July’s 2026 paintings are value studies created with a variety of mediums like acrylics, watercolors, gouache, charcoal and ink. The paintings were created on watercolor and acrylic paper (9×12”) that was taped off at the halfway point and around the edges for a border. This yielded 2 paintings per sheet of paper, each 6×9” in size. The only exceptions are a series of 3 full length portraits on 9×12” canvas pad sheets. Often, it is the same subject done in 2 different monochromatic colors, for example, a seascape value study done in black and white, and the second one done in phthalo green and white. The idea was to work fast with an economy of brushstrokes and to focus on values, shadows and lights, using just one color and white, or in the case of watercolors just one color.