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| 27cm x 41cm Oil on canvas This morning I was supposed to work at my studio with my model but he didn't show up. Well, I had to keep working. Its the second time I paint here, the morning sea. I was trying to paint what I felt about this scenery especially the light. When I looked deeper, there's a whole new world. I just needed the right colors and shapes to show it on my canvas. It won't be a good work if I was too careful and too conscious. |
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| 33cm x 45.5cm Oil on canvas This is a 3 hours' work from this morning. Its skin tone is much better than the last one. I tried to not to paint too realistic by limiting the time. I'm doing the same to the plein air painting too. I like their boldness. It keeps most of the energy of the brushstrokes from the beginning. |
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| 15.5cm x 22cm Oil on panel Where is the best place to paint at noon? Well, the answer is under the cabanas or trees at the Princess Hotel. It's quiet, cool, no one distracts me and there's my favourite trees, Areca trees. |
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| 22Cm x 27cm Oil on panel Now I know when it's the best time to paint here. Trees have perfect shadow to create the dimension I need. Place where I was standing was under the shade from the beginning. It was nice and cool but gradually exposing under the hot sun. There were several people standing behind me, looking at my work. I told them....you'll dry out if you stayed a little longer here like me...It was burning! One of them showed me his skin and said that this is the color of 20 years of under the sun. I replied, "my parents won't recognize me if I have this beautiful chocolate skin." But, yes! There's no where to escape. I'm getting tanner and tanner now. |
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| 15.5cm x 22cm Oil on panel Those clouds from the picture below weren't the ones that I was painting with from the beginning. Clouds moved, changed shapes fast, and mostly they just disappeared. The clouds that I began with were long gone before I've had finished painting half way. Then the new ones came. So I continued painting with the new ones. It sounds wired, right! Well, usually, when I paint clouds, I always have memorized the one I first saw and painted them from my memory if they moved too fast. If I was lucky, I would be able to paint them like an object in front of my eyes. |
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| 45cm x 53cm Oil on canvas This is an almost three hour's work from this morning. Now, I'm looking at the picture of the painting. I think I totally ignore its skin tone. It looks too charcoal. Overall, the whole,image looks peaceful but something's missing. I think I should had something red or orange warm color go with the sitter's upper body because the image looks too cold. Otherwise, I do like the glass down below the sofa. It takes only few brushstrokes and it looks nice. |
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| 35.5cm x 46cm Oil on panel It's not too bad at all for an almost 3 hours work. Richard is my this morning's sitter. Last year I did a portrait of him. The portrait wasn't my favorite but I really like this small figure painting. To me, its full of life. I see strength within him with his wife(this is how he calls his trompet) Great job, Richard!!! And, thank you for posing for me. |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel It was a great sunny morning. I already knew what I was supposed to paint when I drove my kids to their school along the sea. It was a heaven like sight. Sparkles everywhere. You couldn't had enough, you got only absorbed by it until you're gone disappeared...Yes, it was powerful! |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel Now I know this is a perfect place to paint clouds. It had beautiful sunlight when I just began to paint but it changed to dark grey sky with wind blowing harshly at the last half an hour. I forgot to bring my long sleeves shirt and I felt cold. |
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| 15.5cm x 22.5cm Oil on panel This afternoon, I added few figures into the study. Interesting. But the contrast wasn't enough. Some of the horizontal lines were slightly off. I wasn't patient enough at the end of this work. I can feel my impatient clearly from it now. Usually I am fine with people passing through, or even asking questions. This afternoon I was not feeling very comfortable. I didn't know why. I had urge to finish this work as soon as possible and leave. Guess, everyday's different! |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel Yes. I really like these mangroves. It's fascinating that how they form these colors and shapes that I observe from the other side of river. Very abstract yet there's structure to follow. |
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| 15.5cm x 22.5cm Oil on panel Before I pick up my daughters from their school this afternoon, I had about one and half hours break to do this study. I like how the house has been built. It has very interesting shades and colors. While painting this study, a van driver said hello. Guess he probably saw me this morning working by the riverside. |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel It wasn't a sunny morning. There's not much reflection from leaves. The painting itself looked brownish. There's not much contrast between the front and the background of image. It was the third time I went back to this location, but this time, I didn't use black color. I wonder it's composition itself or i didn't use black pigment. Somehow, I didn't capture the mood I wanted. Well, I really like this place. Guess I'll try again! |
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| 30.5cm x 40.5cm Oil on panel This is the first nude study done in Belize. I'm so glad that my friend agrees to pose for me. This afternoon is a three hours long pose. My sitter had to rest her leg and arm very often. It wasn't easy. Tomorrow afternoon we will do another two short poses. And hopely, I won't overwork. |
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| 45cm x 53cm Oil on canvas This is an almost 2 and half hours of portrait in progress. I still need about 2 hours to fix some of the details especially the skin tone. But overall, I am quite happy with its result today. |
