Wig heads, for "Different Strokes" blog

I have been enjoying Karin Jurick's "Different Strokes from Different Folks" blog, where artist's are encouraged to paint or draw their own version of a photo she posts bi-weekly, and sending it to be posted. It's fun to see all the different versions of one photo! So far, I haven't really been interested in painting any of the subjects posted. But, when I saw the reference phote of "wigheads", a display window full of manikin heads and wigs, I just had to draw it. I've always loved to draw faces and long hair. Whenever I doodle, or draw just for fun to pass the time, that's what I draw. I like listening to music and letting my imagination do the drawing. This drawing was done on a 9"x12" piece of hotpress w/c paper, with pencil, then colored in with watercolor. It was alot of fun. I cropped my favorite portion of it to be posted on the Different Strokes blog.

A Pair of Bananas, Oil on board, 6"x6"

I saw these 2 bananas lying on the kitchen counter, and they seemed to me to be posed as if they were taking a nap together. Isn't that cute?! Anyway, that's why I wanted to paint their picture.

Lily , Oil on 5x5 panel

This pink lily was part of a Valentine's Day bouquet. I think they're called Stargazer lilies? It's such a big beautiful bloom, I wondered if it would look ok painted on such a small panel. I also kept putting it off because I don't have much experience painting flowers, and I didn't want to be disappointed if I failed at it. But, I was pleasantly surprised. I'm happy with how it came out. It's such a nice colorful cheerful painting to have done on a blustery snowy freezing day. I am looking forward to Spring!!
A side note to anyone wanting to bid on this painting, I signed this painting with my initials after I took the picture, so it doesn't appear in this image.

Origami Bird 6"x6" oil on panel

I've been wanting to paint another picture of this paper bird, and finally I got a chance today to try it. I like all the shapes the shadows create, and I think the little piece of crumpled paper off to the side makes a nice contrast with the sharp folded edges of the bird.

Origami Bird 5"x5" o/b

I like the shapes and shadows that folded paper creates. Sometimes I like to just fold a piece of paper into an abstract shape, and use it to practice sketching. The subtle value changes on white paper and the cast shadows are fun to try to recreate. So, I thought I would try to paint a picture of this paper bird. It took many tries before I finally started to see the painting match what I had imagined it to look like. I'm not sure if I might have second thoughts about it, and want to change it again, but for now I'll post this version. :-)

Peeled Apple 5"x7" Gessobord

I thought it might be nice to try painting a peeled apple. I took pictures of the apple in a few different poses, and kept them for reference, since it didn't take long for the apple to lose it's freshness, and to change color.

Irish Whiskey

I started this painting a few days ago, and I'm not happy with it, and didn't finish. I think I'm going to set it aside and move on to something else. It pictures a crock of Irish whiskey, and a glass with some whiskey in it. I had a picture in my mind of how the painting could look, but it just never seemed to get there. I felt like I was always correcting things in the painting, and then finding new things to fix every time I looked at it. The glass looked so pretty in real life, with the light shining through the amber colored liquid. And the deep green color and the shape of the crock were interesting... but, it's just not turning out how I wanted it to. The glass was never straight,the shape of the crock never even, the highlights never right, etc etc... but, I thought I would post it anyway. Not every painting is going to turn out right the first time. Maybe I'll try it another day.

Fruit 5"x7" o/b

I had taken a bunch of pictures of this fruit arranged in different ways on my kitchen counter top. I picked out a couple that I liked best and painted from the picture, and from the actual pieces of fruit. My son suggested that I paint something else besides fruit for a change, and I think he's right. I'll find something different for my next painting.

Little Fruit Bowl

This is a small 5"x5" painting of a bowl of fruit. I like all the vivid colors of the tangerine, grapes, and lemon together.

Lemon Slices

Oil on 5"x5" Ampersand Gessobord

I wanted to try something different with this one. I wanted the painting to appear more sketchy, not so finished. I like how it came out.

Bananas and Grapes 2

Oil on 5"x7" Ampersand Gessobord
Someone asked me if I might do another painting of bananas.. so, I decided to try another one, since I liked the last one so much. This one is a bit different, it's painted on a 5"x7" gessobord, instead of a canvas panel. I like this one alot, the darker background really seems to show off the colors in the fruit.