Lifetime Art

red mountain 2024 jpg

First oil painting -2024- Red Mountain on the Salt River with Wild Horses
My first oil painting completed in 2024 - Red Mountain on the north side of the Salt River near Mesa, AZ.  Wild horses are common along the river where it is also common to see monsoon clouds and dragonflies on the cat tails in the summer.  Orig. size - 24"x36"

img 0440 trimmed jpeg

One layer at-a-time

For me, it's a slow process with so much detail.  The water took 3 tries and completely different painting techniques, before I was content.

red mountain 2024 jpeg wild horses 2

Wild Horses

The Salt River is blessed with dozens of wild horses.  They love the seaweed and the flat sandy ground along the river.

red mountain 2024 jpeg rock hike

The Best Hike

I started hiking Red Mtn in 1979 when the Pima's only required a permit.  This pic shows the trail.

red mountain 2024 jpeg dragon fly 2

Dragon Fly

Lots of dragon flies in the cat tales along the shore

red mountain 2025 tree jpeg trimmed

2nd oil painting -2025- Palo Verde in Bloom
This oil painting was rendered on a full-size canvas print of the 2024 Red Mountain painting.  The bright yellow flowers are a distinct characteristic of the Palo Verde.  The desert turns yellow in Arizona.   
Orig. size - 24"x36"

red mountain 2025 tree jpeg trunk

The Trunk

The trunk colors and detail are the result of MANY pics

red mountain 2025 tree jpeg branch 2

The Summer Flowers

There must be a million flowers on that tree.

red mountain 2025 tree jpeg water

Flowers on the water

I love the effect of the bright flowers in the water

david med 2 chipmunk jpeg

Early Morning Chipmunk

White charcoal drawing of a Chipmunk on a log in early morning

david med 3 squirrel jpg

Kaibab Squirrel in Ponderosa

White charcoal drawing of a 'big-eared' Kaibab Squirrel on a large Ponderosa pine in northern Arizona

david dongell 3 koalas jpeg

Koala Bears

White charcoal drawing of mother/child Koala Bears in a Eucalyptus tree

david med 1 owl jpeg

Owl

One of my first white charcoal drawings


david small 2 bear jpeg

Baby Bear rescued

The baby bear was featured in the AZ Highways magazine as an orphan after an AZ wildfire.

david small 1 coati jpeg

Coati Mundi

The Coati Mundi is a night creature, this one was photographed on the top of Squaw Peak (Paiestewa) in Phoenix

david small 3 raccoons jpeg

Baby Raccoons in forest of maple tree

White charcoal drawing of two baby raccoons leaning on branch in a maple forest

m

Solitude - the peaceful shore

The peace of Solitude along the shore near San Francisco with the surf and a lone seagull.  White charcoal drawing.

img 7408 jpeg

One of my favorites

This is the main subject of the 'Watchful Bird' white charcoal drawing featuring the San Francisco skyline, a barge and seagulls

img 7480 jpeg

A work in progress

White charcoal drawing of San Francisco Bay must always include Seagulls

img 7422 jpeg

Artist DPD at work

Such extra fine, intricate details require glasses, magnifying goggles and 3 different types of light sources

img 7583 jpeg

The City

Every inch of the city (1 inch wide) took 4-6 hours to complete

m

Watchful Seabird - City by the Bay

I love San Francisco, at least, the way it was 20 years ago.  I was my favorite places to visit.  This is a combination of pics from an Alcatraz boat tour.

pencil drawings jpeg

Original pencil drawings from the 70's

My original choice of media was graphite lead pencil ... not the best.  The 'Road to Emmaus' drawing required 6-8 different hardness leads.