Meanwhile..still in England

Ghost of Constable(SOLD!) This is a view from the train, going up the coast to London, from Torquay. It's "Around Newton Abbot". Again, the clouds in the UK are purely Constable. I actually couldn't believe it as much as I was seeing it!! Sketching, and taking pix was the way I recorded most of it. Maybe when I can I will go back and stay for abit, painting on location. Clouds make for paintings that are joys to paint, and this little gem was no exception. Soon, however, I'll show you what happens when paintings go WRONG.

Clouds in a Blue Sky

Torquay(8x11, oil $100)

Here's an 8x11 inch painting, I did based on sketches and photos from my trip to Torquay, UK, back in October for Brian Lumley's convention(a total blast btw) Known as the "British Riviera" it had some fairly amazing clouds and weather. I can see where John Constable got it from. There is nothing like an English sky or landscape. I took lots of pictures, as the weather changed so fast that, painting on site was pointless. I could paint clouds forever if I had to. Constable sure did a fine job of it, and his work is one of my inspirations.

Pears Repeating...

Bosce Pears(9x12, oil, SOLD) It's really no wonder pears can be anthropomorphized to resemble people, and that, people connect with them so much. Who DOESN'T feel this way, this week? I ask you? All the holiday food makes us all a little pear-shaped.
Fun little 9x12 painting, a hour sitting, lotsa fun with the skin textures....

Waves! Ocean! Rocks! Oh boy!!

CarmelA small painting, 5x10 inches, just dried, I did from some photos I took in Carmel, California when we went to Monterrey some years ago. The Pacific has a very different color of blue than the Atlantic. It's this real deep Pthalho Blue which is a color that tends to dominate EVERYTHING in the picture. I could watch waves hit rocks for hours (the sound itself is tranquilizing). Sometimes I do.

Head Gear!!

Springbok Horns(8x10, $100)This is another piece from the "bargain bin" at Maxilla and Mandible. A springbok skull where the top was broken off, making it imperfect. I had it for awhile and realized it would make a good painting subject with the paint applied thickly and, the various textures on it. I like how my shadows came out.

More Summer Thoughts...

House on The Beach (9x12, oils, $100) This is another one that I did, on site up in Provincetown, Mass on the Cape. 40 minutes session with sand blowing on me the whole time(the elements are always the challenge of the outdoor painter). To create some of the actual high grass, I scratched out some paint. It's a fun trick when it works right. I liked the shadows I got sort of along the edge of the path. I think I got that just right, considering the sun was in my eyes. It's now the "between" holidays week, The Twilight Zone of the year, which nothing really happens and like kids out of school, you want to take the time off and kick back.

"And so this is Christmas..."

Christmas Balls(8x10 oils, $100)

....And this is what I've done. For Christmas or whatever holiday you care to celebrate. The idea of a Christmas "tree" with ornaments and such, came from Pagan origins, and it's sort of been handed down since then, and that's pretty cool in my book. I did this little 6x8 painting, in one hour sitting, and if you look closely, I wound up with a bit of a self-portrait! Anyway, enjoy, eat, drink and merry-make like there is no tommorrow!

Doesn't feel like Christmas Eve....

Oregon Mists(8x10, oil SOLD!)If fact it doesn't feel like Sunday. But anyway, I did this one a few days ago, and it had to dry good to scan it. Last year we were in Oregon and I did something I always wanted to-drive down the coast. This is just some of the fantastic scenery we found on Oregon's coast. A fog moved in, and it moved in quite fast and it was really weird. Color just faded and everything took on this grey/black/white pallette. So based on some photos, I did this. The atmosphere has a real "Skull Island" look to it. Huge cliffs of rock just vanished before our eyes. Very amazing coastline and I recommend it to anyone! Don't worry, something for Christmas....

Back to food...

