Thursday, December 29, 2011

Garden Lake Park/studio painting 6" x 6"

I'm hoping it won't rain tomorrow so I can go out with the plein air painters.  I am trying some new colors for landscape painting and like them better for outside than the palette I am using for still lifes.  My camera really emphasizes reds.  Wish I could figure out how to adjust that.  I watched "Getting Greens Right" on UTube and am trying the colors suggested.  The most notable changes are using Pthalo green (yellow version) and Dioxazine purple.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Persimmons with Stainless Steel Pot 6" x 6"

I really liked the blue shadows against the orange persimmons in Carol Marine's painting so I wanted to try that.  (Using the complement)  Now I see my shadows are a bit too light but still it's a concept I want to try again.  I like the vagueness of the reflections in the pot.  Maybe I should have tried a little harder to get the drawing of the rim of the pot accurate, but I'm trying to have my paintings look a little more casual.  I hope that with time and more experience this will work itself out.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Garden Lake Park 6" x 6"

On Saturday I joined 3 others in the Eugene Plein Air group to paint at Garden Lake Park in Creswell.  I had never been there before.  It seems like a promising location to try again.  It was 39*, the coldest weather I've ever painted in.  I managed to stay warm and hope to meet them again on the 30th.
I tried Alizarin for toning the canvas and am happy with that.  I also like how the blue looks shading the red bushes in the foreground.  It was the color I had mixed up for the trees.  I just kind of accidentally used it.  Maybe using a complement can be a shading technique?  Landscapes are difficult for me, but I really want to figure it out.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Near Delta Ponds 6" x 6"

I got my new little, very light paint kit so was excited to try it out--even though it was only 42*.  Brrr.  I rearranged things a lot and was happy with the composition I came up with..except when I got home and saw those bushes all the same size, in a row.  Dot dot dot dot dot.  I also toned the canvas with an orange and think it's a bit too gay for the cold, foggy weather we are having.  I'll try alizarin next time.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Darling Lulu 6" x 6"

Lulu and I went out to the wildlife refuge at the end of Royal Ave yesterday.  We've had so little sun lately and I wanted to paint her with shadows.  It was her first time out there and she was very timid of all the wild smells when we got there but about 2/3 of the way through the walk she got a lot braver.  I painted this for the DPW challenge and really enjoyed doing it.  Much easier than painting cups for some reason.

Lemon Sections with Yellow Cup 6" x 6"I worked and reworked this silly cup

I worked and reworked this silly cup.  The handle did improve but the cup got gummy and messy.  So that was my lesson there.  But I was so happy with the lemons, plate and shadow that it was hard to give up.  I have to stop painting for several days to go help my dad.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Lemon with Grater 6 x 6

I did this for the DPW toaster challenge using the grater since we don't have a reflective toaster.  I had to put a second day into it because I just couldn't get it the first day.  My aim is to finish these in one session.  But I have one now that is going into overtime.  Not sure how to change that.  Be content to call it finished when I don't like it?  Maybe.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Cone Flower with Potting Trowel 6 X 6

This was probably the last cone flower of the season.  I still couldn't get the simplistic brush strokes I wanted for the petals.  I'll try again next year.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Two Eggplants

I love the way these guys look in the photo and they do look kind of red in full light but they're just too dark really.  Wish I could ge that under control. 
Met Carol Marine at the opening of the Members' show at Maude Kerns on Friday.  I'm kind of star struck.  She is so amazing.  Also met her new friend Sara whose painting of a nude was so amazing.  So many great painters around that it's easy to say "Why bother?"  But you have to do something.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Persimmon Sections and Little Blue Bowl 6 X 6

Although it drove me crazy trying to paint the calyxes of these sections,  I'm real happy with the composition.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Persimmon with Silver Bowl 6 X 6

I'm hoping to work on reflections and glass for a while.  It's always a stab in the dark and I'd like to get comfortable doing them.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Persimmon 6 X 6

Our little persimmon tree is overloaded with fruit so I'm going to try persimmons for a while.  Those sepals (?)  sure are pesky to paint.  Hope to do better next time.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

10 Minute Apples

I did this for the DPW 10 Minute Challenge.  Very hard for me to do anything acceptable in 10 minutes.

Lulu

After 3 months pretty much devoted to giving our puppy Lulu a good start, I think (hope) I am back to painting again. She is finally housebroken and that gives us a lot more freedom.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Pole Bean Value study

I did this for the DPW value challenge.  Seems like a really great exercise.  There are broccoli plants in front of the pole beans.  Pretty hard to tell what any of it is really.  Four o'clocks just beyond the beans on the left.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Life Drawing 3

I don't usually stay for the long pose (45 min) but I was having so much fun moving the ink around that the time just flew by.  Can't wait for next Saturday.

Life Drawing 2

Mona gave me some of her ink, Higgins Eterna.  It will bleed when water is added.  I love this effect.

Life Drawing 1

My friend Mona suggested I try pen and ink at the Saturday life drawing sessions at the U of O.  It was really fun to just draw kind of sketchy without worrying about getting every line just right.  This was done with some acrylic ink.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Near Delta Ponds 6 X 8

This was for the rectangle challenge on Daily Paint Works.  I was so happy to get outside painting again.  We got a puppy at the end of July and she has needed/I want to give her a lot of attention.  She's not as beautiful as Marielle was but she is a great little dog, a real cutie and pal.  Her name is Lulu.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Saginaw Vineyards in Studio 6x6

So I painted this one inside today.  I like the composition and values better so I think it's an improvement but it seems to look like a cartoon.  It may be a good approach for me to try the same painting outside then inside.  I'll try it for a while.

