Night Light SOLD (Click here to see auction results on eBay)

This is a scene of a candle that I painted from life. I knew that I couldn't begin to capture the color or values that actually exists without painting it from life. The only challenge was to illuminate my panel and pallete so that I could see the colors that I'm putting down. I like painting from life, but it takes twice as long to set something up for me. I'm basically a lazy painter and like to go on photoshoots to gather my subjects, but once in a while there are nice fun subjects that don't melt, wilt or turn brown while you paint them, so I'll continue to look. Click on the image for a larger view.

Window Seat SOLD (Click here to see auction results on eBay)

This is a scene from a cafe in town that we recently went to. It was pretty cold out yet, especially with the wind chill that day, so the window seat was extra nice and cozy if you were getting tired of the winter days. Click on the image for a larger view.

Lemons, Orange, and an Apple SOLD (Click here to see auction results on eBay)

I decided to try the fruit bowls again with this one. I'm trying to not make these single portraits of fruit, but more of a group scene to show thier similarities and differences. I think they make a more complete painting if it's called a still life of fruit. Click on the image for a larger view.

Blue Canyon SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

I'll never get tired of painting the Grand Canyon. My next attempts will hopefully include views from the bottom where I could paint elements of the Colorado River with the rapids, still pools, and thousand foot walls. Click on the image for a larger view.

Jackson Pasture SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

This is an early morning scene of one of the many pastures along the highway traveling from Rock Springs in the south, northward to jackson Hole Wyoming. There are many ponds and streams and miles and miles of open land. Click on the image for a larger view

Jello Chocolate Pudding Cup SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

Nothing better to paint than someting wet and shiny. If it tastes sweet and is one of those guilty pleasures we all give in to, then all the better. Click on the image for a lrger view.

Peep Hole at Moab (AVAILABLE ON THIS BLOG FOR $100)

I needed to get back into some landscape painting, especially the desert canyons. Moab was an amazing place to visit, and we did it in less than two hours this afternoon. I can't wait to return. Maybe in a few weeks on our trip west. Click on the image for a larger view.

Citrus in a Glass Bowl SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

This is another layout I created form the shoot I did of some tangelos and lemons. The bowl is a little too small for the pieces of fruit, but I really wanted to paint it with something soon. Click on the image for a larger view.

Iced Tea SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

Here's a shot I've been wanting to paint for quite a while, but I needed it to get a little warmer before I thought it would even look appealing to anyone. This was taken at a little resturant here in town while we sat at one of the front windows. Click on the image for a larger view.

Driftwood SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

On one of my favorite trips that I ever took, I drove to Seattle Washington in May of 2005,. I hung out with a group of artists at Chris Hopkins home in Mukiteo, north of Seattle. On the way home, I took the back road home, highway 2, Steven's Pass Highway. The highway takes you through 150 miles of wild country that a major stream has carved and rearranged the landscape for thousands of years. All along this road you can see signs of when early settlers tried to build a path to the West Coast with its old rusted bridges and broken down raikroad tracks. Every now and then you see a rope hanging over the stream where crazy swimmers would play Tarzan in the summer. Click on the image for a larger view.

Bowl oF Fruit SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

I'm trying to paint better and eat healthier so I set up some fruit in one of my new prop bowls and tried to create a little different lighting situation. Instead of them being real close to an open window, or on our dining room table under artificial light, I decide to use natural light from far across the room. I have a dim set up with all the illumination coming from a small window that's twenty feet away. I'm really happy with it. Click on the image for a larger view.

Ice Cream Sundae SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

I think this is one of my better paintings lately. I had a Starbuck's macchiato on my easle for the last few days that I wanted to finish, but illustration jobs and just the way the painting was coming out, made me put it on the back burner and try a different subject in a looser application of paint. I'm going to try to paint over the stiffness of the coffee painting soon, but before I do that, I think I'll try to get off this food obsession that I've been on lately. Click on the image for a larger view.

Jelly Danish SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

Here's one of my favorite things to paint. I really like the textures and colors of pastery as long as you can get the ones with wet coverings and gooey fillings. That's the money shot for me, and they taste great too. I also was able to slip it onto one of my many new prop plates. Click on the image for a larger view.

Banana Nut Muffin SOLD (Click here to view eBay results)

Here's the second muffin that I've painted for eBay. I painted a blueberry muffin last year with the paper cup peeled back. This one is on an irregular piece of panel that I found that I though would fit the subject. 9x9. Click on the image for a larger view.

Perkins' Pancakes SOLD (Click here to see results on eBay)

We had breakfast after church the other day, and I was tempted to order waffles, but the picture on the menu sold me. Waffles are comng soon tho I think. Click on the image for a larger view.

Leftovers SOLD (Click here to see results on eBay)

Here's a painting I did from our breakfast a week ago. We have been looking for some older resturants that may have some classic hardware to paint from, but it been a real miss instead of a hit lately. The best old resturant that we've been to has been out of town in some of the smaller farming communities. Click on the image for a larger view.

White Pedestal SOLD (Click here to see results on eBay)

Here's a scene of a rock formation overlooking the Grand Canyon on the south rim. It was from a shot that I took this last November. My next goal is to shoot from the north rim, where I may get some dramatic light with the sun in the scene. I think painting with alot of rim lighting on the formations could be alot of fun. Click on the image for a larger view.

Meadow Creek SOLD (Click here to see sale results)

This is a painting I finsihed last week. It was from reference that I took a few years ago tho that I found on one of my old external hardrives. I was trying to remember where the spot was, and the closest I could remember was that it was Yellowstone. Just a day after posting it, I got an email from a guy that knew the exact location and name of his favorite trout fishing stream. It's called Duck Creek, just east of Cedar City in south western Utah. Click on the image for a larger view.

Moab Formation (SOLD)

Here's another painting that I did at least a year ago, that I've decided to put in my eBay store. On every trip west to visit the kids, I try to talk my wife into leaving three days early in order to take the time to stop off at all the great spots between here in South Dakota, and SanDiego. The shots I took for this painting I gathered in about 2 hours. We hurried thru it actually, and then drove the next 200 miles to Monument Valley in Arizona to see that park at sunset. Click on the image for a larger view.

Leo Carrillo Shore (SOLD)

This is a painting I did a couple of years ago when I was just starting to figure out what I wanted to paint, and how I wanted to paint. My ideal plan would be to travel and shoot reference, do some plein air studies, and then come back to the studio to paint larger more finished pieces. I haven't done enough of the plein air work as I wanted by now, but I'm not giving up. My biggest problem is that I'm like a kid in a candy store when I get to a site. I want to shoot and record everything before the light goes, and just around the corner is a better scene. Click on the image for a larger view