautiful she really was that night - and still is.

Saturday At The Grove - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 11"x15"
prints and gifts available 

      This is a family that was sitting the next table over while my wife and I were enjoying some live music at The Grove Winery in Gibsonville NC a couple months ago. I took some chances with several spots in this painting. The things I like about this one outnumber the things I wish I'd done differently. So, I'll call that a reasonable success.

Grace Lutheran - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 9"x12"

prints also available

      Here's that second church from Lancaster PA for Virtual Paintout I mentioned last week. Very quick, very loose and impressionistic.

Pleasant Grove - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

available, 9"x12"

prints also available

      Virtual Paintout is in Lancaster County, PA this month. Lots of farmland and wide, open spaces. I always seem to gravitate to church buildings. This simple, little church is out in the middle of nowhere. I might do a gothic church from downtown Lancaster, as well. This one worked out nicely. I wish the little graveyard behind the church was more apparent. I could have gotten a closer vantage point or one from camera-left. But that would have either reduced the feeling of space or removed the straight-ahead frankness these little churches exude. The only other problem is that the scan washed out a sky with which I'm actually very happy.

Angie #32 - watercolor

watercolor, 2016

nfs, 7"x11"

      Here's another small one that was supposed to be a color test that drew me in and I couldn't help myself. Like so many photos of my wife, I've drawn or attempted to paint this one several times. This is the best attempt at this one to date.
      Here's what my daughter posted on Facebook when she shared this image on her page:

               I just want y'all to know that my house is absolutely covered in portraits of 
               my mother and my brother and I that my dad has created. The evidence of 
               his love literally surrounds us. This is what I strive for. He has found his own 
               way of showing us how much he loves us and to walk into that house is a truly 
               remarkable thing.

      What could I possibly add to that?