Red Barn - Duh!

Whenever I feel like painting but can't decide what - a barn (duh!) usually materializes.

This one came out of my many photographs of farms taken on our long drives to New Jersey.


Watercolor, 5 x 7", Fabriano Hot press Paper

Marshall's General Store

Along Route 46 in Northwestern New Jersey.

Watercolor, 5 x 7" Canson Montval Paper

Country Church

This was a practice sketch for this painting. It helped me plan out the value pattern. I learned from one of my favorite watercolorists, the late great John Pike, that it is always a good idea to have a plan for the value pattern (lights vs. darks). He always completed a pencil value sketch before starting on his gorgeous watercolors. This is especially important with watercolor because the transparent paint makes changes relatively difficult.

Having said that, I only do it once in a while because I am kind of lazy and I am always anxious to get the painting finished.

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Watercolor 5 x 7, Fabriano paper

Farm House, Ohio

Once in a while I take a (quick) break from watercolor and dabble in Pen and Ink. This was done for a friend of mine, showing her childhood home in Ohio.
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Pen & Ink (don't remember the size!)

Red Mill

I used to live not too far from the picturesque small town of Cinton, New Jersey where this well preserved mill is located.
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Watercolor, 5x7", Arches Paper

Pennsylvania Farm House

Rural Pennsylvania is a treasure trove for those of us who like farms, barns and country scenes. As I was driving by I noticed the bright sun against the storm clouds and that always gets my attention.
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Watercolor, 16x12", Arches cold pressed paper

Yosemite National Park

It is very hard to describe the overwhelming natural beauty of the Yosemite Valley in central California. It has to be seen in person. The next best thing may be looking at the fantastic Black-and-White photographs of Ansel Adams. His superb talent and infinite care in setting up his camera, time, and place was complemented by his skills to manipulate the image in the Dark Room to increase contrasts in strategic areas. All this resulted in the arresting images we admire to this day.

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Watercolor 12 x 16", Arches Paper

The Alamo

With all due respect to other Texas cities...San Antonio is special. Whether or not you are having a bad day, the River Walk will lift your spirits. And a visit to the Alamo will make you think...highly... of all the sacrifices people have made well before we were born.
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Watercolor, 9x12", Strathmore Paper

Alcatraz

This is a tiny sketch from a trip to the beautiful city of San Francisco. The old maximum security prison is now a museum.

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Watercolor, 1.5 x 3.5 inches on a cold pressed sketchbook surface

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year of 2007