Ricky the Cat

"Ricky"
oil on panel, 2010
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)
private collection

I painted a cat.
That looks oh so fat.
But really is just a fluffy black cat.
A cat that really is black like a bat.
A simple painting of Ricky the cat.

Attentive to something that must be a gnat.
Surely he'd get up if it were a rat.
So tell me, just what do you think of that?

Stretched out on the floor til it's time to chore.
Cats catch all the varmints till there are no more.
This is their story, from all days yore.
Or maybe it is just feline folklore.

Task is all done, catnap on the table.
This is the end of my little fable.208

Long Beach Landmark-Breakers

"Breakers"
watercolor on paper, 2012
8" x 6" (20.32cm x 15.24cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here's a simple watercolor of a notable building in nearby Long Beach California that has had a roller coaster history. It's 14 stories, was built as a luxury oceanfront hotel in 1926 and designated as a Historic Landmark in 1989. Its seen more than its share of ups and downs over the years and never quite maintained its luxury hotel status for very long. It now operates as a retirement home.

This time of day the sun reflects from nearby glass buildings creating interesting patterns across the side and illuminating the bottom half while leaving the top in shadow.

It is these kinds of atmospheric effects I look for, and quite often add to a painting myself, for turning what would otherwise be an ordinary image of a city building, into one with some life and vigor.207

Trackside Watercolor Landscape

"Trackside"
watercolor on paper, 2012
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here's another done in a looser approach. I only do the barest line drawing of the big shapes, then find the image in paint. A landscape in Oceanside California, trackside on the scenic Amtrak route.
For me this is a departure from the usual industrial railroads I do. It is more landscape than railroad, the only hint is the shed at the edge of the tracks, which are represented by the only straight line in the composition.
This is similar to the approach I used on this cityscape.206

Interior Blight

"Interior Blight"
watercolor on paper, 2012
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This was done from a visit to the Cajon pass to chase trains, one of those accidental discoveries. It's an old barn which looked like it had functioned as different kinds of business's over the years. It was boarded up, broken into, and now is a dumping ground for the people too lazy to haul their discards to the dump. Eventually the roof will collapse, swallowing up the interior and all its illicit cast offs.

I had to resist any natural inclination to tighten-up the painting, allowing the looser less controlled approach to hint at the litter without really defining anything. It is about its blighted condition.
I made sure to indicate enough of the interior structure, the ceiling joists, to make it recognizable.205

I did a drawing of the outside seen here.