Charlotte Cityscpae Series

These are all paintings that are on display in my studio and available for purchase.  The painting above is an original watercolor on paper, 18 x 24, $390.

Trolley Moon, original watercolor, 11 x 14, $490.

Watercolor on paper, 18 x 24, $390.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Mono-print, watercolor, graphite and color pencil, 5 x 7, Sketch $90.

Watercolor, 10 x 8,  $90

Business Journal Illustration

This painting, Golden Skyline, has been published in the Charlotte Business Journal Book of Lists in the December 2012 issue.  The painting is oil on canvas and 14 x 11 in size.  The painting is available for sale at $590 and on display at my studio in the Charlotte Art League.  The League is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 to 3; closed on Monday; Saturday 3 to 8, and Sunday 3 to 5. 
Call (704) 376-2787 for Charlotte Art League exact hours.  The painting appears on page 8 of the magazine.  This painting is part of my on-going Charlotte Cityscape series. 

Holy Comforter Painting

It has been a few years since I have painted Holy Comforter.  This is a beautiful church on Park Road in Charlotte.  This is the view recently on a fall afternoon.  I painted this as a wedding present for a couple being married at the church.  I took artistic liberty by removing a few tress in front of the church.  The asymmetry of the steeple, red doors, brick, stone, and the wonderful round stain glass window give the church a unique look.  This painting began a a mono-print from a photo.  I printed the photo to the paper using winter-green oil.   By drawing, I add details I saw with my eyes that were not captured by the camera.  Then I did a series of watercolor washes to give it the warm yellow tones of sunset in the fall.  I finally added details with color pencil. 

Portrait

This is a finished portrait I did for Rebecca Hollis.  It is watercolor with some color pencil.  This was difficult due to three people in one painting.  One is hard enough most of the time!  I am very happy with the background as well as the faces.   

Drawings of an old cemetery

I have been sketching recently from some photos I took at an old cemetery in Mecklenburg county.  It was in the woods next to a horse pasture.  It was over grown and neglected, but beautiful!  The fall trees provided delicate branches to improvise with in pencil. 

Visual Artist Statement

Paris: You Can't Get Enough!

This is Luxembourg Gardens.  The late afternoon sun was just magnificent!  A friend of mine took this photo and I could not resist painting it.

The gargoyles on top of Notre Dame.  My sister Mary Helen and I loved the top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Eiffel Tower as seen from the top of the Arc de Triomphe at sunset.

A close up of the Louvre.  Jim Kelly took this photo.

This is a pastel as opposed to my usual watercolor medium.  This is Versailles Palace.

Paris: Flat Series

I did a series of small watercolors that were flat, meaning they had no perspective.  This is Napoleon's Tomb from Rodin's garden.  I love the storm in the background of this one.

 The Louvre.

All the Paris monuments.

A Paris square a came upon while wondering around.

Windows

This is an abandoned house on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.  I was drawn to the image because of the shadow of the tree on the side of the building.

This is a window in Hungary on the Buda side of the city.  The word "Fortuna" is actually carved into the building.

Hungarian Doors

This painting is from my Hungarian Series.  This was a home in Budapest.  In previous paintings of doors or windows I had removed wires, signs, etc.  I was discussing a painting by Andrew Wyeth with my wife, Maura.  Wyeth painted an electrical junction box that was beautiful.  So Maura dared me to paint this image with all the wires and signs.

This is a garage in the country side of Hungary near Balatonfred.  The color was so great I had to paint it!  I modified the composition using Divine proportion.

Middle Eastern Series

The Alhambra in Spain.  There are an incredible number of columns in this painting.  The reflections on the floor came out really well.

This is probably my most recognizable painting: Moroccan Sunshine.  I painted many versions of this image to get it just right.  This watercolor painting is 24 x 36 inches.

This is from Turkey.  Jim Kelly took the photo on a trip.  I modified it a lot.  The title is Face in Ruins.

Swan Fountain is also in Turkey.  This is a watercolor painting with pencil on top.

These paintings are from a series I painted in the late 1990s.

Church Series

This painting is from Budapest.  The ground in Hungary is white clay.  This creates a great effect in the light so that the sky appears more pink than we are used to. 

Cathedral Light.  This is from a German church.  I painted almost seven versions of this before I thought it was perfect. 

This is St. Stephen's Cathedral in Budapest.  The painting is titled St. Stephen's Shadow.  I thought the city looked like the sea and the dome of the church looked like a rock rising out of the sea.  I painted the sketch for this painting as the sun set in Budapest.  I completed this painting in my studio on my return. 

This painting is titled Krakow Convent.  My mother took a photo of this church during the day.  I turned it into a night time image and added the figure.  This is one of my all time favorite paintings.  I love the figure and the small light in the upstairs window. 

This church is called, The Church of the 14 Saints.  It is located in Germany near Bamberg.  The sunset and the statues on the top are wonderful. 

Paris and French Country

Arc de Triomphe at night. 

The Louvre

The Louvre at Night.

French cottage.

French hay stack.  This could be in North Carolina, but it is French hay!

French Cottage at Dusk.


For the past three years this blog has been devoted mostly to figure drawing.  However, I realized that my other series of paintings were not available to see on the web.  So for the next few posts I am going to put up paintings from series I have done in the past.  This post has paintings from Paris and the french countryside.  After looking at these paintings I want to make reservations to fly to Paris right now!  All of the above are watercolor paintings. 

Gallery Crawl Tonight

Two of my sketches for the Weight figure drawing series were juried into the Charlotte Art League Spring Show.  The show opening is tonight from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the Art League in Southend.  The drawing above is one of the sketches to be judged into the show.  See you tonight!

Portrait of Allen with Salamander

This is a painting of my son Allen when he was about 4.  At a Camp Cheerio alumni reunion, a salamander jumped onto Allen while we were on a hike.  As you can see it was bright orange with black spots.  Allen was so excited to have a new friend drop in that he kept the salamander on his shirt for about an hour while we walked. 

This is a watercolor painting.  I am really pleased with the way the shirt and whistle came out.  I am less pleased with the background.  I don't paint many portraits.  I think other people are so much better at portraits than I am, but every now and then I am moved to paint one.  My son growing up and becoming an eagle scout caused me to paint him at a younger age.  Nostalgia I guess. 

Sketching on MLK Day

I began this sketch with a very detailed drawing first.  This is unusual, I usually just do an outline in pencil then move to the color pencil sketch.  I like the mad expression on the models face.  I think that the pencil sketch has a better expression than the color pencil sketch. 

Step 1.  The eye brows were important on this one, so I spent a lot of time in the early stages on them. 

Step 2. 

The necklace in the final color pencil sketch looks like metal links, but it began as a twine rope necklace.