Bevo - University of Texas Longhorn Mascot

3.75 X 5.75 Small oil on canvas $115
Includes shipping, insurance and
TEXAS MADE RED CEDAR FRAME

I have a service installed on my blog that shows the people that visit, what country they live in, how they arrived on my blog and what search words they use. A number of people search for paintings of Longhorns, and I sell nearly every one I paint. I guess there are a lot of UT fans out there!
So this little painting is a blatant admission that I could use a little cash added to my PayPal account! When it dries a bit, I will show the frame, as well. But you can trust that it fits this little painting to a "T" and makes it a nice gift to give that University of Texas fan OR to just keep for yourself!
Psalm 139:23
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts

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Price: $115 USD
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The Party Begins Now - illustration cowboy oil painting book cover

24 X 30 Oil on Canvas

Contact Artist for Availability

This is 95% completed - as usual, when I take the photo, small issues become more noticeable. I still need to change the hat color, but it needs to dry more. The grass needs a little more detail and I also noticed that one clump of flowers is too "perfect". Also, I want to add some little purple asters and a bit more detail to background shrubbery - but not much.
I really had fun with this painting and I'm proud of the fact that I did not rush through it and followed my "game plan". I also thought a lot about the title and all it's levels.
If you notice, the horse in the foreground is wearing a rope halter - not a bridle. While painting this, I imagined the story behind it. These guys are trappers and they have been to the rendezvous and traded in their furs for supplies and things they need for the next year. Part of the trade was for whiskey (that's obvious). But the guy in the foreground also traded his well broke horse for a young, unbroke animal - a green horse that needs a lot of riding and experience before he becomes a solid mount. The trapper takes a risk in giving up his dependable horse for the young one, but if he recognizes a "diamond in the rough" and can successfully bring the young horse along in his training, then he has made a wise decision.
But in the meantime, the party begins now and the two friends can celebrate their good fortune!
I will take a better photo (with no glare) when it is truly finished, but you can get an idea now, and I can start on the next one. I suspect this one will go to the Dutch Art Gallery in time for Christmas, if I don't sell it myself first. CONTACT ME if you want it first!!!
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.

Party Begins Now - WIP

nodp
One nice result of taking pictures of my work as I go, it makes the things I need to correct more obvious, especially if I reduce the image to black and white.
It immediately has become obvious that the foreground cowboy's left foot need to be a darker value and since his hat is nearly lost in the sky, I will probably turn it black. The distant mountain fades nicely - I like that. The rear cowboy doesn't though, so I may glaze him to make him retreat more into the background, tho not too much, because I still want to see some detail in him.
The fore-ground is next, and I plan tall grasses with high mountain flowers - some lupine and Mexican hat, perhaps. And a couple large rocks, maybe. This is the only part of the painting that I did not plan in detail before I began. I will sketch it out after I research my huge "library" of photos of mountain tops.
All the images I use in all my paintings are entirely my own. I may surf Internet images to clarify a question I have regarding a costume or era in history, but the backgrounds and people and animals I use are all mine, taken by me of either staged events with models or simply images I have come upon by chance. I take my camera with me everywhere!
These two characters were acquired at the Mountain Man Rendezvous in Pine Dale, Wyoming summer 2008. They weren't all wearing truly authentic costumes, but then I doubt I would know the difference anyway, although I AM learning a lot about period clothing.
Howard Terpning is the master of Americana period painting. I would be happy with 1% of his library of research material....

Jeremiah 49:16

The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle's, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD.

Learn to Paint in Dallas!

