Dora

This is a monochrome oil study I painted of Dora a few weeks ago. I love her pose in this study, and since I only had a few hours to paint while she was with me, there is a spontaneous quality to the paint that seems to work well.

Suzanne and Jeffrey

Earlier this year, I attended the Bar and Bat Mizvah of Suzanne and Jeffrey, twins of my very dear friend Nancy. To be sure, there was quite a bit of merriment and festivity that weekend, but I was quite taken with the solemnity and tradition of the ceremony. When I got home, I couldn't wait to put down on canvas my impression of the moment when they made the passage to adulthood.

Red Scarf

This is a model I painted at Main Street Art Center in Lake Zurich. It may seem strange to you that my favorite part of this painting is the black necktie. I like the way it appears sunlit in the front and in shadow in the back. It's kind of tough to get that to work when you're using black.

Marie

This is an oil study that I completed in a workshop in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. I believe Marie sat for about 6 hours for this one.

Judy

This is a charcoal I did of Judy, a model who sat for us at the Main Street Art Center the other night. Judy kept her pose really well, barely moving for two and a half hours. The evening was unseasonably warm for autumn in the midwest, and the room was filled with conviviality. My drawing of Judy doesn't quite capture her bubbly personality, which is unfortunate, but I was happy with the overall result.

Self Portrait, 2008

Hello! I thought I'd start my blog with a self-portrait, since you may be curious to see who I am. I threw this one onto the canvas at great speed, trying to go for a spontaneous, fresh look to the paint. In fact, I think this one took a grand total of about 3 hours to complete. One reason that I was so speedy was that I had just completed (by my estimation) my 100th portrait, painted from life. After painting so many people in a row, the process becomes much like a golf swing-- it flows quickly, without much thought.

I like this painting because it looks pretty much like me and I think it conveys my personality while I'm painting-- interested, but introspective.