Bosc Pear

Available on ebay, Click Here
Oil on 5x7 linen panel
I made some linen panels for myself, and did this painting of a bosc pear. The pear had so many colors in it, and the longer I looked at it the more it seemed to have. Yellowish browns and pinks and greens. I used pthalo green with this one, and I think it worked much better than viridian, which is what I've been using. I seem to switch back and forth between those 2 greens. I had stained the panel with a thin layer of terra rosa, and it shows through a bit around the edges.

"Citrus Fruits"

Available on ebay, Click Here
Oil on 5x7 hardboard
A few colorful fruits, and a sprig of leaves. I have been using this same little leafy stem for weeks now, it was originally in a floral arrangement I received on my birthday in July!! I have no idea what it's called, but, I've kept it in a vase and I keep changing the flowers, and it hasn't shown any signs of wilting yet! I wonder how long it will last?

"Apple with Leaves"

Oil on 5"x7" hardboard
I finished painting this apple yesterday. The apple is from the grocery store, and the leaves are from a crab apple tree in my backyard. I like the look of the dying leaves, together with the ripened fruit.
Thank you everyone for all of your wonderful comments, they are so greatly appreciated!!!

Autumn Hydrangea

Above: The finished painting .................. Below: Work in Progress

Oil on hard board panel
I started this painting a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got around to finishing it up this weekend. I thought I would include a picture of it in progress along with the finished image. I always think it's so interesting to look back, and see what it looked like at an earlier stage.

Self Portrait

Oil on 8"x10" canvas panel

When I saw the latest challenge on Michelle Burnett's blog, "Following the Masters", which was to do a self portrait, I dared myself to try it. And I'm glad I did. I've always wanted to try a portrait of myself, since it seems like a safe way to practice portraiture, (I'm the only one who's gotta be pleased with it). Since I've never been able to successfully draw myself in the mirror, I decided to take some pictures and use one for a reference. I used a canvas panel that I put 2 extra coats of gesso on, and sanded a bit. It smoothed out the surface, so that the canvas texture wasn't so distracting. The colors I used most were, transparent oxide brown, yellow ochre, cadmium scarlet, ultramarine blue, viridian, some burnt umber, and white.
I painted until I got to this point, and didn't quite know what I wanted to change about it, so I stopped, and decided if I wanted to change anything, I would just wait, and do another painting some other time. Changing this one, at this point would probably make it look worked over too much.

Vacation

I've been away for a week or so, in Virginia visiting my sister. Now that I'm home, I hope to get some new painting done!

Kreative Blogger Award

How nice, thank you to Lyn O'Neal for including me in her list of Kreative Blogger Awards. She has just started her blog not too long ago, so give her a visit! I will list a few things about myself, and then pass the award along to a few other artists.

1. Besides drawing and painting, my other interests over the years have been sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidering, and I even built a doll house or two.
2. I enjoy taking walks, and riding my bike.
3. I like to bake, especially cakes, pies, and desserts.
4. I love to eat cakes, pies, and desserts, especially cookies!
   
5. I"ve lived here in Rochester, NY, near lake Ontario, my whole life.
6. I love watercolor painting, and how I've tried over the years, but I just don't seem to have the knack. So, I am fascinated by those who do! Same with playing music.
   

Ok, enough about me, here are some artist who I would like to pass the award along to:
Give them a visit!

1. Silvia Williams Watercolors
   
2. Laura's Watercolors
3. Melody Lamb
   
4. Following the Masters
5. Kathy Weber
6. Dar Presto

Also, visit some of the artists I have on my favorites list, they are all wonderful.

Oil on watercolor paper

Oil on watercolor paper, 5" x7"
I went to an art festival recently and saw some wonderful paintings by an artist who said he like to work in oil on heavy watercolor paper. So, I thought I'd try a little experiment and do an oil painting on some watercolor paper. I put a coat of gesso on it, and let it dry, and did this painting of an orange on a white cloth. I changed the color of the background and shadows many times, and wasn't too concerned with ending up with a finished painting, I was just playing around. Then I got an impulse to put this blue/green color in the shadows and I really liked it like that. So, that's where I left it. I might try this again and do a more finished painting.

"Tangerine and Mug 2 "

Oil on 5"x7" board
I used the same subjects in this painting as in the last one, just rearranged a bit. The blue, orange, and green seem to go so nicely together.
I notice on my color wheel that blue-violet, red-orange, and yellow-green are a triad color scheme, which is 3 colors equally spaced from each other on the color wheel. Color wheels can be so helpful when trying to compose a painting, I should try and look at mine more often.

Cupcake

(above) Oil sketch on gessoed paper, (Below) Oil on Linen panel

I wanted to try painting the newest "Different Strokes From Different Folks" challenge. A picture of a row of cupcakes. I picked the center cupcake to do a painting of. I have been wanting to try painting on linen again. So, recently I ordered a large piece of folded unprimed linen from Utrecht. I thought I'd cut a small piece of it and mount it on a hard board panel. So, I gessoed it and glued it to a panel, and then did my painting on it. I'm really excited to make some more panels this way.
I wasn't quite satisfied with my cupcake painting, and decided to do a sketch of it on gessoed paper to try some other colors, and to try and paint a bit looser. And, in the end, I like my sketch much better than my painting! I've since tried to change the painting to look more like the sketch, but, it wasn't working out, I just wound up making it worse. Oh well. So, here is a picture of my sketch, and a picture of the painting before I messed with it, and now that I look back, it doesn't look too bad after all. I hate when I do that!!!

