Coffee Cups - Big and Little

10" x 8" Oil on Linen.

On auction at DPW.

This is a pair of our newest coffee cups. The big one can host a nice sized latte and the little one is perfect for a double espresso. I must admit I am fascinated by the heart shape that the handle reflection creates since my wife pointed it out in a previous painting. I do love coffee, even if this morning's was a bit off...

Hang On

11" x 14" Oil on Linen.
On auction at DPW.

After painting Orange on a Perch, I thought of this more anthropomorphic idea. So, I staged this somewhat unsettling still life of a banana holding on for dear life to a slightly sloping board.

Apple and Not Orange

10" x 8" Oil on Linen.

This painting is in response to a DPW Challenge from Carol Marine to paint using other colors from the original after establishing the correct values. The idea is that the result will still read as correct 3-dimensional objects. I think it works in this case except the green orange is a bit strange. Changing the Granny Smith to a red apple came out quite natural.

Here is a bigger look at the finished painting:

Orange on a Perch

8" x 8" Oil on Linen.

Available.

I've enjoyed depictions of partially peeled fruit in other people's work. I wanted to try the same with a slightly unusual staging. Within this composition, I looked to keep the lines and focal point off of the center lines. Working through getting the right values to get good modeling is the fun part here and was a good warm up for my afternoon painting session.

Chris Horner Detail

This is an in progress detail from a larger painting on which I am working. This first pass is incomplete, but I wanted to share my current project. More detail is available on my other blog at http://shootinginthechute.blogspot.com.

Fan Dancer #4

10" x 10" Oil on Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas.

In a private collection.

Wayne, Pa

This will be the last dancer, for now. I saved the most dynamic to finish the quartet. I think they would  look great hanging together. 

Fan Dancer #3

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

In a private collection.

Wayne, Pa

For the third in this series I picked one of the most dynamic standing poses. The pronounced wrinkles and interesting line made this fun to paint. I worked at keeping some hard and lost edges in the figure. Finally, there is the hint of her form in the shadow in front of her.

The next in the series is going to go in a different direction.

Fan Dancer #2

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

In a private collection.

Wayne, Pa

This second fan dancer offered a solid pyramid to work with in the composition. I placed her slightly off center to avoid too much symmetry. I worked carefully with the narrow choices of color.

Fan Dancer #1

10" x 10" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas.

In a private collection.

Wayne, Pa

This is the first in a series of "fan" dancers that performed at the Beijing Paralympic Games. My wife captured part of their performance in snapshots and I love their poses. I'm not sure how many I will do, but there is some good material from which to work.

Swan Reflection

10" x 10" Oil on gallery wrap canvas.
On auction at DPW.

This swan has been in my photo reference for a while. It has nice wild reflections and is romantically from near Chillon Castle in Switzerland, I believe. The swans I recently painted reminded me of this one, along with looking for a good reflection to paint.

I hope to be posting more regularly now that the holidays are over and I seem to be on the mend from a very persistent bug.