Older Brother

 A portrait of my happy-go-lucky older brother.  12x9 inches, oil on linen.

Painting The Object

So I spent the day examining the same old object with different lighting.  Barnard Dustan advises in his book on painting portraits to place the mirror and the canvas close to each other so that one has to move the object's eyes as little as possible going from one to the other. 16x12 inches, oil on panel.

From Within The Rocks

Ogunquit viewed from within the rocks after descending from the Marginal Way.  9x12 inches, oil on linen. 

Studying An Object

In his book on painting portraits, Bernard Dustan tells us not to worry about getting a likeness in a self-portrait.  "...[V]ery few self-portraits are good likenesses..."   "It doesn't matter whether you like your own face or not - you are simply an object to study."  Here I am studying an object.  12x12 inches, oil on panel.

Portraits

I'm going to pretend that this is somebody else's portrait.  Earlier this year, pre-Covid, I started to paint portraits.  The deal was: I paint your portrait and you keep the painting.  But I had to give it up until better times return.  12x12 inches, oil on panel.

Painting Blind In A Mirror

Imagine having this critic looking at all my paintings.  Actually I took off my glasses to paint it, so I was somewhat painting blind.  I'll probably keep working on this one.  14x11 inches, oil on panel.

I just finished reading Betty Edwards's new book, Drawing On The Dominant Eye.  Interesting book, but surprisingly she confuses a self-portrait done in a mirror from a portrait done by an artist looking at a sitter.  My dominant eye is my right eye, but in a mirror my right eye becomes my left eye, as you can see here.  It's more obvious in a self-portrait if the artist includes his arm and hand holding the brush.  A right-handed artist then becomes a left-handed artist.  If someone were to paint my portrait, then my right eye would appear as my right eye, and my right arm would still be my right arm.  Go look in a mirror and raise your right arm.  It will look like you are lifting your left arm.

Remnants and Vestiges

A perimeter tree at Field Farm in Williamstown, MA. with vestiges of the pasture, rotting posts and barbed wire ingrown into tree trunks.  Remnants of ancient farming can be found everywhere in the woods and at edges of fields.  8x10 inches, oil on panel.

Late Day Rock

 A large rock formation, with late day sun, on the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Ogunquit

Ogunquit, Maine. 9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Barrenness

For a while I toyed with the idea of adding a figure, a surfer, to this painting, but decided against it.  I like its barrenness and abstraction.  It is another view from the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Raw And Unstable

Sometimes the shoreline rocks seem raw and unstable, especially if you scramble over them in winter.  9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Waiting

This painting I had already started before wandering to the craggy shoreline, so I decided to "complete" it.  It's a view of Eastern Parkway at Underhill Avenue in Brooklyn from a few years ago.  12x24 inches, oil on panel.

Craggy Shoreline

My painting has wandered from figures in urban settings to the craggy shoreline of my mind. 9x12 inches, oil on linen.

Pushing and Sinking

So I pushed this painting further along yesterday and today.  I remember standing on this rocky, hard surface without realizing how unstable it appears in retrospect.  If I push any more, I'll be knee-deep in the water. 

Equivocal Edges

A shoreline at Acadia National Park where the rocks dissolve.  The difficulty of distinguishing between water and sky is repeated at the edge of the shore where rocks and water merge.  9x12 inches, oil on panel.