"Tangerine and Mug" 5"x7"

Oil on 5"x7" gessobord

I've been wondering why I haven't had much luck with my paintings lately. There have only been a couple here and there that I've been happy with, the 4 or 5 disappointing ones just got set aside, and ignored.. (poor things!) I wondered why that was happening. Why wasn't I happy with them? And, I wasn't happy while I painted them either. It seemed like every stroke I put down, I needed to correct. Then everything would start to look over worked and boring... and I'd loose interest in finding and correcting the problems in it.
I wondered why I never felt that way while I drew. I'm always happy with my drawings. I'm never worried how they will come out, I don't usually labor over them and correct any strokes...
So, I decided to try and figure out how to paint more like I draw. I set up this tangerine, and coffee mug, and drew it a few times. Then I practiced some oil sketches on a piece of gessoed paper (the first time I ever painted on gessoed paper, it's nice!) Then, once I was all warmed up, I went ahead and did this painting. I like it alot, it's a colorful little thing! and I'm happy with it.

Rose Still life

Oil on 5"x7"x 1/4" Linen Panel.
The linen panel I used is by Utrecht, called "hand oil primed Belgian linen". I only bought one to try, and I liked it. One of these days I'll have to get some more.

A rose, in progress.

I think the time I spent drawing was time well spent. I happened to change the way I held my pencil, and just that small change really affected the way I drew! I slowed down, and was more observant and calm. I think it has something to do with the "right brain, and left brain."
Years ago, I read the book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards, and it really gave me an understanding of how the brain works while doing something creative. It seems that the left brain, just wants to hurry and get the job done in the quickest way possible, so I always wind up drawing what I think I see rather that whats really there. If there is a reason that the left brain can't get the job done the way it's used to doing it, it will stop, and let the right brain take over. And the right brain will be more patient, and observant, and so on...
If you've ever tried to copy a drawing that is turned upside down, you're left brain will give up pretty quickly, since it can't make logical sense of the picture. But you're right brain will gladly take over and have a pleasant time working on the task. It's really a nice feeling. I'm thinking that when I was holding my pencil in an unfamiliar way, my left brain gave up trying to get the drawing done, and the more creative right side took over.
I started working on a painting while trying to remember that more patient, calm way of being while creating. I have set up a rose in a coffee mug, and changed my lighting around to create more interesting shadows. Here is a picture of what I'm working on.

Still Sketching....

I think I have been bitten by the sketching bug, because lately that's all I seem to want to do. I love to draw, and maybe I haven't been doing enough of it. I've tried a couple of small paintings, but half heartedly, and it shows. I put them aside for another day.
The weather has been so pleasant this last week or so, that when I do have spare time, I just want to be outside, and not cooped up in the house with the a/c. So, I gather all my favorite sketch books, and pencils and pens and stuff, and go outside and draw whatever is around. It's so relaxing, and calming, especially on a nice summer day.
I have found this brown sketching paper, which is so cool!! so much fun to sketch with dark pencil, or black fine marker, and highlight with white charcoal pencil, or white colored or pastel pencil. The other sketches of my hands are in my moleskine sketchbook, using an ebony drawing pencil. I find using a tissue to smudge the pencil works very nicely, and a kneaded eraser to make highlights.
Now, I think I'll go back outside and draw somemore....

Drawing and Painting

I've always wanted one of those little moleskine sketch books, and I finally bought one the other day! I've been passing the time sketching in it, and I thought this sketch of a daisy and leafy stem in a vase would make a nice little painting, but...
(oil on 5x7 canvas panel)
... I kinda like the sketch better than the painting. I think maybe the subject is too centered on the panel, in the drawing it is more off set. And, I'm just not satisfied with the green colors.. but, thought I'd post it anyway. Tomorrow's another day...

"Two Peaches"

Oil on 6"x8" Canvas Panel
I haven't had much time to paint lately, and the last couple of paintings I did were too blah to post. I'll have to rework them, or something... but this one, I love! I picked these peaches because of their dark red and orange swirls of color.
I used some transparent earth red. and alizarin crimson, with yellows and oranges for the peach colors, and also for the background colors. I used prussian blue also, and viridian.

"Strawberries in a Dish" 5x7

I bought this little dish the other day, only because I wanted to use it in a painting. I thought these strawberries would look pretty against the shiny white ceramic surface of the dish.

"Pair of Poppies" (Finish)

Oil on 11"x14" Canvas
I'm really proud of how this painting came out. This is a larger painting than usual, and is painted on a Winsor & Newton stretched canvas.

"Pair of Poppies" Oil on Canvas, 11"x14"

(in progress)

These oriental poppies were from my garden, I took a picture of them back in June. I found out a long time ago, poppies don't do well cut and put in a vase, they droop after only a few minutes. But, they look so gorgeous and big when they are put in a vase, away from the usual garden setting. I wanted to make a larger painting of them. Here are some photos of my progress. I'll finish it up tomorrow.

Poppies

I have been following artist Michelle Burnett's blog, "Following the Masters", where she invites anyone who's interested to join in and try her monthly painting challenge. The challenge is to try and replicate a painting by a master, and this month's suggested challenge has to do with Poppies,( or your own favorite flower, or garden scene). Poppies make me think of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and her wonderful paintings of poppies. I thought I would try and copy one of her paintings, and I picked this one from a book I have. It was a very interesting experience trying to replicate her style. It looks easier than it is, for sure! Wow!! All those subtle value changes, and magical brush strokes, I just couldn't seem to follow along like I thought I'd be able to. But, I kept at it, and I like how it came out. My version is done in oil on a 16"x20" canvas. The original by Georgia O'keeffe is called "Poppies" and is 36"x30" and was painted in 1950. It can be seen at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Also, I started a painting of my own poppies, from a picture I took while they were blooming in June. I'll post my progress on that one tomorrow.