Kicking Up A Spray

8"x10" Oil on Gessoed Panel

with Palette Knife

NFS

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: January—Day 18.

It's hard to believe that my oldest child will be turning 14 in a few days. He is an amazing young man—full of energy and ability. As a baby, he went straight from crawling to running and has never slowed down since. So far, his achievements are high academics, 3rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and First Class Boy Scout. His additional interests are gaming, reading, Model UN, drama, band (trumpet), snow skiing, and lastly, waterskiing. That is the inspiration for today's painting.

This is a portrait of my son slalom skiing last summer. He had just mastered how to "kick up a spray." It was a real challenge to paint. But like many of my paintings, what seemed impossible in the beginning, ended up to be a great painting. I'm really jazzed about how the spray turned out—and was surprised at the amount of detail I got in the figure.

So, Happy Birthday, my boy! Keep on running!

One-handed Frog

8"x10" Oil on Gessoed Panel

with Palette Knife

NFS

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: January—Day 13.

Not many people know that jumping rope is an international sport. My older daughter started competitive jump rope when she was in elementary school. Today's painting is from a photograph of her at age 11 performing a trick called the "One-handed Frog"  at the Nationals competition. Her goal is to become a All-Star. I think she is well on her way towards that goal.

See what competitive jump rope looks like by viewing this VIDEO.