NEW PIECE! Fog, Smoke & Cannonfire

03/08/07
The pieces have arrived at their new home and are now on display. It is satisfying to know they have a good home.

12/14/07:
Robert Weber, the videographer who was shooting the festival, and who also produces the "Bicycling Through History" DVDs, has purchased the pair, and they will be on their way to their new home shortly.

Thank you so much, Robert. Enjoy the paintings.

Check out http://www.bicyclingthroughhistory.com/ - the DVDs are way cool. Check out the Pirates DVD - you just might see a familiar face, perhaps with a little more hair.








o paintings that go together to form a whole) of a pirate ship and a Royal Navy Man-o-War in a full-on broadside, complete with blazing cannons, masts toppling and cannonballs bursting on deck and in the water!
Following are detail sections. This is all I could fit on my scanner.

Acrylic on canvas, diptych, each panel 11x14"

New Series: "The Adventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot"

It is only fitting that this series gets its own post.
Inspired by the rascally Blue & Gold Macaw in POTC. That bird cracks me up.
Note: Okay, so they are not all going to be the same blue & gold macaw. Different compositions call for different elements, colors and poses. It's the underlying idea that is the unifying thread here.
Perhaps these guys (and girls) are all related, somehow. I will think that one over.

11/08/07
New installment in the series: "In the Rigging"
Model: Sunshine [Scarlet Macaw]
Sunshine gave me such a great pose yesterday. The light coming from over her shoulder was just lovely, and she was leaning into a slight breeze. She kept talking to me while I was sketching. It was a pleasant session, and I liked the resulting sketch.
I had no specific plan for it at the time of the sketch - with animals I simply sketch to capture the moment. Today as I sat down to paint, I had been percolating and idea for a painting for a while. As I was going through sketches to find a pose, this one jumped right out at me. Anyway, macaws are just too colorful not to paint.
I am pretty happy with the colors in the sky, and I like the overall contrast. It holds up nicely from a distance. Note: the signature is painted in gold. How piratical!

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x10"

11/07/07: The latest installment. The series is shaping up nicely, dare I say it I'm inspired.
"The Adventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot 3: Fire in the Hole!"
The tilt of the head is taken from an actual pose provided by Nikki last week, minus the stick.
The original thumbnail sketches had various side views with the cannon pointed away, but then I caught the field sketch of the tilted head, the combination of the attitude and the front view was just too good to resist, it was perfect.

Derwent Studio and Prismacolor on parchment, 8"x10"

The Adventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot 2: At the Wheel."
Model: Norman [Green-Wing Macaw]

Derwent Drawing #6300 Venetian Red on Acid Free card stock, 8"x10

"The Adventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot 1: Out on a Limb."
Model: Nikki [Blue & Gold Macaw]
The one that started it all:

Derwent Drawing Venetian Red #6300 and Prismacolor on beige acid-free card stock, 8"x10"

JOLLY ROGER: The old skull and bones

Horatio 11/02/07
Nothing warms a pirate's heart like a skull dimly lit from above.

Derwent Venetian Red #6300 on parchment, 8"x10"

Skulley 2, 2004
This started as a demonstration of the classic 'rub out' technique, and escalated into a challenge between myself and my studio mate Yumiko.

Charcoal on Fabriano Ingres paper, 18"x24"

Nature's Design, 2002
Notice the Golden Spiral? Nature in all her harmonious glory.

Watercolor, 9"x12"

SWIMMY THINGS: Fish and marine mammals

Out of the Deep II: Color Study

Acrylic on canvas, 8"x10"

Out of the Deep I: Value Study

Charcoal on Fabriano Ingres paper, 8"x10"

Dolphins
A more detailed study, from live field sketches.

Prismacolor on white paper, 8"x10"

LANDSCAPES, SEASCAPES: Places a pirate loves

View from the Mission; compositional study

Derwent Venetian Red #6300 on parchment, 8"x10"

Retreiving the Gold; composition study

Derwent Drawing Venetian Red #6300 on parchment, 6"x10"



Palm Trees, color study

Acrylic, 9"x12"

Seascape, color study

Acrylic, 9"x12"

SHIPS: A pirate's true love

Study of a ship on the open ocean.

Acrylic, 9"x12"

BIRDS: Me fine feathered friends.

"The Adventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot 3; Fire in the Hole"
I will start a separate thread for this series.

Derwent Studio and Prismacolor on parchment, 8"x10"


Nicki 10/29/07
Model: Nicki [Blue & Gold Macaw]
Nikki was very curious this day, he got right up in front of me trying to see what I was doing.

Prismacolor on Bainbridge 2000 Illustration Board, 4"x5"

Norman 10/29/07
Model:, Norman [Green-wing Macaw]

Prismacolor on beige Canson paper, 8"x10"

Out on a Limb I; color study for a finished painting
Part of a series titled "The misadventures of Mister Cotton's Parrot"
That bird just cracks me up.
The model for this one was Nicki, a Blue & Gold Macaw. He has been an excellent model, very curious, always good poses.

Prismacolor on acid-free card stock, 8"x10"

At the Wheel I
Inspired by Mister Cotton's Parrot.
Model: Norman, a Green-Winged Macaw; a real show-off.

Derwent Venetian Red #6300 on parchment, 8"x10"

Nicki 10/29/07

Model: Nicki [Blue & Gld Macaw]

From live field sketches.

Derwent Drawing #6300 Venetian Red on beige acid-free card stock, 8"x10"

Sunshine and Morning Mist
Sunshine is a beautiful Scarlet Macaw, and one of my favorite feathered models. She always poses really nice.

Acrylic on canvas, 9"x12"

PIRATES: Drawings of pirates and characters.

A test for the pirate portraits I be doing at Pirates in Paradise this year.
Nigel 10/23/07

Prismacolor on beige acid-free cardstock, 8"x10"
30 minutes

Study of Captain Jack Sparrow; At World's End:

Acrylic, 9"x12"

a pensive Jack Sparrow...:

Conte and Pastel on beige paper, 12"x16"

...and a companion piece, Elizabeth:

Conte and Pastel on beige paper, 12"x16"
I loved the expressions on each of their faces.

Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa:

Prismacolor on parchment, 8"x10"

Lee Arenberg as Pintel:

Prismacolor on beige acid-free card stock, 8"x10"