Finishing a 34 Year Old Lady

Back in the beginning - before kids - I used to paint larger pictures in acrylics. Lots of them. Unfortunately, most were stored in our garage, where a deluge from a roof leak ruined them.

One of my best was a fanciful portrait of a seated woman. I didn't finish her all those years ago, meaning to get back to it, and always hesitated for fear of screwing up some interesting lines and effects. She was moldy and warped, but I figured I could save her if I could only find a way to mount her that would remove the warp in the hardboard surface. Framers refused to try it.

So the woodworking instructor at Little House came to my rescue. He made me a nice redwood frame to which the hardboard substrate could be screwed down. It worked!

So after 34 years, I framed her, cleaned her up, and finally put some finishing touches. Didn't do too much still for fear of messing up something good.

Here she is "Banty Rooster" (nickname of a former student who said it looked like her) before and after.

She will hang in my new office at Samaritan House.

Central Park San Mateo Painting

Another good day with the Burlingame Plein Air Painters. This time at the rose garden in San Mateo's Central Park. Not that much that grabs me for subject matter, but everyone pretty much settled on the gazebo in one way or another.

This one came out a bit cartoonish for my taste. 

Plein Air Painters at Montara May 3, 2014

Went out to Montara to paint with the group at the light house station. We had a good day of it.

Some even thought that they'd spotted the whales off the coast in their annual migration (and they are in the area now doing that.)

Tried to get a video of the actual painting process, but the camera was aimed too high on my head. Next time.

I wasn't thrilled with how the painting came out. Something wrong with the values. But the underlying pen sketch was pretty good. I've wanted to paint this building (the lighthouse keeper's home) for a long time.