Fairgrounds

Each year our family goes to the Del Mar Fair. This year will be no exception. Of course, since there is a generation gap, there are differences in opinion which part of the fairgrounds we should see first. This painting shows where this family is going before seeing the mineral collection or the art show or the quilt display.

Hay Bales

I love farms and all the activity that takes place there. Hay baleing is fun to watch and photograph. This photo was taken late in the day when the sun was low and shinning light on entire left side of this subject. The trees in the background also helped create that value contrast. I'm pleased with the outcome of this painting.

Herding Dogs at Work

I keep thinking that if I do just one more flock of sheep I'll have the technique securely in place. The right value changes will go in their proper places so the viewer gets feeling of what I'm trying to put on the canvas. The herding dogs are lots of fun with flicks of three values and three color changes. I loved painting this one.

Sheep Shearer

I love doing figurative paintings. Since I had done a flock of sheep and a herder I thought why not try to paint a person doing the shearing. This is the result of this effort.

Santorini Burro

Donkeys and mules were the only the means of transportation in Santorini till about 1960. Still today for all the transportation of goods and materials within the caldera pathways is carried out by our charming friends! They really are tireless workers,carrying huge loads of items on their backs. You can see them trudging up and down the very narrow cobbled streets all day long. I loved this photo because of the beautiful cast shadow that was on the wall in back of this little fellow and enjoyed doing this painting of him. As cute as they look, they must be biters because most have little cages around their mouths to keep them from nipping tourists who want to get too close and be too friendly. I chose to eliminate that from my painting of him though.

Shepherd

I painted these sheep much the same way I paint a bunch of grapes. Mix a big batch of, in this case, sheep wool color and mass in the entire silhouette of the flock. Then I refined the sheep in back to look like, you guessed it, sheep's behinds. Then I indicated the animals in front with a slightly grayed value and popped in the ears where I felt the tops of the heads would be. It gives the impression of a flock of sheep without laboring over each one. The last application of paint was adding pure white on the top flanks to give them just a little more shape.

Fetch

I wanted this painting to be more of a sketch and not an overworked portrait of a little girl and her dog. I worked back and forth carving background and foreground at the same time and being very aware of the values. I think the background trees got a tad too much like arrows pointing to the main subjects but now enough to make me want to go back in and rework it. My whole thrust was to have freedom of brushstroke and indicate a cute little girl happily playing catch with her faithful dog.