"Fig Lecture"

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"Fig Lecture"

8 x 10 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to do another painting of these delicious figs, this time really observing their textures and subtle colors.  Texture is what makes the object your painting feel as if its alive in a painting, its important to understand how vital it is.  The colors of these guys are also beautiful to paint, they have so much subtle color shifts it was fun trying to paint them and achieve its beauty.  Painting the wooden board was also another treat, having its texture and color I believe meshes well with the figs.  Overall a fun painting to do, hope to incorporate these guys in a future still life painting.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Once the drawing is established I then state the shadow shapes on the figs and fill in the background, the colors I used for the background were ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  

After filling the background in I then fill in the shadow shapes, this stage is different than my regular process.  I usually just big form model with their general colors and mesh the shadows within the modeling.  I wanted to try something different I learned this back at school and have been teaching it for a while but for some reason never applied it to my alla prima's, I usually apply it to my longer paintings.  Establishing shadow shapes lets you separate the lights and darks, the two hues do not have to mix with each other which keeps the colors clean.  After filling in the shadow shapes I then establish the general colors in the lighter shapes, I just state where the color are on the object keeping the edges soft and not modeling the form yet.

When the colors are working I then work on big form modeling, this means I go where the shadow and light shape edge meet and mesh them together to turn the form.  I also establish the lightest lights to really  show the turn in the highlights with out adding details, remember I'm not concerned with details at this stage just a general statement of colors and making sure the form is turning with the light.  Then I add small form modeling by breaking it up into two sections, the first section is stating the darker values with their specific forms.

Then I add the lighter values with their specific forms, usually after this stage is complete it brings this section to a finish.  The colors I used on the figs were  ivory black, ultramarine blue, cobalt violet, viridian, cad.yellow light, naphthol red, cad.red light, and titanium white.  When the figs are complete I then start on the wooden board by stating the general colors and the fall of light.  The colors I use for the wooden board are burnt umber, raw umber, cad.orange, ivory black, ultramarine blue and titanium white.

After the fall of light is established I break down the small form modeling into two sections, the first is stating the darker values with their specific forms.  Then I add the lighter values and their specific forms, doing this brings the whole painting to a finish.  I hope you enjoyed this one, I know I did, it was nice painting the texture in this painting from the figs to the board.  Textures to me (if you haven't noticed by now) is the most important thing to learn how to paint, its what makes whatever you'r painting feel that its alive.  The more I observe and really see the better I believe the painting can be.  

"Figs"

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"Figs"

6 x 6 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I've never painted figs before and felt that it was time to do so, as you guys have noticed already I enjoy painting an object with textures.  Figs nonetheless has lots of textures they also have a bunch of colors going in an out of areas, challenging yes but a lot of fun learning how to paint them.  I wanted to bring back the wooden board to compliment the colors and textures of the figs.  I do enjoy the subtle value shifts and colors of these figs, I hope to paint more of these in the near future.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using a bit of raw umber on the brush and no mediums.  After the drawing is complete I stated the background and wooden base, by just adding the general colors and fall of light on the wooden board.  The colors I used on the background were ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  The colors I used for the wooden board were raw umber, cad.orange, and ivory black.

Then I state the darker values with there specific forms and do the same with the lighter values, doing so brings it to a finish.

After the board is complete I start on the figs by stating their general color and big form modeling, the colors I used were ivory black, naphthol red, ultramarine blue, and cad.yellow light.  I work on all the figs at once to create a unity with the finish.  Once thats complete I start on the small form modeling by breaking it up into two sections, first section I like starting with the darker values and their specific forms.

Then I state the lighter forms with their specific forms and bring the painting to a finish.  Even when I get to the finished stage I like to go back and see what needs to be pushed lighter or darker.  I also like to see add textures in areas that probably are not being pushed enough, sometimes areas may look dull and thats where the artist comes in and puts his signature on the painting.  One has to not only stay true to nature but push the realm of beauty and the feeling of life.

