My first painting of 2026. It is 9×12 Rembrandt Cotton Paper, cold pressed. For paints, I used my studio set up which is a mix of companies, all professional grade.

I am always looking for people to draw/paint. I get my share of unsolicited submissions. More important to me than “beauty” or the typical idea/portrayal of it is an emotional honesty. That allows me to convey emotions that will keep the finished work interesting in the audience’s mind, long after the viewing of it is done. It is odd when I receive photos of people in traditional academic poses or overly glammed out ones. For the academic poses, it is how one is “supposed to” learn to draw bodies & anatomy. It is a sort of trap since it is establishing a foundation within the artist which will lend an air of be stilted or overly academic in future works.

The impressionists were revolutionary not merely because of their use of colors and effects of ambient shadow and light. An equal important aspect was that they were among the first to eschew having the subject matter be historic/biblical/mythic. Instead they painted one another or friends and denizens of their neighborhood going about their daily lives. (Courbet and Millet were proto impressionists )

The lives which they conveyed when viewed now sometimes seems of another world but the canvas still radiates emotions, the beauty is not trapped under museum glass. It is because it all comes from real experiences and emotions.

For both artist and model, do what is real and the truth for you. I am fortunate to have an inner circle that trusts me and whom I have painted for years. They trust me enough to not merely give me their idealized version of themselves. I have always said that truth is beauty. This is part of an overall technique which is how I work and that many painters have utilized:

Everything for an artist is impressions which is then transmuted into expression via the work.