Johnny

Johnny was our faithful companion for almost 17 years. My husband brought him home from Tel ha Shomer Hospital where someone had left/deserted him when he was about 7 months... He was a German Shepard mix and wouldn't come in the house... probably because he wasn't allowed in the wards at the hospital... so he became our yard dog.  This past spring we had to put him to sleep.... he had a hernia near his anal area , which after getting advise decided not to operate... but he was getting very feeble...and when he went on a hunger strike and wouldn't eat even when we tried to hand feed him we knew we couldn't put off the inevitable...

I started these portraits last June and finished them this past week at my workshop... Johnny I do so miss you!!!  30 x30 cm Oil on gessoed cardboard and cloth [gessoed] stretched on kappa board..
These were also painted mainly using the palette knife.

California Coast Sketch

This is another try using grays ,,, workshop #24 Richard Robinson using photo #2 from his references of the California coast.  I am calling this a oil sketch rather than a painting. I did this at my weekly workshop using just a B&W reference print.... Small format 21 x 28 and not as free as I would like... oil on 400 grm  sketch pad.

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Felt it needed tweaking and debated whether to go back with oils or oil crayons... oil crayons won out.... 

Don't think it made much of an improvement!!!

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Working with Grays Reference Photo 4

My first workshop from Richard Robinson  #24... Still trying to get a decent and not muddy painting... I realize I have much to learn using wet on wet.. Will be doing some studies uses warm and cool grays on 400 grm cartridge paper, this time I coated it with 2 coats of acrylic paint... think I put too much texture.... size A4  28 x 21.....
First attempt  with tonal colors...

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 Next painted and then scrubbed away with wet cleaners

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New strategy.... going to do some more drawing and premix the colors

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Final stage... not happy with it.. still too fragmented...too small a format for so much information... still getting bogged down with details not important...