Bien venuto 2010!

Happy new year to all. My best wishes goes to all my family and friends and this year should be about (more) painting and less about talking. For those following my blog, my apologies for keeping you waiting so long. Just to let you know since my last post back in June last year till now I have been quite busy studying and doing research. I still have about two years before completion, however it should not limit me from painting.

Since my last post last year I have been jogging around with books. On going projects are temporarily on hold and my short term goals have changed slightly. Some interesting books I have read and recommend are "The Drucker Difference", "Henry Mintzberg Managing", "The Strategy Focused Organization", "Brink's Modern Internal Auditing", Fraude Casebook Lessons from the Bad Side of Business", "Nonproft Governance, Law, Practices and Trends" and "Corporate Governance A Practical Guide to the Legal Frameworks and International Codes of Practice".

For those more interested in painting than reading I have two finished painting that I should post by next week. Let me keep this as a surprise. You might have seen one of these painting as work in progress but you'll see.

The Two Cuban Guitarists

The Two Cuban Guitarists.
This is the first stage of my painting process. First, I map a sketch from the original photo. Secondly, I apply the basic colors with differing tones. And on the third phase I continue to apply the basic colors for the remainder areas. My concern with this painting is to capture as close as possible the happy singing expression on their faces. This is an acrylic based painting on a 50 x 70 cm canvas. This weekend, I should continue with the following paintings in pending:
1. Ship Sailing The Rough Seas (this is a private work I can't show yet)
2. Machi In Front of Her House
3. Old Cuban Sitting in Front of a Blue Door
4. Stadhuis
5. Beautiful Woman
6. Parakeet
Again, hoping to get some free time due to the fact on Saturday I will take my wife and daughter to The Palm Island and Sunday is Father's Day.

This past weekend, I started with four new paintings. The first is one is sketch of an elderly Cuban cowboy smoking a cigar. The second painting is Two Cuban Guitarist playing a "Serenata". The third painting is sketch of the inside of a typical Cuban bar. The last one is the old Dakota Airport (first Aruban airport).

Eagle Beach

White beach, blue clear water, beautiful weather, paradise? Well, it's paradise, hmm, I mean Aruba. Relax, sitback and enjoy the calmness and serenity while staring at this painting, Oil based on a 11x8 canvas

This is a view of the oil refinery Valero (formerly known as Coastal Refinery and prior as Lago Oil Refinery) from Roger's Beach. At the other side you have Baby Beach. Both beaches are highly visited by both tourists and locals. The water is clear blue and calm. Oil based on 11x8

I was in need to practice to paint faces. So, I chose to draw and paint a woman face from a magazine my wife bought at the supermarket. Quite not finish yet, but fair enough to post on this blog. I hope by publishing these paintings, will encourage me to finish some. 12x24 Acrylic