"Poinsettia"

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"Poinsettia"

10 x 8 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

These poinsettia I thought would be nice to paint to continue the feel of the holidays.  Haven't painted flowers in a while and it was a little tough in the beginning to get used to.  Painting the gold wrapping under the poinsettia was also a challenge, to get the wrinkles and shine to come through the form took a while to achieve.  As mentioned in previous post I really love painting texture and this painting really took me up on that statement, it has so many different subtle textures happening creating those transitions were beyond challenging.  Although it was tough for the most part it was also a lot of fun to do, I learn something every time I finish one of these little guys.  I know I've said a million times that I learn a lot but its true either revisiting old techniques or improving my current one, its always showing me and teaching me something with every painting.  I hope you guys enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing! 

Just a reminder I'm doing a portrait painting this Saturday at Art Resource Gallery in Edina, Minnesota.  Come down and check out the great art work in the gallery and heckle me as much as you can!

"Forelle Pears 2"

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"Forelle Pears 2"

10 x 8 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

After a well rested weekend with friends, I'm ready to paint today and continue the theme from last sessions alla prima.  I really enjoy painting this red cloth it can be tricky to paint because of its brightest value, one can easily mix white into it and it turn pink instead of bright red.  These pears as stated in the previous post go well with the red cloth.  As you may have noticed already with my alla prima's I enjoy trying to paint texture, painting these pears definitely gave me a run for my money pertaining to textures.  I do enjoy painting smooth surfaces and getting subtle value transitions but I enjoy more trying to paint texture.  Texture definitely takes painting to a different realm, one can feel the surface of the object you'r painting, it gives the impression as if the paintings alive and breathing.  Going beyond just trying to over blend every section of the painting, closely observe the particular object you'r painting and try to paint the texture it has, doing so will give a hint of life to the painting.

I wanted to let you guys know that I'll be doing a portrait painting this Saturday at Art Resource Gallery in Edina, Minnesota.  I'll be doing the painting from a photo, I wish it can be from life but the sitter is 6 years old and the lady who's wanting me to paint the portrait says he wouldn't sit still.  It'll be fun either way and excited for it, I also hope to be done with my largest still life I've ever painting.  Hopefully I'll be done with it and have it there for the painting demo.  

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  After the drawing is complete I filled in the background and red cloth, I started with just the general colors and big form modeling.  For the background I used ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  Colors for the red cloth were cad. red light, naphthol red and ivory black.  At this stage I'm concerned with just modeling the form, having the light wrap around the form and keeping the chroma as light as I can in the lighter areas.  

  

After the big form modeling is complete I started to state the smaller forms, I like to break this stage into two sections.  The first section I state the darker values with its specific forms.  Once that's complete I state the lighter values with its specific forms.  

Once the red cloth is complete I start to state the pears with its general colors and big form modeling.  The colors I used for this stage were naphthol red, cad.red light, cad.yellow light, naples yellow, viridian and ivory black.  When the big form modeling is complete I state the smaller form modeling, again first starting with the darker values and their specific forms.

Then I state the lighter values with their specific values and highlights, I also state the stems when the pears are completed.  After the stems is complete I go back around the whole painting and see what needs a finishing touch, after doing that the painting is complete.  I hope you guys enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing!  

"Forelle Pears"

Click here to purchase this painting at my Etsy store

"Forelle Pears"

5 x 7 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

These pears are neat looking and their named Forelle, I want to know how they came up with that name?  A lot of these fruits I've painted have some odd names to them and I've always wondered how do they go by naming them, interesting to say the least.  The coloring on their skin is really nice the way it goes from light green to yellow and red, a beautiful array of colors going from one to the other.  I also thought it'll be nice to pair it up with the red cloth that i've painted before, for some reason I think it compliments these pears pretty well.  Last but not least the wooden board is peeking out in the corner reminding us that its still here, I like to say its been nice to not paint it for a while but I do miss it at times.  Thank for stopping by and viewing hope you enjoyed it! 

  

"Grapes & Wine Glass"

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"Grapes & Wine Glass"

7 x 5 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

Thanksgiving was so well needed the amount of food I ate was just ridiculous but I look forward to it.  Relaxing and being with family is always a nice thing to do, I wasn't able to work on any paintings but did have the chance to finish up some drawings.  I was itching to get back to painting after lounging around and not really doing anything, its nice to relax but to much of it can throw me out of sync. 

