AAPL Auction in July

The American Artists Professional League, a century-old organization that promotes traditional realism, is holding a members-only, traditional timed online auction for ten days this July. The auction is a new venture of the League, taking place this year because of the pandemic. As a new member I'm very happy to be included. My contribution is "Outside the Brewpub," a look at a gathering of friends at a local watering-hole.

"Outside the Brewpub," oil on canvas 16x24

Click on this link to view the catalog of included works, or check out the video below of the 51 lots included in the auction:

Sketch Club Outing

The sketch group made its usual Saturday afternoon excursion today. We meet at a designated spot, negotiate where we will paint, and then spend about two hours working together. The group has been meeting for fifty years or more (obviously with a changing makeup), making it perhaps one of the oldest art groups in the city. The weather today was beautiful--sunny, windy/warm and breezy.--and perfect for plein air painting. A half-dozen of the ever-rotating group made it for the outing, vaccinated and now free of masks.

We spent two hours today at Maffitt Reservoir, an artificial lake that's a backup water supply for Des Moines. As a man-made lake, it has a kind of snaky profile with arms reaching into small valleys southwest of town. The lake is old for an artificial one, dating to before the mid-20th century. The land is rolling, covered with beautiful mature trees, and spots to put in watercraft, picnic, or just chill out. We painted a small inlet on the south side. On the lake, boaters and others in flotation rafts lazed in the sun. It was a thoroughly wonderful afternoon.

Recharging

"Sadness," graphite on paper, 2016

People who work to make things find themselves at a standstill sometimes. That is, they go merrily along, making stained glass windows or writing haikus or novels or painting watercolors but somehow the well runs dry, the words or images won't come. Writers call it a "block". So far as I know there's no equivalent term in the visual arts, but there do come times when work slows to a trickle. Years ago a mentor of mine used to reassure oil painters who worried when their work slowed or stopped, saying that after such periods most find themselves producing more or better (or both) art. Happily, a complete cessation of artwork has never happened to me, probably because I use a diversity of media. Digital drawing is so easy to do that it has become a constant in life for me. But other kinds of drawing in traditional media is pretty simple for the most part too and also nearly a constant. "Sadness," (left) is a good example of my graphite works.

"Shine," oil on heavy paper, 6x8, 2011

Paintings are the least constant of my art pursuits. Many weeks pass when I paint daily, sometimes even in two separate sessions. Those are mostly studio days. But sometimes, gradually, the work slows, sometimes abetted by circumstances but sometimes for no discernible reason. When the work is going well you don't even think about working but instead simply do it. You can fall into a rhythm that (if you're lucky) gains momentum and becomes a daily thing. The risk in being checked is that momentum may not return. We're all influenced by circumstance--family, health, worry, you name it--we can't help it. But productive, successful artists work no matter what. They're like Pete the Street, the British fellow who paints outdoors literally every single day. It's quite simply his life. For most of us though, a health issue, financial issues, even visits from family or friends can slow or stop the work. My mentor used to reassure us that after a fallow period people commonly find their work changing and advancing. The idea is certainly attractive, and perhaps it holds true for many. When the work goes poorly or stops, I certainly hope so.

Music to Paint By

If you're like me, you often have music playing while you work. A novelist friend of mine told me once that she always played music while writing, even when laboring on difficult passages or struggling to write a single word. It made the creative process easier, somehow. As a writer of historical fiction, she also played music from the era in her current fiction--chamber music from the early 19th century as she wrote about the English Regency for example. She claimed it smoothed her brain's alpha waves, making the writing smoother too. Maybe so. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who demand utter silence when they paint or can't write or do sums unless the room is still. 

"Willie," digital drawing

I like music when I work, whether it's digital or actual paint. During long ago studio sessions we almost always had music, chosen by the instructor,  usually classical or smooth jazz. Nothing challenging, nothing to capture attention. Never hard rock, or for that matter country or even top 40 pop. No, mostly it was jazz, commonly piano or saxophone ballads. My taste runs to the same general direction but traditional  rock or honky-tonk country music can be a tasty alternative. 

 

Another New Landscape

Studio work continues to develop from last year's outdoor paintings. Here is another featuring Gray's Lake here in Des Moines. The figures are walking along the northern shore. The distant trees and shoreline are based on previous studies, as is the shoreline and single tree to the right. The autumn light comes streaming into the trees and touches the grasses along the water with gold.

