Back from Vacation and good news!

My family and I went camping for the past few days in a fabulous state park called Little Buffalo.  It was great fun and everyone (I hope) had a happy, memorable experience.  Lots of sun, swimming, cooking outdoors and relaxing around a campfire.  Just wish we could have stayed a bit longer.... but, all in all it was very nice.  AND,  I just got some happy news!  My painting titled "Take me out for a row" which was in the front window at Art Plus sold today!  So nice....  Apparently to a "very nice lady".  Well.  I am now at the point where people I have never met have my artwork hanging in their home.  Which I suppose is a bit of a milestone for me.  Hooray!  So, all those pictures I took while on vacation that I thought to myself, "This could be a cool painting".... Will be turning up here soon!

Michael, Meilea, Andrew and Rowan at the cabin in Little Buffalo

These are the boats that sold... Yea!

Portrait of Meilea

I decided to really challenge myself and paint a portrait of my daughter, Meilea.  I took this photograph of her sometime this winter and just couldn't get over how beautiful she is and just loved the picture.  It seemed like a perfect place to start.  I also have this wonderful book about painting portraits in oil that I used as I progressed through the painting to get tips on good color combinations, particularly for the hair and skin.  Below are several photos showing the painting in different stages.  The 5th one shows the painting next to the photo, and the last one is the completed portrait.    It took me about a week from start to finish, but I admittedly did not work on the painting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, so more like 4 days, each session about 4 hours.  I did the original drawing in pencil directly on the canvas, used acrylic to do the base coat and create a monotone value study, then finished it in oil.  Very pleased with the results!

Meilea, 18"x24", oil, 2013