 I truly do love painting grapes from their texture to the colors that are deep within their skin, I can't find a bad thing about them.  What I also like about them is that their stem always has a gestural feel to it, its in charge of holding together all these little guys and maintaining a balance with their weight.  As mentioned before their texture is really beautiful to paint, their skin is able to absorb light and retain it with a glowing effect.  Light skims across their form and ever so lightly wraps around it, it's really neat to see the difference between each of them.  I wanted to continue the play with composition that I've been doing lately and introduce a wine glass to the picture, I felt it was fitting to incorporate it with the grapes and also have an opportunity to paint a shiny surface.  As beautiful as they were to paint they were even more delicious to eat afterwards, nothing beats painting one of these and eating them as a reward for being done.

I have exciting news I've been recently picked up by Art Resource Gallery in Edina, Minnesota.  I started showing their last weekend, I'll only be showing larger still life paintings and ball point pen drawings.  If anybody is in the neighborhood you should stop by and check out the artwork.  I also have two new classes at Bloomington Art Center that are being offered for the winter session.  If anyone is interested you can sign up by clicking here for the figure drawing class and here for the oil painting class.   

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Once the drawing was complete I filled the background in with titanium white, ultramarine blue and cad.red light.  After the background was complete I stated the grapes and their big form modeling, I'm not really concerned with the details at this point just on how the light falls on the form and how dark the darks need to be.  The colors I used for this stage were naphthol red, cad.red light, cad.yellow light, cad. orange and ultramarine blue.   

Once the big form modeling was stated I then start to concentrate on the small form modeling stage, I break this stage down to two sections first stating the darker values with their specific forms.  Once that's complete I start on the second section which is stating the lighter values with their specific forms and highlights.  The reason I like to break this stage down to two sections and start with the darker values first, it lets me see how dark I need to really go and sets up the lighter values for the finish.  It keeps the process controlled it's really easy to just work all around and not really get to a finish, doing it in this manner really allows me to get a quicker finish in a methodical way.

Once the grapes and stem are taken to a close finish I then start on the wine glass by stating the middle to darker values first.  Once thats complete I then state the lighter values and their highlights.  Once I'm finished with the wine glass I can then go back to the grapes and add any finishing touches.  That's the reason I stated that I take the grapes and stem to a close finish because once all the elements are painted you get a better picture on how everything works together, you'r bound to change or add something towards the end.  

Thanks for stopping by and viewing everyone, hope you enjoyed this one!

"Follow the Leader"

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"Follow the Leader"

8 x 10 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to continue painting these beautiful raspberries for another session, I really like the intense colors within the raspberries and their textures.  This time I wanted to incorporate the blue and red cloths I've painted in previous paintings, as they're challenging every time I paint them I was looking forward to them.  It's funny how each of these alla prima's I'm always finding out different ways to approach certain areas, there's some consistency in the approach but the execution can vary from one texture to the other.  That's the beauty of these little guys just when you think you've figure it out a new painting comes along and throws you in a twist.  I also want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and wish everyone the very best with their family and loved ones.  I'm excited to eat so much and not be able to move afterwards, nothing beats being with the family and eating to a point where you can't think straight.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  When the drawing is complete I stated the background and cloths, the colors I used for the background were ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  For the blue cloth I used ultramarine blue, cobalt, and ivory black.  For the red cloth I used naphthol red, cad.red light, and ivory black.  When dealing with the cloths in the initial stages I laid down the fall of light with its general colors, I'm only worried about making the form turn and stating the shadow shapes.  I also make sure to leave my edges soft if your edges are hard it limits the form from turning, in later stages you can harden your edges to show texture or more contrast between forms.  In this stage I already added the shadow shapes and developed them to a further finish, I did the big form modeling and darker values stages together.

Then I add lighter values with their specific forms and bring the cloths to a finish.  After the cloths are complete I start on the raspberries by first state the general colors and after do big form modeling, I work on the red and black raspberries simultaneously.  