"Along the Lake, oil on panel, 2021

New Landscape

The spring warmth is advancing but so is the rain. We've had quite a lot of rainy, grey and cloudy days lately, keeping me indoors for the most part. But the time is useful to continue on landscapes inspired by last year's plein air outings. As I've mentioned in other posts, those outdoor works provide information about the locale that I can't really get from photos. 

"Wind on the Point," oil on media board

This particular painting is another look at the point at Gray's Lake, nearby. I used studies from later summer days, considerably modified.

A Digital Habit

It's clear that most successful artists, whether visual or verbal or video, have a routine they follow almost without thinking. Most are very uncomfortable when forced out of their routine or schedule. And so it is with my work. 

 The day begins with coffee, news sites, and correspondence. A lot of the time something in the news feeds triggers a drawing or two. Happily, it's easy to make drawings using a pressure-sensitive display tablet. You draw right on the screen, and the feel of drawing with a stylus is similar to drawing with a pencil or charcoal or whatever. You turn on the tablet, open the program, and draw. The majority of my morning drawings go a-glimmering via the Delete key, but some go into long-term files. 

Over the years hundreds of these digital drawings have accumulated, many posted on my other blog Daily Digitalia. 

"Knotted"

"On the Ice"

Head of a Man

Message Art

A famous movie mogul is supposed to have pointed out that movies are about the box office, not social issues by saying, "If you want to send a message, call Western Union." (For those too young to remember, Western Union sent "telegrams" over wires strung coast to coast.) Today we'd say "If you want to send a message, pull out your phone." But truthfully, one of the prime functions of art is communication. Social and political commentary in art is in fact one of its major uses. 

Pablo Picasso, "Guernica," 1937

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painted "Guernica," his massive (about 12'x26') protest against the genocidal bombing of civilians in the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. A Spanish ex-pat living in France, and a communist besides, he was enraged by the event and painted the work to fulfill a commission by the Spanish Republic for their World's Fair pavilion. It remains a wrenching indictment of man's inhumanity and the needless suffering of war. 

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) is another Spanish master who produced paintings in revulsion to the horror and inhumanity of war. His "May 3, 1808" was painted to memorialize the Spanish uprising against Napoleon, and produced several years later when the French had been driven out of Spain. In the painting, Spanish patriots are being executed by a French firing squad. The revolt against Bonaparte had failed and executions were widespread. The common man throws his arms wide, probably in defiance. 

Norman Rockwell, "The Problem We All Live With," 1964

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) is a painter/illustrator whose work was justifiably famous in the 20th century. Although his reputation was made from his often sentimental work, some of his paintings, especially toward the end of his career, came with messages that belied his reputation. In "The Problem We All Live With," he memorializes the first day of school endured by 6-year old Ruby Bridges in 1960 New Orleans. The image was published by Look magazine as a centerfold and continues to dismay many, especially with the prominent racial slur. 

Damien Hirst and his shark

In our contemporary era, message art is everywhere. Too often for my taste the message is in the title of the work. For example, the British artist Damien Hirst produced "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living," (1991) by pickling an enormous shark. While there is certainly a message in the title, without it one suspects, the impact would be similar. On the other hand, other artists have produced untitled works with powerful messages.

Banksy, fire and snow graffiti

Banksy, the so-far anonymous British graffiti painter is an excellent example. Most of Banksy's works are untitled, secretly-painted graffiti that contain a pithy point within the work itself. Unlike Mr. Hirst, there is no reliance on words to make a point when the images work just fine. In the graffito at right a child, delighting by falling snow, is about to catch a flake on his/her tongue. Around the corner of the shed we see a dumpster fire spewing white ash that has begun to fall like snow. Without a title, this image speaks volumes about humans polluting the earth, unknowingly polluting ourselves. To my eyes at least, the message is utterly clear.  

Spring Cleaning Continued

One of the things people ought to do when cleaning out closets and storage spaces is a kind of triage. A friend of mine begins by throwing out everything that's obvious trash, from ticket stubs to a 1971 Neil Diamond concert to pay stubs from her first job--anything clearly useless. Next she winnows the remainder by sorting into separate piles--No, Maybe, and Keep. That way, she reasons, some items that seem doubtful have a second chance. So that's been my approach, too, during that last Spring Cleaning posted a while back. Below are a few odds and ends that made it into the Keep pile.

