Happy Halloween!

Snowflake

6" x 6"

Oil with palette knives on board

Here is a cute black cat face for your Halloween. 

Arielle asked if I would paint this portrait for her friends who recently lost her. If you were to guess what this cute kitty's name was, Snowflake would probably not even be on the list. Maybe he loved snow? The eyes of this kitty are mesmerizing though, aren't they? 

Red Inn with Peonies

Red Inn with Peonies II

8" x 10" oil with palette knives on board

SOLD

David saw a painting at the red inn that had been already sold and asked if I would paint another one as a gift for his husband for Christmas. Dan is a huge fan of the red inn and is also a big gardener so this painting had the both of his favorite things.

I framed it up in a simple white frame.

Cathy's Best Friend

Flowers from Paul

8" x 10"

Oil with palette knives on board

My sister Cathy has neighbor named Paul. He is the cutest little nugget of love and he considers Cathy his best friend. They play tennis and other games and have so much fun together. Cathy is heartbroken because Paul and his family are moving away soon so I decided to paint this picture for her as a gift for her recent birthday. 

Cathy sent me this cute photo of her and Paul with the painting.

Old Colony Tap in Provincetown

Afternoon at the Old Colony Tap

Approx 8.5" x 11"

Oil on rough wood board 

This painting depicts the interior of an iconic staple in Provincetown on Commercial Street called The Old Colony Tap. Since we had never been inside before, we decided to stop in for a quick beer on a hot afternoon during one of our last visits to Ptown. A place that locals have hung out for years, the history on the walls (and ceiling) of this place is priceless.

The rough wood surface I used for this painting is from Michaels Arts and Crafts store. I've used this surface before on a couple of previous paintings. I think it gives the painting a rustic feel that goes well with the subject matter. 

This painting was difficult to photograph due to its rough edge and darker colors. The photo above is a little light/blown out. Here is another image I took that is a little too dark.

I think this photo below I took while it was still in progress shows the color best. 

Daddy's Big Girl

Daddy's Big Girl

9" x 12"

Oil with palette knives on board

Brian asked me to paint a photo of him and his daughter Julianna that he said was their favorite image of the two of them together. An interesting challenge was that in the photo, they both were wearing masks since it was taken during COVID. So I had to recreate the missing parts of their faces.

Another challenge was that he wanted to keep the type on her hat that read "Hooray, I rocked the first day of PRE-K". So I painted the area with black acrylic first and painted over it with the red oil paint color of the hat. Then using my handy dandy wipe out tool, I "lifted up" the red paint to reveal the black underneath. Not sure how else I would have been able to do this without this technique.