The Dutch Art gallery in Dallas where we (Daily Painters of Texas) held our recent show is sponsoring some workshops. If you live in the area, you might want to look into it! nodp

Psalm 63:4

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Party Begins Now - WIP update

nodp
I literally worked all day on this painting. Eight hours with a break for lunch and to go to a church meeting this evening. I really like it, too, which is something I rarely say about ANY painting. I am following a procedure that has worked well for me in the past - with a careful consideration of composition, drawing, color and value. I recognize already that the blue, flowered shirt needs a little punch and I may attain that with a glaze.
So far, so good. I may hate it when I'm done, but today I still like it.
Tomorrow I work on the foreground horse's legs and the mountain man in the background (and maybe the distant mountain).
I have a commission waiting in the wings, but I need to get the models arranged first, so I can't start on it for a couple more weeks. The collector is wanting it completed Dec. 24 and I am making no promises. When I was in desk top publishing - years ago - and working out of my home, I had contract to produce a yearly magazine that was due at the printers Dec. 23, which meant Thanksgiving AND the weeks prior to Christmas was spent with me getting advertising and copy straight and approved and proofed. Back then, everything was cut and paste and a nightmare to rearrange and/or change - and there was ALWAYS last minute changes. For three years I dreaded the holidays - it was a relief when I quit that business and started changing oil for a living instead...but that is a another story...

Job 35:9

"Men cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

Stand Off - 16 X 20 WIP

My other work in progress was too wet to work on yesterday, so I dug through my thousands of photos and composed this one. These characters were actually separate images and the water is from a third image. I have had this in my head for a number of months now, and I am still toying with the title. I rather like ""Republican or Democrat?" I am open to suggestions!
Just like the other work, this one will be entirely different when I finish it, and I promise to post as I go.

Georgia's BFF

They are NOT fighting - just playfully wrestling! nodp
Our friends and neighbors, John and Sandy, are on a Mediterranean cruise and we are caring for their dog-child, Joy. She is a 2 year old American Eskimo (Spitz) and is Georgia's best girl friend. (Her best boy friend is Walker, my daughter's Cocker/King Charles pooch).
Joy arrived Wednesday morning. That evening Georgia gathered ALL the toys around her (including Joy's) into the middle of the living room and snarled at Joy if she even looked in her direction. The following morning they were best buds and proceeded to wrestle and chase one another through the house and into the yard. The mayhem will continue for another 2 weeks until Sandy and John come home.
I actually feel honored that my friend trusts us with her pooch. Sandy and John have always had an American Eskimo - and even rescued their last one. And when she died, it was a couple years before they felt they could love another.
I know the heartache you feel when you lose a treasured pet. And the issues you can have when forced to leave it in a safe environment for a long period of time. Joy visits here regularly, though, so she feels quite at home and is, if fact, already a part of our routine. And I am enjoying her wonderfully happy nature and her smiling face! And so is Georgia!

New Neighbors - completed

12 X 16 Oil on Canvas
SOLD to a collector in North Carolina

nodp
Sometimes it's hard for me to stop painting on a piece - especially when it's one I really like, and I do really like this one. Often I "live" with them for a while - and I always notice a few more things that I can do - most of the changes quite tiny and probably unnoticed by anyone other than myself. Mike often has suggestions, too, and his are usually accurate and valid. He likes this one as is, though, so I'm declaring it finished.
I recently sold another painting that I have used as my signature piece on my business card. I may use this one next since it is so colorful and quite representative of the direction I have taken lately. AND it will fit the card!

Daniel 2:21

He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Party Begins Now - WIP

NODP
I have decided that quickly finishing small paintings just isn't the direction I need to continue in. I much more enjoy the thoughtful planning, construction and layering required for the more detailed work that I have been painting lately. I still like the little ones when they are employed as a color study/composition design orientaion - but I REALLY enjoy the final painting details - like the one I am working on here.
I lay in the darks and undercolors first - quickly, and then come back after this is dry and put in the "real" colors. I like placing a yellow underpainting under the skies, too, because they seem to glow when the blues and violets are placed over it.
I thought you might also enjoy the process of this one. This is "stage one" and it's 24 X 30 - pretty large. The characters were gathered at the Mountain Man Rendezvous in Pine Dale, Wyoming 2 summers ago. The foreground horse will be red - background one will be black. Long grass and wild mountain flowers with hazy mountains in the distance. Foregound man has a blue floral shirt, coyote fur on his saddle. Background guy is carrying a whiskey jug. Both look like they are about to fall off their horse!I promise you will be surprised at the final painting - it will look nothing like this!
The title has meaning on several levels...we'll go into that later, but part of it is because of the head gear on the forefront horse...think about it!
I'm having fun with this one - now it has to sit for at least a week before I can work on it again.
And Pam, YOUR painting will be up next - hopefully finished!

