Brushed Gesso Technique (Port of Sacramento en plein air...kinda)

Before I painted on this 8"x10" canvas, I heavily gessoed over the previous painting. This quickie sketch started out en plein air and was completed in my studio from a photo I snapped. I like the motion one gets from the gesso brush marks that underlay the painting. And when you lightly drag a brush over these marks, they pick up the paint on the top ridges while leaving the previously painted area in the valleys untouched. This can make for a nice effect. The second painting has been wiped with a towel with a little light yellow paint on it. I once read about a Canadian artist that wipes his paintings with a light hue to unify the image. So I tried it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Meow

Just a little ditty. Well it's not really a ditty...it's a painting of a can of cat food. A ditty is substantualy larger and not commonly consumed by felines. My cat goes nuts every time I open these cans. 8"x10" acrylic on gessoed masonite.

1953 Ford F Series

Trucks and cars can be tough to paint if you get hung up on the reflections which I did. The reflection here is my old studio. It was a cement, tilt up, industrial building on a dead end street up against the American river (that was populated by transients). Not a good place to be at night. My new studio is in a very populated area (day and night) in a mixed use, two story, (very well lighted during the evening) office building. And I'm right next store to one of the best art galleries in town...much better!

On The Levee At The Port Of Sacramento

Another early sunrise painting I did from a late morning reference photo of the Port of Sacramento that was populated for about a week last summer by Delta (mother whale) and Dawn (he female baby ). In fact, you are looking at the water they swam in.

Harbor Sunrise

This is a studio acrylic from a mid day photo taken from the west end of the Port of Sacramento. Mid day photos can be boring. But it was a great steping stone from which to paint... just bring in some sunrise colors, add a tramp steamer and a few more dock poles, and voila! Ya gotcha yourself an interesting painting.

Studio Scissors or See David Play, Play David Play!

This study of my studio scissors was an exercise in color, layering, and energetic brush work...just like the previous abstracts I posted. The painting is in acrylic (of course!) and is on 12'x16" canvas board. It is the second assignment for my college acrylic class that I'm teaching this spring semester. The bottom painting is my final. Lots of impasto with the aid of molding paste mixed with paint.

Curve Ball

I call these four paintings my Curve Ball series in that I show very little abstract paintings on this blog, and indeed, do very little abstract painting. Oh, forgot...I did post an abstract early after opening my blog last year. Not a good painting! I like these four, however, as does my rep. who is going to show them to one of her clients. If her client likes these acrylic studies (each one is on 8"x10" stretched canvas) I'll be using them as models for 30"x30" canvases. Abstract painting is just as challenging as representational painting. In fact, both are very similar. You still must deal with such things as composition, color, value, brush work, layering,motion, texture,emphasis, pattern, etc., etc. So really, is there much of a stretch for a representational artist to do a few abstracts now and then?