Dark Cherries, and Lemon

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Oil on 5"x7" board
Since my last post, I've tried painting a couple different things; a day lily, which was beautiful in real life, but not in my picture, then another try at a small vase holding a daisy, and a zinnia... I didn't like my painting of that either, I guess my heart just wasn't in it. So. I went to the fridge and got out a lemon and some cherries... I know I'm repeating myself, but I can't help it. I just love the colors you can put into the yellow of the lemon, and the cherries are like little gems... the top photo is the best.

Red Delicious Apple

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Oil on Board, 5"x7"

I wanted to paint this gorgeous red delicious apple today. I bought a couple of them only because I loved their color, such a deep plum colored red. I had a nice afternoon sketching, and picking out a nice background color (using my color wheel to help me visualize the options..) I loved painting in all the reds and deep red/violet, but, when it came time to do the highlight,I had a hard time trying to figure out the color of it. I tried blue, and a purple... and nothing looked right, then I finally tried a trick I learned in an art class when I was a teenager. I was having trouble finding the values of shadows and reflections on a white statue, and the teacher suggested that I roll up a piece of paper into a tube, and look through it at the spot I was having trouble with, doing that isolates the spot, and shuts out any other nearby colors or values or shapes that are influencing what you're seeing. She also showed me that I could also just roll my hand into a fist, leaving just enough room to peek through, and look through that. It works pretty good. On my apple I could easily see the color in the highlight. I was so happy!!!!

zinnia

"White Zinnia with Cherries"

Oil on 8"x6" Canvas Panel

White Zinnia with Cherries

Oil on 6"x8" canvas panel
Here are a couple of pictures of the Zinnia painting. They were taken in bright outdoor light on a sunny day, so the colors look extra bright, and there is a bit of a glare on the wet paint. I like this painting alot, because I always want to paint the flowers I have in my garden, but I seldom want to try, it looks so difficult. But, I tried, and I was happy with how it came out. I should try more often.

Zinnia, In progress...

Oil on 6"x8"Canvas Panel
I am a little surprised by this painting. I didn't think much of it when I started it, but there was something different about the way the paint felt going on the canvas. I had toned the gessoed surface with a soft gray acrylic paint. I'm always trying new things, you never know how it might change the feel of the paint... different brushes, or mediums, or surfaces..a new color..., and sometimes it's a good thing, and sometimes it just gives you trouble. But this time was good! It seems like someone else painted this painting for me, it doesn't look to me like I did it. And the colors came out nice too, and I don't know how that happened! I added in those same rainier cherries. They're looking a little tired now, I freshened them up a bit in the painting... I'll be finishing this one up tonight.

4 Rainier Cherries

above is a close up image, click either image for enlarged view

Oil on 5"x7" Canvas Panel

This is the cherries painting I did a couple days ago, I thought it needed a little more work, and now I am happy with it.

Lemon and Golden Rainier Cherries

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Oil on 6"x8" Canvas Panel

Pencil Sketch

Here is the Lemon with cherries painting I did yesterday, I posted 2 pictures because I couldn't decide between the two, which one was better. One has less glare, one has better focus. I also thought I would also include a picture of the sketch I had done before painting. The heavier outlines in the drawing were made as I transfered the image to my canvas panel.

I painted on a 6"x8" canvas panel today, ( I recieved a couple packages of them for my birthday! plus some 8"x10"s also, theres no better gift for me than art supplies, thats for sure!) I've been getting so used to the 5"x7" that the extra space seemed to loosen me up a bit. I also made myself sketch a bit before I painted. That's something that I always mean to do, but always seem to skip over. I get ahead of myself and just want to get painting. Well, I did a painting of a lemon that I cut a couple of wedges out of, and I added a few of those golden cherries in around it. The time I spent sketching, and planning a bit, really helped. It seemed to make a difference in the finished painting. I have to wait to take a picture of it though, because my husband has the camera with him, and he's away for a couple of days.

Thank you everyone for your positive comments! I appreciate it very much!

Golden Cherries 5x7

Here are the golden cherries, I think I will touch up in a few places later, and take a better picture, but I love the colors in this one.

In progress....

Well, I have been trying to paint a picture of these beautiful "golden cherries". I love the different colors they have, from yellow to red. I didn't like my first attempt, so I scraped off the paint, and I'll give it another try later.

Oil on 18"x14" stretched canvas

In the meantime, I worked a little more on a larger painting. There are previous posts of this painting in progress. It's almost finished, which makes me happy, especially since it's my birthday today! and if I get this painting finished and do another small one of the cherries that I'm happy with, that'll make a perfect birthday!

Cantalope Slices and Strawberry, 5x7

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I thought my cantalope painting looked a little dull, (pictured a couple posts below) so I added a strawberry, and now I like it much better!! I also touched up the orange color in the cantalope to make it a bit prettier. That one little strawberry took me the longest time to get the way I wanted it, I must have used every color of red I own to paint it! Let's see... cad.red, aliz. crimson, winsor red, permanent rose, perylene red, light red, and also cad. orange, and yellow... yellow ochre, and thalo green.

The top picture was taken outdoors, and the bottom pic was taken indoors. ( The color of the cantalope in the top picture is most like the actual painting) I wanted to post both so you can see the difference lighting makes!
Hope you like it,

In Progress...

This is a painting I started yesterday. It shows some of Georgia O'Keeffe's artwork( one of my very favorite artists) There's an open book, a couple small cards, and also a daisy in a white vase sitting on the book. I set up the still life myself, and took pictures of it, to help with the composition. I chose one of the pictures to follow, as the view point was better (from a different perspective) than the view I had from the easel. I also still have the objects set up, so that I can follow that as well. I can't seem to paint from a picture as well as from the actual object.

Two Slices of Cantalope on a Paper Plate

Cantalope Slices, Oil on Canvas Panel, 5x7
Here is the painting of the cantalope slices. I like the contrast of the dark background and the brighter orange melon and white plate. Now that I see it in a photo, I think I have a few places I'd like to touch up a bit, but otherwise, it's complete.

In progress...

Today, I worked on a couple of paintings. A small one of 2 slices of cantalope, and a larger still life on stretched canvas. I ran out of time today, so I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

Angel figurine with Blue Flower 5x7

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I wanted to paint something besides fruit for a change, so I chose this little angel figurine, and a blue bachelors button flower from my garden. I like the nuetral black background, and white figure, with just the bluish purple flower and gold wings of the angel for color. I positioned the angel so far to the side because I liked the shape of her shadow so much.

Sketching Day

I haven't been in much of a mood to paint lately, since there seems to be too much going on around here, maybe because of the holiday... but, I've been sketching instead. I forget sometimes, how much I love to draw. It doesn't have to take very long, using only one color, no mess, and no clean up, and it gives me ideas for things I might want to make paintings of later. I should really sketch more often. But, tomorrow!! I'm pretty sure I have a free day, so I'm happy about that, I'm looking forward to spending some quality time in my favorite place; my little art room, and maybe I'll even get a picture painted.

Nectarine and Strawberries 5x7 Oil on Canvas Board

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I wanted to paint these strawberries, because some of them have that unripe yellow/green color near the stem, which I think makes them look more interesting. The nectarine was very ripe, and I wanted to be sure to finish this painting so that it could be eaten. And I did, and it was.

I loved mixing up all the different reds, and seeing how some of them just seemed to glow next to others. Alizarin crimson, and cadmium orange; cadmium red and alizarin; permanent rose and c. red, winsor red.... etc. etc....so many ways to make such pretty reds!