Proverbs 20:21

An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.

New Neighbors! - illustration oil painting book cover art

12 X 16 Oil on canvas
Check with artist for availability

This painting is 90% completed, but since I haven't posted in a while I decided to put it up anyway. Tomorrow I am meeting with a man who wants me to design the cover of his novel and I don't know when I'll get back to finishing it. Keep watching this blog for the final version, and perhaps a new title. And if you want to reserve it for yourself, contact me.
The gallery show Saturday at Dutch Art in Dallas went very well. The couple that purchased my "signature painting" entitled "Fair Warning" entertained and flattered me with their attention. She had seen the painting in an ad I had placed in the Western Art Collector magazine and was thrilled to purchase it. In addition, Pam and Hans, the owners of the gallery want to continue to handle my work. They have a terrific location in Northeast Dallas, have been there many years and have a long list of loyal collectors and customers. I am really looking forward to a long, profitable association with them.

Ecclesiastes 7:21

Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you.

Granbury Paint Out and Gallery Show Opening

nodp
Somehow I got myself talked into participating in a "paint out" in Granbury, Texas this weekend. For those of you not experienced with this I shall explain. A "paint out" is where artists set up their easels and painting supplies in some windy, dusty, hot or cold location, forgetting their aprons and palettes. They paint totally on location, embarrassing themselves terribly in their total ineptitude. At least I do.
I am totally out of my element when I leave the studio - like a fish out of water. But I wanted to stretch myself - like when I participated in John Poon's Plein Aire workshop in Jackson, Wyoming 2 summers ago. He was a wonderful teacher, but Jackson Hole in the summer is NOT the place to be painting Plein Aire. Bugs, wind, dust, heat, sun glare...all the reasons WHY I love my climate controlled, bose stereo filled, electronically up-to-date studio.
The Granbury Paint Out is 3 days, but I can only participate today, and I'm waiting to go there until this afternoon. It's cold and overcast right now with promise of some sun and high 60's later. I shall wait for later. I have already selected a historical site to paint - an old log cabin that is reported to be the first post office in Granbury. It appears to be 100 years old and has not been restored. I will have to learn its history in the very least.
Tomorrow is the grand opening of the Daily Painters of Texas' gallery show at the Dutch Art Gallery in northeast Dallas. If you are in the area anytime during the next couple months (at least until the end of November), please go by. I promise you won't be disappointed.
I have already sold 2 painting there, and I am no where near the best artist on display.

Mountain Top

5 X 7 palette knife oil on masonite

SOLD to a Canadian Collector

As I promised, I am going to use up all my canvases and boards so I can start painting strictly on linen. Here's a quick, thickly painted little gem. One down - 50 to go!
I also started a large painting today - an enlargement of "New Neighbors" and I am really pleased with the progress. I began with a monochrome underpainting of cobalt blue and cad red dark and white. I have partially blocked in the sky and will begin adding color Wednesday.
I did the little painting with left over paint, and I will sell it Saturday to the person who makes me the best offer over $15. Really.
WOW!!!! And I may continue these little bargains for a while - so keep watching! There will be no PayPal button on these posts - you will have to e-mail me.

Luke 21:28

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Ricky's Mare

SOLD to a Collector in Tennessee

Ricky's Mare - black quarter horse mare oil painting
My friend Ricky has some really nice mares & they have even nicer foals. His wife, Debbie, is a hair artist. Her shop is at their farm. I always take pictures of Ricky's mares when I go get a hair cut.

I am playing around with some new techniques and colors. This was rendered partly with a palette knife with lots of paint.

Actually I want to use up my cotton canvas because I am about to step up to linen and only linen. Sooooo prepare for a LOT of experimentation, because I have a LOT of cotton canvases!

Click HERE to view more horse paintings by Debbie Grayson Lincoln.

Ezekiel 48:19

The workers from the city who farm it will come from all the tribes of Israel.

Media: oil
Size: 12 in X 12 in (30.5 cm X 30.5 cm)

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