This was about as last-minute as a (art) student can wait. I began at 9pm the night before it was due (9am) and called it quits at 5:00am. I did sleep for 40 mins. before starting my day and dropping kids off at their bus stop. Here’s how it went: This painting is one of […]

The lighting in my kitchen is terrible, so this drawing looks like it was done on buff colored paper instead of white. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, but I am really having a hard time working on my art pieces. I think I will have nothing to hand in for my final painting […]

I tried really hard to finish this drawing while on the Maui spring retreat with Ram Dass and friends. It’s not even where I want it to be, but I have to move on to more pressing projects. I had an enlightening time at the retreat and will not soon forget the wonderous feeling of […]

We had to drawing a still life with the value, shading, and accuracy training we had thus far. Trying to finish a whole drawing in class was a very daunting task initially. I had to hustle and the drawing isn’t really precise like my instructor appreciates. He even made a comment about it not being […]

A  smaller initial painting sketch I created helped me see what I wanted for this piece. This first “draft” was on an 11×14″ canvas board. I painted it while in my class and the instructor was very encouraging. She was worried I had done such a nice job that starting over on a larger canvas […]

This is a class piece developed around the idea of “Shared Seas.” We were required to do two paintings with this theme or the theme of immigration/migration of people. Humankind shares the world’s oceans and it’s a damn shame some think they can take advantage of it without grave consequences. This is the water pleading […]

I began this painting by using the discarded panel from my last class assignment.  The ground had been darkened and the limbs and some foliage painted before I decided to start over, but I kept the panel for possible future use. When I submitted the last post of the same scene in for grading, I asked […]

This is an acrylic painting I started for my painting class. We had to darken our canvas and use the dark ground as the tree trunks and limbs, and then we were supposed to fill in the negative space. There was so much foliage and different altitudes looking out across a gulch. I am not […]

This charcoal drawing is a negative space drawing of the forks on a bike I photographed with a reverse out of the tread pattern before it disappeared into shadow. Unfortunately, I didn’t really think out my composition all that well and the tread looks odd. This type of drawing is really challenging due to the […]

This is a homework assignment that really tested my understanding of both light and color and their effects on shadows and near objects, and on the use of acrylic paint as a medium. I really need more experience painting with acrylics! Every time I tried to correct flaws caused by trying to paint over insufficiently […]