As a fun experiment, I did the same still life scene in oil and then I did one in watercolor.  My oil painting palette and my watercolor palette are pretty much the same and I used a few touches of white gouache for the watercolor.  I think the watercolor turned out better, but I also did that one a few days after the oil so I had the practice going into it.
  I painted this still life because I was really inspired by the light hitting the linseed oil bottle and the back light creating a shadow on the brushes.  Some have asked me if I prefer watercolor or oils and I really can't choose; both media have certain qualities that are beautiful.  I like the thickness of oil paint, but I will say that when a watercolor goes right, there's a certain feeling and luminosity to it that really is magical.
  Although I prefer painting, I also do a lot of drawing and sketching.  Remember that drawing is really the key to being a better painter; if you can draw well then you will be able to paint well.

  Really happy with the way these pieces look framed.  Learning to frame pieces yourself is a great thing to do because it's fun and it saves a lot of money.
 The pastel of the cat is an older piece from around 2011/2012 of our old cat, Lilly; I should have framed it years ago, but now it's properly framed under glass.
​  The garden painting is titled The Main Garden (16" X 14")​ and it's going to be available for sale at the end of August at the Geary Gallery.  As always, these frames are from Art to Frames in Brooklyn, N.Y.

  After many hours of concentrated work, I'm going to call this one finished.  I think the last time I did a cast drawing was back at Pafa so this was a good exercise to return to.  The most difficult part was rendering the background and getting the value dark enough.  The instructors taught us rendering techniques and how to control the values, which was what I always wanted to learn.  
  Today marks the halfway point of my first semester of grad school.  I'm really beyond happy with the way this program is going.  If anyone out there is a teacher (or interested in teaching) and looking for a solid atelier graduate program then you should apply to the Florence Academy program.