Self Portrait-2009 Finished!

"Self-Portrait 2009"

11"x14" Oil on Stretched Canvas

Free Portrait Contest!

What Do I Win?

A FREE hand painted 8"x10" oil portrait of your choosing done by "yours truly."

What are the Rules?

1. All you need to do to enter is send me guitargriff@comcast.net an email and say "Sign me up!" The winner will be notified by email.

2. Of course, in all good contests there can be only one "lucky" winner.

3. You may enter the drawing only once. (As soon as the winner have been chosen, all email addresses will be immediately and permanently erased.) I will put your email address into a "hat" and choose randomly.

4. If I have to ship the painting, you will need to send me about $10.00 to cover the cost of the UPS shipping.

5. The winner will need only to provide a decent size JPEG file picture which can be emailed to me.

How Soon Do I Need to Enter?

Entries will close on December 31, 2009. I will announce the winner on New Year's Day 2010!

Self Portrait-2009-Umber 5

One more stage with more details and signature and I'll be done.

Ultimate Christmas Decoration!

This was a real Christmas decoration, but the home owner had to take it down due to traffic safety. Too many people were trying to stop and help, "the dummy!"

Ridley Scott's Robin Hood

Coming 2010! "He's going to break medieval....literally!"

Self Portrait-2009-Umber 4

You really do not see the top of my head, you only think you see it. It's an optical illusion!

On this painting, I'm doing nothing but refining contrast between light and dark. The freedom "from color" is allowing me to concentrate on details. One more stage and I'll be finished.

Big Foot Caught on Hidden Camera

This mysterious figure above was caught on tape. What do you think? (Vote on left column). I would encourage you to read the article before jumping to conclusions.

Whatever Happened to Free Speech?

"When they kick at your front door, how you gonna' come
With your hands on your head or on the trigger of you gun?" -The Clash

Brothers, Not Enemies

Some good advice from Dr. David Field concerning brothers who do not agree on ecclesiastical issues:

1. Treat a disagreeing brother as a brother and not an enemy.

2. Sit in a room with a brother you disagree with and pray with him.

3. Open up your Bible with him.

4. Define your questions clearly.

5. Play the ball, not the man.

6.Don't play "guilt by association."

7. Don't decide theological questions by a head count.

8. Be transparent and abhor politics.

9. Keep perspective: If your brother says, "I believe the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Calcedonian Definition, and the Reformed Confessions of the 16th, and 17th Centuries," and then unless you've got blatant, repeated and demonstrable, reasons for doing so, don't doubt his confession.

10. Don't entertain gossip. Don't play games with pious language. Don't tell me your problem with him unless you've gone to him first.

11. Don't turn "quirky" brothers into the problem or the enemy.

12. Slow down.....calm down.....check you facts. Look at the boundaries of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

13. Check when you say, "Do you know what he thinks?" with what he says and see if that is a true representation of what he believes.

Self Portrait-2009 Umber 3

I mixed a 7-value range of dark to light using burnt umber and naples yellow on this go around. I do not think I'll paint this picture in color, but rather continue to refine details using the the 7- value scale. I may add a bit of "cool" white in the highest highlights and maybe a "warm" black in the deepest shadows.

Because this is a face "only a mother could love" I plan to give this painting to my mom for Christmas!

Self Portrait-2009 Umber 2

Finally! The paint sticks! On this stage I've continued to establish shadows.

I'm beginning to think my mouth might be crooked in real life. Painting this picture is similar to getting that familiar feeling of staring into a mirror for long time and you begin to think you're looking at someone else. Why is that?