Father and Sons

This is a recent 8x10 pencil portrait commission. Each subject was taken from a large group family photo and repositioned to create a portrait of only the father and his two sons. A satisfying piece to create.

It's all about watercolors these days, or so it seems. This is a recently finished watercolor portrait for a new friend and client from the huge state of Texas. Created from three different photographs (yes, there are only two boys). Boy on the right needed separate head and body shots fused together to generate this pose.

The Old Family Home

My first watercolor landscape done at the request of my dear mother-in-law. It is her childhood home in Northern Idaho. If you've got good eyes you can see the Grand Tetons in the distance.

This is a small collection of pencil and pencil/charcoal portraits that I put together to show at a boutique where I was a vendor. I was (and am) promoting a $30 pencil portrait special for the holidays. Pass the word along!

Hold On

This is the wife of an American fallen soldier as her husband's body is returned to it's native soil. He was killed in the line of duty just days after being home for the birth of his first child. It is an 11x14 colored pencil portrait on smooth Bristol paper.
*Just a note to say that somehow this received a blue ribbon at the AZ State Fair. I wasn't finished with it when it was time to take in the entries. I'll finish it and post it when it's done.

This is a work in progress, just felt like posting something new as I haven't worked much this Summer with all of the kids home. This painting still needs skin tone work and detail but is mostly finished and I am quite happy with it's progress as is my client. I should have the finished product ready to post by the middle of September.

"Out Of the Ashes" acrylic and oil on stretched canvas, 14x28 inches. This was a very emotional piece for me to paint. It portrays the release from despair.
$400-available

Here is a graphite portrait on Strathmore Bristol paper, 11x14. The original photo was beautiful but quite a bit of detail was blurred and there was damage from being handled for so many years (scratches and creases). I was pretty happy with the end result and I believe that my client was as well. As you can see from the original posted above the right (his left) side of his head was missing. So I attempted to create an ear and hair line for him as well as adding a little detail that was either missing or very faint in the photo.

This is a color pencil portrait that I finished "live" at a charity auction benefiting the Child's Play Theater in Tempe, AZ. It is an 11x14 on Strathmore bristol paper.

Girl With Wings3

This was my third attempt and I am happy with the results. The photo is not as bright as the real thing but you get the idea. The bottom image is the whole thing and the top is a close up of the face.
9x12 watercolor on paper.

Boy In Grass
9x12
Watercolor on paper

Girl With Wings
11x14
Colored Pencil on Strathmore Bristol

This is a commission I did for an old neighbor and friend. This was a drawing done from about 5 different snapshots that included piecing together heads and bodies that weren't originally together. A difficult piece. Graphite/charcoal, 11x14 on paper.

Having fun with watercolors. This is a card/painting that I made for my sister's birthday. It says, "Sisters are like grapes...they grow together, plump and juicy, and, if they aren't consumed, turn into raisins and get sweeter."

Graphite and charcoal, 9x12 on paper.

I did some colored pencil finishing touches on my Sunflower Lady. I fiddled with the colors on the editing page of the computer.
Sunflower Lady. Watercolor on paper approx. 18x24

This is a recently finished commissioned portrait done from 40-yr-old b/w photos. The subjects were not in the same picture and I was able to play with the composition a little bit. Graphite and charcoal on paper, 16x20. SOLD

Doris Day. Colored pencil on paper, 8x10. SOLD

The beautiful Judy Garland. Colored pencil on paper, 8x10. SOLD

Gene Kelley in the rain. Colored pencil on paper, 8x10. SOLD

Frank Sinatra

"Ol' Blue Eyes" colored pencil on paper 8x10. SOLD

Four Fabulous Oldies

Here are four 8x10 colored pencil portraits I did on commission. They are done with Prismacolor colored pencils. I really enjoyed this medium as it is very near to graphite pencil but there wasn't much room for error considering you can't erase much of a wax based color. Here we have Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Doris Day and Gene Kelly in the rain.

Untitled

11x14 watercolor on paper. Extremely difficult medium for this figure. This woman reminded me of paintings of the Virgin Mary and yet her dark skin was such a contrast to that image.

Emma w/Headscarf

This portrait is 8x10 graphite and charcoal on paper. The subject is my daughter Emma dressed up in an old Japanese scarf. Look at those eyes!

Emma w/Headscarf

You can see that I have added quite a lot of detail. The eyes are the most important part of the picture so I wanted to get them right. When I was pretty sure of them I added charcoal over the pencil to get the deeper black.