Vine Tomatoes (9x12, oil $100)

So these are vine tomatoes. As I said, the produce aisle is now a fair game for models of what to paint. And, the bonus is, I take said produce and make a meal out of it. Fun little 8x10 inch painting, with lost edges. I attempted to use solid, thick strokes of paint and make the tomatoes look "delicious". After they served their art model purpose, I chopped them up and made them into a reduction sauce. Add olive oil, garlic, spices and tomato paste and voila! A fine sauce for the linguine. Delish!!

Summer...six months away

The Cove (5x10,oils $100)I miss Green. Not Christmas green, but...leaf green. The overall green you see in summer. Everything is kind of bare and brown(and depending where you are cold). I did this 6x12 painting last summer, in Jamestown, RI. Done in a half-hour session, plein air by the water. Looking back on it, it came out rather...Edward Hopper-esque. There was a bit of humidity at the time, hence the more opaque background. When I go to paint outside all the interesting clouds disappear. Oh well, you get what you get. I've been kinda busy with holiday preparations, so I am using one of my "backlog" images". Besides, it's nice to think of warm summer again. A bit of background on this area-it was badly destroyed by the Hurricane of '38 and some "then and now" pictures are fairly stark in contrast.

Solstice....

Australian Sunset(8x10 oil, $SOLD)This is a gorgeous sunset I photographed while in Victoria,Australia 18 months ago. I knew someday I would paint it, as I love doing sunsets. The tree you see is a Eucalyptus, so it has this kind of "droopy" look to it, a little alien to Northern Hemisphere eyes, only because the tree grows everywhere there. In fact in dry weather, such trees are a fire hazard, as if they catch lit, they literally explode from the sap. Koala bears also get their entire nutients from them, including water. I have no problem working from photos. I took them, I know-and remember- what I saw and, they catch a moment in a flash that is otherwise risky painting plein air. As it is December 21st-Solstice- it's the shortest day in the northern hemisphere, while in Australia, it's the longest day. Makes you feel kind of small and seeing planetary science occurring before your eyes. I also realized, I gave you TWO paintings in ONE day on Wednesday! This means I might skip a day this weekend. Maybe.

Don't Des-pear

Cuddling Pears(9x12, oil $SOLD)
So I started painting pears. What artist hasn't? This little 8x10 painting took about an hour. I'm also told of all the fruit-paintings, pears sell best. Why? I think I know. Pears are the most "human-looking" fruit out there. Physically, the resemble simplified human forms. Pears bruise easily. Humans bruise easily. Do we feel empathy for this? This isn't to say humans are "pear shaped"(though, some are) and the term "Pear shaped" usually means something has gone amiss with a plan. So why are pears so appealing when the term "pear shaped" means something not so good? I bought some Bosch Pears to paint soon-they're a harder, skinnier pear. It's amazing how painting fruits and vegetables gets you looking at the grocery store produce aisle totally in another light. You stop and look-and feel-everything, and people wonder if you're okay.

Okay, so it's another day later already!!!

Trilobite(8x10 oils, $100)Okay so, here's the trilobite! I figured 12am counted as the "next day" and I promised this. Well, it's not as good as the onion, but hey, it's a 300 Million year old fossil. We should all look as good at that age and wind up fossilized at least. A trilobite is a tri-lobed water bug(essentially) from the prehistoric age, one of the first life forms of it's kind, and a cornerstone of anyone's fossil collection. Mine is from Morocco, I recall and has this golden color to it, and seems like it was embedded in a clay. I forgot where I got this, but it seemed like a neat subject to paint in a half hour.

Don't shed tears....

The Onion(8x10, oil, SOLD)

Okay, I know, this was to be the trilobite...but, I'll get to that, promise. This is an onion I did in about 25 minutes. 8x10 inches, I wanted the challenge of painting all those translucent layers. I don't like to eat these kind of onions, I'm into the "Bermuda" onions which have that purple color on the outside of the layers(but I will paint one of those to be an equal-opportuntity painter, trust me, so that no onion goes offended). SOmetimes when I see the state of the world, I make an allegory of how it's all like an onion...peeling it back layers at a time and trying not to shed tears. Wow. Did I just get profound?

