Portraiture through still life

This is a painting I created as a commission for my friend Arturo. He picked all of the objects and we composed the still life together. Each one tells a story about his passions in life.

Kim

Here's a charcoal drawing I recently did of my best friend Kim. She was sitting in her apartment next to the kitchen window with the late afternoon light coming in. After it was finished, Kim liked her portrait so much that I gave it to her. It used to be hard for me to give my artwork away, but I've come to learn that there are others who will love my work even more than I do.

Meat #1

I began painting meat after an unexpected moment of inspiration at a butcher shop in my hometown. I went in to buy some meat for a cookout and found myself transfixed staring at all the different textures and colors. Many phone calls later, the owner let me come to the shop to take photos for my work. I'm not sure he believed I was an artist genuinely interested in the shop until I showed up with camera and sketchbook in hand. This was my first 'meat' painting. More coming soon...

DeerVulture

Here is another painting I did awhile back, sort of a dark comedy.

Painting in Tuscany

Here is some of my artwork from my trip to Italy last summer. We painted outside in Tuscany and traveled around - it was an amazing experience. This is an alla prima, completed in one session. The immediacy of direct painting has a great appeal to me.