Life Study, 29x22, 2005

This is a figure in acrylic from a life painting group that I joined at the local art center. Unlike many she was excellent at holding her pose. She was our model for a considerable time, and a pleasure to work with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mail Boxes," ink on paper, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This pen and ink drawing is another piece saved from the burn pile. It was done using an old-style, flexible nib in a holder. Those kinds of metal nibs respond to pressure by producing a variable line that can be very pleasing when done in an artful way. This was also done on a hand-made art paper that seemed useful for ink because it has enough surface finish to keep the ink from being absorbed.  

Study for Portrait of JM, 2009

 

And here's a charcoal study for a portrait. Sometimes a candid shot is awfully useful for character studies because it's more likely to capture an unguarded side of a personality. This sitter has a vivacious, open personality and it shows in the expression.

Thinking of Fair Time

Last year's Iowa State Fair was cancelled owing to the pandemic so all I could do is post about the 2019 fair. This year (so far anyway) it seems the Fair will return, doubtless modified significantly. The crowds will probably be different, likely smaller, and the event schedule will probably change too. But there will always be "fair food" from traditional to outright odd. We've all heard about fried pickles, even fried ice cream. The food booths and tents will always be there.  

"Breakfast at the Fair," 18x36, oil on canvas, 2019

One of the perennial favorite morning foods is a huge, gooey cinnamon roll. The booth opens as the sun slants in from the east and the long line at last begins to move. Everyone's hungry.

Spring Cleaning

During the middle part of this spring season the weather was both chilly and damp. Perfect time for spring cleaning in the studio. My project was a storage space I've used for more than twenty years, alas without cleaning up or sorting. To my surprise, quite a few things came to light, including an old test canvas that I'd forgotten, quite a few large figure studies in acrylic, a few oils and pastels I'd forgotten, and about twenty old sketchbooks. Sorting and tossing, photographing and scanning, and the work still goes on. Happily, there were quite a few pieces that could be tossed without a particle of regret. 

It has been the sketchbooks that have taken the most time. These are mostly 9x12, some larger, some smaller. Besides those, I've also been sorting through charcoal figure studies in large formats and saving a few. Some are posted below.

This drawing labelled only "Doc" was done in 1999 from a reference, and is a completely finished drawing. Doc was a jazz musician from the golden age, but details of his career are long gone from memory. His glasses, cap and cigar were probably what made me want to draw him.

The graphite sketch of a young boy crying uncontrollably dates from the time of Hurricane Katrina (2005) and was done in less than half an hour, from an still frame of a news report of the time. The devastation of that storm was and is astonishing. I drew quite a few people from published reports of the time.

Dance, particularly tango, has been an interest for a long time. Several drawings and sketches I found going through these old sketchbooks are of dramatic tango moves. The couple above are probably Argentinian and probably date from around 1999. 

The last is a formal drawing of the great French painter Jean Auguste Dominic Ingres that I did from one of his self-portraits. This dates from perhaps 1998, although I have lost the date and any accompanying notes. It was probably one of my very first efforts at chiaroscuro--the use of light to establish form--but when it came to the face my nerve seems to have failed me. The drawing does seem to be a reasonable likeness.

Cartooning

Drawing or painting an amusing panel or strip of panels has been a graphic art since at least the 18th century. Cartoons today are found in comic strips, one of the places they began, but also in full-length books--graphic novels--digital forms, animated shorts, full-length films, and of course digital video. Unlike traditional drawing or painting, cartooning often relies on caricature, too. Although not a cartoonist by training or occupation, I like doing them once in a while, just for fun. 

A Parody on Keep on Truckin' (with apologies to R.Crumb)

Sometimes I've copied or parodied famous cartoonists like RCrumb the famous ex-pat American. Other times a cartoon or caricature just appears on a sketch page, like "Saturday Show," below, a compound memory of many weekend art shows and festivals. 

