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.

African Woman In Headscarf

Watercolor on paper. Approx. 12x14 inches.

Endurance

This watercolor was given to my mother for her 60th birthday. I had a lot of fun painting it and learned a lot. It now resides in my parents bedroom.

Struggle

This piece was entered in the Arizona Ameteur Fine Arts competition. It won an Honorable Mention and was purchased. Oil on stretched canvas, 16x20.

Power and Peace

When I saw this arm on an unlikely subject I was compelled to paint it. This is water color on paper, approximately 8x24.

Looking

This is my most recent painting. I only used two colors of oil in this painting. Another try at simplifying while I learn the craft. Painted on canvasboard, 16x20 inches.

Waiting

Another portrait of my oldest daughter. The whole drawing is actually 18x24 (the matte is hiding some).

Untitled

This is a 16"x20" portrait using a picure of my oldest daughter but without any real effort to make it look like her. I was just enjoying the experience.

Nourishment

Still life, 9x12 on canvasboard.

Reflection

I was really struggling to begin a painting and felt like I was trying too hard, thinking about it more than was helpful. This was the result of me just picking up the paints and brushes and "playing" with them.

A little fun at the kitchen table. Our Wal-Mart tea kettle.

Another page out of my sketchbook. These are a couple of centenarians from another old issue of National Geographic. I love deep expressions, they tell a story I'd love to hear.

These are two images that I found in an old National Geographic. Super fun to draw. A picture with lots of contrast makes the best black and white drawing.

I never felt really done with this painting but this is as far as it got. It now hangs in my kitchen until a new home can be found.

The is a portrait in the making. My first "real" oil painting. What fun I have had exploring this medium!