Just in time for Halloween

About a month ago I was inspired to do a still life with a Fall theme when I was looking through the produce at the grocery store.  So I purchased a pumpkin and a couple of gourds.  That same evening I was flipping through a book of Dutch paintings and found a still life with a skull painted by Peter Claesz in 1630.  As I was arranging my composition for the still life I thought it would be cool to include the skull from the Peter Claesz painting to give it a bit of a Halloween theme.  So I could capture the cast shadows of the skull on the gourds I used a head of lettuce where I was going to add the skull.  Here is a photo of the arrangement, a sketch of the composition, and the final oil painting.

Overlooking the South Bay from Edgewood Park

I was hiking on Saturday at Edgewood Park and decided to sketch some oak trees while taking a break to look out over the Bay.  I also took a picture for reference which I used to do this watercolor painting.  I focused on the oak trees off center and to the right as my subject.

Charcoal portrait sketch

I like working with charcoal because I can easily blend it and correct errors in form and value.  Here is a copy of a portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger of a member of the Wedigh Family.

Emilie Seriziat

Jacques-Louis David painted an exquisite portrait of Emilie Seriziat and her son in 1795.  And here is a copy rendered with charcoal of this masterful painting.

Water Dog Lake

I find landscapes to be the most difficult to compose because it is not always clear where to focus.  There is a small lake in our neighborhood that one day inspired me to sketch the surrounding hillside as the sun rose behind me.  Below is an attempt at rendering this scene in oils.  I struggled a bit with the subject but found it a good exercise to experiment with colors.

Why Beauty Matters

In today's consumer oriented utilitarian society beauty matters more than ever.  What value do you place on beauty?  Philosopher Roger Scruton proclaims that contemplation of beautiful art can deliver us to our spiritual home and redeem us from human suffering and celebrate  our sacred joy.  I thoroughly enjoyed his video Why Beauty Matters

A pear and a pot

After a fortifying breakfast of Grape Nuts and Cheerios this morning I felt inspired to paint a still life of a pear and a pot using my makeshift shadow box.  I like the balance of warm and cool colors, the connected shapes, and the pot.  I would like to see more form in the pear and the cast shadow of the pear on the pot is too dark.  Perhaps if the shadow was lighter the pear would have more form.