One of my favorite works

Growing up on a small ranch certainly influenced my love of cows. Here, I tried to capture the full meaning of what a cow is. They give us so much more than just food.

A simple rendition of my favorite childhood cow.

A trouble spot, I chose this subject purposefully to work on hands.

There was once a time I had over 35 horses on our family ranch near Darrington, Washington. Drawn from memory with colored pencils, this is my favorite filly named Helado, Spanish for "icecream".

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I love Indian themes, and patterned this painting after an old sepia colored photograph.

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I intended this painting to make the viewer guess the intentions of the man behind the gun. Good or bad? The model the man is painted after is my son John. You can see I really need to work on hands! Probably the hardest thing to capture in any work.

My paintings on exhibit in the background - what a thrilling day it was!

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A few reprints of my past sketches for sale in the gallery.

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The view from my art studio window

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This painting was entirely a case of trying to fix something and only making it worse hahaha - and it seemed the more I tried to fix things, the worse it became. His chest is too sunken in, his eyes a little too wide/squinty, and his neck a little too gray. The model is from an old sepia colored photo found in one of the local antique stores.

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A rather large (24x48) painting in progress.

This painting is open for offers :-D

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It has taken longer to near completion than anticipated. This is the "look at it" stage when a week, maybe two will see a hundred little touch ups added. The braves were given a hair/feather style more common on the East coast and the hostages are now definitely children. Am not happy with the shape of the sitting braves head....it looks too effeminate, so needs more - something, maybe more chin? Up for suggestions!!

Had little idea what "work" painting entailed when I first started, though it is the same for all painters. I was delightedly given this huge discarded odd sized 30x50 inch canvas (even the cheapos this size sell for over $150). It originally looked like a piece of scratch paper and required scraping off the old paint lumps that had been half heartedly splattered upon it. Had to scrap twice even after gesso'ing (the primary white coat of paint), otherwise the old paint lumps might ruin the image placed on top if they showed through in any way.

Here you see the final layer of gesso after hours of cleaning, re stapling (the canvas had torn away from its framing in places) and scraping to make it perfectly flat: a lovely white canvas on which to start dreaming.

This is a huge project. The paint crusted easle is on the large side and covers a great deal of one living room window, but still allows an incredible amount of day light in. Now the canvas all but blocks it.

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I prefer to measure angles etc. when sketching out an image, so you see the grid marks along with the sketch that assist, but they will disappear when the paint is applied.

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It looks a smudgy mess after all the erasing and editing, and at this point holds little shape but does show promise.

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My paintings tend to be layered. A real pro can lay it all out in one fell swoop...no such luck here LOL. One layer at a time will slowly develop the image into something, hopefully, believable. Does the canoe hold its shape? Is the reflection watery enough? A hundred questions to ask as it slowly takes shape. By this point, there are about 10 hours in it.

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Had been so excited with the new project that before I knew it the sun had come up. It eventually happens to everyone one way or another. My "painters block" was gone and I couldn't stop lol.

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The moose horns have taken on a life of their own, but this is entirely accidental this early on. A hundred little changes and additions will find them before it is finished.

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Painting is a funny but evolving thing. There must be a hundred thoughts that work your mind in the process. At first, excitement, you have a new project! You search for ideas, dream action and shapes. The canvas impatiently waiting for you as each idea is poured over. Tentative sketches further your hopes. Then new excitement as colors find their way to the canvas.

Once you get started, prepare to be overwhelmed, because you realize there is a lot to do! As you get into your subject, you will start to feel small amounts of accomplishment and somehow manage to put one step in front of the other. This one has formed quickly, but the last painting, Hostages, took an entire year to trudge through for this very reason. It even almost ended up in the gesso pile, of which there are several.

Eventually your subject takes shape, but not without hundreds of doubts and promises you make yourself as it evolves into something of a "being" in it's own right. You will either love and cherish it through each improvement, as each shape is defined, or hate it to the bitter end through perceived errors and fault finding.

Yes, the end, as it eventually arrives. You will miss it, perhaps even mourning your subject some, whether or not you toss it. If kept, the days that follow will likely find you examining it deeply, looking for imperfections and faults, questioning every detail. You might even white wash it all in the long run and start over again. Such is the life of any piece. After all, most my canvases are found at garage sales...all the victims of their prior owners art love and art love lost.

ROFL...painting sure makes me philosophical. I was starting to mess this up and had to stop for the day. The red blanket needs help and his suede jacket has been troublesome, and I should have left it hours ago.

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Usually, I do the background first, and so avoid worrying about bringing the background up to the subject, but decided to start with the subject instead this time. Consequently, am forced to prepare a border the water will come up to when painting the background. The canoe has been further developed, the fur bundle lengthened, red blanket turned into a fur (not happy with the change, but it is better) and the trapper given features. Not happy with the jacket cuffs either...such is the life of an evolving painting lol.

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My own fault really; was so entranced with the project that I didn't realize how dark outside (and inside) it had become. By the time the paintings background reached this stage, it too, was far darker than it should be. Bucket of water, wet sponge and I was scrubbing it off, hoping it hadn't dried too much.

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OK, after a good scrubbing, it feels salvageable. Not the intended blue, but workable. I added some white watery streaks and might place a few boulders or an embankment on the upper side. The trappers hands are now a little larger and still need much attention, but tonight it's canoe detail. My brain needs something on the easier side after wrestling with all that blue....you should see my clothes and hands. Blue paint everywhere what a mess!

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The caricature of the trapper was somewhat cartoonish since I had just rough drafted him in. Now it is time to discover just who this trapper is. The fur hat has been brought over his ear, nose is now smaller and cheek bone placed. His hands are looking more like hands, and his coat undergone major renovations.

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The face became three dimensional with the placement of cheek on the far side, and the addition of a more realistic eye. About half way finished.

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The canoe has further developed and the water reflection revamped. Bringing in trees to the reflection instead of rocks was a scary move!

Detail on the background. How much will show through has yet to be determined.

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Almost finished, and working on the fine detail while adding layers of water with a sponge. At one point, too much water had been spread, so the tree reflection had to be relaid. Some of the original blue peaks out from underneath the upper lighter layers, but not much.

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Looks finished, so went ahead and signed it, but will probably touch it up a hundred times in little places hardly noticeable. But here it is. Reflection.

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