This portrait painting is going to be given as a surprise gift for Christmas from the husband to the wife!
Finishing a portrait painting always feels like a grand accomplishment to me. A lot of work goes into these, from the initial construction of the canvas, to measuring proportions and sketching out the image, to painting all of the details, subtle tonal changes, and adding depth through thin layers of paint!
This new portrait painting is of a husband and wife on vacation with a scene of sailboats in the background! It will be a surprise gift for the Mrs.
The unique mission for this painting was change the headshot of the wife from this photo for one from another photo, but to do it seamlessly so that it appears natural! With a little bit of math, I was able to do this and now have it all drawn out, ready to paint. This one will be done with top-quality oil paints on this hand-constructed organic cotton canvas:
A few months ago, I did some watercolor floral paintings on 18″ x 24″ watercolor paper for a neighbor of mine. These will be nice for them to look at as we get into the colder seasons and the flowers go away until next spring!
Each painting was custom-framed with Michigan-grown poplar wood frames that I stained with Bio-Shield 100% non-toxic wood stain:
Just a few weeks ago, I completed a 4th mural painting at the Lost Rhino Retreat restaurant in the Brambleton neighborhood of Ashburn! It’s an honor to be trusted to paint on a large-scale in such a public setting. They have great American fare and live music every Friday evening. Here is a photo of a close-up of the latest mural:
This painting was a collage that I created based on a number of photos that they allowed me to take of the kitchen staff. These guys get busy back there around dinner time!
Here’s a few photos of all of the murals in the room:
“Evening Gold” is a watercolor painting of warm sunset colors against a cool evening sky, with palm trees, mountains in the background, the ocean, and gold-hued sand. It’s painted in more of an impressionistic style, to give a dreamy effect, as if you can drift off and be there in your mind!
I was pretty lucky to have been able to do this painting. Earlier this summer, I was strolling my boys around the neighborhood we live in, and we were walking over by a forested creek where a colony of great blue herons can sometimes be seen flying about. I just happened to see through the trees a great blue heron slowly wading in the water, about 100 feet away. In that moment, I took off running with my camera and left my boys sitting on the path in their stroller. They probably wondered what the heck Dad was doing, although they seemed to get a kick out of it and were laughing. As I approached, I slowed down to practically walking on my tip toes so that the bird didn’t fly away! Luckily it didn’t, and I got to take several photos of it. There is nothing like seeing animals in their natural habitat from a good viewing distance!
Prints on Fine Art Paper are available in sizes 14″ x 14″ and 16″ x 16″, with various framing options, here.
Recently I had the pleasure to paint a commissioned painting of the barn located in the One Loudoun neighborhood. It’s painted on an 11″ x 14″ linen canvas, with oil, gouache and acrylic paints, and a tad bit of black ink!
To read about the history of the barn that this barn was modeled after, here is an article about it on loudountimes.com from a few years ago.
This oil painting reminds me of being in a big city at night and dipping into a quiet cafe to enjoy a warm drink! It is painted on an 8″ x 8″ x 1.5″ hand-constructed organic cotton canvas. The original painting and prints are available here.
Make an offer on this painting and it’s yours!
This is a still-life oil painting, on linen paper, of three vibrantly colored apples. It is framed in a 9″ x 12″ black frame. The painting took approximately 2 hours to complete with a cost of about $20 in materials. Shipping will cost around $10. Make an offer and I will mail it to you, anywhere in the world!
My two boys and I discovered these flowers on a walk in our neighborhood the other day. My sweet toddler immediately thought to pick one “for mama”. Mama was very happy with her flower! I also took a photo of them and painted them on canvas. 
