Works in Progress

I hope you enjoy these progress photos of my current painting in progress
(as of February 16) and four recent paintings.

They’ll give you a good idea of the phases and layers of both watercolor and acrylic painting
and how my work evolves from the first session into the final work.

St. Phillip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church

Developing the arches, angles, shadows and layers of this courtyard,
based on a late 1950’s postcard of the church.

St. Phillip's 1

St. Phillip’s Church – Session 1
Detaining the layout of the architecture,
starting to fill in the background.

St. Phillip's 3

St. Phillip’s Church – Session 3
Slow going :-), but adding detail
to the background inside the courtyard and porch wall

St. Phillip's 6

St. Phillip’s Church – Session 6
Continuing to work on of shadows and light on the porch and wall,
adding the urn and the bench to show depth

St. Phillip's 8

St. Phillip’s Church – Session 8
Finishing the bench, working on two more columns, adding the grassy area and starting the ivy (which is everywhere)

Curiosity Sunrise

Moving from a photo of a Mars sunrise to a painting for the
Univ. of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Sciences art show in February 2025.

Mars 1

Mars and Rover – Session 1
Painting and tinting the sky,
setting the base color of the planet

Mars 3

Mars and Rover – Session 3
Smoothing the tint in the sky, adding texture and dimension to the
planet surface, plus
the under color for the Mars Rover

Mars 4

Mars and Rover – Session 4
Starting the sun and aura of the planet, plus
coloring the Mars Rover as it descends

Curiousity Sunrise 11-24

Mars and Rover – Session 6 – Final
Working on the aura of the sun and planet,
plus the highlights and details of the Mars Rover

Ever-Changing

I wanted to get comfortable with painting the spray and foam on waves. That will be the last step. 

Ocean Waves 2

Ocean Waves – Session 1
Painting the sky and the deep ocean color

Ocean Waves 3

Ocean Waves – Session 2
Starting to add the under-colors of the waves

Ocean Waves 5

Ocean Waves – Session 4
Adding a more layers and starting the spray for the waves

Ever-Changing_Ocean Waves 10-24

Ocean Waves – Session 8 – Final
Adding the final layers of spray and even more movement to the waves

Canna Lilies

These canna lilies were photographed by my brother on his property in Washington.

Canna Lilies 1

Canna Lilies – Session 1
Blending the background blurred in the photo

Canna Lilies 3

Canna Lilies – Session 3
Finishing the background and
adding more movement and color to the flowers

Canna Lilies 4

Canna Lilies – Session 4
Refining and continuing to paint the flowers;
starting to see the movement of the petals

Canna Lilies 08-24

Canna Lilies – Session 6 – Final
Working on the largest flower and stems and muting the back flowers

Crater Lake Winter

Watch this awesome view of Crater Lake unfold

Crater Lake 1.5

Crater Lake – Session 1
Painting with masking, then starting to add color

Crater Lake 2

Crater Lake – Session 2
Adding more color and removing the masking

Crater Lake 2.5

Crater Lake – Session 3
Adding detail to the white snow on the trees

Crater Lake 3b

Crater Lake – Session 4 – Final
Adding a little more color to the trees across the lake
and finishing the foreground snow on the trees