Self Portrait in Red Sweatshirt

I started this painting on Christmas Eve, and finished it last night.  When working on quickie personal projects like this, I duct tape pre gessoed canvas to a masonite drawing board, and stretch it later.  I have a bunch of canvas that I use just for this.  I keep about 4 different types of canvas in the studio all the time.  The finer work goes on a fairly heavy Belgian linen, and the big stuff goes on heavy canvas.  I have another linen that is almost like silk.

The palette for this piece is limited; Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Indian Red, Mars Black, Zinc White, and just a touch of Cerulean Blue.

Here is a brief plug.  My daughter got me really hooked on Spotify.  I have been rediscovering loads of music, and I spend more time at the easel.  Look out Sirius, you might get replaced.

Christmas 2am Self Portrait

I started this on Christmas Eve just before midnight, and stopped around 2am on Christmas morning.  My daughter Alice cooked the best Christmas Eve dinner I have ever had.  The house smelled wonderful when I arrived home after a long and snowy drive home from West Virginia.  After dinner we played board games, baked pies, and listened to Christmas music.  It is hard to believe the year is almost over.

Eumelia nearly completed

"Eumelia" oil on linen, 26" x 16.  I may do a little more work to this painting, but for now I am going to let it dry for a week or two.

Antietam II

Oil on birch panel 18 x 24, in progress.
This is a painting I started over the summer, and has been worked on in between several other projects.  The plan is to have it completed by the end of the year.

Scratching The Brain

An old drawing and painting from a few years ago.  This was a piece that sat in my head for over a year.  I think about it now with winter on the way, and all of the other old places that I see everyday in West Virginia.  It is time to find another lost dream.

Eumelia

A close up of a work in progress.

Study For a Painting

This is a detail shot of a drawing for an oil painting I am getting ready to start.  I will be working from a photo, so it will be interesting to see how much life the final painting will have.  I am doing my least favorite part of the process, which is prepping the linen.  I am working on a slightly tighter weave of linen that I usually work on.

Candy

Acrylic on masonite, 5 x 5.

Pulley

I painted this watercolor over the weekend in my sketchbook.  For several months, I have been carrying around a little kit with handy watercolor pencils and a small tin of regular watercolors, along with an assortment of pencils.  It is a challenge to sketch on the spot, rather than rely on a camera to capture an image. 

Dunkle's Gulf

This is a painting I just finished for a wonderful customer in Pittsburgh.  The truck is a 1938 Ford that was beautifully restored.  I placed the truck in front of Dunkle's Gulf, a service station in Bedford PA that dates back to 1933.  It sits on the old Lincoln Highway.

Dunkles Service Station

"Dunkle's Gulf"  Oil on masonite, 11 x 14.

This is sort of a study for a larger piece that I just completed.  Dunkle's Gulf is a gas station in Bedford PA. It was opened in 1933 by Dick Dunkle and is still in operation today.  It sits right on Rt 30, which used to be a major east-west route that ran from Atlantic City NJ to Astoria Oregon.  This painting is available at the Locality Gallery, in Bedford PA.

Antietam

Oil on wood Panel, 18 x 24.  This is a work in progress.

Late Night Donuts, and Sheetz Coffee

"Late Night Donuts" oil on panel, 5 x 5.

Dorothy and I picked these out late Saturday night, or maybe early Sunday morning after a trip to Sheetz for coffee.  The studio is pretty much a 24 hour operation.  Dorothy is up all hours, and I work evenings and sometimes until the wee hours.  I have a large commission to finish this month, coffee and the occasional unhealthy snack are brain food.  The powdered donut in this painting was my favorite part.to paint.  The places where the powder do not quite covering the donut is pink-purple and not the brownish color one might imagine.  Color relationships get very interested when you study an object closely.  The background is a very dark blue, almost black.

Painting Snack Food

Hostess Sno-Ball (RIP), oil on panel, 5 x 5.

This is what I sometimes wash down with turnpike coffee late at night.  The Hostess Sno Ball is one of those foods I wanted, but seldom got when I was a kid.  I like the look of them in the package, so inviting, and somewhat disappointing.  But late at night, on the way back to Maryland from Edinboro PA, I always grab one at the Pilot Truck Stop with a large coffee.

Painting at Antietam

I am working on a painting of a young lady at Antietam.  We live just a short drive from the battlefield.  This summer is the 150th anniversary of the battle of Antietam.  The area will be loaded with civil war reenactors this weekend, and the battlefield will be packed with tourists.  I am not really into the whole guys running around with rifles scene.  I find the dress of every day people more interesting.  This is a huge trip for many people that show up to dress the part for the weekend.  Hidden behind the artifacts are plastic tubs, smart phones, and coolers filled with 21st century conveniences.   

Untitled

Oil on linen.

Allegheny Deer Skull

Deer skull, water color pencils and graphite on paper.

Andy

My daughter's friend Andy, oil on canvas.

Ripley West Virginia Back Hoe

Farm fresh art from deep in West Virginia.  Watercolor in the traveling sketchbook.

Nicole

Oil on canvas, in progress.

Keysers Ridge, Maryland

"Keysers Ridge," Maryland, oil on masonite 6.5 x 8.

“I saw the wind blow so hard on Keyser’s Ridge, that it took six men to hold the hair on one man’s head.”

In the early days of the National Road, this stretch was often “snowed up” with drifts up to twenty feet deep. Stagecoaches and freight wagons were stopped here for days at a time. When they could travel, they sometimes left the blocked roadbeds and rolled across the nearby “skirting glades.”

I turned the heat on in the Jeep as I drove over Keysers Ridge at sunset on Thursday. Not much there, just a small truck stop and a McDonalds.  The National Road (rt 40) crosses the ridge, and leads west into the Allegheny Mountains.  It is a beautiful road to travel any time of the year.

Peterbilt 379

"Peterbilt" oil on canvas 48 x 24.  Work in progress.

The Joy of Painting on Loose Pre-Gessoed Canvas

Oil on canvas 14 x 18.

Perhaps I should have stretched up some nice linen. However, having the ends of some canvas rolls to just tack onto a board and start working on is a no pressure situation. If I mess up (which is often the case) the work becomes part of the flotsam of neglected art over there in the corner of my studio.  I have a lot of this scrap canvas, which was purchased when I worked near an art supply store a few years ago.

Mennonite Girl

This is a painting I started the other day. It has been a great day to paint, raining all day, cool, nowhere to go. The canvas is tacked to a board, just under 18 x 24 inches.
I have a whole lot of canvas that I bought on several rolls around the studio. These are the ends of rolls that Plaza Art had up front for quick sale. A quick and easy way to just start a piece quickly by tacking the canvas on a drawing board.

If youth but knew; if age but could

"If youth but knew; if age but could," oil on linen 18 x 24

Corn Maze II

Here there is a bit more done to the piece, still though, lots to work out.

Corn Maze

Work in progress. Oil on linen, 18" x 24.'