Alla Prima Figure Painting: Where to Put It? (Acrylic, 19 x 17)

I put on jeans and a long-sleeve shirt before I went out to paint this morning. By dressing myself like that, I had the mosquitoes in my mind. The heavy showers we had in the past few days, according to the TV meteorologist, would have provided the conditions mosquitoes needed to breed. When I left home, I didn't have any idea where I was going to paint. However, the humidity I felt when I came out of the house told me it was in pretty high density and it sort of concerned me to paint outside in the open. 

When my car was approaching the First Community Congregational Church, I realized that it had been quite some time since I painted at the church. I knew Pastor Debbie pretty well and respected the church for its involvement in helping the local needy people. I saw quite a few cars at the parking lot, so I told myself why not stop to check if I could do some figure paintings inside.

Stepping inside the church, I noticed that people there had already been bustling around and they looked very busy. Before long I saw Pastor Debbie who told me they were preparing for a food pantry and it would begin at 8:30 AM. By then, I noticed some people had already been standing in a line and waiting for free food. I asked if I could paint some of the volunteers working there. Pastor Debbie said no problem but she was a little concerned that they were moving around all the time. I told her not to worry and I was able to handle that. I would not be in their way. I would pick one of the staff, who could move around do whatever she wanted to so long as she was basically doing the same thing and came back to the same position from time to time. So I went to their storage room and found myself a spot in a small corner which barely allowed enough space for my easel. I decided to paint Earline, who carried stuff in and out of the room. When there was nothing to carry, she stood there for me to paint. Other staff members said jokingly, "Now she is a statue." Eventually, I made it.

En Plein Air: Bridge Reconstruction (Acylic, 10 x 17)

This morning I first went to Tuckhoe Road to see it there was something to paint. I was surprised to know that my friends Lane and Debbie had sold their farm and moved away a half year ago. Then I called Mary to see if I could go to her farm to paint animals. Unfortunately, she was not home. After that, I tried the Pearl Road in Alva. Still, there was nothing. Finally, I drove all the way to Buckingham and arrived at the Hut Restaurant. I had been there painting a couple of times, either with Lee Plein Air Group or by myself. I noticed the wooden bridge behind the Hut was under reconstruction. Maybe the timing was good while we were still in the dry season. Before I could set up, the property owner Terry came in his four-wheeler to see what this old Asian man was doing on his territory. After knowing I was there to paint the bridge, he was very friendly and didn't mind I helping myself to his property.

Alla Prima Portrait: Talon (Acrylic, 20 x 16)

Talon is our regular model at Punta Gorda VAC's portrait studio. If I am not mistaken, this is the third time I painted him. He told me he went to my USF before, but now he is a student of the Edison College.

This evening, I also attended the reception for the exhibition of Water, Water, Everywhere. It was a hodgepodge show of all kinds of artworks, 2-D or 3-D, including paintings of all media, sculptures, photographs, etc. My work Patience won the 4th merit award.

En Plein Air: Ready to Go (Acrylic 12 x 16)

I went to the Meloy Hay Co. this morning and made this sketch. By the time I finished the painting I realized that Sean had, in fact, been waiting for me. It turned out that he didn't want to disrupt me and simply postponed the time to hit the road. I was really touched.

En Plein Air: Terry's Farm (Acrylic 10 x 17)

It is actually a warm up for my switch to the use of acrylic as a medium. Yesterday my oil paint box was too dry to be used in painting. Therefore, I decided to clean it and switch to use acrylic instead. I had plenty of acrylic paints in my storage. I knew I must use them before letting them be dried up and get hardened. However, I loved painting in oil so much that I postponed switching till yesterday when I realized the oil paints were too dry to be used anymore. The situation finally gave me a chance to switch to acrylic. 

This morning, I loaded the car with the new acrylic painting kit but didn't know where I was going to paint. It was hot and humid, so I told myself that I needed to find a place with some kind of shade so that I would not get a heat stroke. I realized I had not been to Tuckhoe Road for quite some time. I knew quite a few residents along the road. Many of them owned horse or cattle farms. I painted Terry's farm a couple of times before. When I turned onto the trail at the farm, Terry saw me and knew I was was going to paint. He was very nice and would let me paint there whenever I felt like. I parked my car right by the fence when I noticed the haystack which was kind of purplish in the morning sun. It blended so well with the old oaks and the grass. I settled down right away to paint there. 