 

Art Materials Research

Decades ago, one of my teachers used to rant about how little most artists those days understood about their materials. In fairness, at that time people without access to a large library had real problems getting information about paint, mediums, and so on, and accuracy was difficult to pin down. Big printed compendiums about art materials seemed out of date by then, perhaps biased besides. Beyond providing introductions to certain ideas encyclopedic books about materials could not provide needed depth. Original research information more difficult to access. Perhaps worse, a lot of what was available was "anecdotal." That is, information based on personal experiences instead of rigorous research protocols. In short, we knew and did what we were told others traditionally had done, more or less.

My teacher was adamant that to understand any particular material or substance--drying oils, paint formulations, mediums and so on--you should do your own testing. He had done personal testing of drying oils, for example, to see how quickly, completely and durably they form a film, once applied. There are dozens of possibilities for personal testing of simple things like oils or solvents alone. The obvious problem for most artists is the time needed while still doing whatever art they pursue. Artists mostly don't have time or the inclination to be researchers. Besides, evidence collected is then still limited to the experience of a single person--that is, it would be considered "anecdotal" at best. What to do?

Just a few days ago while tidying storage spaces I ran across an old test canvas from 2002 (above). It's an interesting set of tests involving various kinds of oils, resins, and mediums that interested me then. The test is on a piece of acrylic-primed canvs (titanium white). The Cennini paint company has been out of business for a decade or more, but Winsor and Newton, Doak, and Grumbacher still have lines of oils, resins, and so on. Winsor and Newton's Liquin is very popular. These squares were laid down in April 2002 and observed for months. My notes have disappeared, and this is the first I've looked at them in at least eighteen years. They've been in a dark, temperature-controlled storage space. As you can see, sun-thickened oil, stand oil, and linseed oils all yellowed substantially. Liquin (which may or not be the same as today's compound) yellowed too, though a bit less. Copal-based compounds yellowed even less, and mastic and dammar resins only yellowed somewhat. Since we know that oils and even dried oil films can bleach in sunlight, I'm now going to leave this canvas in the light and observe. 

Happily, there are a lot of alternatives to anecdotal or inaccurate materials information. Numerous places to visit online are replete with art materials research from a spectrum of sources. Besides manufacturers' public research efforts, museums in many countries do extensive research into materials as well when restoring art works. Restoration of art works provides information regarding the successes and failures of materials of the past. Finally, there are nonprofit organizations devoted to similar ends. Here are only a few.

Governmental
The National Gallery of Art maintains a Materials Study Center. If one is interested in original research into materials there is an extensive set of links to papers from the Center. Also linked are useful articles (e.g. spectral comparisons of historical pigments vs. contemporary ones). A number of special projects is also available, including a review of 16th century materials and methods. 
The Smithsonian Institution has a conservation division as well, The Lunder Conservation Center, which (pandemic excluded) is open to the public. Furthermore, there is a wealth of recorded material online at the site.

Corporate
The Golden Paint company provides an exceptionally useful and balanced publication, Just Paint that provides a wonderful resource for technical information about all kinds of paint. Golden not only makes acrylics but also oils (Williamsburg) and watercolors.

Foreign 
The National Gallery (UK) has researched much involving materials and methods as related to its own collection and the artists represented. Their Technical Bulletins are available on the website (linked), dealing with everything from dyestuffs, media, pigments, and so on. And free of charge.

What Kind of Paint?

Long ago, when I began painting, there were only two kinds of paint that I knew of, oil and watercolor. Other kinds existed, including gouache and a new kind called acrylic, but oil paint had been the standard for fine art for centuries. There are actually even more kinds of paint, including casein, and depending on how you view them, pastel is also considered painting. Watercolor was used by children and sometimes by oil painters like John Sargent when they went on vacations. So it should not be surprising that someone who first painted more than a half century ago would use oils. 

"The Large Sod (after Durer)," watercolor

Although I settled on oil paint as my primary medium long ago, it has been important to me to explore other mediums of visual expression. Over the years my explorations have included pastel, watercolor, casein, gouache, acrylics, oils (even water-mixables), and of course digital. In the end my interest has always circled back to oil paint. Actually, experience with each differing kind of paint helped form my oil paintings. Watercolor is transparent, for example, and that imposes significant demands, not the least of which is planning, and patience. Gouache dries quickly but otherwise handles similarly to oil paint and it goes utterly dead if overworked. Gouache was once more widely used because it dries matte and photographs well. Working with gouache imposes a need for planning too, plus quick but sure decisions during painting, especially careful and limited brush strokes. Each of those demands is also useful in making oil paintings.