So why "a Painting-a-Day"?

Shell(8x10 inches, oil $100)

Some people might ask "Why a painting-a-day?" One, it means I start-and finish-a painting in one day, usually an hour. Something done for the day. There is nothing worse, to me, when a painting drags on and on. Even on complex pieces, they should start to look fairly good by three days in, or I start to lose interest. Also, it instills more confidence in me. Oddly, in recent months, I lost alot of confidence in what I was doing. I just can't figure it out, but I was second-guessing myself and feeling like I didn't have what I had when I started in this business. I'm being deadly honest there, no pretentions with me. Anyway, I know I promised a Trilobite, and he's coming, but this cool shell grabbed my attention and, it's a grainy picture, but still something I'm happy to share.

When Dinosaurs Ruled The Paint

The Trike

Just in case you didn't know...I LOVE dinosaurs. I have since I was about 4 and I like painting them when I am able to. The Ceratopsians were some of my favorites, with the Triceratops being one. I did this little 9x12 painting in about an hour or so. Kind of sketchy but I liked the background alot. I did this at Wendy Snow-Lang's framing shop and gallery last weekend. I used one of my plastic models from Japan, to feel like I was painting an extinct animal "from life" in a sense.

And this is me actually PAINTING, in the gallery. Off, out of camera is Charles Lang, Wendy's other half. I highly recommend you check out The Art Corner(see my links). Wendy and her staff can frame just about anything you like, anyway you like. And she has a fine selection(currently) of my small works, the aforementioned Charles Lang and my wife, Marianne's works(check out her blog in my links, Muse du Jour). Next time I'll post my Trilobite piece, so things will be a bit prehistoric for couple of days.

Paint on The Rocks....

Beavertail Rocks(8x10 oil $SOLD!)

This quite incredible place is about a 20 minute drive from my house. It's a jut of land, called Beavertail, on the island known as Jamestown, which doesn't SEEM like an island but it is. In fact they just tore down the OLD Jamestown Bridge which stood alongside the new one, for like a decade, and it took that long to figure out how (and $who$ and $how much$)) it would be torn down. But I digress...

Beavertail is a national park, and open year round. Since it was especially nice lately, and the surf was especially rough, I wanted to do some painting and did this little 8x10 in about 45 minutes. Man, I LOVE painting ocean-hitting-rocks. If Rhode Island is good for one thing, it's got a cool coastline(which is what makes up for the bureaucracy of tearing down old bridges). Expect alot of these kind of paintings here. In fact, I'm doing a fairly "epic" sea monster/fantasy painting and that will have lots of rocks with ocean, so this is getting me into the "place"(frame of mind) to do that(you see, fellow Fantasy and SF lovers, how it all ties together?). I'm a huge fan of Winslow Homer and he did some fantastic seascapes of the Maine coast. His critics told him "Don't paint seascapes, no one will like them" and yet what do we remember him most for?

Like I said earlier, all these paintings are $100 apiece, just contact me if so inclined. But just comments are nice as well! So enjoy.

When life gives you lemons...paint them!

Two Lemons (9x12, oil SOLD!)

Okay, so this painting will NEVER hang in a used car dealership's wall, but still, these lemons provided me with some fun doing shadows and, largely warm colors. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of creating that bumpy surface texture in oils, and the "white" highlight, and in less than an hour, wet-on-wet oils. One of them was a tad green so I wanted to show that. Lemons go from green to a light yellow, and get progressively darker as they ripen. The lemon on the left was a little more ripe than the one on the right. I think later, I used them to cook with-chicken with garlic, wine and lemon juice. Mmmmmmm.

Curse of The Cat Skull...!!!!

Painting of the Day...Curse of The Cat Skull!!!

