"Cold Day on Allens Fresh Run"

8" x 10"  oil on panel

Allens Fresh Run is a marshy area on State Road 234 in southern Maryland. Coming back from my son's house on a cold January day, I stopped to look at the icy water. That's when I saw the mature bald eagle sitting on a stump in the water.

"Twilight"

9" x 12"  oil on canvas board

Sundown over St. Andrew Bay in Panama City, Florida.

"Sticks, Stones and Bones" (detail)

Graphite 12" x 16"

I drew this one in 1990. I'm not sure what it means; it sort of "evolved" as I spent months doodling on it at night while we watched TV.

"Crabcake"

Graphite 4.5 x 6.5

Here's that little crab again from last summer. I painted him in oil back several months ago, and decided to do him once more in pencil.

"Scarecrow"

Graphite 12.5 x 8.5

I know it's kinda cheesy to draw movie stars and celebrities, but I love "The Wizard of Oz" and especially the Scarecrow. And the textures on his face are fabulous and were great fun to draw. This one was also done about 20 years ago.

(Click on his face for a closeup)

Drawing

I love drawing. It's been how I've earned my living for over 30 years, putting ink to paper as I've created thousands of editorial cartoons and comics strips. I also love graphite drawings. In my younger days, I would spend up to 150 hours on a single pencil drawing, starting in the upper left-hand corner working my way over and down, slowly putting hundreds of thousands of tiny strokes over and over each other as I made my way to the lower right corner. And when I got there, I was finished with the drawing. All I had to do was sign my name underneath.

It's been several years since I worked in graphite, but I've pulled out my pencil box, filled with various mechanical as well as woodless pencils ranging from the hard 6H to the soft, dark 9B. I recently drew two, tiny pictures, one of an old house on Carter's Mountain in Charlottesville ( a couple of years ago I painted the same scene in oil). The other is an old house northwest of Asheville that my friend Carl Collier and I came across back in November as we were out looking for old trucks for me to paint. It had plywood in some of the windows, a patched roof about ten years past needing to be replaced, peeling paint on the siding and crumbling front steps. And an American flag hung up on the front porch. There were, of course, several trucks around back. Luckily, no dogs were in sight as I ran up and snapped a few quick pictures.

"This Old House"

Graphite, 3.5 x 5.75

Sold

"Popeye"

Oil 12" x 16"
(sold)

"Lucy's Chicks"

Oil on canvas 24" x 30"

Commissioned

"A Couple of Old Goats"

Oil on canvas panel 12" x 16" (sold)

"Herringbone"

Oil on canvas panel 12" x 16" (sold)

"Retired Iron Worker"

Oil on canvas panel 12" x 16"
(sold)

Loryn Brazier invited me to be "Visiting Artist" this summer at Brazier Studio. I'm there painting Tuesdays thru Fridays, from 10 am til 2 pm. At the end of the summer we will have a show of my work. Meanwhile, if you're in the neighborhood, drop by and take a look. The address is 1616 West Main Street in Richmond. This was my first painting there, completed today.

"Maymont Morning"

Acrylic on linen panel 8" x 10"

(sold)

"Domineckers"

Oil on canvas panel 9" x 12"

(sold)

"Lime Green Chevy"

Acrylic on canvas panel 9" x 12"

(sold)

"Bryan Park Bridge"

Oil on canvas panel 9" x 12"

(sold)