Dad's Profile

Dad's Profile | 6"x6" | oil on hardboard
My Dad is always a good subject for a portrait. He has had a big white beard for many years and turns the heads of a lot of small children at Christmas time.


I remember drawing his profile when I was a kid. I don't know if that drawing is still around or not. There is something I like about a profile. The window light streaming into the room really worked perfectly in adding dimension to his face. This was based on a photo I took after a Sunday dinner at my brother Bruces' house.

Karin

Karin | 5"x7" | oil on hardboard

This is a quick study. If you recall the recent artist portrait swap, it was organized by an artist named Karin Jurick. Coordinating 180 artists and the entire process I'm sure was a massive undertaking. As a surprise thank you, another artist organized 118 of the participating artists- and all 118 did a painting of Karin as a surprise for her.

I chose to paint mine really close-up, rather than painting her whole head. I thought that might make it stand out from the rest of the group. We all worked from the same photo of Karin, and it's interesting to see all the different interpretations. I'm not crazy about how mine turned out, but it was fun to loosely paint this. Click on the thumbnails below to peek at all 118.

Portrait Swap

The woman that I painted and posted last week turns out to be Susan Lile, who resides in Missoula, Montana. Above you see the portrait that she painted of me. You can go check out all 180 portraits at the Different Strokes blog.


It is extremely cold these days, but the air is wonderfully clear and the bright white snow on a sunny day is stunning. This is a photo taken looking out my studio window.

Portrait of an Artist - 2009

Portrait of an Artist 2009 | 8x10" | oil on hardboard

Some of you will remember that a year ago I did a portrait swap which was facilitated by the Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. Artists were asked to submit photos of themselves and in turn, received a photo of another anonymous artist to paint. It was fun last year, in the end discovering that the woman I painted was from Israel.

Once again this year, I do not know who this woman is, but hope to correspond with her after both of our portraits are revealed on the Different Strokes blog. I would encourage you to go there and see the wide variety of styles and interpretations. There are 180 artists participating this year.

I painted this on a little larger panel than my most of my other blog work, and it was a pre-primed panel that I had purchased. The surface was ultra-smooth and I struggled with that more than I thought I would. In the end, I think it came around fairly well.

Mom's Bread

Mom's Bread | oil on canvas

It was my Mom's birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I had intended to post this at that time, but of course it slipped my mind. So I thought I'd share it this week instead. This is a large portrait I did of her. Click on the photo to get a little closer look.

I featured Mom's cake on my very first blog painting back in September of last year. As I mentioned at that time, she loves spending time in her kitchen and homemade bread is one of her specialties. In the painting she's holding my favorite bread that she bakes. It's an oatmeal bread that is unbelievably wonderful....just like Mom.

Portrait of an Artist

Portrait of an Artist | 5"x7" | oil on hardboard

This is a painting I just completed of a total stranger. Who is this woman with the lovely smile?

I was paired up with her on the Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. 130 artists submitted a photograph of themselves and in doing so, agreed to paint a portrait of one of the other artists. So this fine lady has been given my photo to create a portrait of me as well. I'm anxious to see it.

What is she thinking about as she studies the colors, curves and lines of my face? As I painted her, I tried to bring out the lively artistic spirit I sensed in her photo. I painted this on the standard 5x7" panel that I have been using for most of my blog postings. In hindsight, it may have been easier to paint this on a slightly larger size. I hope she likes it.