Idle time

Whatever idle means!
I have been very busy at work, fishing, taking care of the new baby, so no new paintings recently.
To me that is disappointing because I used to do at least 2 paintings a week.
However, I am still sketching for pleasure. Sketching things from the internet. I actually have done a small painting but i wasn't too proud of it. May be I'll publish it later.
I will also publish a sketch I did of Mr. Andrew Wyeth, one of my favorite artists (ofcourse along with John Blockley and Winslow Homer). The rest of the sketches I have thrown away because art keeps accumulating all over my small house (on top of all the baby toys)!!

Quoddy trail

The photos have been hazy lately. Any way, this is a new painting. It is from one of my hiking trips to West Quoddy state park. I have done 2 similar ones in the past from previous hikes.

New Painting

I have moved to Portland. In the process of moving and taking care of the new baby, I have slowed down. But I tried to paint this last evening. I think it looks fine...

Portrait

I have painted this before with the whole body. This time, I wanted to do a focused portrait. It is very tricky to keep the colors soft. The way to do it is use transparent nonstaining pigments. I used Rose madder, aureolin, cobalt turqoise, viridian, and alizarin. So, basically no blacks, greys, or browns! I think it looks good!

Winter Sun!

This is Mido, my beagle, sun bathing. I did the acrylic first, which is still to be finished, but I wanted to do it again in watercolors. I think it looks good! Colors used: Aureolin Yellow, Viridian green, Rose Madder, and Ultramarine blue!

Grandpa Sam

Snow storm over the Machias river

I finished this in half an hour. Being quick has its disadvantages. I made a blob in the middle of the sky that I couldn't get rid of. I wanted to post it any way.

South Beach

I have been wanting to paint a winter scene, however, I was looking at some pictures and found this one taken on vacation to south beach. I have taken a lot of them with colorful umbrellas and seats. The wind was blowing and the sea was rough. When I first painted the sand it was very orangy. I glazed it with two layers of cobalt turqouise. It is amazing what glazing could do. Enjoy!

Kennebec Rd Sunset

This is from the same road I painted the sheep. The two paintings are very rich in color. Unfortunately, my camera is not capturing it.

New Painting

Sheep in the snow

Self-Portrait

This is another attempt in Acrylics. It is such a hard transition, but I am not giving up!

Snow storm over the mud flats

Anybody who lives in Down East Maine, knows exactly what this is about. I have driven so many times in the snow storms, and I always wished I could just stop the car and paint right then and there! This is out of memory of the mud flats in a snow storm, where the water becomes mud, and the mud becomes snow, and all the colors blend in harmony!

Acrylic!

Since I have been uninspired and unsucessful lately, I decided to try something different. I have taught myself to paint in watercolors, so why couldn't I improve on my acrylics? I always like to do my own painting ideas, and that is hard and takes a lot of creativity. I also like to enjoy painting, so I decided to do this painting of Andrew Wyeth. To make it challenging, he did it in watercolor, so I did it in Acrylics. In the begining, painting with the brush was difficult, so I grabbed the palette knife, and used it for most of the painting. I feel satisfied, and I know I did a great job!!!

Winter

I did the first version of this painting on Christmas of 2005. I can't tell which version is better. My technique is improving, but sometimes it over takes my passion. It is a good exercise nevertheless!

Rainy Weekend

It has been a rainy week. It also have been very busy. I had to go to a conference last weekend, and I have been coming back late from work during the past few weeks!

Today is Saturday, I came back in the afternoon from work. The fire was going, and Schubert was playing, so I felt inspired. The bright colored one is from a sketch I did near my house just before all the clouds and the rain came in. The two trees are from my memory. I was sitting at Helen's yesterday eating lunch during my break, and across the Machias river, rain was falling and it was very misty. I used some ink following the footsteps of my favorite watercolor artist, Blockley! I like the trees painting better and it is a better reflection of the past rainy few days!!!

The Trail's End

This is a remake of the old man with the blue jeans. I am still wondering if I should throw the leaves and twigs on the left upper corner!?

South Fork Relics

This is a painting that I started a while back but never finished it until today. It is a reflection of the fall. This was a place near Dilsboro, Indiana where I used to escape to on the weekends, to fish and paint, and chase after the dogs in the open fields and along the hills!!!

Finished Painting

New Painting

I am working on this painting of my favorite model. It is an expression of my admiration to the beauty and majesty of the human creation. I love it so far, but as with all watercolor paintings, it could be wrecked in an instant!!!

Sand Beach Bar Harbor/ Old lady with a bible

I have been struggling with my paintings recently. I am not taking my time to study them, and then I end up with a bad result. Still, I have the urge to paint, so with whatever time I get I try to paint eventhough I get disappointed. I do think the ideas in the paintings are good, but the result doesnot live up to my expectations.

West on 50 (3)

This is the 3rd version of this painting. I think it is one of first paintings that sold at the gallery.. The 2nd I gave to my neighbor. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep this one!!!

Clam Diggers 2

Old man in blue jeans

I wanted to do something different. I created this strange composition from a group of pictures. I don't usually use whites, browns, or greens. I usually just paint with the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. I wanted to give this painting a mystical yet realistic appearance. Everybody is scared of getting old. "Old" is represented by the cane that you could barely see, the weird hat, and the crooked posture. The rocks tell a story of old times............It's definitely different. It didn't come up as I expected, but it still has feelings in it. I need to learn how to take my time, reather than finish these paintings in a few hours!!!!

Starboard morning

I woke up at 5:30 this Sunday morning, I took my sketch book and went to starboard in my pyjamas!! I did this quick sketch. The mosquitoes were crazy, I got bites all over my body. They were biting across my pants. I had to quit and leave. I got home and worked on the second one. It is a nice sky. Something fresh I guess!!

Istanbul 2

This is the third or fourth version of this picture I took of Istanbul 5 years ago. This time I wanted to depict a sense of mist in the early morning. You can check my previous versions in the blog somewhere! I like this version because it has mood and atmosphere. Compare 1 and 2.

New

I am trying to paint again, but rather unsuccessfully. I know I have a good technique, however, I get involved in the subject rather than being free and expressive. I paint better when I study a painting, but sometimes I feel I just want to paint without feeling that I am "working"!!

Small Mouth

Glow bugs

I woke up one day at Paula's house, and I saw those glow bugs shining all over the field. It was very dark and the only thing you could see is those glow bugs shining. I went back to sleep, and then in the morning I did the opaque one. I woke up today at 4 AM and I felt like painting. I worked on this for 2 hours. There was a field at some point, but it was muddy, so I sprayed it with water and let the colors dissolve. I don't know. People like paintings of certain places or people. I like to paint a magical scene that the child in me enjoys. That's why I always paint in bright colors and try not to be too realistic. I hope this painting would stirr the child in somebody. I am not completely satisfied with it, and I would probably do it again.

Clam diggers

I added the clam diggers.