Thought-provoking Quote

I thought this quote was interesting!
"We all know that art is not truth.  Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand."  (Attributed to Pablo Picasso)

Commissions

Commission of a father who is gone but not forgotten.  Fascinating story since he was a Cherokee and had to go to Indian Boarding School, but this photo was snapped later on

 Sketches

En Plein Air in Dry Creek Valley

I spent today out in the vineyards painting en plain air, oil on canvas.  Here are the ones I did.

Number 1--A early morning path with strong shadows and spots of sunlight.  This painting is sold.

 Number 2--On West Dry Creek Road in the warm sunshine...trying to see the colors despite the parched land.  This painting is available for $650.

Number 3--Cleaning my palette

Sketching

Here are some sketches I completed.  There is something quite wonderful about just paper and pencil or graphite.

I'm working on...

an oil portrait.  Here are some shots.

Further along now

And further still

I also painted this for our kitchen.

Manger on Weathered Redwood

Old Family Photo Revisited

My friends asked me to do this old photo as a painting.  They were fine with the figures being obscure, abstract, and dark.  However, as I worked, it became clear that it would not look right at all. My father always told me that the human eye sees so much more than a camera lens--and this is a perfect example of that.  This picture does not look great with silhouettes (I have another painting with a sunset where that works).  So after a lot of prayer and many hours of work, I was able to lighten the figures a bit and also draw out a little more of their features.  It provided quite the challenge!  Here is the photo and the painting.