Then I add the lighter values with their specific forms and also re work some of the darker values to blend better with the overall form, after doing this it brings the whole painting to a finish.  It's nice to get one of these guys painted before the holiday hits, I know I'll be out of commission due to all the consumption of food.  Hopefully i'll be able to draw if i'm unable to move from the food coma!  Hope you enjoyed this one thanks for stopping by and viewing, Happy Thanksgiving! 

"Raspberries Aligned"

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"Raspberries Aligned"

5 x 7 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I always have so much fun painting raspberries, their texture and intense colors make it a delight to paint.  I wanted to play more with the composition between the red and black raspberries.  When painting the red raspberries I noticed how intense the reds got, its pretty subtle on how strong those reds can be without going overboard.  The black raspberries absorbed it's surrounding colors, at times it did show some reflected lights, I believe these two compliment each other well.  One of the other reasons I like painting these guys is because I get to eat them right after I'm done, but let me tell you it's hard to fight the urge to do so while painting them.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing I hope you enjoyed this one!

"Blue Tangerines 2"

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"Blue Tangerines 2"

10 x 8 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to do another painting of these tangerines and blue cloth, the last one I did really pushed me to my limits and I wanted another try at it.  I'm glad I did so because I really enjoyed the process.  It was hard for me to just paint this while seeing my girlfriend put up all the christmas ornaments and clean the apartment, I felt bad not helping but she knows how much I am addicted to painting and when I have the itch all I can do is just paint.  I really do appreciate her patience and letting me dive into my passion, she's truly one of a king, to say I'm the luckiest guy in the world is an understatement.  I still wanted to keep the play within the tangerines and have the blue cloth be a little separated.  Painting these two different textures have been a challenge to say the least but also has been an eye opener on how to handle my craft and adjust it to each painting.  I hope you guys have enjoyed this one thanks for stopping by and viewing.

"Blue Tangerines"

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"Blue Tangerines"

10 x 8 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to challenge myself again with another try in painting this blue cloth, and challenging it was.  Blue is such a transparent color and to make it look finished in one session was very difficult.  I did like the concept of having these two elements together especially since their colors do clash.  I concentrated most of my time in the blue cloth and trying to get a good grasp of the technique.  

I started with the usual dry brush approach for the drawing stage, I have a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Once the drawing is complete I stated the background and blue cloth, the colors I used for the background were cobalt blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  For the general lay in of the blue cloth I used ultramarine blue, cobalt blue.

Then I stated the darker values and worked more with the big form modeling of the whole form, I used ivory black for the darker values.  Once the darker values were working I moved onto the lighter values by adding titanium white to cobalt blue.  

Once the cloth was finished I started on the tangerines working on both at the same time.  I first started with the general color lay in and then big form modeling, the colors I used were cad.orange, cad.yellow light, naphthol red, raw umber and ivory black.  After big form modeling I stated the darker values with their specific forms.

Then I stated the lighter values and highlights with their specific forms to bring the painting to a finish, the colors I used for this stage were mainly titanium white and cad.yellow light.  Now to go and eat these delicious tangerines!  Thanks for stopping by and viewing hope you enjoyed!

"Blue Eggplants"

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"Blue Eggplants"

8 x 10 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

It's good to be back painting after being out of town again, I went to go visit my girlfriends family in Utah.  It was so beautiful to go up to the mountains and relax, I wish I brought my paints although I know I wouldn't have time to paint.  I just returned and wanted to paint these baby eggplants with a blue cloth, I really like the combination of these two.  In comparison to painting the red cloth I do have to say the blue one is more challenging, I do like the challenge and hope to continue to incorporate this beautiful cloth in future paintings.  It's always rough to paint after not painting for a while but you have to get over that hump and get the wheels grinding.  I hope you guys enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing!  

