Cosbin - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 8"x10"

      Just a quick, layered portrait of a Reddit user. I'm pretty happy with how most of this worked. The eye might have gone a little too soft, though. And, of course, the photograph isn't exactly what I want.

Venus - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 8"x10"

      Another little portrait with just the right amount of looseness, though I think I might have softened a few too many edges.

Peterson's Farmall - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 15"x22"

      I took a slightly different approach with this one and made the simplification of details easier on myself. Doesn't hurt that I'm finally trying a half-sheet again. Since I've started photographing my paintings, I can go bigger again for better effect. I haven't done anything larger than 11"x15" in several years.

      This one turned out just about as perfect as I can probably hope to get. There's only one thing I would change. That's pretty good for me.

Birte - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      A loose portrait that goes directly to the style I've been chasing for a long time.

Chrysler Farm - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Milton's rusty old Chrysler hasn't run in 50 years.

      There's a fair amount of dry-brush on this one. I also used some thin acrylic gesso to wash out corners.

Peterson - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 8"x10"

      I've never seen Peterson without a pipe in his mouth. Sometimes in the summer he would wear his overalls to church because he'd already put in a few hours of work and had to get right back at it after lunch.

      The reference photo for this is actually from a photograph taken as part of the Federal Art Project, which was sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and 40s. I believe the photo is of a New England farmer taken in the early 1940s.

Peterson's - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Peterson has a big spread just outside of Edgefield.

Castle Roche - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Castle Roche is a 13th century castle in County Louth, Ireland. 

      Painting so many landscapes - especially of Ireland - has forced me to come to terms with my issues with green. I think I'm getting somewhere; at least, I'm seeing more natural greens. I'm especially happy with how the modeling worked out here showing the undulations of the ground. 

      The tree and some of the rocks are done with a technique often called dry-brush using paint almost directly from the tube with little or no water on the brush. This allows the normally transparent paint to be opaque so I can paint light over dark and build texture.

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.

Tybee #2 - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      Another painting from reference photos I took last summer on Tybee Island, Georgia. The three stair-stepped trees aren't inventions of mine. They're actually there. I just eliminated some of the background clutter behind the lighthouse.

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.

Piper - watercolor

watercolor, 2018

available, 11"x15"

      I've been toying with portraits for a long time, trying to get to a looser, more open style. I'm very happy with this one of a minor internet celeb.