Jeff

Jeff  oil - 6 x 6

Jeff is an officer at Baltimore Yacht Club and only the second painting of BYC members I have done. I will be taking this painting and a few other little paintings down to the Member's Art Show on Saturday at BYC. I was hoping to have a few portraits of members to bring but I only have Inside Joke and Jeff finished. Maybe, if I bring my painting supplies to the boat, I can get one or two more painted next week during my "Week on the Island".

Inside Joke

Inside Joke  oil - 8 x 10

Here are two members of Baltimore Yacht Club enjoying just being friends. I loved this photo when I saw it in the collection of photos I took of the Post Queen of the Chesapeake Pageant celebration. The lighting and the composition was just so wonderful I knew I had to paint it.

Jovan - Blue Man

Jovan - Blue Man  oil - 7 x 5 

I painted this on a dark burgundy primed canvas to see if I liked starting with a darker value and working lighter instead, of the medium value I usually begin with. This forced me to look and paint the values in a different way. I started with the highlights and worked towards the medium values and then changed the the dark values to cooler or warmer colors where they were needed. I plan on experimenting with different colors of primed backgrounds to see how they effect my paintings. 

Amanda

 Amanda  oil - 8 x 8

She is the middle daughter of my three daughters, but the last to have a daily painting done. Amanda has always been very photogenic so I am sure I will be painting her again. This photo was taken of her after she had been tubing behind our boat on the Middle River in Essex, Maryland two weeks ago. I really enjoy painting sunglasses on sunny faces and this was no exception. 

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.

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. 

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.  

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.

Kai

Kai  oil - 6 x 6

My niece Kai will be my last portrait painted in Florida. I hope I will be able to keep up this pace and paint about two portraits a week once I am home. I have a few back logged photos to paint now.  I can always use more so keep sending them. I will get to them eventually.

Live Model

Florida Girl  oil - 18 x 14

Over the last four weeks I have been taking a portrait class at the Elliott Museum in Stewart, FL. Florida Girl is of the beautiful 16 year old model that sat for us. I enjoyed the time I had with the other artists and our model was wonderful. It is not easy for a model to sit still for three hours (with breaks) for the four session but she did very well. I took a picture of her so I could finish her hands at home since it is nearly impossible to get the exact hand position each time she sat down. But, I decided to leave it sketchy like it is. The Elliot Museum had us painting in the antique car exhibit. among antique cars. The smell of turpentine and oil paint mixed with the smell of engine oil and musty leather. The people visiting the museum didn't seem to mind us painting there. 

Photo of our model

Sarah

Sarah  oil - 6 x 6

Here is the first of the photos that were sent to me so far. My cousin sent several photos of her  beautiful daughter Sarah so that I could choose my favorite to paint. I decided on this photo, even though they were all good. I loved the soft glow on her face with the flowers in the background and her wispy hair. I thought it had an old fashion, almost cherub, quality to it. Keep sending photos to me, and tell your friends. I don't need to know the person to paint them. 

Donnell

Donnell  oil - 6 x 6

I loved painting this. The warm and cool colors in this painting really compliment each other. I also just love the way Donnell is enjoying the sun on his face. The photo I used to paint this, is just another of Rachel's  St. Mary's college photos that found their way to my computer.

Rachel

Rachel  oil - 6 x 6

On the Potomac River between Point of Rocks,  Md and Harpers Ferry, WV, there is a rapid with a four foot drop in the river. This makes for an exciting ride on a kayak or just swimming. In this painting, Rachel is sitting on one of these rocks above the rapids, resting after swimming, as the sun was setting. 

Leesy

Leesy  oil - 6 x 6

This is Emily's friend Leesy. She enjoys following my blog, so a little bird whispered in my ear and told me she would really enjoy seeing a portrait of herself on my blog. Surprise! This portrait is of you Leesy! My three girls are visiting me here in florida this week. They are sun bathing on the beach while I enjoyed a quiet day painting.

Chrissy

Chrissy oil - 10 x 10

This is my niece Chrissy having a fun day on the Chesapeake Bay. She goes to college in the northern most part of Michigan so I hope this brings her thoughts of the warm sun on her face. I painted this one a little larger because I now have painted on all the 6x6 gesso boards I brought to Florida. It's almost four times as large, so it almost took four times as long to paint. 

Elizabeth

Elizabeth  oil - 6 x6

My daughter Rachel and her best friend, Elizabeth, will be visiting us here in sunny Florida next week. I loved this photograph taken while she and my daughter were playing in the snow on their college campus. Sometimes a portrait almost paints it self and practically jumps onto the canvas but that was not the case this time. Maybe because I started late in the day yesterday. Whatever the reason, after redoing all the features at least once I am pretty happy with the results.

Emily

Emily  oil - 6 x 6

This is the the latest DPW Challenge, The One Stroke per Color Challenge. I chose to paint a portrait since I have been on this portrait kick for my daily paintings. Emily is a fellow artist and a very good friend. She has encouraged me in art with amazing enthusiasm. Emily is quite a beautiful and colorful lady. I know I have not done her justice but all the colors painted with one stroke each, in this painting, suits her. This was really fun to paint.

Madeline

Madeline  oil - 6 x 6

My niece, Madeline had her birthday this week. She is two years old. I did this painting of her from an older photograph that my brother took and sent to me. She looks very serious here but she is a very lovely happy child. This makes two portraits in two days. How long can I keep this up?

Laura Lynn

Laura Lynn  oil - 6 x 6

On February 5, 1986 Laura Lynn, our first born, was brought into the world. She has brought sunshine into our lives ever since. This is the first portrait I have painted as a daily painting for posting on my blog. I want to do these often, then maybe, I will get much better at them. This summer I will be taking photographs of people to collect and later paint. If you don't want your picture taken and you see me with a camera you better hide because I plan on taking hundreds of photos. This way I will have a lot to choose from.