I Painted Mark McDermott at Epoch Coffee

OK, I cheated a little bit.  I asked if I could paint him.  I painted him at Epoch at night, causing all sorts of value/color and lighting problems.   I have only asked to paint someone once before, and I sucked so badly that I promised that I wouldn’t do it again.  But, this face, […]

The Sensual Line of the Rapid Oil Sketch

This is an example of the  very rapid, warp 10/volume 11 sketch.  As people are waiting for their drink orders at the counter, I try and paint them.  I have anywhere from one to three minutes to capture the gesture.  It is a tricky business.  One cannot falter, and precision and rhythm of line is […]

I Painted People at Epoch Coffee in the KaffeeHaus Style

I finally stopped whining about the lack of good places to sit to paint in Epoch.  There are only two tables at Epoch Coffee that are located at a natural light source.  At every other table, I am staring into the store-front glass – which causes terrible problems when judging colors – well, you just […]

I Painted this Pretty Girl at Cafe Medici

My Fifth Starving Artist Story

I was sad when Victoria Donner, Tamsen’s older sister moved out of the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs.  I found her to be the sweetest and most approachable of all The Donner clan.  Her room was immediately taken by Parivash Shogi’s cousin, who was sent from Tehran to America for brain surgery. Pari was the […]

I Painted this Portrait Sketch at Halcyon Coffee

She wore heavy-rimmed black reading glasses that she would take on and off as she worked.  I decided to paint her without the glasses.  As you know, I usually try and paint my subjects without them knowing it.  It’s a tricky business, because people move around a lot!

My Fourth Starving Artist Story

Stick with it, there is a photo at the end.   This Starving Artist post will focus on Tamsen Donner, who was a large influence on my life.  We ended up taking a trip through the South together – a trip that I will never forget. God chiseled and hammered Tamsen out of the hardest stone.  […]

I Painted This Portrait Vignette at Epoch Coffee

Surf’s Up and so is the collar!  He was at Epoch Coffee just long enough for me to paint a quick 6×9 portrait vignette.  When I do these quick vignettes, I always try and tone the canvas a bit to keep the painting from looking too flat.

I Painted Him at the Spider House

I painted this man at the Spider House.  He had on a white box-tailed button-down shirt, leggings, and white mules.  I saw him again a few days later at Cafe Medici (another coffee house) in a similar outfit.

My Third Starving Artist Story

Stick with it – there are pictures at the bottom! I really didn’t appreciate my coworkers during the times that I worked at Les Amis (I worked there at two separate times).  There were the itinerates that had worked there for years, and the college students that were working for pocket money.  I was already […]