Cat Skull-Red Version(8x10 oil$100)

Well, the Cat Skull interrupted our nice day at the beach...like I said, a skull of ANYTHING is amazing to look at and paint. This one, I stuck some red cloth under it with alot of folds and did this little 8x10 painting in about 40 minutes. It's missing it's front tooth in this view, so you can see why they deemed it "imperfect". But one person's trash is another's treasure. I particularly like the broader strokes I did on this one, and the recessing shadows that are harder to paint than one might imagine. I am sure the skull will show up again in another painting.

HURRICANE....from afar

Painting of The Day is....

Hurricane Swells(10x14 oils,$100)

I did this, to be honest, in Sept, but what makes it interesting is I did it on Nauset Beach on Cape Cod when all the tourists had left and, a huge hurricane was roaring offshore 800 miles away and sending HUGE rolling waves (some of them 12ft) toward the east coast. I was painting with my rear end sitting in sand, and it was a nice Indian Summer day but with a brisk breeze, so sand was kicked into my painting(which was kind of cool in retrospect as it gave it texture!!). I'm fascinated with weather, and the forces of nature. I'd however, rather have that hurricane a safe distance away than headed toward us. This session lasted about an hour and the painting was 10x14 inches in size, on a panel. The tide and huge waves rolling in eventually chased me off the beach after a wave came within 6 inches of my feet( sitting down.). It was a "white water" moment with alot of foam kicked up. Trying to get a wave to "hold still" for you is impossible of course, and barring photography, you just have to capture the feel of the moment, the seagulls kind of balance it out. When you do plein air landscapes, it's a matter of "snatch and run" and do the best you can in the situation you have, with lighting and weather changing drastically in a moment.

My next fascination will be with painting tornadoes. I intend to work from some personal photos a friend took, and not get anywhere NEAR one of those things. I was actually IN a tornado in 1985 when a small one struck Rhode Island-I didn't know what it was until I saw the green sky and churning clouds.

There's a GREAT little motel off the beaten path on Nauset an we rented a room there for two nights, off season(cheap) and no one was really around. So it made for about three nice paintings in two days, on Cape Cod and the weather was terrific mostly.

More paintings are in the hopper, drying so they can be scanned. So lots more to come. I painted a Trilobyte fossil today. In the meantime I did an interview for an upcoming issue of IMAGINE FX magazine-a high end UK publication dedicated to digital Fantasy and SF art but they feature a "Legend Artist"(read that:old timer!) in each issue and this coming issue they picked me.

And Away We Go!!!!!

Painting of The Day...

Cat Skull on Green(9x12,oils $100)

This is 9x12 inches, oils on panel. I did this in about an hour. I find bones fascinating. What artist doesn't? They are organic, grotesque and beautiful at the same time. You can paint them from many angles and, make them look like something totally different each time. I think I got this skull-it was considered "imperfect"(missing a tooth) so it was in the "bargain bin"($5) at Maxilla & Mandible, an AMAZING New York City store full of dead things that once you enter, it's hard to leave, and harder to leave without buying some fossils or bones or something cool.

The fun part of doing these paintings, quickly is that it teaches you to be observant, and timing them, to an hour or less, you get what you get and don't get too picky or fussy. Oil paints can be something you fuss with forever if you don't have ground rules - like taking it *away* from yourself. RISD professor, Illustrator Nick Jainschigg - my friend and painting pal and Knower of All Things Painting - got me into doing this-meaning to say he inspired me with what he's done with his paintings-a-day.

The other thing about doing these is that, because I work as a movie illustrator and, doing fantasy paintings and such, on these I can really loosen up and just have some fun. It's not that I DON'T have fun doing the other stuff, but this way, I get grounded in observing the "real" world. The basis of all realist art is good drawing and good observation of light and shadow. I'll also be posting sketches for other things I am doing as well (maybe while the paintings are drying!).

And, all these paintings will be for sale, $100 each, sizes will be no larger than 9x12 in most cases, but contact me if you want to buy one as it will be first come first served. There will be a slight time lag in posting paintings as because they are oil, they take a few days to dry through, so what you see may have been painted on ANOTHER day, not really "today". But each one was done during a day hence, "painting-a-day".

Bob