It's been a while since I painted a portrait, almost a year actually. I hadn't realized how much I miss it. After all my photo montages and Japan inspired watercolors, it was a welcomed commission to start this portrait. And I'm working in oils. I love oils. The photo is monochrome black and white, but I added subtle flesh tones to some highlights on the cheeks, as well as some dark, warm brown tones to the hair. There's a suggestion of warm peach added to the background. I f

With a break in Arts and Craft fairs for at least a few months, and my most recent commissions completed, I’ve started the sketching for several paintings. I’m working on a watercolor painting to add to People Being Series. This one will be of South Korea. Two girls in yellow hanbok dresses with dark blue sashes. The wind that day means there is lots of movement and fluttering. The girls were part of the Jindo Sea Parting (Moses Miracle) festival in 2008. I put them into a ba

This is the first oil painting in the series Drawn To Love. Up to point, I have only been doing portraits in pencil on paper. But, the photograph I studied had such intense lighting that I felt paint would better tell the story rather than pencil. (photo credit: Daniel Smädný Mních Jurčo). Below is the progression of this portrait. At the end of each day, I took a photo of the development thus far. Some days saw 4-5 hours worth of work. Other days saw as little as 30 minutes.

I started the series, People Being about a year and a half ago, in watercolor on paper. And, while, I’m still continuing with this series; I have branched out developing an oil painting series. The subjects are still people I have photographed along my travels, doing what people do: be in their space, their home. The variances, however, stop there. I am not repainting any person, or people I have already painted in watercolor. As well, I am turning the oil painting series int