Second half of MoonDream diptych finished

After transferring my drawing I begin by covering the canvas with an ochre color, then I start adding some of the white and color shapes.


I gradually add more color shapes and change some of the colors as I proceed. I don't exactly follow my color sketch, but change shapes and areas as I go along.


The finished painting next to the first painting. They seem to work together rather nicely together, but I may still work on them a bit. This diptych measures 96 x 48".

Artist's attributes

I've known and worked with many very successful artists in the fine and commercial art fields. They all possessed several interesting attributes which probably was the reason they were successful.

As an artist, especially in the fine arts, no one is going to force you to draw, paint or sculpt, you must be self-motivated. Do art every day, it must become a big part of your life. If you wanted to be a pianist, you certainly would practice every day.
In art school you can learn about drawing, color, design and composition. You're on your own when it comes to enthusiasm, energy, ideas and creativity.
Other interesting attributes are:

Three words of advice for art students

Practice doing a lot of drawings, it's something basic that will help you in the future. The computer is a marvelous and exciting medium, but you must have experience in the traditional mediums in order to have the necessary background to create digital images. When I was a kid, my friend Herb Schiebold, and I would always go out and do pencil sketches and watercolor paintings on the spot. This helped us greatly when we entered the commercial art field. Even just painting abstract color designs at home will help you develop as an artist. Also, have a few heroes, Visit museums and art galleries and read art magazines. You will find a few artists that you really enjoy and this will influence some of the work that you will be doing. It's all part of the growing process that artists must go through.

MoonDream painting finished

I'm very pleased with the way the new painting turned out.


I'm thinking of presenting this as a Diptych, two paintings hung together as one.


This is the version that I'm leaning towards doing.

More advice for art students

Progress with my new painting

I begin by painting in the blue background color. It's wise to get the canvas covered and get rid of the stark white background so that you can tell how the colors are working together.


I then add a lighter blue to the lower half of the painting and add a couple more colors.


I fill in all of the body colors and now can tell better how everything is working together. I decide that the moon shapes are too large and will paint over them.


With a few color changes I feel everything is coming together well. I have added smaller moon shapes that seem to work much better. A few more hours and the painting will be finished. Check my next post.

Starting on a new painting

All my preliminary sketches for this new series of paintings are created on the computer, above is my latest creation which was done yesterday.


Over the sketch I draw squares which enables me to transfer an outline drawing onto the canvas easily.


Here I have carefully completed my drawing onto the canvas and am ready to begin painting. I don't necessarily follow the sketch, but only use it as a starting point. I frequently change colors as well as the design.


I intend to do another painting and show these two as one unit. The size will be 96" x 48". I am trying to come up with a title, perhaps "MoonDream/SunDream' or "Night Woman/ Day Woman".

Advice for art students

This is also good advice for all artists. The only thing stopping you from growing is yourself. Dream, experiment to your hearts content and have fun as you develop. Art is a long growing and learning process. I've been at it for decades and am still learning and exploring new ideas and mediums as well, enjoying the whole process.

Another pix of my new painting, MUSE

A photo of my new painting with Tiff sitting in front of it. The painting is 48 x 60" in size.

Final stages of new painting

A very early stage where I am filling in areas of color.


Before I can tell if the colors are working properly, I must pretty much fill in the whole canvas and get rid of the white areas, then I will be able to adjust or modify any colors if necessary.


Almost finished at this stage, I just have to change a few color values and add some details.


The finished painting shown here with the first smaller version which was painted earlier. The title of the painting is "Muse".

Large painting finished

My new large painting titled "Coquette" is finished and measures 60 x 60". It is acrylic on canvas.


Here is the sketch for my next painting "Muse". I have drawn squares over the sketch so I can easily transfer the image onto the canvas. This work measures 48 x 60"


I copied the image to the canvas and am ready to start painting. You will follow the progress on the next post.

New large painting in progress

Here's a shot of my new painting where I backed off a bit to give you an idea of the large size of the canvas.


At this stage I am working on the image which is turned upside down. The black areas on the figure are bring painted in. Large works such as this can be very time consuming.


I've now turned the canvas back to normal and am completing the figure portion.


The painting is almost completed here, but I still have to add many small details and clean up a few areas.