Early Work

Early Work

Prior to 1986 the majority of my work was commercial. And It was about
that time that I began to seriously consider changing paths, mediums and
the size of my work. The earlier work had been on a smaller scale, using
smaller brushes, primarily watercolor or gouache on board. I had seldom
used oil paint as a commercial medium. Given this then, I consider anything
in the first few years following 1985/86 as early work. The following are
examples from this period.

"Richard"
Oil on Panel

This early oil was a means of reacquainting myself with the
oil medium. Using snapshots for resource I wanted to reduced the image
to values and contrasts without the attempt to capture detail.

"Little Room"
36" X 48" - Oil on Panel

This doorway to the side of my father's garage becomes as semi-abstract
as my old eyes will allow.

"Abingdon"
19" X 12" - Oil on Panel

Some paintings, as this small piece, become problem solving exercises.
Here, I was looking for a way to paint extreme contrasts, bright light and
heavy shadow but still maintaining a readability in the shadowed areas.

"Piccadilly Circus"
36" X 48" - Oil on Canvas

'Piccadilly' is one of the pieces created from transparencies that I'd shot
some twenty years earlier. By this time, too, I'd decided on urban scenes
as a subject matter. It encompassed many of my interests and also made a
nice transition from the illustration work I'd been involved with for the
previous sixteen years.

"4th and Church"
30" X 60" - Oil on Canvas

The L&C Tower is the dominate feature of this painting of a downtown
intersection in Nashville. The cross roads were a familiar sight to me for
two years as the building in which I worked as art director for an ad agency
was also located on this intersection.

"Paris / Sidewalk"
40" X 50" - Oil on Canvas

'Paris/Sidewalk' came a little later than some of the others shown here. It
was created from a transparency but not from life. It's source was a "detail"
photo from an earlier painting I'd completed, "Paris / Rain". I've used this
method for addressing subject matter on other paintings. I like the 'distance'
it creates between the first photo of the moment from which the first painting
evolved, through the stages of development, another photo and then onto
another canvas. Each stage enlarging the visible image exponentially.