"Pear in Red"

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"Pear in Red"

10 x 8 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I did this painting today in the middle of the million things I had to do, glad I did though I had so much fun with yesterdays painting I wanted to continue that today.  This time I actually painted a pear other than yesterdays painting looked like pear's.  I wanted to also have it in a black box to add more drama to the painting.  I always love the baroque paintings that implore these type of lighting compositions.  It was a challenge to paint such a dark background in one passage especially when it involves different elements that are mixed into it.  What I was striving for was having the pear be the central focus with the lighting and have the rest of the light shimmer across the red cloth.  I had a lot of fun painting this one especially that it was different than my normal alla prima's, I'm excited to see what else I can do with these type of compositions and lighting situation.  Till then thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this one!

Setup of my little still life with a make shift shadow box, using natural light as the main light source.

"Quince Pineapples"

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"Quince Pineapples"

8 x 10 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

These pear of unique pineapples I saw at the grocery store is something i've never seen before, I knew right away I had to paint them since their not the usual pineapples I'm used to.  I've been wanting to paint this red cloth for a while and thought pairing it up with these pineapples would be perfect.  Having to adjust to the daylight savings time has been a bit tricky to do, I have to start these paintings much earlier so I have sufficient natural light to paint with and to take pictures.  I haven't found anything that replaces using natural light it's the best source of light to use in order to have the purest colors.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Once the drawing is complete I stated the background and red cloth, with the red cloth I state the fall of light or how the light falls across the form.  The colors I used were ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  The colors I used for the cloth were cad.red light, and ivory black.

Then I start to work on small form modeling by first stating the darker values with their specific forms. After the darker values are done I proceed to the lighter values and their highlights, for the lighter red areas I used a bit of cad.orange mixed with cad.red light.  After the cloth is complete I can then move onto the pineapples by concentrating on big form modeling, at this stage I'm just worried about stating the general colors and how light wraps around the form.

Once the form is turning and appears dimensional I can then start on small form modeling, at this stage I like to break it into two parts.  The first part starting with darker values and their specific forms and when thats complete I finish it off with the lighter values and their highlights with their specific forms.  The colors I used for the pineapples were viridian, cad.yellow light, titanium white, cad.red light, ivory black and ultramarine blue.  Painting cloth in a still life is something I've always enjoyed, one can learn so much by its folds and how color and light falls on each plane.  It compliments well whatever its paired with and I get a lot from the experience painting it.  I hope you enjoyed this one thanks for stopping by and viewing! 

"Black Grapes"

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"Black Grapes"

10 x 8 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to try a different composition with these beautiful grapes, I pictured this setup in my mind when I was in the kitchen and when I put the two objects together I knew it was right.  There's something about the rustic old vase combined with the grapes that compliment each other really well.  I also like the subtle cool colors these two create, when working on the vase it was a challenge trying to recreate its textures.  Painting the grapes was so much fun from the darkest values to the lightest texture applied.  Grapes have so much beautiful little textures within them if captured correctly it'll push the painting to that next level.  Since the painting is done I can truly enjoy eating these delicious grapes! 

I wasn't going to do process photos with this one but then decided last second to do so, I've been so busy that I don't have time to do these process photos glad I did though it's been to long.  I also wanted to do them to celebrate the weekend being here, these last couple weeks have been really hectic with teaching and getting bigger paintings complete that doing these alla prima's have been tight on time to do.  I really do enjoy sharing my process and miss doing that although I did get used to just going from one stage to the other without stopping and taking photos, I caught myself doing that a couple times I had to slow down for the majority of this painting.  As stated before glad to have done the process photos, I hope in the future I'm able to do them on a consistent basis.

I started with a bit of raw umber on the brush for the drawing stage.  As you can see with the picture I erased a bit to change the proportion of the overall painting, I felt it would of sat better compositionally not being so large on the canvas.  Incase your wondering I erase with my fingers not with any solvents.

Once the drawing is complete I stated the background with ultramarine blue, naples yellow, and titanium white.  Once the background is stated I then start to fill in the rustic vase by laying in big form modeling with its general colors, I'm not worried about details at this point just how the light wraps around the form and it's general colors.  

Once big form modeling is complete I then move onto small form modeling, I first concentrate on the darks and state their specific forms also adding reflected lights to turn more of the form.  Then I start on the lighter values by adding their specific forms and finish it off by stating their highlights.  The colors I used for the vase were ivory black, titanium white, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, cad.orange, and cad.red light. 

