Cat in Red Light, 24x30" $400

 Captive Audience #8, 2-20x20" $500

A Captive Audience #3, 12x12" $100

  A Captive Audience #4, 12x12" sold

A Captive Audience, Med., 24x30" $400

A Captive Audience, lrg., 30x40" $700

 
Patchwork Landscape With Moon #1 30x40" $650

Patchwork Landscape With Moon #2 24x36" $350

Took a while to get all these photographed and resized and uploaded and posted here, but here are the paintings I completed last week (all but the Tire Swing painting were started last week as well).

(above)

Tire Swing,40x30" $700

Yellow Flowers, 24x24" $350

Wave, 24x48" $400

Lure, 30x48" $800

(below)

American Flag #3, 48x18" $400

American Flag #4, 48x30" $600

Boiled Shrimp #2, 24x24" $350

 

]]>http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-5358740.xmlwessfWed, 16 Sep 2009 15:31:09 +0000http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/2009/9/16/terrier-pup.html327010:3435909:5213981Alright, I'm back to painting now. Here's my latest.

Terrier Pup, 24x18", $300 (click for larger image)

Painted this one late last night - took me maybe three hours, all told. Felt like only an hour or less the way it just came together. Painted it from a photograph of a friend's dog (though I did not bother making it look exactly like the dog . . . same breed and basically the same as the photo, but the owner might not recognize it as their dog, that's all).

One thing that has kept me from getting back into painting [perhaps] is the big unanswered question in my mind: What should I be painting? Both subject-matter-wise and style-wise, but mainly the problem of style. My paintings have a definite style, in terms of "my brushstrokes", "my sensibilities", "my color balance", or whatever, but have always varied greatly in what I might call "artificial style" - where I am always trying out new ideas or styles, always changing things up in that regard. Anyway, I finally put aside the idea of style . . . deciding that the majority of my paintings share a certain style that I tend toward anyway, and that's what I should paint. As in this painting, there is a certain amount of messiness to things - lots of movement within major shapes, lots of busy-ness going on. A trope of mine that one might call "wessiness", where the History of the painting is evident, where various layers-beneath-layers show through, giving the final layer a more interesting, exciting aspect.

So, that question solved in my head, it's on to subject matter . . . for that, I'll just take it painting by painting.

]]>http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-5213981.xmlwessfSat, 12 Sep 2009 17:12:45 +0000http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/2009/9/12/a-very-long-very-unintended-hiatus.html327010:3435909:5172553I've not been painting very much these last few months . . . a few one-off paintings here and there, but not in earnest, as they say. It has given me time to dabble in other interests of mine - writing, reading, other things I can't think of right now but surely they were constructive in some relevant, enjoyable way - and, of course, lots of wasted time in between [but that's normal, whether I'm painting in earnest or not].

All that to say, I'm back at the easel now, brush in hand, poised and ready, set, painting! Feels good, though I'm struggling, as always, to find the right subject matter to put to canvas. Anyway, I should have a plethora of new paintings at the next NorthShore Art Market [October 10th], where I will probably be painting throughout the day as well. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions of subject matter for me to paint [paint more of this or that, et cetera], post a comment or send me an email - thanks!

]]>http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-5172553.xmlwessfMon, 18 May 2009 00:23:56 +0000http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/2009/5/18/returning-home-2-process.html327010:3435909:4009356

This is a large painting - a bit over five feet tall. I was commissioned to paint it based on the painting Returning Home. It was a fun painting despite a lot of ancillary problems that came up during the painting process (several days of foul weather, an artshow, and an evil bout of lower back pain from which I am just now recovering). The slideshow, of course, shows some of the painting process. The photos are in order, but as you may notice, the painting took a circuitous route to completion as I experimented with different techniques, especially in the sky and trees. Click the slideshow to get a larger view of the finished painting.]]>http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/rss-comments-entry-4009356.xmlFrom the SketchbookwessfSat, 02 May 2009 12:53:00 +0000http://www.wessforeman.com/blog/2009/5/2/oranges-and-jellybeans.html327010:3435909:3848131

This is just a quick little sketch of some oranges and jellybeans that were lying around on the kitchen countertop. I had an urge to sketch something and this was the first thing I spotted.

White Lillies #1 - 30x40" $600

Started and finished this painting in one sitting . . . er, standing. Inspiration came from a neighbor's yellow day lillies - they seemed so happy, like they were all giddy and chatting freely amongst themselves [perhaps it was the fact that Spring is in the air, perhaps they especially enjoyed and still celebrated May Day, who knows]. Painting from memory, I began by painting the flowers quickly in white on a green background. The reason for this is that yellow shines much brighter if painted over a white foundation (yellow is just not as opaque as other colors). After that, I painted the flowers yellow, but I had already gotten used to the idea of white flowers, so I painted them white once more (boring story, I know). I added some charcoal, smeared and smudged it here and there, added other colors for interest, and that's it. I called it good enough. The end.

Happy May Day.

The next NorthShore Art Market will be Saturday, May 9th - starts at 10am, goes until 4:30pm. I will be there with a booth full of new paintings. And like last time, I will be painting throughout the day. Should be fun. This is the last of the Spring markets - starting up again in September. More details at northshoreartmarket.com.