Top stories published by Updog Gallery in 2013

I painted this a couple of years ago when we were at Tyler Place, a family camp in Vermont. While a bit crude in terms of brush strokes, I like the simplicity of the palette. Not a lot of fussy mixing happening here. The bright colors go well with the subject — kids. The paints I was using…

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Sep 22, 2013

Peace and quiet

I painted this evocative scene on the same Nantucket trip as I did “Full Sail.” The small, lone sailboat in white provides a perfect foil for the real subject of the picture: all the color and space of the water and sky.

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Oct 7, 2013

From an Old Master

My grandfather Irving painted this picture in oil before I was born. It now hangs in my living room, and I love it. It feels like an early Picasso in both subject and palette. I am amazed at how beautiful the background is (I struggle with backgrounds). Most of his other work that I have seen…

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Sep 29, 2013

The devilish details

I painted this old world neighborhood corner in three sittings over the course of a day. Homer’s version really shows the deterioration and decay of the buildings, with exposed brick, crumbling plaster, etc. Following his lead, I went a little crazy with my small brush (has about the…

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Dec 1, 2013

Nellie in profile

I painted this portrait of Nellie, a mixed terrier, for a friend’s birthday. I like the way the shades of black play out around her head, but I am less pleased with the bright background. I did that to leave some space to write a greeting, but we decided to write the greeting on the back of the…

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Oct 20, 2013

More Inspiration from Homer

I chose to copy this one from Homer because I liked the way he captured the reflections of the buildings in the water. I also love the way he does clouds. While the scene is of a salt kettle in Bermuda (1899), it reminds me a lot of Chatham, MA. My version is far cruder than his…

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Nov 10, 2013

News to share

Dear Blog Readers: this just in! I have three paintings showing at the Belmont Art Gallery in Nov and Dec. The show is themed “Inspired by Homer,” and it was juried by a local artist. Here’s one of the images that was accepted to be in the show:

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Nov 24, 2013

Sailboat at Sea

This is another Charles Reid inspiration. Can you tell? So much water on the page (and in the scene!) and so many colors in the water and sky. I am really looking forward to applying this technique more and more to my own scenes…I have wondered why it is accepted and expected that a pianist may play…

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Sep 17, 2013

Been there all along…

My family spent my 8th grade year in Paris. I painted this scene from my bedroom window that year. My parents dug it up and framed it for my birthday a few years ago. It now hangs in our living room.

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Dec 8, 2013

It Inspires Me

I bought this reproduction of a painting from www.ArtistRising.com--an offshoot of art.com — a couple of years ago for my office. The artist is Janet Dyer.

This is what I want to shoot for with my paintings: vibrant and unexpected colors, discernible brush strokes, and just…

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Oct 27, 2013

Flower Market

I painted this from a Charles Reid scene. He uses tons of water in his watercolors — a lot of wet-on-wet. I am amazed at how he can define objects using this technique. I followed his style here, trying to make use of the shapes the water creates and mixing color on the paper, not on the palette. That…

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Sep 7, 2013

Full sail!

I painted this picture while visiting Nantucket with Alisa. I guess I was inspired by the island’s rich nautical history. My main goal was to experiment with color and shape. (I wish I had added some passengers and sailors to the scene!)

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Dec 22, 2013

Madame Rachele

One of my favorite 20th century artists is Amedeo Modigliani. His style is very distinctive, his portraits, compelling. I find them very gutsy, both in the sense that he was daring in his execution and his results capture something elemental about his subjects. One other thing — I find his backgrounds…

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Nov 3, 2013

Homer’s Wall

I painted this from a scene Homer painted in Barbardos, I believe, although it could be from so many different places. I had a lot of fun with this, trying to show a lot of depth — in front of the wall versus behind the wall, through the open door, trees and plants near and far, and of course the distant…

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Nov 17, 2013

Meta Art

My daughter Nina wove these bracelets from small rubber bands, and then she arranged that art into this meta art form. Pretty neat!

2014

These were the top 15 stories published by Updog Gallery in 2013. You can also dive into monthly archives for 2013 by using the calendar at the top of this page.

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Updog Gallery

Contemporary watercolors of people, places, and pets

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