I know the title of this blog is how to paint… planning but it’s really about how to keep painting when the plan goes badly. I get an idea in my head for a new painting and it develops until I find source material to fit my idea. When I started the pink elephant painting I had an idea of …
“How to Paint…Dark and Light?”
I have three paintings I painted specifically for the Torrit Grey painting Contest. Two of the paintings, “Torrit the Tiger” and “Ghost in Torrit Woods” are very popular and get a lot of attention. “New Prince of the Jungle” may not be as well known as the other two but I was trying to accomplish the opposite light-dark quality in …
“How to Paint… Rocks?”
How To Paint Rocks doesn’t sound like wildlife art but animal habitats are full of rocks and plants. I’ve painted a lot of rocks in my art career and not all of them looked like rocks to me. I’ve painted baked potato rocks, rocks that look like I dropped my ice cream cone on the ground, flat shapeless rocks and …
“How to Paint… a Dog?”
I painted this beautiful puppy for a friend. I wish I knew the breed of this little guy. I do know that he is trained to visit hospital patients and help with their mood and recovery. If this pup came to my room I know I’d be instantly better. I did a detailed drawing of Boogie and started my painting …
How to Paint Feathers?
I started using my cell phone camera for taking photos of my paintings as I paint and I have a lot of pictures of paintings in the making. I thought it might be fun to do a few short articles on How To, paint whatever. This Post is about feathers. I’m finishing up a painting of eagles resting in a …
How to Oil paint
How to Oil Paint? Practice. I know that’s not what you wanted to read but you know it’s true. While practice is important and the best way to get better at anything, specific instruction is also very helpful. I’ve been painting a long time and the lessons I’ve taken from other artists were very important. I learned what I like …
Crazy is in the Details
I finished my new painting today. I had to call it quits. Enough is enough. I kept track this time 114 hours on the new painting and I didn’t sign it yet. (So you can’t see it yet.) If you paint or do projects you probably know what I mean. The details of the painting never end. A few years …
Why did I pick Stripes?
I love painting animals. They are all so unique and beautiful. I get and idea in my mind and it fills up my head until I have a painting. I will search photo purchase sites and purchase just the right line in the animal, just the right type of background, every angle meets my approval. I know what the painting …
I’ll Paint Rocks, (if I have to!)
I joined facebook in 2009 not knowing very much about it. After stumbling around for awhile I got the hang of posts, friends and likes. In 2010 I posted my paintings in an album on facebook and shared them with my friends. The positive response to the paintings was really overwhelming. I am always hoping people will like my work …
It’s always better with a monkey bath
My brother David owns “The Bookman” a used bookstore in Orange California. I can sit for hours on the floor in front of the animal section and look through the picture books they have in stock. The smokey misty feel of this tiger painting comes from a type of photo I’ve seen in one of those books. Whenever you see those …
Cellphone Critic
I like to hold my paintings up to a mirror when I feel there is something off in the way the animal looks, like the eyes not looking in the same direction or the stripes not going around it’s body. I found I can see what was is bothering me that way but try holding a 30 x40 painting in …