Overcast Spell

22.5 cm x 30 cm, Oil, Plein Air

20 cm x 30 cm, Oil, Plein Air

FAQ: Why do you sometimes sign a painting with your surname, sometimes with your initials and sometimes not at all?

It's for those not interested in paintings, so that they have something to think about too.

Autumn Complexity

30 cm x 25 cm, Oil, Plein Air

Field and Poplars

30 cm x 22.5 cm, Oil, Plein Air

En Bloc (228,229)

Excerp of the Virtual Art Academy program (which I can recommend absolutely) on block studies:

Life Drawing Class, BBK Mannheim, Sep 24

I haven't used charcoal for more than a year and a hard time to cope with it today.

Mannheim Railway Station Design Study

"Painted" on the iPad with Artrage App
Link to photo reference

My current learning focus is on design. I have started doing lots of small master studies and in between I try to compose something myself from a photo. Over the coming months I want to create some cityscapes of my region... Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg...
An important thing I have learned from Jeremy Mann is that the reference photo must be less important than i initially thought. I conclude that from looking at his paintings and hundreds of professional photos taken from New York. None of them is even close to any of the cityscapes of Jeremy. Here and there, i did come across some photos of really fantastic design on google. With a closer look they turned out to be paintings of other artists. Great design apparently takes more than just modifying a photo, it is rather a complete reinvention of the scene. 
With this idea at hand i am trying to be less picky on the actual photograph i chose and more picky on the pictures that come up in my mind. I like the design above as it gives me the "feel" of being in Mannheim. Before turning this into a painting it will need more work, in particular on perspective.

Pencil Studies of Jeremy Mann Cityscapes

~ 4 cm x 4 cm, 4B Pencil

How do I improve my own compositions? 

I have read a lot and learned all the "rules" ... Golden rule, thirds, threes, rabatement, dominant value, focus, eye movement, etc, etc, etc...

What strikes me more and more is that in many paintings I like many of these rules were ignored. I am close to say, now i know all the rules i should quickly forget them.

So, how do I improve my own compositions? 

I figured out something that doesn't work well for me: doing lots of own design studies. They don't seem to get better really. Well, there may be an improvement but of that sort only your own mom can see...

Now, how do I improve my own compositions?

I do not know. I will try a brand new compositional rule: Spend more time looking at/studying master paintings than looking at your own crap!

Link to Jeremy Mann, my favorite superstar of cityscapes. Sorry Joseph!

Zürich, Paradeplatz

30 cm x 25 cm, Oil

Charity Auction - THANK YOU !!!

I would like to heartly thank everyone who took part at my little charity auction!

The winning bid was 82 US$. I donated this amount (65€) plus 50€ to doctors without frontiers.

The painting is a winner too... it goes to Hawai.... Aloha!

10 Minute Challenges

25 cm x 20 cm, Oil

Kitchen Secret

30 cm x 40 cm, Oil

Buy a painting of Joseph Zbukvic!

40 cm x 30 cm, Oil, NFS

A study of a watercolor painting by Joseph Zbukvic. Click here to view the original.

Dude on the right: "With these low interest rates I really don't now where to invest my money. I am not into stocks and need something safe."

Me with the tie : "Buy a Zbukvic painting, one of the leading contemporary representational artists. He is a genius and his style unique in various ways. His paintings are affordable still..."

Copper, Nickel and Steel

15 cm x 15 cm, Oil

Conjuncture

25 cm x 25 cm, Oil

Milano 1971

30 cm x 22.5 cm, Oil

Tomate und Pärsching

20 cm x 18 cm, Oil

Blocks against the Clock

30 min (224)

25 min (225)

20 min (226)

15 min (227)

Outdoor Lunch

35 cm x 35 cm, Oil

Let's Talk

20 cm x 15 cm, Oil

Charity Auction - Help please!

15 cm x 15 cm, Oil

An art collegue and friend (although we never met personally) from down under kept buying me video tutorials from master artists. Great stuff and what a generous person! Recently i asked him how i could thank him. He said he would be pleased if i would give some money to a charity of my choice... What a great idea and yes, of course!

I want to donate to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) , or Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian-aid non-governmental non-profit organization, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases.

I thought, instead of just donating my money I should also try to inspire others to give. So here is my plan. I will donate 50€ plus the proceeds of the auction for the painting above. 

So please, go to my Daily Paintworks Auction and place a bid for this painting!

Thank you!

The donation receipt will be posted on this blog.

Pivot

15 cm x 20 cm, Oil

Study of a Figure Study by Stephen Early

15 cm x 20 cm, Oil 

Visit Website of Stephen Early (you should!)

Marmalade

20 cm x 15 cm, Oil

Greetings from Traffic Island

25 cm x 25 cm, Oil

Study of "Under the Arches" by Tibor Nagy

25 cm x 25 cm, Oil

View the Original