Kathy

Kathy  oil - 6 x 6 

This is the first painting I have done since my return from Florida. A co-worker of my daughter, sent this photo of her friend's daughter, for me to paint. Kathy is such a cute little girl with beautiful intense eyes. I really enjoyed painting her.

Morning Watch

Morning Watch  oil - 6 x 6 

The Daily Paint Works Challenge this week was a color challenge. You were to paint a painting using a complimentary color scheme. I chose blue and orange but finding a subject that worked was the challenge for me.  I haven't entered the challenges in a couple of weeks since I have been doing portraits from the photographs that were sent to me. I wanted to do a portrait for this challenge but none of my stash of photos had just the right colors. Then, I stumbled upon some photos of our dog Tug taken a couple months ago. I had already painted Tug from one of the other photos, taken that day, in a much tighter way than this looser and smaller version of her. Tug and I go on a walks every morning and she loves to hunt for squirrels, chase squirrels and sit and watch squirrels. I named the painting Morning Watch  because this is Tug's morning (squirrel) watch face.  To see Morning Watch and other paintings entered in The Color Challenge click here: DPW Challenge.

Gigi

Gigi  oil - 6 x 6 (finished) 

I took a little time this morning to make a few minor changes. I am now pleased with the final painting.

Gigi  oil - 6 x 6

Gigi is another friend of Emily's. I am not pleased with how this turned out. The photo was beautiful so I can't blame that. Sometimes you just don't have a good painting day. I painted all day on it today and even though I'm not completely happy with it I am posting it anyway. Maybe I should take a day off from painting. 

Tess

Tess  oil - 6 x 6 

In loving memory of their beloved dog, a friend of mine sent a photo of Tess for me to paint. The photo was a  little blurry and lacking directional light but since Tess is gone I did the best I could with what I had. I hope they like how the painting turned out.

Fred

Fred  oil - 6 x 6

I have heard talk of Fred but I have yet to meet him. This is Emily's husband of 36 years. She has sent a few photos for me to paint that I have really enjoyed painting so far. Thanks Emily! In this painting I included the hint of the barns in the background from the photo.  He looks like the kind of guy who wouldn't sit to have his portrait taken so including the barn I think works.  

Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed   oil - 24 x 18 

Almost two years ago Kate and Tim were married. I offered to do a painting, of their choosing, for a wedding gift. After much debate on what photograph I should use, I started painting about six months ago and finished it today. Finally. This was very tedious to paint. I had to number the buttons so I would know which one I was working on and count from the bottom up or from the top down. Each time I looked away to load my brush with more paint, I would lose my place and have to count all over again. I think I could have painted another six months and not have the buttons exactly perfect but am pleased with the finished results. Although this is not a "daily" painting, I thought you would enjoy seeing it.

Joyce Ann

Joyce Ann  oil - 10 x 8 

The hardest part of this painting was trying to decide what to title it.  Joyce Ann is her given name but we all know her mostly as Grandma, or Grandmom. To me she is just Mom. She didn't think I had a photo of her to paint but alas I did. This was taken after breakfast while visiting her brother and his wife in Cape May, NJ last summer.

Harold

Harold oil - 6 x 6

Here is a man who has worked hard, raised five kids and recently retired from General Motors. He is also my brother-in law, Chrissy's (I did a portrait of her last month) dad and a pretty cool guy. One of his kids sent this photo for me to paint. This blog has had a run on cute little girl portraits so Harold was a nice change to paint.  I decided to stay here in Florida and to continue painting daily while enjoying the amazing weather here... at least until the end of April.