Santorini, Greece

This was a challenging painting.  Solving some of the issues of shadows, and bringing out some dimension in the hillside was a test.  The results are, I would like to go there.  A friend went, took this photo, and I hope this painting will be a pleasant reminder for a long time of his traveling there.

Next up:  from travels of Elke and mine, a Austrian village that is about as picturesque as it gets -Hallstat.  Hope you've had a great summer - hope you made some memories.   Thanks for coming by, Mark

English Market

For an artist who likes to paint details this was a lot of fun.  If it was possible to count brush strokes I'm sure this painting would contain more of them than anything I have ever done.  I'm glad my wife suggested this photo from a trip we took.  It's just the sort of subject material that brings back fond memories and reminds me why it's good to travel.  I mean if you want a bottle of Wobble Juice, you gotta go get it!

Next up a commissioned painting from a friend who happened to travel to Santorini, Greece.  Somebody had to go, and somebody needs to memorialize it.  Thanks for checking in....Mark

Still Life Almost

So, I've never painted a still life scene.  And technically, I probably still haven't with this next painting.  But this close up photo I took in front of a English market comes pretty close.  If you squint your eyes maybe it will look like a bunch of fruit bowls, and wine bottles.  Wa-La a massive still life.  Or maybe not....

Well, anyhow, still life or not it is incredibly complex.  I'm going to be here awhile, so please come back in a week or so and see if I'm making progress.  Thanks for checking in....Mark

1930 Duesenberg

This painting was a lot of fun.  The chrome, the paint, the highlights - never a dull moment.  Often in a painting there's a place or two that is a bit boring.  Places where you trudge through to get to the good stuff.  Sometimes it's hard to pick up the brushes when you get to those places.  That was never the case here.  It was hard most of the time to put the brushes down.  I'll definately be painting more cars down the road - sorry pun not intended.  Who out there has a cool car needing to be painted?  Ok, thanks for checking in - I'm not sure what's next, but whatever it is it will be on my table in a day or 2 - any recommendations?

Concours Beauty

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Palo Alto Concours D'Elegance.  The vintage cars were fantastic.  It was a great reminder of what beautiful design can be.  What's gone wrong the past 60 years?  I digress...so, how about a painting of one of these?  I haven't painted an automobile before so here we go.  I've chosen a 1930 Duesenberg - what a car!  Hopefully I'll get it right and have something to frame in another week or so.  Thanks for coming by....Mark

Alpine Inn

This was a lot of fun.  I was pleased the day that I took the photo that there happened to be no cars or vehicles parked directly in front of the Inn.   I actually would have gone away and come back another day.  Instead a couple of real nice motorcycles were positioned perfectly to the right hand side.  Leaving the front nicely exposed, and the details in the windows and front parking area wide open.  So, although this painting celebrates the Alpine Inn, for me, the two motorcycles are a great balance to its age and history.
Thanks for coming by...check in again soon, I'm already engaged in my next creation...assuming it goes as well as it is going in my head!    Mark

Burgers and more...

An old friend in local dining...Alpine Inn is a favorite spot for burgers, beer, fries and sodas.  As you may have noticed, for the last many months I have been applying a lot of paint toward paintings of local establishments that are either personally memorable for me and my family, or as in the case of the Tobacconist store - just a cool Palo Alto store front.  Alpine Inn is one more of these special places.  If all goes well I should be finishing this painting in about a week.  Thanks again for checking in, Mark