Going, going, gone....

Looking Up
Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist panel

8" x 8

I donated this painting to the Foxboro Library Art Auction which took place this past weekend at the Foxboro Country Club. What a well organized and fun event. There were 53 works of art auctioned off and they are estimating that they raised around $14,000 dollars for the library. Pretty impressive. You can read more about the auction by visiting the Foxboro Art Association blog.

Below are some photos from the night.

The organizers of the event.

The auctioneers with the painting that solicited the highest bid of the night-Founder's Day Parade by Jackie Canna-for $1050.

My painting being auctioned off.

I bid on several paintings and was lucky to have come home with a beautiful pastel by Cindy Kerr.

In Your Face

Cirque du Kitty
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on board
NFS

The colors of this painting got a little crazy, like circus crazy. But I'm liking how it came out. This cat's eyes reminded me of the poster for the musical Cats-so striking! He has a very regal, wild, tigerlike face, don't you think? I am enjoying doing these really tight close ups of the animal faces. If you have a cat yourself, you have probably seen this in your face at about 5 am checking to see if you are awake. Isn't it time to eat?

Inspirational student work

There is a wonderful student show at the Transportation Building in Boston right now. It's the Annual Scholastic Art Gold and Silver Key award winners. I took some photos of some of the pieces that caught my eye but overall I was so impressed.

This is a detail of a drawing by Anna Viccica. I loved how you could see the texture of the paper coming through. Exquisite.

There were several large self portraits from one school in Belmont which were fantastic. This wall held most of them. Hats off to this art teacher encouraging his/her students to work this large. I don't remember ever doing something this big in high school. And the technical skill was outstanding. Below are a few close ups of two of my favorites.

All media were eligible including photography, sculpture, digital art, and design.

I loved the artwork on this boot. Take a close look at the detail if you can. Amazing. It is so inspiring to see such wonderful art coming out of our high schools.

Opera House Makeover

Boston Opera House (revisited)

12" x 12" x .75"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

I revisited this painting. Something was bothering me. There was no sky and I think it was making the painting feel too yellow and orange overall. You can see the earlier version by clicking here. I thought if I added a nice blue it might make the other colors pop more. It's always scary to do something like this because, what if you make it look worse? So no one is allowed to tell me you like the original painting better. Oh-alright, I can take it.

And finally...a chunky delicious close up.

Abstract Boston?

Boston from the Footbridge

9" x 12" x 1.5"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

I thought the shapes in the reference photo I used for this painting had a very abstract feel and I tried to capture that in this painting.

Of course, I couldn't resist adding just a few windows. And I tried something new in the reddish building in the back. I scraped away the paint with the knife to create the feel of a row windows instead of painting them on top.

The Sketchbook Project Tour has begun

My friend Greg took this photo of his daughter holding up my Boys & Girls sketchbook which they checked out on the first stop of The Sketchbook Project's tour-Austin, Texas. How fun is that?

The next stop is Portland, Maine. We plan to head up there with a few other artist friends to see the tour firsthand on April 2.

Click here for the schedule of all of the cities on the tour. Is it coming to your town?

And just an interesting side note...Elizabeth, shown in the photo, loves books and was the subject of this painting, In Her Element.

How much is that kitty in the window?

Le chat dans la fenêtre

8" x 10"

Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

There was something about the reference photo I was using for this painting that looked French to me. For my blog readers that know French (Martine-Alison, Tony, Kim) you can tell me if google translated the title correctly from The Cat In The Window.

I started this painting a few months ago and was never happy with how the curtains came out. Very difficult to get that feel of sheer doile, laceyness with a palette knife. I ended up painting a light color on top of the dark color and then scraping some away to get the effect I wanted.

Paint your cake and eat it too

Say Cheesecake

8" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas
SOLD

I bought this cute little cheesecake at Finale (a wonderful bakery down the street from our office) so I could paint it during painting class. I have to admit, I thought painting this would be a "piece of cake" but it was soooo tricky. The fork especially, was difficult to make look realistic with just the palette knife.

The best thing was, we were able to enjoy eating it after class with our chicken nachos and beer. And it was creamy delish.

Wide-eyed kitten face

Wide-eyed Kitten Face

6" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

This is Gadjo. He is Rumi's little brother. This painting was done from a photo of him when he was just a kitten. He is now a young man and fitting right in with the rest of the critters. Check him out on Jala Pfaff's blog and while you are there, take a look at her new beautiful pastels. Quite a treat.

Here's lookin' at you, kitty

Here's Lookin' at you, Kitty
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

I was captivated by the cute pose of this sweet white kitty. His name is Rumi and he is deaf which is ironic because the pink color of his ears was one of things that first attracted me to this picture. He has grown up to be quite the character and I have been following his antics on a blog by a fellow artist, Jala Pfaff. You can check in on Rumi and her other furry creatures by clicking here. The photo was used as reference with her permission.

