Here is "Marooned" by Pyle(see post below).

Pirates of the Caribbean 2?

A couple of more drawings from the "Erin the Pirate" session. The top one reminds me of a painting by Howard Pyle...."Marooned". Awesome painting by one of the all time masters.

Pirate!

Recent life drawing of Erin as a pirate. Great costume for the drawing class..great pose as well. 20 minute pose...drawn in conte and pastel at approx 18x24.

Sisters

Portraits of sisters, Kirsten(seated) and Peyton...16 and 10. I really like how the black dresses come out of the dark background. Portraits are oil on canvas...28X34.

Detail

Detail shown here. I may still work on the right hand a little.

Final

"The Box of Light" is finished with the exception of a couple of details here and there. Here's a better photo...still not great. I plan to have this one framed and ready for the Dogwood Gallery show in the spring. I've redone the photo...looks better. Maybe a tad dark but closer to the original.

The Box of Light

The roots of this painting began after a photo shoot of model Rebecca C (The Lonely Road). The photo reference was normal lighting from a window to the right of the model. The idea of the box being mysteriously lit from within came to me just a few days ago and I went to work. Changing the light source from your reference is challenging. The image shown shows the painting in it's early stages. 24X30. Detail shown.

Hippy Girl final

Well, I still don't have a title that I like but the painting is done except for a couple of small details. I'm happy with it.
"Discarded Roses" is one possibility. 24X30

Hippy Girl

Painting in progress of model Erin H. My original idea was that this would be a girl at Woodstock...I'm not sure if I'll try to indicate an actual location or not. I'm liking it just as an introspective or daydreaming girl sitting on a bed of discarded roses. Top part of the painting in this photo is folded over the back of my drawing board so it looks a little odd at the moment. Better photos later. 24X30

Art Walk

Currently getting some things ready for the upcoming Art Walk here in Newnan. This life drawing is not recent but it's something I'm framing for the show. The walk is September 12 downtown. I'll be a Flint Gallery/Panoply.

Aura

Current working title of this painting is "Aura". I think it is one of the most striking images I've ever painted. 24X30...difficult to photograph but this is not a bad attempt. MP

Detail of Newnan painting

Detail showing the downtown area...still unfinished. MP

An earlier time

An earlier view of downtown from a more rural Newnan. This unfinished painting shows Newnan between 1904 and maybe 1910...at least that's what I imagine. I have no reference so I'm making it up as I go. I do know that at this time the old Methodist Church was still standing, First Baptist only had one steeple and the current First Methodist and Presbyterian churches were not built.

On the board

Currently on the board is this painting of dance model Chelsea S. 24X30. No title yet but something will come to me. I'm having fun with the detail in the upper part of the costume...I like the contrast between that amount of detail and the simplicity of the rest of the picture.

Defiance

Detail of a painting in progress. I've had this idea for several years...the last survivor of a confederate army knows the end is near but in a last desperate act of defiance, picks up his company's beloved battle flag and madly charges the enemy. I imagine the union troops, not sure they're seeing what they think they're seeing, reluctantly picking up their arms and finishing off the brave flag bearer. The real hero here is the flag, itself a symbol of defiance. I've already formulated plans for another version of this painting. "Defiance" will be for sale on my website soon... www.pateart.com and then "Interpretive Art"

Pie in the Sky

Painting in progress for a July magazine cover. 4th of July theme...approx 23X21. Photo reference from the Newnan 4th parade last year. Apples in sky.

Dragonslayer

A while back I painted a portrait of young Hershall in a tree. One of my ideas for his portrait was as shown...in front of his tree, with a homemade cardboard sword in his hand and a slain dragon in the background. The idea of course is that the dragon and castle are in his imagination. The 24X30 painting is 95 percent done.

Queen

Finished painting. 24X36. Pose and expression of model seems to have a regal air so I'm calling this "The Queen" for now.

The new tutu

This is the "underpainting" of a new painting of model/dancer Chelsea. I photographed her in a new tutu...let me tell you, in the world of tutus it was very impressive. I'll show an update on this when completed. 24X30...detail shown.

Fourth Street

Recently completed painting of an abandoned farm on Fourth St here in Newnan. The city has acquired this property as "green space" but the future of it is undetermined as far as I know. It's a reminder of an earlier time that's mostly disappeared from the Newnan area. I've done four landscapes from this property and three of those will appear in the landscape show at Dogwood Gallery in Tyrone. Show opening is May 17th, 6-9pm.