"Head Study," acrylic on paper

Acrylics are probably the most versatile kind of paints we have. Thinned, they can be used almost like watercolors but with the bonus of a durable paint film. Used in a thicker preparation they handle much like oils and dry very fast (a benefit for some, a curse to others) but open time can be extended with the appropriate additive. When I was beginning to paint figures the studio where we met prohibited solvents, making acrylics or other water media the only choices. I painted many figure and head studies in acrylics. 

"Egon Schiele on His Deathbed," pastel

Another medium that's often considered painting is pastel. Unlike all of the others, though, pastel is generally a dry medium that involves considerably more drawing. Pastel masters like Degas made their paintings by layering one color over another, often by hatching. Pastel taught me layering and reinforced hatching and color skills. But pastel has yet to capture enough of my interest, though I've done a few dozen pastels in my career.

Despite experience with all kinds of paint, oils remain my choice. Foremost, oil paintings are widely considered the most desirable. Oil paintings sell for higher prices and are more collected than other sorts. Acrylic paintings are now selling well, too, but after a lifetime, oils are still my choice.  

  

Tronies Revisited

The other day I happened to glance into a dim and little-visited corner of my studio and saw "The Birthday Girl," a portrait of a woman in a yellow dress wearing an enormous, broad-brimmed hat. The painting was a portrait study based on photographic references from an online acquaintance. We were both habitues of an online painting group and he had been doing portraits in a mall window. A group of ladies of a certain age, clearly celebrating, came by and caught his eye and he caught theirs. They group was celebrating the birthday of one. He allowed me to use his photos. I suppose you could call this study a tronie.

"The Birthday Girl," oil on canvas, 24x18

Tronie is a 16th century Dutch term that indicated the kind of stock character we've all seen in television, videos, and so on--the drunk, the obnoxious character, etc. The word tronie actually means face, with the understanding we're discussing a common expression, or gesture or a recognizable costume. Rembrandt, Hals and numerous others produced memorable tronies. Hals in particular. Others Fragonard to Franz Messerschmidt to Norman Rockwell produced images that arguably are tronies. The Birthday Girl fits the tradition.

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Similar Posts

Tronies 

Character Heads

Greening

Druid Hill Creek flows northward into Grays Lake. Regardless of season, about four to six inches of clear water runs constantly over its rocky and pebbly bottom. When heavy rain falls, though, the normally placid brook becomes nearly frightening, roaring and tumbling and sometimes reaching three or four feet in depth. Over the years I've painted and drawn the creek many times and in all seasons. It's comforting to think that this watercourse has very likely been here since before the city. 

Watching the creek change from season to season is instructive and one of the simple pleasures. Over the past ten days or so the undergrowth up and downstream has burst into a thousand shades of green. Most of the early growth is honeysuckle but there are all sorts of woodland plants below that, and not too far away a redbud tree, no doubt sown there by birds, has begun to show color along spindly branches. Now that the warmer weather has come, birdsong echoes among the trees and squirrels are chasing one another from branch to trunk to ground and back again. Naturalized narcissi are flowering, too. Spring at last, spring at last.

Spring Growth on Druid Hill Creek

I did the watercolor above in one of my sketchbooks this week, beginning in the usual way. This time I drew the basic composition with a red pencil, laid thin washes of red-brown over it and then put in the distant darks of the creekbed. Because it was more interesting to study the greens of honeysuckle and underbrush I omitted a lot of branches and grasses, especially on the left bank. after the color dried I lined the water, trunks, and branches using a technical pen and went over those with dark colors. I also  scribbled indications of foliage in the middle distance, where overlapping greens were most interesting. The very distant woods were left vague and unfocused.

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Other Views of Druid Hill Creek 2021:

Waning Winter

Two Views Downstream

AAPL Election

Not long ago I posted here about a piece being accepted by the American Artists Professional League for their Spring Online Member Show. Like many such organizations, an artist can join as an associate in order to submit to the show jury, which is what I did. The organization is less well-known than some but has been around for a long while. In the event the piece I submitted, "By the Creek," was selected for the exhibition.

