I began this portrait of Damiano at the same time as the Portrait of Isabella. I used the same process and techniques, but for many reasons, this small scale oil painting proved much more challenging in so very many ways. Let’s start from the beginning. I created this very quick profile […]
Art & Life Blog
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This little oil painting has been in the works for many months. It started with a profile sketch about two years ago, then a second round of profile sketches last year. I decided to turn the sketches into a small-scale portrait this past January. I drew inspiration from Leonardo […]
A snowglobe from New York City, a beret from Paris, a water canteen from the Grand Canyon. When most people think of souvenirs, they think of tchotchkes or the clichéd items that embody a place. Apparently we’re a unique family. On our last trip to Italy, we found this stick […]
Sweet, a little bit shy, and still in wonder at the world. Celeste is a little girl full of life.She came over to sit for a portrait sketch the other day, and left me with a few adorable photos to work into a full drawing. I choose this one of […]
I had the great pleasure of meeting Esraa while teaching art at the American School in Egypt. Not only is she drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also kind, intelligent, and interesting to talk to. Although she wasn’t a teacher, she taught us all so much. I tried to capture not only her […]
Here’s a drawing from a little sketching session that I had at home yesterday. It’s a quick portrait focusing on line and proportion in the face. I love high contrast in sketches (and in general), so I used an extra-soft 9B pencil for strong, dark lines.
This drawing took a while to finish… partly due to the size, scale, and complexity of the subject (eyes), and partly because the holidays and several sick family members interrupted. The upside of “slow” is that you can see the progress as the drawing slowly builds up and changes over […]
Wishing you and yours a year filled with creativity, beauty, and love. Here are some of my family’s handmade paper cranes and holiday ornaments to make a wish on. I hope that they all come true, and maybe even inspire you to make a few of your own origami decorations!
Orchids are among my favorite flowers. They are simultaneously so elegant, durable, and frail. In this oil painting, I attempted to juxtapose the delicacy of their form with their toughness… in other words, a rough and graphic artwork that is still “pretty”.
I’ve been working on these three small-scale oil paintings for several months now, slowly building up layer after layer. I had an image in my mind of what I wanted them to be, and the result is not surprisingly completely different. That’s what I love about abstract. It defies logic. […]