Teee heee heee, I like this already.  Looks like a little piggy!  And the finished painting;
This little piggy goes to market.  Poor Meatball.  As an “Only child,” he is made to model the hats and coats I make and sell on etsy…………even the GIRLY ones. Poor boy.  His humiliation is now complete, as this image is immortalized in oil.  Take him out of his misery and buy this painting now. 

Here are the stages of a little painting I did yesterday.  Really happy with it.  You see, I have been pushing myself, getting outside to tackle subjects like mountains and landscapes, with nothing, “Cute” in sight.  All that experience is showing, I  hope.  Yesterday after messing around with some landscape fixes, I tackled my best subject; a bulldog.  Here are the stages for your enjoyment;
Six by Eight inches is my new favorite, favorite size.

 And now, the finished painting.  I never, ever, list sales on this blog.  But exceptionally, here is a link to the auction.  I’m selling the Meatball.  Let the bidding begin!

See you at the auction!

From nearly freezing, wearing ear muffs on Saturday, it has gone to over 100 in the studio yesterday. Crazy.  I stuck it out until after 6pm and had a lot of fun doing this scene from a restaurant in San Francisco.  Here I started with a pretty complete light and dark pattern;I let this rest while I cooled off a bit, then came back to finish it.  My goal is to paint everything in the scene, especially the faces, as I truly see them.  Not to include too much detail.  I think I got it.  What do you think?

Mistakes are learning too.  I spent nearly two hours driving to this location.  Set up, suited up and began.  The wind was howling so badly down that canyon right into my left ear.  I put on more sweaters and jackets, and would have added a headband over my ears, had I had one.  Freezing on May11th.  This was at about 9000 feet.  Down in the town of Red Lodge, Mt. people were walking around in sleeveless shirts in the sunshine.  Ok, my complaining is done. 
Well, not really.  Now, at home, I am not happy with the way the two lines of the two major mountains are too similar.  They come down in a perfect “V”, and that’s bad.  Yes, look!  That’s the way it is!!!  Lesson learned?  You don’t have to, shouldn’t draw it that way!  I am going to alter the slope of the hill on the left, to make it different to the mountain on the right.  Ok, I did really enjoy my freezing time out in the wind.  When I paint I forget time.  Lesson learned is I need to be more MINDFUL of the painting itself, of the developing painting.  I get so excited to start noting the values and colors that I didnt even SEE the problem.  I do now, it’s glaring.  I can fix it.  And above all, I  have learned a lesson.
Above you can see the painting after I worked on it for an hour or so in the studio.  I have totally changed the line of the hill on the left so that it is not identical to the slope of the mountain on the right.  Added more paint pretty much everywhere.  Tried to get an effect that drew me to the scene in the first place;  The rows and patterns of planted trees in the foreground.  The solution is not bad.  Overall, and improvement.  Don’t you think?

Lots of glazing, and a few details later.  Finished!

First I did a little 5 x 7″ study from a photo I had taken through the window of a bar in San Francisco.
I was pretty happy and couldn’t wait to use a large brush on a much larger panel.  So I began again;

I like it!  Let’s go!
Ok, at this point I was about to have an attack I was so pleased with myself!  Why, exactly?  Because I am finally painting the HUMAN FIGURE in LARGE SHAPES.  I can seem to manage to do this with landscapes and horses.  A common mistake artists make is to paint to much, to paint what they know is there, not what they can actually see.  This happens so often with the human face because we all know very well, every detail of what is there.  Simplify!  I did, above!
Ok, here is the larger painting so far.  LOTS of work left to do today.  I want to tone down the mural in the background, probably with a glaze.  A few more details on the hand to the front. Very important to put in the reflections on the table and lastly on the window through which we see the scene. 

I did have several, and made a composition.  Here is the very beginning;

And the finished painting;
You too can have a portrait done!  

And my set up.  Looks like an add for Best Brella.  I would DO one if asked.

And finally, the little painting, photographed at home.  I love it.  Oddly, it is so much easier to correctly see colors outdoors.  SO happy to be there again.   Everything looks grayer, on this painting.  But somehow, so much more real.
I love my life.