Wednesday, October 14, 2009

La Brocca'

La Brocca' is one of my favorite pieces. In it there is both tension and harmony. There are extremes in every aspect of this painting an yet it is still beautiful. The range of tonal value, croma and color have all been pushed to there limits. Not only have I made an effort to make the porcelain as new and smooth as possible. I have created a texture on the old chipped marble that one could pick the painting up by.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Flintlocke


Another piece for the show at the Royal Gallery. I bought this replica muzzle loader in Florence, Italy when i was studying there. It was two years buy the time I got around to paint it. But I think it was worth the wait. The flowers were just as old but I was able to keep them in good condition to appear in this piece. The wood was a great find. My parents live by an abandoned cranberry bog in MA and its an old Ocean spray box from the 50s.
My method for this painting was with a loose charcoal drawing on the linen followed by a loose color lay in over it. The shadows were painted first along with all the rest of the darks. I gradually built up the large forms and moved into the smaller internal shapes.
I made sure i had fun with this painting playing around with edges and varying thicknesses of paint.

Saint Bartholomew


This is a Painting I just finish for my up coming show at the Royal Gallery in Providence. It was inspired from one of my favorite artist Ribera. This paint also has a double meaning for me. The sitter is actually my father.
When painting this piece I started with a very precise charcoal drawing. After I was satisfied with the drawing i went straight into the painting. I started from the right hand bottom corner and worked my way up finishing each section as i went.
Hope you enjoy it.