Saturday Shell Projects: Fish and Halloween Drawings at Bell Tower

I used the shells which I bought at Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival long ago and made this wall decor on a 12 x 12 canvas. Looks not bad I think.

A Man Dressed as a Pirate

Dressed up for Trick or Treat

Florida Weekly Ad Worker at Hoalloween

A Man Sitting at Bell Tower Cinema Hall

En Plein Air Sketch: Horticulturist Buddy (Oil, 12 x 15)

I went this morning with Lee Plein Air group to the Southern Fresh Farm which was near the I-75 Exit 131 to the airport. Since this was the first time I was there, as I entered the gate, I left my kit at the entrance and walked around to see what I was going to paint. There were a lot of things to consider. Under the roof of the open barn there were all kinds of veggies and farm produce for sale and, of course, people. However it was too dark. Besides, I was concerned that it would be crowded when parents brought children there later since that was Halloween Eve and the farm host had already prepared hay rides for kids. I saw horses, cows, goats, turkeys, chicken, etc. Also, the first time I saw in an above-ground artificial pond no bigger than a home pool, they were raising tilapia. One of the farmers told me that when the fish grew to 2 pounds in weight, they would get them out and sell them on the market. Finally I saw Buddy was planting saplings of flowers plants in palstic-covered patches. I asked him how long he would stay there doing that. He said he would do that for a half hour. I set right away and started to paint him. I got his image first before I added the environment to the painting. He was nice to stay a minute longer for me to finish his image and left.

Alla Prima Portrait: Rick Jr. (Oil, 21 x 15)

Rick was our model at VAC Portrait Studio today. It was his first time to pose for us. His father Rick Sr. is our regular model. I believe I have painted him at least three times. They are both good models for portrait painting with their sharp facial features.

Oil figure Sketch: Nursing Home Resident Bob (24 x 16)

There was going to have intermittent showers all day long today, so I called Kirsten to offer to paint someone at the Winkler Court Nursing Home again. When I was setting up in their TV room, Kirsten pushed Bob into the room in his wheelchair. She asked me if I preferred she move him to the easy chair. I asked her not to bother. I would just paint him in wheelchair. It was an unfortunate mistake. This section of the nursing home is what they called "Memory" section. it is of course a euphemism. Actually residents there all suffered from alzheimer disease. Bob was very quiet, but as soon as I began to paint him, his feet moved around like a minuet dance. As a result, his face was constantly changing between a front portrait and a silhouette. That made me spend too much time on his face.

En Plein Air: Undeveloped Land by the Canal (Oil, 8 x 12)

En Plein Air: At Leisure (Oil, 8 x 14)

Oil Sketch: Daisy's Sunday Brunch (Oil, 11 x 14)

I was on the roadside, painting Beatrice's horse Daisy over the fence this morning, my friends Dennis and his wife Rocky happened to drive by. Dennis stopped his truck and said to me, "Lord, your boss doesn't even give you a break on Sunday?" We all burst into laughter. The sketch took only an hour.

Alla Prima Figure Sketch: Joseph (Oil, 17 x 12)

I tried to get rid of the bad feelings which had stayed with me from yesterday's portrait studio painting, so I went to Winkler Court Nursing Home this morning. My friend Kirsten, the director was not there when I arrived. It would not be a problem since everyone there, from janitors and nurses to the front desk,  knew me and were willing to help me. One of the nurses suggested I use either their snack room or the TV room. I decided on the TV room. Therefore, one after another, she brought the residents to the easy chairs in the room. She led Joseph to the chair I had arranged for my model. I immediately got down to business.

In the middle of my painting, a man and a woman showed up at the door. The nurse came over and spoke softly in my ear that it was their church service time. I said they could come and do the service with them if they didn't mind I staying there continuing my painting. I would not bother them. Therefore the man and woman from a local church came to talk and sing gospels with them. It was the first time I was involved in nursing home church activity. One Spanish-speaking lady seemed to be their favorite, I guess. She sang passionately while some other nursing home residents harmonized with their loud rhythmic snoring. Surrounded in such a spiritual environment, while painting, I joined them for their "amens" and "harllelujahs", mindlessly, to be honest. All my artist friends knew that they could never make me listen when I was painting or drawing, so the yelling was the best I could do.

Alla Prima Portrait: Artist Ralph (Oil, 20 x 16)

It was VAC Portrait Studio Day today. Our fellow artist Ralph posed for us. My portrait is an "incomplete" one. The problem resulted from my indecisiveness. I tried to use a new approach. At one moment I was thinking of focusing on his upper part of the face only and let the rest of the face stayed in loose state. However, during the process, I somehow reversed to my usual way of doing things and it ended up becoming something like that. I believe I got his likeness but that was not what I tried to achieve.

