Alan Spring 2-2026

 In response to Ken’s statement that there are no beautiful automobiles in America, I give you the Chevy Van. I’ll mat it like a triptych when I buy some more mat board. 

The big one is 9 X 12 on 140 # coldpress and the little ones are 5 X 7.  Tires are hard to paint  

And for something completely different this is a mountain pond on Yupo. 

I need to do something about that blue streak and maybe tone down the value of the purple rocks on the mountain face. I like the top third and the bottom third but I somehow need to link them in the middle. 

Aileen revisted

 Since I didn't have much to lose I did a makeover on Aileen like I did on the hillside which became a volcano.  And I daresay I like this version of her much better.  Instead of doing my usual tentative little strokes I put on some big swatches of solid color, mostly on the left side and let it dry completely before I came back in.  It's still obvious that I was mostly interested in the background, but I think her face has more gravitas, and she has more of an attitude like well, maybe her people have been wronged, or maybe somebody stepped ahead of her in line.

Aileen and the volcano.

Well I tell you, I felt pretty good when I took Aileen home Saturday afternoon.  Oh I knew she was off but I thought I had made a good start on what could become a new series.  But pulling it out of the bag Sunday morning I realized it wasn't very good.  It's obvious all I was interested in was her hair, the background, and her blouse.  The only interest I had in the poor girl's face was getting her eyes and nose in the right place and giving her some kind of Mona Lisa expression, which turned out to be just passable if you are very generous and don't look at it very long.   

 Felt a little forlorn about Aileen and my loss of a path forward, and I looked at this hillside from last week which had gotten away from me and I thought I saw something.  Wasn't sure what it was and I came in recklessly with a very wet brush and swung it around like I was cleaning out a dusty shed and I discovered that it was a volcano.  Not bad huh?

March 4, 2026 — Elaine O.

Welcome to my kitchen! Well, just the beginning of just one counter. I originally was drawn to the way the appliances on the counter looked like a museum display under the lights. Now to see if I can live up to the inspiration. 

Playing around….

 I did a quick new version of these two lovebirds, with a larger, more dramatic sky. Not sure it’s the direction I want to go in…here’s the other version for comparison …inexplicably they appear larger in the first version below, but they are actually the same size in both paintings. I’m favoring the first version (below) because the emphasis is on them….i also like the less dramatic water and sky….

Oh, and here’s the recent self portrait— directly painted…I didn’t even comb my hair…

A motley crew

This one got away from me.

This one never went anywhere.

 And this one. Well I have some hope for it.

No More Portraits Under Pressure

 

Moved to a different photo. Still doesn’t look like him. Time to paint some flowers or trees. 

March 28, 2026 — Elaine O.

Small changes—yet, it's taken hours to imagine and sketch a person who is still not quite right. And then, something's happening where the paper around her won't take paint right. All in all, this takes the painting from a "masterpiece" to a "learning experience." Still, there are things I like and I'm happy with the memory.

Pont-Neuf, Having Just Missed the Train, 14" x 10"

By the sea….

 

This turned out not too badly. I’m trying to get that look of the weird sunlight that pops thru the clouds before the storm. Maybe it needs more sky, less beach to get that across.

Last round, Ken suggested I take his nose  off of her knees, but the separation definitely changes the mood imo. Maybe that and the dark troubled sky …definitely a friendlier vibe in the bottom one…and better weather. Not really in love with this pose. I tell you there is so much paint on these two…I really should just transfer from watercolor to gouache.

Alan Spring 2026-1

 Still have more skaters to do. On 8 1/2 X 12 Yupo it’s more like what I was going for even with some logic errors. More to do sometime. 

  

Still working on my little exercises on 140# cold press. 

January sunset. 

Chair with pillows and blankets.