Accepted to juried show at Maryland House of Delegates!

I just had three paintings accepted into a juried show at the Maryland House of Delegates!  The show will run during the entire legislative session, from January 9 to April 13.  The show is at the Lowe House Gallery in the Lowe House of Delegates Building (6 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401). My three paintings will be for sale.  Plus there will be a reception on February 3 from 6-8 pm.

The show is sponsored by the Maryland Federation of Art, of which I am a member. I guess it’s a chance for state legislators and the public to see art made by Marylanders. It was a competitive process; only 39 artists got in, out of 250 or so who applied, and mine are 3 of 69 paintings in the show. 

You can see the preview gallery for the show here: http://mdfedart.com/mfaentry/artistgallery.php?event=176 . The gallery is arranged alphabetically, so I’m at almost the very end. Here are my three pieces that will be on sale:

Geoff Watson, “Cherry blossoms,” oil on panel, 16” x 20,” 2018. $750 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.

Geoff Watson, “Golf Shoes,” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019. $250 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.

Geoff Watson, “Pete,” oil on panel, 11” x 14,” 2019. $250 at upcoming Lowe House Gallery Exhibition.

Daily painting #100: My studio

To mark my 100th straight day of daily painting, I thought I’d show you where I do a lot of my work — my little studio, in my basement. When I paint a still life, I often use my easel light, a spotlight on the subject — and no other lights. So it’s bit dark, especially in the evening. I tried to convey that here. I was going for a sort of medieval atelier ambiance.

I’m going to take a break from daily painting now, as I have some longer-term art projects (I haven’t forgotten you, Tup!), plus the start of school in a couple weeks. But I’ll still be posting here, as I have plenty of stuff I haven’t gotten around to showing you all yet. Thanks for reading!

Geoff Watson, “My studio,” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #99: Water bottles

One peach got eaten and the other went bad, so no more peaches. So instead I painted some S’well water bottles. (Water has been a theme this month: several glasses of water, and now some water bottles.) I didn’t finish this, but it’s a decent start. Not sure whether I’ll continue it or start something new tomorrow.

Geoff Watson, “Water bottles (in progress),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #98: Peach school

I love painting peaches, but I’ve always had trouble with them: they aren’t shiny, so they’re harder to model than, say, apples or grapes. True to form, I struggled with these peaches today. (I like the water glass in the background better!) I may paint more peaches tomorrow, just for the practice.

Geoff Watson, “Peaches and a glass of water (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #97: Glass of water (cont'd)

I spent more time with my glass of water, trying to improve the drawing, edges, and lighting. I think it’s better, but I will step away from it for a few days to think on it. I’m certainly getting good practice with foreshortened drawing!

Geoff Watson, “Glass of water (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #96: Glass of water

It was a beautiful day out, but I still felt like painting glass and water, so I stayed inside and set up yet another little still life. I spent only an hour on this, but I think it’s an interesting start. The drawing needs a bit of work, but I like the light.

Geoff Watson, “Glass of water (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #95: New view (cont'd)

I made some progress, but this challenging scene still needs work. I’m going to put it aside and come back with fresh eyes next week. If the weather is nice tomorrow, I think I’ll go outside to paint!

Geoff Watson, “Tableware (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #94: a new view (day one)

I kept my little scene intact, but I stood up to paint it from a different — and more challenging — vantage point. Nothing is harder than painting extremely foreshortened objects! But I wanted the practice. This is an okay start, but things are kind of vaguely-defined still. I’ll work on it more tomorrow.

Geoff Watson, “Tableware (in progress),” oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #93: Silver pitcher (cont'd)

It sure is fun painting all these shiny surfaces! I’ve finished a “first draft” of this little still life, and I like what I have here, but I might like to take it further. I’ll let it dry for a few days while I think on it. I have some fun ideas for a new still life tomorrow. (Incidentally, I llightly Photoshopped the background of this image to eliminate glare.)

Geoff Watson, “Silver pitcher (in progress),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #92: Silver pitcher (day 2)

It occurred to me that this object is really more a pitcher than a “pot,” as I wrote last time. Anyway, I continued with the picture, this time focusing on one of the glasses behind the pitcher. I had only about an hour to paint, but I made decent progress. On to the other glass tomorrow.

