Blog Archive
As of spring 2024, I have moved over to Substack for my blog and newsletter. But I’m leaving this archive online for the curious. :)
Hofvijver
This is the Hofvijver (the court pond) in The Hague, Netherlands. I’ve recently gotten some acrylic inks and have been experimenting with them. They are similar to using watercolor, but when they dry they are permanent and can no longer be reactivated with water. This means you can do some interesting layering, and work from both light to dark, and dark to light.
View from the Fifteenth Floor
Last week I had to have a tooth extracted in preparation for an implant. I took some medicine that was prescribed to reduce anxiety durning the procedure, which worked really well. A side effect was that I might experience some short term memory loss for a few hours. I don’t really remember much of anything from the procedure, and it was almost like I walked and talked but wasn’t making any memories at all. A couple of days later I was looking at the photos on my phone and found this photo which I took right after the procedure was over, but I have absolutely no memory of taking it. This is the view from the window of the operating room in downtown Seattle.
Castle of the Counts
This the “Castle of the Counts” in Ghent, Belgium. Beth and I took a tour of this 12th century castle, which had an entertaining audio tour to guide us through its rooms. Supposedly, this is the castle where the modern fireplace was invented.
Randy in Red Pants
Randy in Red Pants. 6 x 9in. Ink and watercolor on paper.
Randy is a banking and investment advisor and is a fixture at all the best parties in town. He has a wonderful collection of art prints and watercolor paintings.
Cafe de Flore, Paris
Cafe Flore, Paris. This is an 18x24in oil painting on canvas. I loved sitting at the cafe thinking about all the fabulous people that have sat at these tables. It can’t get more Parisian than this.
Joe Lean
Come and meet the residents of Johnstown, my fictional world. This is Joe Lean, and he is on a journey of self-discovery.
Rocks at Cannon Beach , OR
“Rocks at Cannon Beach, OR in Gouache” is a 6 x 9in. gouache painting on Arches Hot Press Watercolor Paper. I painted this from a photo I took last time Beth and I were there. It was breathtakingly beautiful walking on the beach there at sunset, and the photo doesn't even come close to capturing the feeling. With this painting I tried to get a little bit of the sense of magic that I felt. I’m continuing to learn how to use gouache, and with this one I feel like I’m starting to get a handle on it. My goal with this was to start experimenting with using more drawing with the paint.
Boats at Le Conner, WA
“Boats at Le Conor, WA in Gouache” is a 6 x 9in. gouache painting. I painted this from a photo I took last time Beth and I were there. Le Conner, WA sit along the Swinish Channel, which connects Skagit Bay to the south and Padilla Bay to the north. It’s one of only three outlets from Skagit Bay to the greater Puget Sound. It’s a smallest of the three, and because of that it has a pretty substantial current. Beth and I took a long weekend and stayed in Le Conner, and the reference photo was from a nice walk we took at sunset along the waterfront where there are a lot of boats docked.
This is more practice as I learn and get more familiar with using gouache.
Samish Bay
“Samish Bay in Gouache” is a 6 x 9in. gouache. I painted this from a photo I took last time Beth and I were there.This is a view from a lagoon along Chuckanut Drive, a beautiful scenic drive just south of Bellingham, WA. I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. The colors are vibrant and the brushwork is clean and impressionistic.
Old Car, Upper West Side
I'm trying to get better with gouache paint, which is similar to watercolor except that is has so much pigment in it that it is opaque instead of transparent. But being opaque means that it behaves more like oil or acrylic paint than watercolor. Here is a 9 x 12 painting on watercolor paper where I used the gouache with similar techniques that I use for oils. It is from a photo I took on the Upper West Side in New York.
Couple at the Yellow Wall
Here’s a little gouache painting I did Yesterday. This is a couple I saw while Beth and I were sitting at an outdoor table having a nice lunch in the Pike Place Market in Seattle. I’m pretty new to gouache and still trying to understand how to use it. So practice, practice, practice. :)
The Grazing Goat
The Grazing Goat 16x20in. Oil on panel. This is the cafe on the ground floor of the hotel Beth and I stayed at in central London. It was a really nice hotel a couple blocks from the Marble Arch, and an easy walk to all the main sights in central London
Gouache Adventure: Plein Air Painting at the Fremont Ship Canal
Plein air painting in gouache at the Fremont Cut, which is a beautiful section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal that runs right through the city of Seattle. There’s a lot of boat traffic and it’s a great place to do some boat-watching and work on a gouache painting.
Sketching in the International District
Sketching in the International District with Kyle Wendt in 2014.
How to use a Blackwing pencil sharpener
A few years ago I had a company called J B Welly that sold luxury notebooks and writing instruments online. Blackwing was the brand of pencils I carried. They are the most fabulous, high-quality pencils around.
I used to make videos for J B Welly, and this is one of my favorites. As you might expect, it’s full of silly pencil puns.
Fountain on Harvard Avenue East in Gouache
This is a process video of a painting in gouache inspired by Harvard Ave. E., which is a beautiful street in the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. This historic area was built in the early twentieth century by the wealthy and important families at the time. Today, the area is magical with its huge trees and lush gardens. The gouache painting was done on Arches hot press watercolor paper with Daniel Smith Gouache .
Volunteer Park Conservatory
This is a plein air painting in gouache at the Volunteer Park Conservatory. I was with my friend Kyle Wendt. This was my first gouache painting in a while, but I plan to do much much more with it soon. This painting is about 5 x 8” and took about 1.5 hours.
Woodland Park Bridge
This is a plein air pencil sketch looking at a pedestrian bridge over Aura street in Woodland Park, Seattle. I was with my friend Kyle Wendt and it was a beautiful sunny day. It was also Kyle’s birthday. :)
Kyle and Elizabeth
This is a pencil drawing I did for my friends Kyle and Elizabeth. It was for Kyle’s birthday. It’s an 8 x 10 in. graphite and charcoal drawing that I matted and farmed.
Johnny Sunshine
“Johnny Sunshine” 16 x 20 in. oil on panel. This is painted from an old black and white photo from the 1800s that I came across on the internet. Some people think he might have been a riverboat gambler on the Mississippi River. I just liked the photo, which was not in very good condition.