"Charlotte Dubourg" after Fantin-Latour,
42" x 30," Oil on Linen

Fantin Latour was a contemporary and a friend of the French Impressionists. He did this informal portrait of his sister-in-law, a school teacher. He used a posing technique that goes back to the Renaissance Masters. When the head and shoulders are turned in one direction and the hips and legs in the other, it gives the sitter a more animated appearance. Here I must give credit to my long time art teacher, mentor and friend, Kerry Crutcher, who did a considerable amount of work on this copy as he was showing me various painting techniques.

"Innocence", after W. Bouguereau,
36" x 18," Oil on Linen

W. Bouguereau was well known and respected during his lifetime and quickly forgotten after his death. Until a few years ago - the beginning of the Postmodern Era, even college professors of art had not heard of him. With the general increase in interest in realistic and representational paintings, more information and prints are available about this amazing artist. When I learned that this print was offered by mail order, I put in my request at once, and started working on the copy minutes after UPS delivered the package at my front door.

"Detail from Meditation", after W. Bouguereau,
12" x 10," Oil on Panel

William Bouguereau was known for his religious and mythological themes. I suspect that his favorite subjects were his romanticized images of peasant girls, if for no other reason than the fact that he did so many of them. The same model with the same yellow scarf appears in at least three different paintings. On other occasions he would refer to one model for skin color, another for facial features, and still others for deportment. He spent much more time preparing the sketches and researching the museums to solidify his visions than he would on the actual execution of a painting.

"Pieta" after Michaelanglo, 14" x 11,"
Oil on Panel

Michelangelo's Pieta has inspired generations of artists. Years ago, when the Vatican was performing some restoration of the statue they made a mold of the face of the Virgin and offered marble dust and epoxy replicas for the public. I was able to obtain one from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have made some drawings of it just for practice, but it took me a few years to gather up the courage to try to paint from it all the while imagining how Michelangelo would have treated the subject if he were to do a painting instead of sculpture.

"The Broken Pitcher" after W. Bouguereau,
48" x 36," Oil on Linen

William Adolph Bouguereau (1825-1905) has always been my all-time favorite painter. There is no better way to learn how to paint than by copying Old Masters. The first time I copied the Broken Pitcher was in 1985, and part of the work was done at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco, CA. A few years later, I was given the opportunity to sell the painting and I could not refuse - in part because I felt I would learn even more by doing another copy. So in May 2008, I spent my vacation time completing a second copy.