Notes on 'Blank'

Oh, oh! No paintings for a while and now this! He must be... No, not really. Blank is how every canvas starts. What to do, where to begin, what is the inspiration and what is the vision - all questions that arise for most painters when they first look at that blank. So, here is step one. Over the next few days, the blank will go to finished painting in a series of steps. Hope you have as much fun viewing as I do painting.

Notes on 'Banana Shadow'

I’ve been asked what happened to the daily painting blog over the last month or so. Well, I was on a trip to visit my daughter Emily, who is working there for the Peace Corps (read her blog). Whenever traveling, I always bring my paints and a camera. Initially, I thought it would be easy to keep the blog going while on this little adventure; however, the complexities of internet connections and missing software lead me to let it go until my return to Berkeley. Instead, I spent the time painting, exploring and photographing the area and learning Spanish.

Now that I am back, I will be posting a series of paintings from the trip. Most of the paintings will be from and around San Antonio Huista, a small town in the north, close to the border with Mexico. This photo will give you an idea of the place:


It is indeed a beautiful country!

Notes on the painting 'Progress 05'

The last touches of a painting can take as long as the work on it up to that point.

The original study for this piece was this painting posted earlier on the daily painting blog.

Notes on the painting 'Progress 04'

One fun aspect of using a painting knife is mixing the painting directly on the canvas. It allows for thick and juicy application of the paint as well as some loss of control, which can be at the same time risky and satisfying.

Notes on the painting 'Progress 03'

Further development of the work with the painting knife.

Notes on the painting 'Progress 02'

Once the wash has been put on the canvas, I go directly to paint with no thinner and in this case, apply it with a painting knife.

Notes on the painting 'Progress 01'

One of the notions behind doing these small paintings was to create larger works from them. Before starting on any larger work, I usually create a thumbnail first - it is a good way to work out ideas quickly and as a guide during the creation of the final painting. Often these thumbnails turn out to be fine paintings and can function both as a finished painting as well as a thumbnail. Over the next few days, the postings will be a few steps in the process of one larger work, which is based on an earlier small painting posted to the daily blog.

At this point, the painting is in the initial wash-in, which establishes the overall composition of the piece.

Notes on 'Silhouettes'

The staff at The East Bay Monthly enjoyed this painting so much they decided to put it on the cover of their quality arts and culture magazine.

Notes on 'Laughter'

One of my favorite places in India was Sanchi, a small village just a short distance north of Bhopal. Sanchi has been designated as a World Heritage Site, so has many tourists visiting from around the world. Even still, it has a small population with very low income. As I explored the hills above the town, a number of children approached and followed, all smiling with delight, asking for their picture to be taken. The young girl in this painting stood out in particular because of her smile and how she danced with joy.

Notes on 'Colors'

'What was he thinking?' you might well wonder, as I usually paint representationally - that is, what I see in life. This painting is just that. While I was sitting in a long boat on the Mekong River in Huay Xai, Laos, I noticed the colors of a neighboring boat. The placement of colors in such a geometric pattern was fascinating to me, as I was able to separate these patterns from the surrounding view. You can see the whole scene in this image: Seeing the world from a new viewpoint is what keeps me painting!

Notes on the painting 'Gift'

This painting is more curious than many of my paintings. I almost always work from life when painting and this one is an example. When I am looking for subjects to paint, I often look to see what I may have otherwise not noticed as extraordinary. Today I woke up wondering what the painting would be and before even getting up, I saw the cast shadow of a bird that had just landed on a wire outside the window which had a translucent curtain still down. How amazing, as I had never seen a bird on the wire with the curtain up or down and that the painting appeared without any effort on my part - a nice gift first thing in the morning!

About A Berkeley Daily

I've been creating these paintings on a daily basis for a number of reasons. I’ve traveled all around the world looking at art because I find deep inspiration in it. I appreciate the beauty that artists throughout time have created. My wish is to join with them to bring more joy into the world.

I see that we all need it.

On a number of occasions I have included images of my paintings in an email and have received kind notes in response. I had noticed a few other artists creating works and posting them on the web and the thought occurred to me: Why not make a daily practice of creating and sending out images both on the web and by email?

Each of these paintings is about the size of a personal envelope. It is my hope that you will enjoy seeing them as much as I do creating them. It you do, please feel free to share this with your friends.