Paintings in the works

This is the current whale painting I am working on right now. Even though I have only been able to paint on the weekends. I feel like this one is moving along at a faster pace for me then the mother and calf Humpback whale painting I did last year. All the hard work and frustration that I went through on last years painting is paying off though. I want to get this one done so I can start on another one!

I have also started another bird painting too. I actually began work on this one last summer before the whale painting above. I haven't done much on it lately because I have been focusing more on the whale painting and I was having a little trouble with the clouds, but need to get back at it. I have three more boards primed so I can paint something on them but I don't really have the room to do that many at one time right now. I need a bigger studio and more time to paint!

The passion within

The eyes are the windows to the soul. Maybe the face that launched a thousand ships? 
She is not Helen of Troy but I have always wondered what she looked like. 
Maybe a painting for the future!

This is a pencil drawing I did in the early 80’s; it’s a copy of a newspaper ad for jewelry. I don’t know why I like it, I just do. Maybe it’s the pose or the look on her face. Hell, maybe the best way I can describe it is if you have ever been in love with a woman, you know how you can feel when she looks at you. It can bring you joy, frustration, or cut you to the heart and soul whether you say or do something right or stupid. Ah women! I think I will never understand why some women will stick with us guys at times, not that I am a big jerk but I have my days…don't we all. As men we should be more thankful they do stick with us! And love them even more for doing it! What does this have to do with art, a lot! Never take for granted the people in your life that are there for you whether it is in your triumphs, failures, frustration, etc. Be thankful! I have had a lot of family, friends and women who have gotten me over some tough hurdles over the years especially the last three! And I owe them a lot. I told you I am passionate about my work. I think once I do release that passion to its full extent, I will become a better artist and a better person too. I always get the question, “Who was she?” or “is that an old flame?” Yeah, that was back in the 80’s when I was dating supermodels. No! I am just captivated by the look. I remember not being able to stop working on it once I started. It was fun to do and I learned some good techniques for future pencil drawings and that was another reason why I wanted to do it. 

The house that Anthony and Mark drew

In the summer of 2003 a cousin of mine, Susan, on my Dad's side of the family, came down to San Diego on business and wanted to get together. We talked about what we both had been doing and things we wanted to do. I mentioned to her that I felt I was at a point in my life where I needed and wanted to get back to painting again. Afterwards I actually had forgotten about the whole conversation and went on with my life as usual and didn't do anything with my art at all. On my second trip to Hawaii between Dec. 2003 and Jan. of 2004, while visiting with her parents, Sue called and wanted to know if I would be interested in helping her boyfriend at the time, Anthony, on some art projects that he was involved in. He was working for an architectural firm in Santa Barbara, CA. doing computer renderings but was looking to start his own business. She had remembered the conversation that she and I had back in the summertime. I am glad she did because looking back I needed something to get me moving forward again with my art. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to not doing the things I know I should! 

When I got back from Hawaii I went up to Lompoc, CA where they were living to see how I could help him. The powers to be at the time still liked the traditional look of water color art. So Anthony was trying to meld the two together. I was amazed at what he was drawing on the computer and it blew me away. I was a little intimidated when he asked me about doing some art on the computer but was willing to learn. Over the next several months we worked on one piece and I did some other art for him but things didn't pan out. It was a lot of fun and it had rekindled the love of art in me again. I remember my first trip up there, one night we went out to dinner to celebrate Sue’s birthday with Anthony’s parents and his Mom asked me what I did for a living. I told her and then my cousin said that I was there to see if I could help Anthony with what he was doing and then made the comment that I was a real artist. His Mom got somewhat mad. Sue was not trying to be degrading to Anthony talents, he is a great artist! It reminded me of my mom and how she would do the same thing when she thought someone was talking bad about my abilities. We smoothed things over with the clarification that Anthony is a computer artist and I am a traditional one. We do the same thing, just use different tools! I enjoyed working with him and would do it again if I got the chance.

Some of the type of art I did while working with Anthony. He would scan the art and paste it where he needed. It could be reused over and over again to save time. 

This is probably my favorite piece I did. The Bird Of Paradise, the bigger one.
I was so proud of it. I should finish it and frame it! 

These are the drawings Anthony emailed me for the house rendering we worked 
on together. I used them to create the pool area and the left side of the 
hose renderings below.

The sky for the background of the house rendering. I did this in about a half  hour while

I was up inLompoc one weekend working with Anthony. My first attempt didn't go 

so good so I started over. I was trying to do the clouds and sky with just the 

blue color but ended up painting a wash and then doing the clouds on top.

The hills here and the two pieces below I did at home.

The left side of the house.

The pool area.

The final rendering. Anthony did the house and the plants in the lower left and redid the color for the pool The rest is my artwork. The art I did was scanned and then Anthony put everything together on the computer. Not bad for a couple of white boys! The house is in Goleta just north of Santa Barbara, CA. It was up in the hills and this view, the back of the house, looked out towards the ocean. I would love to see it now. At the time it was under construction. The roof was done but the rest of the house was pretty much still stud framing. The family room was as big as my house.