Self Portrait - Watercolor

I ran across this old self portrait, and just had to drag it out and use it. It was done in the mid-late '80s I think and is pretty large - a full sheet of watercolor paper at least, what is that 22 x 30? I forget. Anyway - it makes me laugh.

Tree Study 2 - Acrylic on paper 4" x 6"

Another view of the same tree. These tiny studies are fun to do.

Tree Study 1 - 4 x 6 - Acrylic on paper

Painted in my studio from photo reference. I like trees. They are very similar to doing portraits of people in many respects - tree portraits. I would love to be a landscape painter - I like the whole idea of it and the weather is so suitable for it here in San Diego. But I don't have an affinity for it at all. I like this though, and I enjoyed painting it. This was done from a photo I took on a "failed" plein air painting day at San Luis Ray Mission.

Hibiscus study after Johnnie Liliedahl

Oil on board 6 x 8 - This little still life was done in my studio from a collection of oil painting lessons on CD-ROM that I purchased several years ago from Johnnie Liliedahl. I ran across the CD - I had forgotten about it, and thought it might be fun to give it a shot. It actually was fun. Not exactly my taste in subject matter, but it was fun to try and good practice.

Portrait of Jan - Oil on Canvas - 16 x 20

Portrait class, Instructor Vanessa Lemen. This portrait was started in class from life and then worked on at home from a photo. It has some problems that need to be fixed, but mostly I am pretty happy with it. It feels like a bit of a "breakthrough" painting in a way, I was able to recognize some initial problems and then attack them with a boldness that I haven't had before. I am not certain that I will finish this portrait as it feels like it has served it's purpose for me already. We will see. Although now that I look at it one the web - maybe I will fix it....

Apple Study 1- Oil on canvas board- 8 x 10

This was painted in class 8-21-06. Instructor Vanessa Lemen, Fundamentals class. Not too much to say about the painting, pretty simple, painted with brush and knife. I love painting fruit. This is a good class, Vanessa is an excellent teacher. I missed out on a lot of fundamentals in college as I went to school at a time when the popular belief was that to actually teach anything would ruin the student creativity. Right.

What am I doing here?

I value my privacy. Or do I? Does a person who truly values privacy get on the internet and pour out their heart and soul to the world? Forget the heart and soul bit - how about just revealing your name and location, and your thoughts and email address....I just wasn't raised to do this. I was raised with unlisted phone numbers, and taught not to ask personal questions or give out ANY information, to anyone, for any reason. And yet here I am - writing for the world to see. Hmmm. I still have issues with this.