D-DAY: P-38 OVER OMAHA BEACH

13X13

acrylic on masonite

I painted this as a thank you for a good friend of mine. We have a mutual interest in WWII and this was a fun one for me to paint. The Lockheed P-38 is a very interesting fighter and was greatly feared by the Germans soldiers during WWII. They called it the "Fork-tailed Devil" Haha! The P-38 was used as a long-range escort fighter, bomber and for photo recon. 

This P-38 is wearing invasion stripes. All allied aircraft had these black and white stripes painted on them for identification during the allied invasion of Europe.

U.S. fighter history lesson over.

KLONDIKE BLUFFS

16x20

oil on canvas

I painted this for the 2007 St. Charles County Paint Your Parks

Plein Air Contest. It was painted at Klondike Park in Augusta, MO.

I thought I had a great chance against the rest of the paintings there but I failed to even place in the contest. As I was leaving I was carrying this painting. The judge of the show stopped me and said, "OH WOW! Where was that hanging? I didn't see that one!"

I responded, "What do you mean, you didn't see it? This was my entry in the contest!"

He said, "Oh, oh yeah, now I remember it. Great painting."

Hmmmmmm. Anyone else think I was robbed?????

MORNING LIGHT

12X16

oil on canvas paper

This painting is a completely made up scene. I wanted to capture

the look and feel of an early morning. I did a bunch of sketches 

and this was the scene I decided on. When this painting was nearly 

completed, my daughter decided she wanted to paint also. 

She painted over the bottom 1/4 of the painting while I 

was out of the room. I had to repaint it and it actually 

turned out better the second time around.

Thanks Clare!

STE. GENEVIEVE VALLEY

12 X 16

oil on masonite

This painting was done for the  2007 Ste. Genevieve Plein Air contest.

I stood on a bluff overlooking this beautiful valley.

It received an honorable mention in the contest.

SLEEPING LEOPARD

9 X 12

watercolor on paper

This is a watercolor I did from my own reference photos.

The leopard was sprawled out on the rocks at the St. Louis Zoo.

UNTITLED LANDSCAPE

5 X 10

watercolor on paper

This is a small watercolor landscape that I made up.

It's more about the clouds and the subtle value changes.

HEAD STUDY

11X14

oil on canvas board

This is a head study from college. It was done from

life in painting class. It's painted by wiping out.

I covered the canvas with the dark tone and wiped

away the color to model his face. I then went in and

darkened the dark areas with a brush and added a few

hints of color.

STILL LIFE WITH GARLIC JAR

9x18

oil on masonite

I think this is only the second oil painting I ever made.

These are things I found in my Mom's kitchen (obviously Italian!)

I set them up in my bedroom and painted this alla prima.

It's still one of my favorites. 

The First Post

I hope you all will enjoy this blog. I want to keep it updated with interesting art and ideas, so please feel free to comment or make suggestions.

Thanks