Friday, February 18, 2011

Oil Painting
24 x 18 inches
a cafe in the far south of France, just north of the Pyrenees and the Spanish border. I don't think I've ever painted a scene with this much pink in it, but in this case it seemed like a good idea.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Oil Painting
18 x 14 inches
In the US Library of Congress.
A great interior space, and since it is full of architectural ornament, a space which tests the artist's ability to simplify what the scene presents. I really enjoyed painting this.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Oil Painting
16x20 inches
An evening scene at an elevated-train station in Chicago. There are two things that interested me in this scene...one was the group of figures on the train platform, and the other was the shapes of light between the figures and other shapes of the train station. I generally look for these "negative shapes", but more than usual in this silhouetted scene.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Oil Painting
18 x 14 inches
A rainy autumn day along Pennsylvania Ave in Washington DC

Monday, December 20, 2010

Oil Painting
24 x 18 inches
One of the things I had in mind with this painting was the idea of "shape harmony"...i.e. shapes that are similar but not identical, in this case the shapes of the shoots of water. The eye seems to enjoy wandering about in shapes like this, comparing one to the other.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010


Oil Painting
30 x 24 inches
A statue and its visitors in Washington, DC

Monday, December 13, 2010

Oil Painting
20x16 inches
Looking up Pennsylvania Ave at the US Capitol in Washington.

This painting is unusual in a couple of ways. I normally paint strongly-lit scenes...but the challenge of dealing with overcast light and reflections on a wet pavement had a certain appeal. Often in painting these days I am looking for something that throws up a challenge.

I also do not generally do paintings of famous buildings. Here it was the arrangement of light and dark shapes in the scene which I found exciting. The Capitol was not the strongest contrast in the scene so in theory might not be the center of interest...but when something as iconic as the US Capitol works its way into your painting, it is hard not to make it the center of interest.