"MacDougal Street," oil on canvas, 18x36, 2018

The American Artists Professional League is a nearly century-old organization of professional artists. The League grew from a handful of members of the Salmagundi Club in New York and a few at the National Academy of Design, to promote professional artists and traditional realism. Another stated goal was furthering American art. They also worked to improve the chemical and physical purity of artists pigments and eventually helped set governmental standards.The League sponsors an annual Grand National Exhibition (shown at Salmagundi) that draws nationwide attention. While associate membership only requires no credentialing plus a small fee, an artist applicant must be elected. Today the organization has more than 400 members, mostly professionals.

As in many professions, membership in relevant art organizations can be very useful, providing access to fellow artists, continuing education, exhibition opportunities, and so on. After considerable thought and review of the stated mission and goals, I submitted an application for Elected Artist in the League a few weeks back and am delighted to report that notice just arrived of my acceptance. Next year, I'll enter the Grand National Exhibition, which is limited to elected members. 

 

Why Art

One of the questions that has floated around for many years involves the purposes of art. For me, there are two serious problems with the question itself. One is how to define art at all and second, any answers about purpose are likely to be myriad. For some people "art" is anything done creatively--everything from crocheted doilies to cute birdhouses to computer generated animation to belly dancing. Today everyone who makes anything is an artist. The fundamental reason people make things because that is simply one of the things we humans do. We are a species of makers. Of course, we have many reasons to make things--money, recognition, commentary, curiosity and so on. 

Hoff, "Santorini Rooftops," oil, 8x8, private collection

Like many, it has occurred to me to ask myself  why I make paintings and drawings. Being honest with myself, I admit to not knowing. Art classes in public schools were common when I was growing up and gave me great pleasure because of the opportunities to draw and make things. It was fascinating to study shapes and colors, perspective and faces. There was deep satisfaction to be had in making a successful drawing. Aside from school grades personal gratification was my motivation to make images. It was and is deeply satisfying to make a good drawing or painting, but the glow you feel when someone actually likes it is profound, at least in the beginning. Later on, there's the quiet fulfillment of doing something well regardless. Andrew Wyeth once said he didn't give a damn what happened to his paintings because he had the pleasure of making them. Exactly. 

Hoff, "Olive," oil, 8x8, private collection

 

 

Hierarchy of Art

For several centuries, people concerned with art and aesthetics ranked the genres of painting as follows (high to low):

• History painting, which involves depictions of both documented historical events but also allegory, religious and mythological subjects.
• Portraiture
• Genre paintings, defined as scenes of everyday life. These were very popular in the Dutch Golden Age, for example works by Adriaen Brouwer.
• Landscape paintings
  
• Animal paintings, including all sorts of images, like George Stubbs' paintings of horses.
• Still life

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, "Rest on the Flight Into Egypt," oil, 1597 --a history painting

Adriaen Brouwer, "The Bitter Draught," oil, ca 1635, a genre scene

Those advocating such a hierarchy thought that the knowledge and intellectual effort involved in the highest ranking art--history paintings--required intellect and refinement, while others like landscapes and still life were simply copies of the world. The fundamental idea seems to have been re-casting painting as an art on par with the liberal arts. Until then painters and sculptors were considered craftsmen rather than artists. Ranking subject matter--history above all--persisted in art into the late 19th century. 

At the dawn of the 20th century a full-scale revolution against the conventions of academic art raged widely. One of the casualties of the succession of "isms" from Impressionism on was the near-demise of history painting and the rise of portraits and landscapes. Genre paintings moved into the commercial field of advertising, for the most part. Still life and landscape became more and more popular, and portraiture became more important even with the rise of photography.

Henri Fantin-Latour, "Flowers and Fruit," oil, 1866

It's easy to set up a still life just by grabbing things lying about. The subjects are always there, ready for attention unless you've chosen perishables. Everything from lighting to positions is controllable. Further, although still life has been considered to occupy the lowest rung aesthetically, the content of still life paintings can be profound. One special area of still life known as "vanitas" for example, comments on the evanescence of life. Others might be statements on how we live or on history. Some of course are mostly decorative, like the floral works of Henri Fantin-Latour who was exceptionally successful in the 19th century.

Pieter Claesz, "Still Life with Skull and Quill," oil, 1628

As is the case with many beginners, my first works were still life, although none of those has survived. I still make still life paintings when the mood strikes. 

Hoff, "Alone," oil on panel, 2005

Hoff, "Triptych," oil, 2011