Abstract #17 - 14" x 11" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $300
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 3
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 72
I got in the studio today and cranked out three paintings. I came up with a new favorite abstract painting. I really like this one. I attacked it with watercolor pencil after the acrylic dried and came up with something I really like.
This is very cool. A friend turned me on to Animoto, a video creation and sharing service. It is very cool! this is the first thing I did. You can do a 30-second video for free on their site. You need to pay to be able to do longer videos. Anyway, I used my paintings in the video. They turned out great. Check it out.
Castles in my Mind - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $500
I am really trying to loosen up to be able to create pure stream-of-consciousness abstracts. I started out doing this one, drawing lines and shapes as they came into my mind. I erased some lines and added more and before I knew it, I had come up with this castle. Why are my free flow drawings turning into castles? Any psychoanalysts out there? It might be interesting to look into.
I am reading a book about Modigliani right now and it focuses on the neurosis and mental instabilities of Modigliani and some of his contemporaries. When I die, will people look into my art to decide who I was and whether I was mentally unstable or not. I am sure there is something to it, but some of it is a bit of a stretch.
Lake Arrowhead with Sailboats - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $300
My first painting at the 18 x 14 size went OK. I like how it turned out, but it took a little finagling. It is a picture of a sailboat race up here on Lake Arrowhead. There is a high horizon, so I placed it on the top third of the board. That left two thirds of the painting to be filled with lake water. It took about 4 tries to get the water right. I had to keep reminding myself as I painted, “it is just shapes, it is just shapes…”
Finally, I got it to where I am happy with it. It isn’t perfect, but then most things never are. I am convinced we artists are continually seeking a standard that we can’t reach, so we need to relax a little and enjoy the journey. I know that when I can enjoy the journey, my inner artist will blossom and I will be happy with my paintings. That kind of negates what I just said, huh? Oh never mind…
"Big Daddy" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and graphite on Massonite - $200
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 2
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 26
I painted much more freely today. I fixed the canvas (board) from yesterday and I think it looks OK. I have a problem with faces. I can draw them just fine, but when I paint them, it gets all messy.
I went back over some old art I had done of faces and realized the best ones are just a series of shapes that I then outline and fill in with whatever color feels right. I tried that today on both these faces. Again, they are OK. Just like most artists, I am my harshest critic.
I did, however, try to remember that painting is all about having fun and letting the inner child express itself. That made it easier to just let go and “have fun.”
I know why artists do self portraits. They are their own best and most willing model. It isn’t that they are stuck on themselves. I would much rather paint other things, but if I need to paint a face, it might as well be mine. It is probably the only face that artists don’t get tired of painting over and over again. 
Postcards of Modigliani's Portraits in my studio
I really like Modigliani’s portraits. They are images of faces. Not all twisted and abstracted like Picasso’s, but they are drawn like a child might, but I really like them. That simplicity is what I am after.
