Standing Against the Wind

Standing Against the Wind  9x12 oil on board

for purchasing info click here

It's been unseasonably windy in Malta.  It wasn't quite

gale force winds today.  How do I know? This time

I managed to actually keep my visor on, but

everything else still needed to be taped or weighted down.

We still had a good time in the garden just outside

of the capital Valetta. You can see part of

the old wall that still surrounds the city.

Bahama Mama

Bahama Mama  6 x 6 oil on board

This was a pleasure to paint.  I like to continue down

this path and see where it leads. I've attempted to

not overwork the paint and be bolder

and less fussy with my mark making.

Something I do before I lay on the color is to

decide what harmony I'm going for.

In this case it was a Tetrad with the primary being blue-violet

and yellow-orange and the secondary red-orange and

blue-green.  I have all the colors laid out on my

palette and will use them as well to bend the color bias with.

I do this intuitively once I've made set my original 

intention so it gets a bit sloppy sometimes,

But for the most part I think the colors worked out OK.

to purchase for $100 click here

The Park

The Park  4x6 watercolor

This is the park I walk through with my buddy Robi

everyday.  It's one of the few places with trees

in Malta. It's also a place that's loaded with cats

and Robi finds that very exciting!

When the lights went out in Malta my set up in my

still life stage went dark, my monitor

was off too, so no more photo reference.

It was too late to pack up my stuff and go outside,

so I decided to pull out some photos and

my dusty watercolor set and play around.

I got cozy in the fading light by my studio window.

Then I had to start pulling out the candles.

I felt like a pilgrim.

It was quite pleasant with no distractions but the problem

is that you can't see any thing very well either.

I figured out early on that watercolor is very easy to over work.

Not easy for an oil painter who likes to pile on the paint to

cover whatever is underneath that I don't like. 

I think I peaked in my watercolor stage at about eleven, but

I can see how it would be easy to get hooked again.

This one of the park turned out OK.

In case you don't know who Robi is:

photo of me and Robi

we go to the same hair stylist!