The Secret Keeper

The painting of Ashley is finished and I'm fairly happy with it. It's stretched, framed and will be shown in the Senoia show coming up April 25. 6:30-9:30pm. 20 Main Street. I'll also be showing the full version of "The View from Oak Hill" for the first time. The show will run weekends through Memorial Day.

Elizabeth & the boys

Recently finished portrait of Elizabeth with her boys...Austin and Ellis. 30X40

Ashley

Work continues on the painting of Ashley. I've added a heavy, red drapery behind her and detail in the area of the torso,hands and the upper part of the skirt. Click on image to see a larger version.

Masterpiece?

Beginning stages of a painting of local model Ashley V. 32X32. The pose is from my local drawing class...I really liked the pose as well as the colors and patterns of the costume. I don't know where I'm going with it but something will come to me for the background/setting. As with most paintings, at this stage, I'm pretty sure it will be the greatest thing I've ever done but I know, in the end, it will fall short of that lofty goal and I'll try again the next time. Later, I'll post the final...unless it falls really short!!

The Degas Girl

Dancers are a natural subject matter for figurative artist...well, at least for me they are. The master, of course, has to be Degas. One of my favorite works of art of all time is his young dancer bronze with the real tutu attached. I had the privilege of seeing it in Atlanta a few years back. This study is from the bronze...still a little unfinished but I'm liking it. This work is all about the posture...the stance...perfectly balanced. Degas' closest rival, in my opinion is the late Robert Heindel. Google this guy and look at some of his work. Beautiful!! This study is done in conte and oil on bristol board.

Detail

A closer view of the final.

Final touches??

I'm at a point where I'll look at the painting for a while. It very well may be finished. I've worked on the foreground and added a few little highlights here and there. The painting has been stretched and is drying. If I make any drastic changes I'll repost it here. Keep looking for other projects here as I like to post 2 or 3 per month. "The View From Oak Hill" and it's smaller study will be for sale if anyone is interested...e-mail me and let me know.(pateart@juno.com) They will both be visible within a day or two on my website under "Original Art"/"Landscape" paintings. www.pateart.com

Sky

I've started painting over the under painting of the sky area. It started as a medium to dark warm gray...a combination of burnt umber, ultramarine blue and white. The finished sky is painted with the same colors but much more white. The lower part of the sky gets a smidge of yellow added. I'm using filbert brushes...#8 and #6 for the sky. I'm also showing the overall painting at this stage. It's nearing completion. I still have foreground decisions to make. Also, at some point, I'll hang it up in the studio and just look at it for a few weeks to see if I want to do any thing else. I just realized that you can click on the image and it will show you a larger version with better detail. Also, someone was asking about looking at my son's blog...click on his name to the right..."Taylor Pate". The "my website" link takes you to my actual website.

"The Veiw" continues

Here you'll see the mid-ground area. This is where I wanted the most color and detail. As a way to introduce color without people, I've added a few flowers...naturally occurring objects in a cemetery. I'm using a lot of artistic license in the placement of tombstones etc...if it works it stays if not, it moves or doesn't go in. Also shown here is the right side of the mid-ground area...this area will stay void of much detail and color.

Details of "The Veiw"

I'll show some details of different areas as I progress. Here you see the trees and courthouse. The trees are painted over the sky as a solid grayish mass. After they dry, the sky(negative area) is painted over the gray area until a tree appears. Fine branches are added with pencil and "scratched" into the paint with a palette knife or Xacto blade.

The Veiw from Oak Hill

I started this painting as a demo for the Newnan Coweta Art Association and thought it would be interesting to those in attendance to see it finished in stages. I'll post an update periodically until it's done. Shown here is where I left off at the demo with just a little more detail added. The scene is the Coweta County courthouse in downtown Newnan as seen from Oak Hill cemetery. I took this photo a few years ago and knew that I would eventually paint the scene....didn't realize it would take this long to get around to it.

Cumberland studies

Here's a couple of 11X14 color studies of Cumberland Island scenes. I'm also doing several figurative studies at this size. It's a good size to work out some ideas and see what may translate well into larger works.

The Company

Final painting has gone a little darker...after some suggestions by my wife and son...I think it helped. I've also created a stronger light source for the foreground figures.