Geoff Watson, “Silver pitcher (in progress, day 2),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #91: Silver pot (in progress)

I posted some compositional sketches for this little pot last week, and today I finally got around to painting it. It’s a challenging subject, so I’m not close to finishing, especially as I haven’t even begun painting the two glasses in the background. But it’s a good start. Here’s a look at just the pot:

Geoff Watson, “Silver pot (in progress),” detail, oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

And here’s the whole picture, with placeholders for the two glasses behind the pot.

Geoff Watson, “Silver pot (in progress,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #90: Veggies

Thanks to my lovely family, we have lots of yummy fresh vegetables in the fridge. I decided to paint three of them. I like the result, except that I wish I’d put them on a plate or bowl or something, to provide context. But it sure was fun to paint all those reds and greens.

Geoff Watson, “Veggies,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #83: Stuff on the kitchen table

A great watercolorist, Charles Reid, enjoyed painting still lifes that captured what people left lying around, rather than still lifes carefully composed by the artist. He suggests just pointing your brush at stuff and painting it. So I did that today. I painted my brush at stuff lying on the kitchen table.

Geoff Watson, “Stuff on the kitchen table,” oil on panel, 6” x 8,” 2019.

Daily painting #81: Compositional sketches

I set up an interesting still life scene, and then I spent two hours ineffectually trying to find a good composition. Here’s the scene itself:

“Still life setup,” July 2019.

I sketched various combinations of these objects, and I still haven’t found an arrangement I like. (I also need to wash the glasses!) I couldn’t include any live objects, like fruit, as we’re about to leave on vacation for a week. Anyway, here’s one example of a possible composition:

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch for a still life (in progress),” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Here’s an earlier start, focused on the pitcher with the other objects receding into the woodwork. It’s okay, but I think I’ll go with the vertical composition above. I have a week to think about it, as I’m not bringing these objects with me on vacation.

I will, however, be bringing my paints. Tomorrow will be a busy day, so at most I’ll post a quick sketch, but starting on Sunday I’ll be painting Rehoboth, Delaware in all its glory. Weather permitting. :)

Geoff Watson, “Study-sketch 2 for a still life, in progress,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #80: Caesar (day 2)

Painting these sculptures is great practice. I often find it harder to get a likeness with a sculpture than a human figure. I think part of it is the tiny size of this sculpture; the tiniest error is magnified. But part of it is that living, breathing models seem easier to draw, even though they move. I wonder why that is.

Anyway, this one is coming along. I may continue tomorrow, or I may start another still life. One thing’s for sure: I won’t be going outside to paint in the 98 degree heat.

Geoff Watson, “Caesar (in progress), day 2,” oil on linen, 5” x 7.”

Daily painting #78: Garlic & pottery (day 2)

I made progress on this still life, but I’m not sure I’m finished yet. Everything could use a bit more polish. Then again, polish sometimes sucks the life out of paintings. Will think on it! (Photoshopped the background to get rid of glare.)

Geoff Watson, “Garlic & pottery (in progress),” day 2, oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #77: Garlic & pottery

I set up this composition so that the objects are almost at eye level. It gives them a somewhat dramatic cast, I think. I’ve got work to do, obviously, but it’s a pretty good start. Back for more tomorrow!

Geoff Watson, “In progress: Garlic & pottery,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #76: Statuette (unfinished)

This statuette is even smaller than the statue I painted a couple days ago, but I couldn’t resist the colors and pose. The composition is a work in progress, but I’ve had fun with it so far.

Geoff Watson, “In progress: statuette,” oil on linen, 5” x 7,” 2019.

Daily painting #69: sweet potato & friends

We have a few sweet potatoes in our fridge, so why not paint one? We also had this cool container, so why not paint it? And one never needs a reason to paint an apple. But I forgot to finish the apple! I didn’t gradate its color much, and (worse) I forgot its highlight! The shame of it. I’ll fix it tomorrow.

Geoff Watson, “Sweet potato and friends,” July daily painting #8, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.

Daily painting #64: Golf shoes

I had an absolute blast painting this pair of golf shoes! I put them on a sandy background because that’s where my shoes often end up when I play golf. :)

Geoff Watson, “Golf shoes,” July daily painting #3, oil on panel, 6” x 6,” 2019.