Oil Sketch

10"x14" oil on canvas.

"Blight"

The unfinished underpainting of a work in progress.

Apocryphon

"Twilight IV - Apocryphon," oil on 18" x 24" canvas. At The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville, Arkansas.

Liminal

"Twilight III - Liminal," oil on 8" x 16" cradled panel, at The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville. SOLD.

"Twilight IV"

Another study in the series, charcoal, acrylic, and oil on cardboard.

Clouds

"Clouds," oil on 18" x 24" canvas. This is another piece for a show later this year.

The Messenger

This painting has been extensively re-worked since I originally finished it several years ago.  I still have some issues with it, but I think it is much improved overall.  It is oil on canvas and it's about 18" x 40."

Work In Progress

Untitled, oil on 18" x 24" canvas.

Cold Autumn

I finished this painting last night. The painting is oil on a 10" x 14" cradled wood panel, and it is for sale for $125 until November 10, 2008.

After November 10th, please contact The Frame Shop and Gallery at (479) 967-1398 or (479) 970-8085 if you are interested in this painting. Or email them at: suzannealford@frameshopgallery.net. Thanks!

[Note: the image is sharper in person than the photos show. The wet paint made it difficult for me to photograph.]

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Finished

I finally finished guys. Sorry it took so long. I nearly finished the painting several months ago, decided that I wasn't happy about how it looked (particularly after this disection of a house portrait), and repainted the whole thing. My wife has the camera in Florida now, so I had to use my cell phone to take this picture. The sky isn't quite this bright in person, but it would be really cool if it did. If you're curious, here is how it looked back when I started.

Untitled Angel - Finished

Untitled Angel, oil on canvas, 18" x 40," in a private collection.

I recently finished and delivered this commissioned piece last weekend.  It was fun to paint, but I'm glad to be finished.  I have several other paintings waiting and I'm ready to start.

Derelict

Oil 12" x 14" on cradled panel. This painting is no longer available for sale. [The painting's colors are bright, but the photo toned the image up some, more so than in life.]

The remains of this house are on the corner of South Louisiana and West 13th Street in Little Rock (see the image below). I think someone may actually be renovating the house, but progress is extremely slow (hardly any progress over the last six years I've been watching them). It's a great house, I hope the succeed in finishing it one day.

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Hog Wild

I've been using the same basic set-up for my quick, plein air oil paintings since I began this blog. I use a limited palette of about eight colors (mars black, titanium white, alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow light, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, indian yellow, and maybe burnt umber or yellow ochre), a cradled wood panel (6"x8" up to 10" x 14"), and a fist full of round, hog-hair brushes (rounds, sizes 8-12). I give myself around 30-40 minutes to work based on the size of the panel and the light & weather conditions.

The purpose of these quick paintings is to loosen up my painting style and to get me warmed up for bigger projects. And, this formula has worked pretty well for me. Sure, about a third to half the painting don't make it, but the ones that do have been getting better and better. And, most importantly, I'm painting.

Prior to this, a lot of paintings never got finished. I'd agonize about every brush stroke, and, if the painting was starting to look good, I'd be paralyzed with the fear of ruining it. And, I fretted about wasting my precious, expensive oil paints on bad paintings. For years, I didn't manage to produce much.

I tried to limit myself to as few variables as possible with my plein air exercises. My formal education in oil painting has been pretty erratic, so I figured that would have to learn through experimentation. This gave me the chance to explore what all I could do with a particular set of materials by limiting myself to using only them. It also allowed me to focus more on the painting itself than my material.

Recently, I've become dissatisfied with my round, hog-hair brushes. There isn't anything wrong with them, it's just that I'm tired of only using them. I've been looking at a lot of other artists' works and wondering, "how did they do that?" One of the answers is that they are using different brushes than I am.

I've bought some new brushes. Not too many yet since I'm on a pretty tight budget, but I have scrounged up some filberts and square brushes with synthetic and sable bristles. I've used them on a few of my more recent paintings which may be why some of them are not turning out as well as I like. It takes me a while to get use to new things, but I think that the change has been good. It may be ugly, but progress is being made.

Frühjahr

Oil on 10" x 14" cradled panel, for sale at The Frame Shop and Gallery in Russellville, Arkansas. SOLD.

Granny Smith

Oil on 9" x 12" cradled panel, $100.00.

Work in Progress

Oil on canvas, approximately 20" x 45."

March, Afternoon Melting Snow

Oil on canvas, approximately 5" x 12," SOLD.

March, Morning Snow

10" x 14" oil on cradled panel, $250.

03/12/08 - I recently entered this painting in an art contest. I should know if I won anything in late April. Wish me luck!

Free At Last

So, here it finally is. I've been working on this painting since November 2006. It's 3'x3' oil on canvas. It is one of the monster commissioned pieces that I've been working on lately, so it is not for sale since it already has a home.

To date, this is the largest landscape painting that I've completed. Unlike most of the smaller paintings that I've been posting and selling on this blog, this painting was completed with the use of reference photos, a practice from which I've been trying to minimalize. Working from life is best, but sometimes you just can't manage it. This cypress grove is just off the interstate outside of Conway, and painting from the shoulder of the road just wasn't an option.

Hot and Dry

Oil on cradled panel, 9"x12," $100.