Blue Eyes -- 18x24 Charcoal of Judy Collins

Of course beauty is not always young -- though I was surprised to realize how time had gone by when I saw a more recent image of Judy Collins.  We become old.  There is so much nostalgia for me growing up with her music that I am unable to disassociate the beauty of the music and the beauty of the person.  I attempted to capture the beauty and her joy of living in this charcoal.  

The Fall of the Cowboy, Closing The Gate, 14"x18" Oil on Canvas After Remington

This is a study in oil on canvas to develop my skills with people and horses.  Two cowboys on quarter horses riding the snowy range just into a storm.  It is roughly 14 by 18, after Frederic Remington.  

Pregnant Rape Victim from Sudan, Oil on Canvas ~ 18" x 24"

This painting was to show the plight of pregnant rape victims of war.  I appropriated from the Blind Man of Toledo painting by Joaquin Soroll.  That painting sets the stage because the blind man seemed as isolated as a pregnant rape victim in the vast, almost surreal landscape.  Grimly, pregnant victims of rape in war are isolated from their own communities with an undesired, foreign child.   

Figure Study, Nude 18 x 24 Oil after Richard Schmid

This figure study is oil on canvas after an example by Richard Schmid in his book Painting the Figure. 

Charcoal and Pastel Studies -- Butcher Block Paper

Here are a couple of fairly large charcoals that I did on butcher block paper just for warming up.  Bailey the smaller of the two for a friend's birthday (her dog) and Tyler and his dog Max is a much larger piece, but was a fun practice.