My concentration has been on refining the expression and details of the face along with the further development of the hands. This next week I hope to add the background, which will be a surprise to both you and me! It will take at least a week before I submit another image to you. Keep in mind that I consider all areas of my paintings impossible to achieve and, therefore, challenging.

I continue to work on the clothing and eagerly look forward to applying the finishing elements in the hair, face, and hands. I work long hours, hoping to please Erika with the tentative conclusion. I am willing to make any and all adjustments according to her input.

For the first time, I have been working on the clothing. This gives the flesh areas an opportunity to dry before I go back to them to do further refining work.

The facial expression still needs subtle adjustments, but I must allow adequate drying time after the recent application of paint. Therefore, tomorrow I'll make color and detail adjustments to the hand on the right side of the portrait.

Now at the end of day 6, I have added the hand on the left side of the portrait. This accomplishment took a day and a half of concentrated effort. I look forward to revisiting Charlie's face where my attention will be on improving likeness and expression while also enriching color and details.

This has been my fourth day of painting Charlie. I have put down the foundation that will receive months of development, refining, and detailing. Tomorrow morning I will proceed with the other hand. Thank you for following my progress on this important painting.

After two concentrated days of painting, I have laid down the initial layer paint on Charlie's gift portrait. I will move on to his hair today while the paint on the face dries. It is an honor to be portraying this man of great courage and faith!

My intent with this memorial portrait of Charlie Kirk is to create a gift for his dear wife, Erika, to honor her husband and the father of her two children. The preliminary drawing on canvas is the first step in a process that will continue with tears of gratitude for Charlie's positive impact on my life and those of millions of others across the globe. As Charlie would say at the beginning of each radio program, "Here we go!"

I have finished Molly's portrait after a period of five months, and it is now framed and ready for hanging.

The painting of Molly on the Dominican shores is very close to being complete after I spent more than a week of 12-hour days at the easel. Despite those long hours, I know I will always find further adjustments to make, but now it's time to consider framing.

Although the entire composition has been painted, the perfecting of each part has only begun. The rocks at the base have taken a considerable amount of my time at the easel. I hope you can recognize which one is petrified wood and which is coral rock.

On to perfecting all of the elements!

After several days of devoting my time to developing the ocean water, the waves and swells of the Caribbean are now established, but not finished. I have been eager to introduce this lovely landscape as the scene into which I chose to place Molly.

After a busy month of May, which included trips to both Minneapolis for my two grandsons' college graduations and northern Wisconsin to join a crew of about a dozen of Karen's relatives in planting a big garden, I am back at the easel working on Molly's painting. I have made adjustments in the face, especially in the features, along with additional highlights in her hair and clothing. I spent several days working on the background as well, which is in the initial stage of development.

I spent most of yesterday putting in the rough beginning of a background, including a brilliant blue sky and cumulus clouds. I was eager to explore how the sky would balance with Molly's image.

In this post you can see further development of the entire face and hands, yet nothing is completely finished. I have begun working on portions of the clothing and will continue doing so before returning to making further refinements on the face and hands.

Although life is busy with spring gardening, I managed to complete the flesh areas, Molly's hands and arms. Next I will be moving on the clothing and then the background. I will then refine, develop, and perfect all areas of the portrait.

This painting is now complete and ready to be hung on the wall, complete with all the hardware necessary to accomplish that. I am pleased with the presentation and feel that the frame complements the portrait very nicely.

I have looked forward to starting this painting for a long time, and as you can see, I have made rapid progress on the face after three days of work. I have never taken the eyes so far in such a short period of time, but have much more to do in developing all areas of Molly's portrait. I have great zeal to make this painting my finest work yet!

This drawing has been many months in the working and reworking. I met Molly this spring at my local public library and felt she would be the perfect subject for a painting. I am very grateful for her willingness to pose for two fairly long photography sessions. My wife and I had recently returned from a vacation in the Dominican Republic where we walked this beach, which forms the background for Molly's portrait. I anticipate many months of painting as I strive to go beyond any previous artistic accomplishments.

This is the final photograph of the painting before it is framed. I responded to my customer's comments that the subject looked a little older than he actually is by putting quite a few hours into the eyes and slightly darkening the beard. I also made subtle changes to the background. My friend is now very pleased with the finished work, and we anticipate a summer visit with him during which he will view the portrait in person.

I am nearly finished with this painting and can hardly wait to show it to my client. I will continue to do finishing touches in the coming days.

This photo shows the early development of a portrait for a dear customer in Accra, Ghana. Further details and development are needed on the face and beard, while I have not yet begun working on the clothing. Click the link below to see the initial drawing for this one.

The portrait to honor American hero John Glenn is now complete, and you will notice that I have signed it in silver in the lower right hand corner. I am so happy that this portrait will be on public display in Cambridge, Ohio, Glenn's home town.

I have now spent a full week of work on John Glenn's portrait, and I consider the painting to be 50% of the way toward completion. At this point I need to allow for several days of drying time before proceeding. All of the elements are evident, but further refining and developing are needed to bring the painting to completion.

I am now four days into the painting. and you will notice further development in all parts of the face as well as the spacesuit.

After working on this portrait for two days, each of which exceeded eight hours, I am tired but satisfied with my progress, I will be painting daily until this portrait of John Glenn is complete.

I have completed the finishing touches on "Isabel, Brianna, and the Monkeys" after nearly a year of work, and although I have never truly "finished" a painting, I will be taking this portrait off the easel to begin working on a new subject, John Glenn, as of early tomorrow morning.

I have put in long hours this past week working on the drawings for three oil portraits, two for customers and one as a sample. The first subject I will be painting is astronaut John Glenn who hails from Cambridge, Ohio. The painting will hang in a place of honor in his hometown.

"Isabel, Brianna, and the Monkeys" is a very complicated painting. I trust you will see progress since my last post because I have spent many hours fine tuning the details. Ten percent of the portrait has yet to be completed.

I’ve been busy with a number of summer projects, including daily work in the garden, but I’ve managed to eek out some time for painting as well most days. You will notice that I have begun work on the background, which adds depth and interest to Acacia’s portrait.