Charcola Drawing: Selah (24 x 16)

Thursday, VAC's Portrait Studio Day. It was the second time that Selah sat for us.

En plei Air: Perosnal Transportation Tool (Oil, 9 x 12)

I meant to paint Tom's vegetable farm this morning. When I got there, to my surprise, the farm was a mess. The Mexican migratory workers were gone and things were in disarray. Before long, Tom came to me in his four-wheeler. "What happened, Tom?" I asked. "You know we had a bad year. I am trying to get things ready now." There didn't seem to have anything to paint there when suddenly I noticed the bike across the street. For quite some time, I had thought of painting it. The owner of the bike must have ridden it all the way to Hickey Creek Rd. And then he/she got on the school bus, leaving the bike chained to the fence.

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

I drove this morning along Palm Beach Blvd. and turned onto Mitchell St. Shortly after that, I made a right turn again and saw this small boat docked at someone's backyard. I was familiar with this neighborhood because I used to paint there quite often.

En Plein Air: Summer Morning (Oil, 8 x 12)

Alla Prima Figure Sketch: Carolyn (Oil, 20 x 16)

Carolyn is a resident of the Memories Care Section of the Winkler Court Nursing Home. I asked the section director yesterday if I could go there and do a figure with someone instead of a portrait. Kirsten recommended Carolyn. Carolyn was very cooperative. However, there was some kind of excitement during the time I was painting her. First of all, A new resident seemed to be not getting along with the old ones. She picked up a fight with Carolyn because Carolyn wanted to ask her best friend to be with her in the hall while the new resident felt they were in her way. Secondly, because of her dementia problem. Carolyn had trouble staying in the same posture for very long. She often forgot what her last pose was in spite of my reminding her. I had to use gestures to make her come back to the old pose. It was kind of exhausting. Finally, she simply left before I finished the painting. 

Alla Prima Portrait: Jennifer (Oil, 20 x 16)

Jennifer is Punta Gorda VAC's regular model. I painted her before but I don't remember what the last one looks like. 

En Plein Air: A Junkyard Plane (Oil, 8 x 12)

On Sunset road, a little off Gunnery Road, there is a plane junkyard. It is fenced in with the gate locked. I went there this morning. Through the wire fence, I could see two or three old planes were grounded there.  Their propellers had been taken off. That is why they looked like jets from a distance. Even though I was unable to get inside, I eventually found a spot outside of the fence and it was good enough for me to paint.

All Prima Figure Painting: Raul (Oil, 17 x 13.5)

I went to the Harns Marsh this morning. There were not many people there. I saw a heavy-duty pickup was left on the roadside close to the water, so I drove there and stopped my car behind the pickup. I noticed two Latinos were fishing by the water;  one was sitting and the other standing. I asked them if I could paint them. They didn't understand English. I took my painting kit from the car and set up. And now they knew what I was going to do. They didn't seem to mind my painting them. It took not quite two hours. With the help of sign language, the guy told me his name was Raul.

En Plein Air: A Drying Pond and a Broken Board Jetty (Oil, 8 x 12)

It had been very dry in Southwest Florida. For more than three months there was no rain. I went to Mrs. Foster's farm this morning and painted this scene. Because of the drought, the water in the pond had receded far from the jetty, which had lost one leg but was still holding the board top. By the time I finished the painting, I saw Mrs. Foster's car was coming up from the highway. She stopped by my easel. Winding down the car window, she asked me to see a gator was surfacing at the edge of the water. When I was painting, I didn't pay attention to that fellow at all.

Images Sketched by the Community Pool

En Plein Air: Board Walk at Prairie Pine Preserve (Oil, 8 x 12)

I went with the Lee Plein Air Group to paint at the Prairie Pine Preserve. It was cloudy this morning. We even had a sprinkle of rain for a short while.

Alla Prima Portrait: Melody (Oil, 20 x 16)

It was VAC Portrait Studio Day. Melody was the model today. I had never painted her before. She was not our regular model but she was a sweet girl.

En Plein Air: Owl Creek Boatyard Docks (Oil, 8 x 12)

Alla Prima Portrait: David (Oil, 20 x 16)

David is a resident at the Winkler Court Nursing Home, living in the Memories Care section. In other words, he has Alzheimer problem. He was very cooperative when sitting for me, but dozing off from time to time.