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.