Alla Prima Portrait: Alisha (Acrylic 20 x 16)

Alisha is a 14-year-old middle-school student. She posed for our portrait studio today at Punta Gorda VAC.

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

In fact, I knew yesterday that it would be another scorcher today. With high humidity, the temperature would feel like more than 100 degrees. When I was painting Donna at the church yesterday, a pretty girl from Indiana named Sierra expressed interest in sitting for me to paint. Since I knew I would not be going outdoors to paint. I agreed to paint her today. We decided to meet at the church again at 9 AM in the side hall. I really like the room because it has tall windows on one side, almost as perfect as an ideal studio. The sketch took about 2 hours including breaks.

Alla Prima Portrait: Donna (Acrylic, 18 x 10)

It is hot and humid today. After I looked at the temperature, I hesitated to go out to paint en plein air. Therefore, at 9 PM, I called the pastor of the First Community Congregational Church to see whether I could find someone to paint indoors. The pastor's response was Yes and there were quite a few volunteers working there. Therefore, I loaded the kit in the car and hit the road. 

When I got there it seemed everyone was busy. I saw Donna, one of the volunteers, sitting aside in the hall. I noticed she had a bandage wrapped around the ankle of her right foot I didn't paint it). Obviously, she was injured. There were three grandchildren with her. I went over and offered to paint her. Sher hesitated a bit and agreed.

En Plein Air: Cooling off in the Shade (Acylic 12 x 16)

This view is at a farm across from the Community Center of the Olga Park, a rustic area off Highway 80 (Palm Beach Blvd.).

Alla Prima Figure: Keith Water-coloring at the Wild Turkey Stran Preserve (Acrylic 16 x 12)

I went out to paint this morning at the Wild Turkey Strand Preserve with the Lee Plein Air Group. I knew the place pretty well, so before I left home, I had already decided to do some figure painting in the sun. Keith was a water-color artist. Shortly after I started, Keith left the spot, saying he needed to go to the shaded area. Fortunately, by then I had got his image outline on my canvas. Toward noon when he saw my painting, Keith said with a smile, "You should have taken off at least 40 pounds." 

Alla Prima Portrait: Trish (Acrylic 16 x 12)

It is Punta Gorda Portrait Studio Day. Today's model was Trish. Someone said she posed for us before, but I didn't remember. I was pretty impressed by her hairdo. It very asymmetrical with one side hair as short as a boy and the other side cascading down over the ear like a waterfall. Maybe it was trendy these days. I don't know. Anyway, people in this country love changes. From time to time, we all want something new.

En Plein Air: Tom's RV (Acrylic 12 x 16)

Tom is my friend who owns a vegetable farm. He let his RV sit on the farm near its gate all year round. Power and water were hooked up to it. Moreover, a window air conditioner was fixed to the back window and a hot-water furnace was standing by its side, so relatively speaking, it was a kind of permanent residence. Judging by these facilities, it should be pretty comfortable living inside the RV. Maybe because of the limited space in the vehicle, Tom had annexed a tent to it. I had seen some Latino seasonal farm workers living in the RV before but didn't see them for quite some time. Guess they had moved on and tried to find work somewhere else.

En Plein Air: Shawn's Fishing Boat (Acrylic 12 x 16)

I didn't finish the painting last week because of the shower. When I got home, I put a layer of blue paint over the unfinished work and used up the canvas. Therefore, today I started all over again. 

Behind the boat is Shawn's parents' old house. With moss gathered on the rooftop and decayed siding, it must be more than a century old. Actually, I don't think anyone lives in the house anymore. They simply keep it for storage use, I guess.

A Replica of Picasso's Francoise Gilot (Ceramic Carving)

The Visual Arts Center at Punta Gorda annually organizes an art festival. Usually, a famous artist in history will be selected to be the theme. We members will make replicas of various masterpieces by the artist, in all sizes. They will be put for sale. This way, the Center will raise money to keep itself running. Ordinarily, I will donate a painting which I made by copying one of the artist's works. This year Pablo Picasso has been selected. I found it kind of silly to copy Picasso, so I got a ceramic plate to do a carving based on the drawing of Francoise Gilot by Picasso. She is also the mother of two of his children.

En Plein Air: Father's Day at the Cemetery (Acrylic 12 x 16)

I was driving on N. River Road (Highway 78) this morning. When I passed the Cemetery Road, from the corner of my eye, I noticed the road had recently been mowed and cleaned. It was a country road in between orange groves. It got its name because the road ended at a cemetery. I had painted there before. Suddenly I realized it was the Father's Day weekend. Suddenly I was curious about it, so I made a U-turn and got there. I stopped my car by a huge oak tree and set up to paint. 

En Plein Air: Harns Marsh (Acrylic 10 x 17)

It was a fine day this morning. I went to the Harns Marsh to paint. There were quite a few bird watchers there. Also, some fishermen were fishing near the lock system.

Alla Prima Portrait: Ashley (Acrylic 16 x 12)

Ashley is our new model. She sat for us this morning at the Portrait Studio.

En Plein Air: Jodi's Place (Acrylic 12 x 16)

This morning I went to Terry's place again. I really like his place. He and his family had quite a few banana trees and bamboos there, which reminded me of my hometown, Hangzhou, China, where you would see bamboos all over the mountains. I decided to paint the fence with the poles of uneven heights which made it look natural and graceful. I also used the shed as the midground. There were an RV and some orange color farm machinery in it

Toward the end of painting, Terry came to see how I was doing. When he saw the nearly completed painting, Terry asked me what title I would give to it. I had not thought of it yet. He immediately suggested "Jodi's Place" as a title. I happily accepted it and really appreciated him for his thoughtfulness and keeping his wife in mind. I remembered last time after I finished painting the farm and uploaded it to my blog, I simply named it Terry's Farm as its title without giving much thought to its appropriateness. It was very nice of him to make me realize that home was a place for a couple as a whole, not just one of them.

En Plein Air: A Docked Small Sailboat (Acrylic, 12 x 16)

I went to the Sweetwater Landing Boatyard again this morning. Originally I planned to paint the heavy bulldozer because yesterday I noticed some heavy machinery had been plowing their property by side of Highway 31.  They seemed to be building an additional boat storage building. However, when I got there this morning the scoop of the dozer was laid down on the ground for the weekend and the machine didn't look too good in such a position. So I went to the dock and found this scene to paint.

En Plein Air: The Sweetwater Landing Boatyard (Acrylic 10 x 17)

The rainstorm was finally over. According to the weatherman, there was only sporadic rainfall in this area today, so I went to the Sweetwater Landing Boatyard. I set up right under the bridge of Highway 31. Despite the noise from the rumbling traffic on the bridge, it was pretty cool and breezy down there.

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

Thursday, it is VAC Portrait Studio Day. Today, we had a new model, whose name is Diane. She was a good model, very patient. I have been trying to adapt to painting in acrylic, so I kind of experimented a bit during the portrait painting.

En Plein Air: Hay Rolls (Acrylic 10 x 17)

I got a sore throat recently. That is why I skipped the VAC Portrait Studio painting activity yesterday. It was better today and I was kind of itching to go out to paint. It was humid for sure but the sky was overcast and the temperature wasn't high. When the local library called me to pick up a reserved book, I felt like it was justified to go out to paint. I remembered the hay fields I passed by the other day on Colonial Road. Therefore, after I picked up the book at the library, I went right to the fields. I did a quick sketch. It took about an hour. Even though it sprinkled a little towards the end, it didn't pour down till after I was in my car and on my way home.