Thursday, August 30, 2012

Double Trouble - Red Jungle Fowl Oil Painting



"Double Trouble"
16" x 20" Oil on gessobord panel

I completed this painting this morning after working on it for two weeks straight.   Please email me if interested in purchasing .    
    


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Red Jungle Fowl Oil Painting ( Work In Progress)

 
 
Work In Progress
Red Jungle Fowl
16" x 20" Oil on gessobord panel
 
 
This oil painting of Hawaiian Red Jungle Fowl is what I have been working on all this past week.  It still needs a lot of work to bring it to completion, but I wanted to share with you what I have been up to.     Below are various stages of the painting's development.
 
 
 
Stage One  - Work In Progress
 
After completely covering the panel in a thin coat of acrylic pyrrol red, I roughly laid in the composition with splashes of color.  
 
 
Stage Two  -Work In Progress
Acrylic
 
 
Stage Three - Work In Progress
Acrylic and Oil
 
In stage three I began using oil paints, mostly in the background trees and foliage.   The reddish burgandy plants are native Ti or Tea Leaf foliage plants.  I have one on my patio and they come in various shades of red, green, and varigated leaves.  
 
Please return soon for the completed painting of Hawaiian Red Jungle Fowl.
 
 








Saturday, August 18, 2012

Wake-Up Songs (House Finch Reworked)

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song." - Lou Holtz


"Wake-Up Songs"
9" x 12" Acrylic on canvas (re-worked)
$625


This is an older painting that I worked on this morning to correct the bird's anatomy and color.   I am much happier with this little house finch now.    There are several palm trees outside my studio and several house finches sing away in the early morning; especially when the palms bear their "fruit", which they like to eat.
These birds were introduced to Hawaii from California sometime before 1870.

Below is one of my reference photos for another painting in progress right now.


These are wild Hawaiian Red Jungle fowl found throughout the islands.   Please return soon to see the completed painting.  


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Blue Heaven (Orchid painting )

"Flowers are the music of the ground; From earth's lips, spoken without a sound."  - Edwin Curran



"Blue Heaven"
12" x 12" oil on gessobord panel
$1200


This oil painting of Dinard Blue Heaven Cattleya orchid was finished this afternoon.  It was a joy to work on it, and hopefully I will do a larger version with four blossoms in the near future.










Saturday, August 11, 2012

Dinard Blue Heaven - Stage 2 Work In Progress

"Hurry? I never hurry.  I have no time to hurry."  - Composer Igor Stravinsky


Dinard Blue Heaven
Work In Progress- Stage 2
12" x 12" oil on gessobord panel

This cattleya orchid is taking some time to complete.  It will need to dry before I work on it again.   As much as I would like to complete a painting in one sitting, most of the time it is my habit to work in stages and not hurry.  Stay tuned for the completed work.   




Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dinard Blue Heaven Orchid (Work In Progress)


The above reference photograph is of the gorgeous pale blue to lavender cattleya orchid Dinard Blue Heaven.   I fell in love with it at first sight and after bringing it home took over 100 reference photos of it.  Today I began a rough lay-in of oil color on a panel and you can see the work in progress below.


12" x 12" oil on panel
Work in progress

It looks pretty rough right now, but my aim was to first cover the panel completely with color.  The details will appear as the work progresses.   To view more photos of this orchid on a prior post, go here.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail (Oahu, Hawaii)


"Checking The Surf"
12" x 6" oil on canvas

This painting was posted here previously, but I wanted to show you one of my works with Makapu'u lighthouse in the distance from Makapu'u Beach Park on Oahu.   Yesterday my son Mitch and daughter-in-law Michelle and I hiked a two mile trail up that cliff to get a close up view of the lighthouse.   Wow!  What beautiful scenery along the trail.   I have lived here 9 years and it was my first time to do that hike.   Isn't it funny that when you live near such places you don't visit them as frequently as the tourists do.   Below are some photos from the hike yesterday that you might enjoy.





Below are Mitch and Michelle on the trail and afterwards at a restaurant at Koko Marina where we stopped  to have a late lunch after the hike.  That is Koko Crater behind them in both photos.




It was a beautiful day and a wonderful visit with my son and Michelle.   I posted more pictures on my photography blog as well as a video of the trail if you would like to see additional views of the area.

Now I must get back to painting !   But instead of waterlilies I feel the urge to paint the lighthouse and scenery from yesterday's welcome trip outside my studio.  Such a delightful predicament !     ;-D