Saginaw Vineyards Plein Air 6 x 6

I painted this Friday out at Saginaw Vineyards.  Wasn't happy with the composition or values.  Couldn't figure out how to paint the grass strip.  So I decided I'd try it again inside.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Watermelon and Reflections

I painted this today for the DPW paint it upside challenge.  I was shocked when I turned it right side up to find it resembled the photo.  But all those angles and reflections were very hard for me.  A real stretch (good one) for my drawing skills. I was away for a week helping celebrate my dad's 90th birthday and then the grief over my darling dog's death has kept me in a state of lethargy.  But I'm coming out of it and plan to paint more.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

3 Cups and a Spoon

This is my first day back painting since the illness and death of our darling dog, Marielle on June 6.  It has been a very sad and devastating time.  It's nice to be painting again.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Apples with French Knife 6 x 6

I'm obviously studying Carol Marine's compositions pretty closely.  I think I got a pretty good idea of how the shading works on apples doing this but I need to keep practicing.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cup with Lime Segments 6" x 6" SOLD

I really struggled with this, especially the cup.  But in the end I am happy with it.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Red Apple with Spoon 6 x 6

This was a fairly humiliating experience.  I used an Ampersand gessobord and found it really different from the Raymar canvas I've been using.  Also made some bad choices in what I chose to paint.  But I like the spoon pretty well and also the spoon shadow.  Want to try doing that again.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Value Study Pear

Another value study.  Large amount of medium value, medium amount of light value, small amount of dark value.

Value Study Apples 6 x 6

I painted this yesterday for Carol Marine's value study challenge.  It is largest amount dark, medium amount of light and then a small amount of medium value.  It was so much harder than I would have imagined.

Marielle

Our darling dog nearly died.  It was probably leptosporosis.  Fortunately a very caring vet and penicillin have brought her back to us.  Couldn't concentrate enough to paint for over a week.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Golden Gardens 6 x 6

On on of the few sunny days we've had in May we took our old pooch out to Golden Gardens to stretch her legs.  It was beautiful out there.  It was fun to paint something that doesn't require so much in drawing skills.

Monstercot 6 x 6

Friday, May 13, 2011

Salt & Pepper with Tomatoes 6 x 6

I had to stop early the first day so this took a couple days.  Gonna take a break from glass for a while. 

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Tomatoes 6 x 6

I'm pretty happy with this.  I decided I should wait a day or two after I paint to post.  I seem to dwell on what is wrong before I can appreciate what is right.  Painted Monday.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Self Portrait 6 x 6

This one was done in response to a DPW challenge.  It was fun to do.  I'm still not sure if I should have finished off the hair or not.  I do like the sketchiness of the shirt.  I really look a lot older than that.

Orange Sections with Teal Plate 6 x 6

I like the composition and the colors.  And now I am finally caught up to present in my posts.  This one was done on April 28th.

Kiwis on a Fuchsia Ground 6 x 6

I was so excited when I saw how great these colors look to gether!  This was total fun.

Kiwi Halves 6 x 6

Well, this didn't work at all.  I thought it was the washed out colors and I do think that's part of it.  But my friend Judith suggested that it's because there are just 2 big blobs.  She may have been more diplomatic, but I think she's right.  I do like the shadow in the foreground.

Syrup Jar with Kiwis 6 x 6

I like the syrup jar.  It was so hard to paint.  And I like the simplicity of the kiwis without their black seeds.  But that spoon just ruins everything.  Darn!

Aperitif Glass with Lemons 6 x 6

I'm happy with this one.  The colors, composition and the tourquoise stripe.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Green Peppers on Blue Plate 6 x 6

Green, blue and orange--another split complementary.  This didn't work.  I think the plate is too gray.  And the peppers are more dark than green.

Green Peppers on Lavender Plate 6 x 6

This was another split complementary.  I really like the colors together.

Split Complementary 6 x 6

I was kind of excited when I saw how great these colors look together and it has made me want to study more about color schemes.  I really never thought about that before.  My camera has a tendency to emphasize the reds but it still looks pretty cool in real life.  I used the Munsell color wheel and the colors were red, purple and green.

Dairy Queen Cone with Oranges 6 x 6

At least I think it's a Dairy Queen cone.  I found it on the street and use it for a funnel  Can't believe I stuck that triangle segment right in front of the cone.  But I like the colors and the whites of the oranges.
This is the first in a series I've been doing in response to the color wheel challenge on DPW.  We were to use a complementary, split complementary or triad color scheme--or combination.  I had never even heard of split complementary.  And it could be the regular color wheel or the Munsell color wheel (which I also had never heard of).  So this has been kind of an exciting learning experience for me.  I started off with a simple complementary--blue and orange.

Grape Hyacinths in a Mexican Jigger 6 x 6

This is one of my favorites.  I like the composition.  I love the little patch of teal on the glass.  I probably should have had a few lighter spots on the hyacinths.

Butter and a Fork 6 x6

I wanted to try painting glass.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I love that little spot of blue on the lower right of the butter dish.  Also think I did a good job with the value just below the butter.  I couldn't believe how hard it is to paint a fork.  Very much like trying to paint a hand for me.  Need to do it again.

Pear in a Bowl 6 x 6

This is one of the least successful.  I think there is way too much shadow area and I wish I had made a more gradual turn from light to shadow inside the bowl.  I got lost trying to paint the colors in the shadow side of the bowl and table top.