"Old Salem Bakery"

Oil on canvas panel, 8 x 10 inches, $250

I started this painting during a paint out sponsored by the PAINTNC group based in Raleigh, NC. That day I only had enough time to establish a rough block-in, so I made a couple more trips to Old Salem to complete it. Old Salem is located in Winston-Salem, which is about a 30 minute drive for me. It was originally founded in 1766 and the subject of this painting, Winkler Bakery, was constructed in 1800 and restored in 1968 with an 1818 rear porch. That's the rear porch you see in the painting. There are so many beautiful historic buildings in Old Salem - I just might have to visit again!

The photo below was taken during the paint out and shows me working on the initial block-in.

"The Cloth Divide"

Oil on canvas panel, 11 x 14 inches, $325

 

I began this painting as a demo for my students and used a limited palette of Yellow Ochre, Terra Rosa, Ivory Black and Titanium White. The canvas was toned with Raw Umber.

These earthy versions of the primary colors are nearly the same as those used by Swedish painter Anders Leonard Zorn (1860-1920). But, instead of Terra Rosa, the Zorn palette uses Vermillion (or modern-day Cadmium Red Light). Other earthy reds like Venetian Red, English Red Light or Light Red Oxide work well, too.

Using the Zorn palette has its benefits. The muted color scheme creates color harmony and unity with no effort at all. It's also a good teaching tool, because beginning students can learn how to manipulate oil paint without the concern for exact color-matching. The subdued tones also help students recognize complimentary colors and strengthen their understanding of the color wheel.

Ivory Black is cool and stands in for blue. So in this painting, for example, the small pitcher on the left was blue, so I used Ivory Black to paint it. Mixing Ivory Black with Yellow Ochre results in an nice, earthy, sort of olive green. But, as a final step for this painting, I decided to brighten up the yellow-green apples with a thin glaze of Viridian mixed with Cadmium Yellow. Below is a shot of the painting before the glaze was added.

"Natural Curls"

Charcoal on toned paper, 15 x 12 inches

Here's another portrait drawing from over the holidays. Working with charcoal and white charcoal on toned paper is new for me and I really like the look. In January's ArtistChronicle eNewsletter I'll explain a little about how I begin these portrait drawings with a block-in of shadow shapes.

"Duane"

Charcoal on toned paper, 12.5 x 10 inches

Over the holidays I whiled away a few hours of family time drawing portraits from life. This one is of my brother. His wife took the iPhone photos which are posted below. She also outdid herself this year and treated us to really delicious meals and holiday goodies!

"Green Apples and Lace"

Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches, $400

Back in the studio for some still life painting. Actually, I painted this one in the classroom alongside my oil painting students. The biggest challenge for everyone was achieving the look and feel of lace without going overboard on every last detail. The best solution I could come up with was to paint in big shapes first and then selectively add a few smaller darks and highlights where they were needed. The time-tested method of "squinting" helped me see those big shapes and also helped me decide which details to include - and which to leave out.

"Wet Traces of High Tide"

Oil on linen on panel, 6 x 8 inches, $150

I just returned from a short visit to Ocean Isle Beach. This time of year the water is too cold to go swimming in, for my taste, so I completed a painting "en plein air" instead. I painted from the far east end of Ocean Isle Beach and that strip of green in the distance is Holden Beach.

In the photo of my setup, below, you can tell better that the two beaches are actually divided by a sound. I almost changed my vantage point to paint that sound, but the wet sand which remained from high tide was so interesting - and also served as a good "lead in" to the scene. What you can't tell from the photo is what a windy day it was. Several times I had to stop my easel from blowing over and even a few paint brushes took off flying!

"Clouds Over Cook's Wall"

 

 Oil on linen on panel, 6 x 8 inches, $150

This view of Cook's Wall is from a spot in Germanton, NC. From this vantage point Hanging Rock can be seen in the distance, too. But it is much further to the right and so I didn't include it in the composition.

My painting buddies and I were sitting in a field of tall grass that was literally filled with grasshoppers. You can see a couple of them on my backpack, in the photo below. Cute little critters... who really know how to bite!