In the studio 3/20/16
I made progress on Euclid Avenue I this morning. Progress on the 48″ x 60″ painting has been slow at times. This canvas is from a stock of ‘professional grade’ canvases I bought some time back. The surfaces on these ‘professional grade’ canvases are very poor–execrable. I’ve had to spend a lot of time correcting them and still the
In the studio 2/14/16
On the Square is part of my Playhouse Square series–a series of paintings with subjects taken from Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. At 4′ by 5′, On the Square is at the outer limit for an easel painting. Any larger and you need a heavy-duty easel (or two) or a mural-style one. I don’t own one of those. When I
Snow-crusted Lake Erie
The east coast is blasted by a historical storm–over two feet of snow in Washington. Airports from NC to New England are closed. For once, the worst weather in the eastern part of the country isn’t over us here in NE Ohio. The weather has been very winter-like lately but, overall, the winter has been
In the studio 12/13/15
Today’s was the fourth painting session on Girl in the Purple Boots II. I think it’s far enough along now that you can get a sense of what it is about. I’m in my second pass with the painting. The first pass is a rough-in with local color (each pass can take a number of sessions).
In the studio 4/25/15
This is a pretty good photo of the unfinished Heated Discussion. It’s at the ‘get it finished any day now’ stage. I enjoy working on details but sometimes I give them too much attention. The stuff in the background is too strong–too busy. Secondary motifs can be jarring when they spill outside their intended place and
Playhouse Square I
I am working on the drawings for my new series–Playhouse Square–which I wrote about earlier. The series is based on photographs I’ve taken of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. I wrote before about how I planned to use figures from different days in the same locations, about how I plan to use the entire Square and its
Playhouse Square
I started a series of paintings early in the winter called Playhouse Square. Each painting in the series portrays the area around Cleveland’s Playhouse Square and the people going about their Square-related business. I am amassing photographs for the project; I already have several hundred. I’ve taken photos in all weather and all light conditions. I took
Mountain Retreat
The beautiful painting Clouds Visiting a Mountain Retreat is currently on view at the Cleveland Art Museum. The museum regularly rotates its vast Asian collection, and new works (new to me) are frequently to be found. The cloud-swathed mountain dominates the landscape; the travellers in the lower-left are easily overlooked. It’s early morning or early