Boston Uncommon

Boston Uncommon
14" x 11" x .75"
Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist panel
SOLD

I finally was able to finish this painting that I started at the palette knife demo I did at the Blackstone Art Association late last year. My reference for this painting was a photo I took on one of my lunch time walks around Boston. It is one of the many interesting views you can see near Arlington and Boylston streets, right where the Public Gardens and the Boston Common come together. I'm not sure why I like this composition because in theory it violates the rules of good composition with the lamp post right in the middle and the Hancock Tower also centered at the top. But maybe that's also why I was attracted to it too. Sometimes you gotta break the rules right?

North End, Boston

North End, Boston
10" x 10" x 1.5"
Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

This painting shows a scene from Boston's Italian neighborhood, the North End. I was trying to capture the flavor of the neighborhood with it's narrow streets, small doorways, and interesting architecture. In the summertime, you will see residents sitting out on the sidewalk enjoying the nice weather, talking to neighbors, while tourists stroll the narrow streets looking for just the right Italian restaurant to dine. You really can't go wrong with whichever one you choose!

This weekend, we rented the movie The Town, and one of the chase scenes takes place in the North End. It would really have been something to see them filming that because the streets are just not conducive to speeding cars and quick getaways. Only in the movies.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you find the perfect place to dine with your loved one.

UPDATE March 2013 Cynthia at the Smiling Eggplant asked me if she could use this painting to advertise her North End tours. You can see the post with my painting by clicking here.

Maggie

Maggie

4" x 4" x 1.5"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist board
NFS

This is Maggie. She is my dad and stepmom's Bichon Frise. I recently found the cutest photo of her as a puppy and wanted to give painting her a try. This is the same size as the Santa face I painted for Christmas and I had the tight crop of that painting in mind when I composed this one. This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

How far away is Spring?

Kim's Primrose

6" by 6"

Oil with a palette knife on artist board
NFS

Last night, our instructor brought a primrose to painting class for whoever wanted to paint from life. With all of the snow we have been having, it was such a nice bright spot of color so I jumped right in on it. Flowers are such fun to do with the palette knife.

Weekend field trip

Last weekend we went to NYC and one of our favorite parts of the trip was our visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They are open late on Saturday nights and we discovered that they have live music and serve cocktails on the mezzanine. What a wonderful way to spend a cold winter evening in NYC. We scored a table right up front by the music, a wonderful classical quartet. Not wanting to use the flash, the photos are quite dark so I did the best I could brightening them up in Photoshop but trust me, the setting was just perfect.

Polo made the observation that the violin player reminded him of this Delacroix painting of Paganini. I was impressed with his quick recall of the correct artist and subject. Which inspired me to want to paint her in this style.

Paganini

by Eugene Delacroix, c.1832

Reflections on the Sketchbook Project

As the Sketchbook Project comes to a close, I wanted to finally share the cover and title page I did before I mailed it out this week. You can't really see it here, but I cut out one of the photos at the right side (so there is actually a hole in the cover) and then you it peers through from the title page underneath. Hope that survives all the handling.

Cover

Title page

There are a few thoughts I wanted to capture from my experience particpating in this project:

• As I was drawing each photo, I realized that it made me think about that person the whole time I was drawing them. That was nice.

• I enjoyed drawing girls more than boys. Pigtails and pretty dresses are much more interesting than boy hair and clothes.

• I have a new appreciation for the various lead weights of pencils. I find I don't care for the H leads very much. (Did you know that HB is the same as a number 2 pencil?)

• I have missed drawing. I had been painting so much that I forgot how relaxing and enjoyable drawing can be. And you can do it anywhere-on the train or watching TV.

All of the final drawings are posted here on my blog as well as on theSketchbook Project website.

The final 2 drawings!

Carl

Jana

These are the last two drawings in my submission for The Sketchbook Project, called Boys & Girls! I can't believe it. All of the final drawings are posted here on my blog as well as on the Sketchbook Project website.

A mother's kiss

Baby Jack

My friends' baby Jack came way earlier than he was supposed to and was so tiny at birth-not even 4 lbs. I just loved this photo of his mother giving him that gentle mother's kiss to let him know that some day he will grow up to be big and strong. And he did-he is now taller than his mother!

I will continue to post the final drawings here on my blog as well as on the Sketchbook Project website.

I'm also experimenting with adding these Facebook Like buttons to my posts so if you feel so inclined, please "like' my post!

A list for Santa

Marissa with Santa

This is my stepdaughter, Marissa, all ready with her list for Santa at age 2. I sure hope she got what she asked for. It would be hard to say no to that cute face.

I will continue to post the final drawings here on my blog as well as on the Sketchbook Project website.

Zac

Zac

This is my nephew Zac when he was little. I love how huge the ball and bat look in his little hands. What a cute kid. Now he's all grown up and about to turn 21. Yikes how time flies!

I will continue to post the final drawings here on my blog as well as on the Sketchbook Project website.