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| 15.5cm x 22cm Oil on panel I drove until the end of Albert Street at noon and wanted to paint that great old church. I gave up my plan because the light wasn't right. It was the second attempt within these two weeks. Then I drove slowly along the sea side to go home. Voila! Yes. The boats! They looked just fine to be painted this afternoon. I rarely paint them. The boat itself looks ok but its reflection isn't. It's overworked. Guess, I'll paint a series of them. |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel This morning, with heavy traffic, I drove about half an hour to Baccab in Ladyville. Baccab is an Eco Adventure Park located outside of Belize City. I had this place in my mind for a very long time when my kids and I went there for swimming and fun last summer. It was quiet and cold. After I set my tripod and got ready to work, there was a humming bird flying all over me. It was probable looking at my face and thinking who was this. At the beginning, it was so quiet that I almost thought that there's maybe wild animals such like jaguar out there. Then twenty minutes later, pickup truck, car and bus drove by. Guess it was not faraway enough from civilization. |
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| 27cm x 22cm Oil on panel Now, instead of swimming, I'm painting most of the time here along the pool. Usually I paint standing up in the morning for more than 2 hours if I did plein air study. Guess I want places tranquil to do my second work after my lunch. This is an ideal place without getting sun burn and distraction at noon. And it's good for my back because I can sit down and relax. |
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| 27cm x 22cm Oil on panel Does this place seem familiar to you? Yes. I did one study with it last week. I like it so much that I had to paint another one but of course they look different. This one I add more color such like light yellow and pink orange. Now, I'm looking at it. I think maybe I added too much. It's a little overwhelmed with those high light. I still have problem with sky. It doesn't look natural at all. By the way, the place where I worked is in front of a car rental company. Someone came and told me that he loved the scenery that I was painting and asked if I could do a mural painting for them... Well, I gave him my name card and asked him to fellow my work. " Time's too tide to mention!" This is the only thing that came up to my mind. Someone says something similar... The only difference is that he sings " Money's too tide to mention!" Oh! I love Simply Red! |
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| 15.5cm x 12.5cm Oil on panel The shadow of the house is too blue. I'll fix it tomorrow afternoon. Part of the house has to be whiter. Then, I should add more color and details into the sky. The image looks quite borring now. Lets see how it's going to transform tomorrow. |
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| 45cm x 53cm Oil on canvas Finally we finished this portrait. I really like her blue shirt. It goes very well with her skin color. The skin tone maybe not perfect but I do like its mood very much. Thanks you Ms. Nelita! |
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| 15.5cm x 22.5cm Oil on panel I found it pretty comfy to work under a cabana tent at the hotel. This afternoon I spent one hour and half working one this small study of Areca Palm tress. Without much distractions, I was able to focus on the value of the color. Finally I could say that this is a good study. I do like how it turned out. But I still have troubles on painting its leaves. Well, I'll target on them on my next study! |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel It was a beautiful morning with bright sun light and was great for outdoor painting. After I dropped my kids to school, I went directly to this place where I did my last painting last week. The sparkles on the surface of the river attracted me. They looked like thousands of diamonds flotting along with river. While working I heart a sound from the water behind me. I turned my head and surprise, it was a white dolphin splashed, dancing out of the water. I was amazed. What a moment I had! She kept swimming and playing with her fins. My heart lighted up. It was a joy. |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel Friend of mine who lives in Chicago called and asked if it was cold in Belize. I said it was about 66 and I felt so cold. We used video chat to talk. Someone next to him cried and said,"Oh! That's so nice!" Its true that 66 is nice because it's about 20 to 40 during the day and it drops to 13 in the night over there now. I'm sure that no Belizean wants to go there! By the way, I did this piece this afternoon in my back yard. Usually I wear short pants and sandles but today I was fully equipped with my coat, scarf and socks. Yes, it was cold! |
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| 22cm x 27cm Oil on panel It was cold and drizzling this morning but I did enjoy working outdoor. It felt nice. While I was working, several people were marking trees along side the highway. Those are old and healthy big trees. They said that in order to expand the highway they had to cut those trees down. There was a moment I felt sad for those trees. Do they have to sacrifice for the development of our kind? |
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| 49.5cm x 60cm Oil on canvas Mr. Smith didn't feel well after posed for an hour. We were supposed to work for 3 hours this afternoon. Well, guess, that's it! And, I had to wait for more than 10 days to continue this work. But I do hope that he's feeling better back to his home now. I thinkI it could be the heat from the sun that caused his dizziness. |
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| 15.5cm x 22.5cm Oil on panel This is the second work of this morning. It's a smaller size compared to the first one. Usually I have 2 panels with me when I work outdoor. They are convenient and take no space and are light. Soon, may be I need to get a panel box to keep my wet work safely. Oh, by the way, while I was working at this study. Two persons came and asked if I would sale my work to each of them when it was finished. I think people in general here like those little colorful houses. |
