...for the 40th time, some more work on the back wall.
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Next
Next, I tried to clean up the floor (see below). With partial success. But no cigar.
A Quiet Moment at The Met, work in progress. Click on image for larger view
The Daily Struggle
Painting did not go well today, though I pushed forward on three projects.
My goal on the above was to work on creating form on the jacket. I did, I think; but I'm bothered by the chaotic mess in the background.
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
A Day's Work
Though there was some frustration at times, I managed to push through and make a decent amount of progress on three paintings.
Most of the frustration was due to the fact that I just couldn't get the paint to behave on the turquoise sweater, and I'll have to go over it yet again. Plus, I'm mindful of the fact that there's still a lot to finish on the painting-within-the-painting. And especially the frame.
Had somewhat more success on this one; I think the color of the marble floor/wall strip is pretty good, though it needs more refinement. The pinkish clogs are just.not.right.
A Window, work in progress. Click on image for larger view
This is nearly done, hurray. I have a lot of edge work to clean up and I'll have to wait for the wall paint to dry to make sure it blends with what's already there.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Optical Illusion?
Okay; I sat down with a ruler and measured out the high points of the wooden slats in the middle row— down to the millimeter, in fact. And yet the lines STILL look uneven to me. Not sure where to go from here.
This is before— after I cleaned off the top layer of paint—
And this is after.
Monday, November 10, 2025
Done For The Day
That ornate, ripply picture frame took a lot of time today, and I'm glad to have it over with. The frame still needs a lot of work but I can set it aside for a while and concentrate on other things.
Hitting The Ground Running
So far today; good work on the denim pants, and some blocking in on the new piece.
In The Details, work in progress. Click on image for larger view
Sunday, November 9, 2025
3 For The Day
It's been quite a while since I've been able to stick to my goal of working on three paintings a day, so I'm happy that I got to do that today despite all the current chaos in my life. Sorry for the glare on upper right; the sun goes down early these days and I had to shoot by lamp light.
Redness
Was the sky really this color when I took the photo? And how can I soften the edges of the clouds to make them look more realistic?
A Diversion
While I wait for things to dry, I might as well work on some fun pieces, like the 10x10 sky/sea series on aluminum panels. I'm bothered by the harsh edges of the clouds though and have to figure out how to deal with those.
Friday, November 7, 2025
Shimmering Light
Continued to work this one, paying attention to the floor this time.
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Revisiting
I've been working on this for over an hour now, and am going to take a break. It's tedious trying to get those interior architectural details right; the lines have to not only be straight, but the colors and the values have to be correct as well. If you want to portray a wash of light over a broad area, you've got many things to consider.
Anyway, I'm happy with today's work. I toned down the dark lines, made the arches look right, and did some detailed work on the figure. Pretty soon I'm going to get back to the floor.
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Can I Catch A Break?
All I want to do is stay home and paint. But apparently I need more root canal.
I did squeeze in a little time on this today, and made good progress on that area at the top...
Placement
At this very early stage of the game, I'm just putting paint down to set transition points, places where one form changes to another. Markers, if you will. This one is going to be fun to paint.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
More Floor
Since I already had the colors I needed for the floor squeezed out for the Met painting, I decided to do some more floor work. Thankfully, this one went a lot quicker and easier.
Spinning My Wheels
This has been an incredibly difficult painting to work on, and though I'm trying to get it ready for sale at the end of the month, I'm afraid I need to wipe out the parquet floor entirely.
When I look at it, I see wavy lines where there should be straight ones. And while working on it today, I realized that somewhere in the middle of the floor the corners just don't line up. I have two choices: wait for it to dry and then start over with corrected measuring and drawing, or just sand the paint off and start fresh.
On top of that, there's still the Messonier to finish, and another attempt at getting the graduated shadows on the guard's face.
Friday, October 31, 2025
One Of Those AHA! Moments
I'm planning to enter a group show competition, and the entry fee allows for two paintings. The subject is city scapes, so my Straight Ahead" is perfect for that. But what else to enter? Many of my city paintings are sold, and the requirements for entry stipulate that the painting must have been done in the last three years.
While taking a break in the studio, I noticed a smallish piece that I'd set aside while I was trying to finish some series or other, and it's perfect for this show. I just have to finish it, and there's not that much left.
More Denim
I really am trying to get the color right on the denim pants. Today I stuck with a cobalt-ultramarine-white mix and tempered the blue with a combination of ivory and blue-black. Some time ago I bought a tube of Smalt, having read something interesting about it online, and squeezed some out but it looked purple! So that was out.
Also did some of the frame detail on the wall paintings.
Thursday, October 30, 2025
More Turquoise
This is a brand new piece, and one I'm excited about. Over time it will reveal itself. Not sure of the title yet.
Turquoise Day
The two pieces I worked on today feature bright turquoise, and it's invigorating to use such a lively color after all the subdued colors of the other paintings in the series. I was doing well on the sweater below but some studio interruptions forced me to stop.
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Textures
Marble. Wood. Clothing. Hair. So many textures and so much to observe and analyze; the paint needs to be mixed to the proper color and value and the brush can't be overloaded or too wet. It's always a challenge, but today I think I got the arm on the young woman on the right just right. So it's been a good day.
Reworking the Hall
The darkened hall on the right side of the painting had been brushed over so many times that it just looked bad, so this morning I mixed up a suitable color palette and went at it, making sure the brushstrokes faded to a bare minimum. At the same time, though, I had to sand back to the board. to eliminate some built-up areas, and in the process took off the latest layer on the face. Ah, well. If I got it right once, I can do it again.
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
A Day For Fur
The only painting I wanted to work on today was this one, and specifically, the fur jacket. I tried to add a deep tone in some places using a really ratty brush, and then went over some of it with a lighter color. Now to let it dry down.
Monday, October 27, 2025
Busy Busy
This was one of those days when household chores just plain needed to be done, but it took far less time to do the wash, get some carpet stains under control, switch out summer wardrobe items, and water many plants (indoor and outdoor) than I'd thought it would. So that left a lot of time for painting, which went very well.
Friday, October 24, 2025
"Messages" Moves Forward
Today I wanted to resolve that architectural area at the top, where the light from the skylights illuminates the corners of the arch. It took a long time and a lot of paint mixing, and it still needs another pass. But it's been a big obstacle to overcome, and at least I'm making some progress.
Thursday, October 23, 2025
When To Stop
Lightened up the face on the most visible planes, then added some shadow. Stopped before I ruined it.
Marbleizing
Added some basic, scratchy strokes to the line of marble trim at the bottom of the wall, where it meets the floor. But this is just the foundation layer. I'm glad I took out that extra line of wood molding.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Squeaking In Under The Wire
It's too dark to do any painting now, so a few minutes ago I put the brushes down. But this is not only coming along well— in spite of the 20 or 30 times I repainted the background— but it's not far from the finish line.
About Face
Decided to work on the face today as well as some of the painting's frame.
Much Work And Little To Show For It
Let me tell you, trying to reproduce that Meissonier painting is torture. And there's so much left to do on this piece. I keep putting it aside, but sooner or later I have to get it done.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
A Thought
I lined up most of the Museum Series paintings in the hall today, and the one below really looks crazy in contrast to the others. They're all done in a highly finished manner, my usual style, while this one is all over the place. Of course it's because the woman is standing in front of a Monet, and his technique and mine are polar opposites... but I realized the way to make this work in the context of the series is to paint her in my typical style, and the background in his.
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