My still life meditations

These are my little still life meditations, small-scale and quickly done.

Portrait of Tommy

I've painted many a portrait and thought I'd post this one of Tommy- a much-loved model at the Art Student's League of New York.
Gosh, the more I look at this the more it reminds me of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington where ol' George's dentures are not fitting so well and distends the bottom lip out a bit, much as it is doing here.

Star fruit and Mandarins

I was in Shop Rite the other day and they had a sale on these interesting shaped star fruits or carambola.In addition to their interesting shape, they have an amazing translucence and a waxy surface. A buck a piece along with some green plums and I happily added some new objects to my still life collection. Taking inspiration from Carol Marine, I set up a still life with the star fruit and some mandarin oranges and a blue glass plate to balance all the colors and make it pop.

Sunlight and Clouds over Naples, Florida

This is a view I painted from the bridge near Gulf Shore Blvd. in Naples, Florida.Late afternoon often finds huge thunderheads over the gulf which collect light and reflect it into the water. It's quite a stunning effect.

Color and Light

I've got these great tropical fruit in my studio and this is another one using the dragon fruit, the sweet banana and a blue ginger jar.

I call it Color and Light because i think the focus of this exercise is more about depicting these effects than it is about depicting the things themselves.

Dragon Fruit and Sweet Bananas

I found this amazing fruit at the market- it's called Dragon Fruit. Commonly referred to as Pitaya, it is the fruit of a tropical cactus. The shiny rose-colored husk looked especially interesting when paired with the tiny sweet bananas.

Chewing on a piece of grass

A portrait of Louis in oils.

Central Park Gazebo

This was painted plein air from a Central Park gazebo which is perched on a rocky knoll  just off Sixth Ave. looking east.

Springtime in Central Park

I found myself up along the west side of Central Park where I found this view of a fountain in Central Park on a sunny day in April.

Looking south, this was painted plein air on canvas paper and clipped to a piece of masonite.