Once the vase is complete I move onto the black grapes and add its general color which is ivory black.  Since there are so many grapes and you can't just do big form modeling with all of them at once I just add black right away for a base, then I model each grape with its general light and color.  I also worked on the stem at the same time as I did the grapes.  The colors I used for the grapes were ivory black, ultramarine blue, cad.red light, and titanium white.  For the stem I used ultramarine blue, cad.yellow light, yellow ochre, ivory black and titanium white.

I leave the highlights towards the end to pop the painting and bring it to a finish.  I hope you guys have  a good weekend, thanks for stopping by and viewing.

"Fall Lake"

Contact me if interested in purchasing

"Fall Lake"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I went out today with the little time I had before teaching and did this quick little plein air painting.  I definitely do not do these as often as I should, I really love a lot of landscape painters but havel always strayed away from painting them myself.  For some reason I've always been to timid to do them, just recently I started to go back out and paint outdoors especially with the beautiful fall landscape here in Minnesota, its hard no to.  The weather is getting cold up here so I painted this one with gloves which is something i'm definitely not used to, but really enjoyed the adventure and process making it.  I hope to go back out soon before it gets to cold and capture more of these scenes. 

Picture of my setup at the lake.

"White Roses"

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"White Roses"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

These white roses I first saw at my girlfriends sisters apartment and knew right away I had to paint them.  White can be such a subtle and difficult color to paint, it can retain so many different hints of colors that it can easily get to muddy.  Knowing how much I like to challenge myself with these guys I was definitely looking forward to it, not mentioning the background too how easy it is to get your palette muddy by using so much black.  All these components make a great experience in painting this subject, it teaches you many factors that go into controlling your craft and how far you can push your sense of color while being subtle.  When I was studying at the Atelier I remember the first cast I painted in color, it was an all white cast which I thought would be simple to paint since it was just one color with a green background and the color of the base.  I cannot tell you how many colors I used in that cast it had so many subtle hints of every color you can imagine, its incredible how your eye can play tricks on you or you think its just a plain color which in reality is not.  Needless to say I learned tremendously from that cast painting and so on, and it also reinstates what I tell my students observe everything you draw and paint to the teeth.  

"Propped Squash"

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"Propped Squash"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Well I'm glad this week is over, I'm extremely exhausted and can't wait to kick back and relax, in reality I'm going to be stretching canvases and painting which is relaxing as well.  I wanted to continue todays alla prima painting from yesterdays whimsical approach, I liked the dynamic of these two objects and how they can tell a story.  I'm happy to have painted these guys so much, I just love painting texture and seeing how I can better my technique with intricate areas.  Each of these objects have their unique textures to them you can't just apply the same approach to each of them.  I'm ready to move onto another subject matter it was fun though painting these two guys, hopefully I'll paint them again soon.

I've added pictures from a collaboration I did with a local artist name Peter Geyen, it was a project we were working on for a long time.  Essentially Peter does eight pieces to put on display in the busiest location in Minnesota, it's through a charity which is great because all the money goes towards them.  He approached me to help him out with a couple pieces and I gladly did so.  The only areas I helped out were the face in the first picture and the background which is in charcoal in the second picture.  I also did a painting of a sky for him to go along another painting, which he will use in the future.  Doing this type of project is something I haven't done before and I have to say I loved every minute of it, the collaboration between everyone was great so many ideas and to see so much good art coming out from different people was awesome to see.  I definitely went out of my comfort zone and loved every minute of it.  If anyone is around in downtown Minneapolis you should go see these pieces, they're great to see in person.  They are located in the IDS building in the main lobby, the pieces will be up for two weeks.

I painted the head on fiber glass which was interesting to say the least, i've never painted on that ground before and it was basically painting on glass.  

I did the background on the brown piece with all charcoal, the idea behind the landscape was to have a death valley feel.  He wanted lines to show cracks in the ground and hills in the distance, i've messed around with charcoal before but never like this, like I said before I loved every minute of the experience.  I'm excited to work on more pieces with Peter and see what else we can come up with.  Hope you guys enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing.

These are the other pieces on the other side.