"Longing for Peace"

"Longing for Peace" is my latest painting that is painted on a 14" x 11" canvas board. I'm trying to develop my own style instead of copying from Matisse. I love colorful paintings so I'm exaggerating the colors like Matisse but I'm trying to soften the images. I'm not trying to paint realistic portraits but I want them to have character and emotion.

One of my cats, Dudley, loves to sleep on my desk and keep me company during the day. Of course, it makes it difficult to use my scanner/copier because I hate to disturb him but thankfully I don't have to use it very often.

I decided Madame Matisse needed company so I recreated a Matisse self portrait. Don't they make a nice couple? Of course these are copies so I can't enter them in any competition but I can frame them and keep them for my own enjoyment. Both are 11" x 14" oil paintings on canvas board.

I painted this little 4" x 6" oil painting last night. This is an original but it's definitely influenced by Matisse. I enjoy working in this style so hopefully I'll see some improvement soon.

The Green Line

This is an 11" x 14" oil painting that I did yesterday afternoon. I admire the work of Henri Matisse and they say you can learn by copying the 'Old Masters' so this is a copy of "The Green Line", 1905. It's a portrait of his wife, Madame Matisse. I love the colors and it was so much fun to paint! Thank goodness Matisse isn't alive to see how I butchered his wife's portrait! Click here is to see an image of the original painting and you will see what I mean.

Finished Jackrabbit

I finished my 14" x 11" oil painting of the Jackrabbit this weekend. I uploaded the reference photo that I used above because I personally find it interesting to see how other artists interpret what they see.