Alpha Lambda

On top of a red background I started with a plus sign made up of yellow dots. From there, all I did was add more dots as I created a transition of colors on the color wheel. While working on the painting, I did not concern myself with strict straight rows or consistent dot sizes. I figured it was a more interesting to paint my dots.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

More Alpha Series Designs!

As I finish my dot paintings I continue to play with design ideas. Some sketches work out better than others. You’ll recognize a few I’ve used already. Anyway, here is my third page of thumbnail drawings.

Just Add Circles

Recently I was forced to put aside my current series of acrylic paintings to complete some other works for a show that hangs in August. It took me a while to generate ideas for my new pieces. In general they all have to do with my current experiences online. Since one of them included dots, I thought I would share it here on this blog.


graphite on paper

The title “Just Add Circles” is my reaction to a recent online design trend that includes groupings of concentric circles as a pattern. Anyway, I played with circles inside circles, but I made it my own. Also, I drew vertical lines to break up my shapes as a positive/negative space game – if you will. I rendered the piece with graphite on Reeves BFK paper. It is a rag paper that can take a lot of abuse.

Alpha Kappa

Heading back to a blue background I went a little darker with my dots. I used a lot of reds and oranges. I started with an “x” in the middle and added “y’s” at the four four ends of the “x.”
acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Alpha Iota

Pink was the way I began my next painting. Circles of dots dominated my design. Calm is the feeling I get when I look at the painting.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Alpha Theta

When I started painting second coats of paint on my canvases, this is the first canvas I did. The dark green I used intimidated me. So I did not add dots to it right away. Finally I gathered the courage to attack the dark green. As you can see, I managed to add some very bright colors to counteract the dark background.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Alpha Eta

Although I have been sticking to bright colors, I made one dot painting with a brown background. My challenge was to see what dot colors I could place on top of it to make it interesting. I have my color wheel that enables an artist to find complements of various colors that are light and dark. So I went to the other side of the wheel to make my choices.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"

Alpha Zeta

Yellow has been a difficult background color for me previously, but I liked how this one progressed. It had a similar beginning to Alpha Gamma, but then I added diagonals. I’m very happy the color blends created by the dots.


acrylic on canvas, 6" x 6"