Help me Obi Wan ...

George in a Cloak (2013)
Oil on canvas

Sometimes at the Cincinnati Art Club's Sketch Group one of the members will serve as the model for the day. In this case, it was an artist and art professor who decided to have some fun by posing in a medieval brown cloak holding a staff. After I did the painting, I realized he ended up looking a lot like Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars.

Control

Brian with Staff (2013)
Oil on canvas

This was the second painting I did at the Cincinnati Art Club's Sketch Group. Once again, this was a great model who had amazing control - he was able to stand completely still throughout the entire three and a half hour pose.

The Ballerina

The Ballerina (2013)
Oil on Canvas

The Cincinnati Art Club is a wonderful organization for artists. One of the benefits of the club is that they have a model twice a week, which they call the "Sketch Group". This was the first time I came to the Sketch Group to paint, and the model was this beautiful young ballerina. Due to her ballet training, she was a wonderful model with amazing control - she seemed like a statue during the two and a half hour session.

Mane

Julia Seated  (2012)
oil on canvas

This was the last painting from Gil's workshop. Julia's a great model - she has a strong, pronounced nose and a wild mane of curly red hair with a few platinum blond streaks. She's just such an interesting looking woman, and friendly too.

Familiarity

Angela by the Window (2012)
oil on canvas

This was a painting I did while doing a workshop at the Art Academy of Cincinnati last winter with Gil Borne, a wonderful painter who I've known many years. Angela is a model I've painted many times in figure painting classes at the Art Academy. She's a middle aged woman, but there's something really innocent and childlike about her. She was sitting by the window, and the light had her face mostly in shadow. She was wearing this sweater with all these crazy colors.

Structure

Plaza at Mt Echo Park (2012)
oil on canvas

I rarely attempt to paint architecture - I usually prefer painting organic things like people and plants. But this scene was just so compelling - the plaza at Mt. Echo park, a brick and concrete structure with trees protruding through the ground and all kinds of flowers surrounding. Once again, I went back and redid a lot after taking it home. It took a while for me to feel like the structure had the sense of weight and stability it needed.

Sunlight

Sunlight on the Ohio River (2012)
oil on canvas

This was a painting I started with my painting club last fall. We were at Otto Armleder Park, and the Ohio River was low enough so we could go down to the bank and paint. After the session, I went back and redid a lot later, because I didn't think my first draft really captured the colors and the way the river appeared. The water was really dark and muddy, and the foliage behind the river seemed almost purple. But the sun was hitting the river in certain spots, creating this dazzling brightness here and there.