En Plein Air: Green House and Red Car (Oil, 10 x 13)

While I was driving around town this morning, deciding where I should go to paint, all of sudden I saw a small modest house on the intersection of McArthur Ave. and E 10th St., with an emerald green roof and light green wall. The simple house did not have a garage. Its owner set up a white tent to cover his/her modest car. From where I stood, it looked like an old Ford Explorer. However, the house owner kept the place extremely clean and tidy, so in fact I wanted to give the painting another title: Dignity of the Shrunk Middle Class.

En Plein Air: Empty Dock (oil, 9 x 12)

I went this morning to a trailer park on the Caloosahatchee River where I used to paint. It seemed the snowbirds were enjoying the fine weaqther in Florida and  most of the boats there were gone.

En Plein Air: Bridge over the Creek (Oil, 10 x 13)

This is a bridge on George's horse farm. I went there this morning. I tried to express the nuances of values in the shadows. Have learned something.

En Plein Air: Quiet Dock (Oil, 12 x 8)

I got to Mitch and Myrna's home kind of late this afternoon. As a matter of fact, it was in the previous time when I was at their house that I decided to paint the scene, which I found was aesthetically appealing  with objects of different shapes, lines, and dots in the picture. I didn't paint it last time because Mitch happened to be pressure-washing his Morning Star and I didn't want to be in his way. That is why I waited till today. The sun tinted everything with a light orange color which added to its warmth and coziness.

Portrait and Plein-Air Oil Sketch

Today at VAC Portrait Studio, our model was Jennifer again. Instead of a Halloween costume like last time, she wore a witch wig. Everybody liked her because she was very professional, not only being punctual in time, but always well-prepared for the character she planned to pose. In the afternoon, I went to Fishermen's Village to do an oil sketch.

Oil, 20 x 16

Oil, 10 x 12

En Plein Air: The Albino Wino Shaded from the Pine Tree (Oil, 12 x 15)

The Albino Wino is a beautiful catamaran regularly docked at Woody's boatyard. When I went there this morning, it happened to be in the shade from the tall pine tree by the fence door.

En Plein Air: October Clouds (Oil, 12 x 10)

It took exactly one hour to do the sketch. The location is on Highway 78 which eases to the left at the site where I painted the farm house before and after it was burned down.

Oil Sketch: Ceramic Artist Judi Roth (Oil, 16 x 20)

Judi is a ceramic artist at VAC's  Pottery Studio. When I went there this afternoon, the pottery studio happened to have a workshop session. They were very nice to let me paint there.

Alla Prima Portrait: My Friend Patrick (Oil, 24 x 18)

En Plein Air: Meloy hay Co. (Oil, 8 x 12)

Oil Sketch: Vegetable Vendor Ed (Oil, 24 x 18)

I went to the Fresh Product Market on Highway 80 this morning and met some of the vendors there. When asked about the business, Tom said it was a slow day. I painted Tom before, so I told Ed that I was going to paint him today. If there were costumers coming, he could just go and attend to the costumers. When there was no costumers, he could simply sat there talking with other vendors. So between costumers, I finished the sketch. He was under the tent, so his upper part of the body was dark. The lower part of the body reflected the sun-lit ground outside the tent.

Alla Prima Portrait: Sleepy Talon (Oil, 20 x 16)

Talon is a handsome young man studying at Edison College (I forgot the current name of the school). He is also our regular model. I believe it is the third time that I painted him. You may find his portraits I painted before in the painting gallery of the blog. During the break, he told me that he planned to go to graphic design program at University of South Florida, from which I retired.

This morning Talon seemed too tired to keep his eyes open. He had difficulty staying straight but often leaned back to his left-hand side. Some of my fellow artists immediately yelled, "He needs some coffee!" I decided to paint just the way he was.

En Plein Air: A Flipped Over Boston Whaler in Palm Tree Grove (Oil, 11 x 12)

En Plein Air: Fence All the Way to the Water (Oil, 11 x 12)

En Plein Air: Ripples (Oil, 9 x 12)

En Plein Air: Mon Ami (Oil, 10 x 12)

I went to downtown Fort Myers and painted this boat at Yacht Basin. Surprisingly, I saw Michael Spegiel's Rogue Dog docked there, too. According to two marina staff who happened to stand outside chatting, now his family is taking care of the boat.

En Plein Air: Tree Study (Oil, 12 x 10)

Alla Prima Figure Painting: Jennifer in Halloween Costume (Oil, 20 x 15)

It was Punta Gorda Portrait Studio Day. Today's model was Jennifer. She had on a black and red witch costume. Fortunately, I had with me a panel which had been underpainted in dark blue, so it fitted really well. At first, Jennifer meant to put on the hood, but most of my fellow artists preferred she pose with the hood off. As usual, I didn't voice my preference. My attitude is always if the pose is not what I am used to, I welcome the challenge and attack it head on. Maybe the problem is the fact that instead of a Halloween costume, it now looks like an evening gown.