Willamette Valley Grays 4.5"x 9.5"

I've been inspired by Dutch painter Roos Schuring to go outside to paint even though it's cold. I had such a good time! I meant to take my saved up gray paint along but forgot. Hopefully next time that will help me gray it down a bit more.

Thai 10"x 8"

This is my dad's cat Thai. She lives with him in memory care but had to spend a few days with us last week so I got some good photos.

Grapes and Persimmon 6"x 6"

This persimmon has been sitting around in my studio for months--maybe three. It is definitely past its prime, lumpy and shrunken. The grapes were still pretty good. I am so surprised how much orange I have to mix in. They seem more blue to me but it doesn't work on the canvas. But then I added even more to try to make them harmonize with that noisy orange persimmon.

Clustered Grapes 6"x 6"

I had a lot of difficulty trying to mix the colors for the grapes--both light and shadows.

Darling Radishes 6"x 6"

I love this. And it was so much easier to paint than what I've been doing since the drawing was much less critical. But I did learn a little from all that fooling around trying to paint white. I was always scared of Pthalo blue but now I'm using it. Also, lemon yellow, for me, is a much cleaner color than cad yellow.

My Grandma's Egg Cup 6"x 6"

The egg is not quite that intense but maybe I should have toned it down a bit.  This studying whites has been a real challenge. I hope I try something a little easier tomorrow.

3 Little Tomatoes 6"x6"

A little frustrating. Finally got the color just right in my photo but it shows up yellower on the blog. Well, I give up. So the white is just a tad less yellow. I like the shadows of the tomato's leaves and the cup handle.

Pear in a White Study 6"x 8"

Once again a little yellower than reality. I'm trying to learn a little about mixing whites. So much harder than I would have thought.

Orange Segments 6"x6"

Whoa!! That background is soo yellow. It's really more peachy. Can't figure out how to change it, but probably another color would have been better.

Meyer Lemon on a Copper Plate 6"x6"

Well, this one was a challenge from the get go. A lemon from my own darling little tree.

Water in the Fields 6"x6"

I tried painting on gesso board today since I have a lot of them.  Sure is different from my little Raymar panels. I did this from a photo that didn't really have much color so I did a fair bit of inventing.

Lulu's Jaguar 6"x 6"

I came downstairs a couple days ago and saw one of my dog's toys standing in the lamplight. So I tried to recreate the scene in my studio today.

Old Road through the Wetlands 6"x 8"

This is my second try today for the Leslie Saeta challenge.  I don't like it as well but still think I learned a bit by experimenting.

Golden Ash Trees 6"x 8"

I signed up a little late for Leslie Saeta's 30 day challenge. I'm not expecting that I'll be able to paint every day, but I've been surprised at what a good effect it is having on me.
Didn't like my still life yesterday and wanting to get back to landscapes, printed some old photos and worked from them today. Experimenting, trying to really simplify the compositions and try new things. I like this one quite a lot.

Mussel Shells 6"x 6"

These mussels looked so beautiful after I cooked them that I've wanted to paint them for several days. But I don't think they were a good choice. Just too dark.

Dark Houses #2 6"x6"

I thought the horizontal planes in my last painting were a lot lighter than reality so I made them darker. It's kind of interesting how dreary the light gets here in winter.
Wasn't sure if I should leave that white canvas showing through but in the end I decided I liked it so left it. That white door--probably should have made it darker, but I just didn't want to.
6"x 6" sure is a fun size.

Dark Houses #1 6"x6"

I'm often quite annoyed with our dark days here in Eugene. I really like painting how light falls on objects. While waking my dog the other morning, I came upon the idea of trying to exaggerate  the lack of that light defining objects: alight grayish sky, all the verticals a dark value and then making the horizontal and tilted planes lighter.
So this was my first attempt.
I couldn't quite make myself simplify as much as I had hoped. It's kind of fun. So I tried another one.

Palm Tree in Oregon 10"x 12"

It's been kind of slow learning to use my new computer and the new Photoshop (still kind of lost). With all the commotion of the holidays, it was so great to finally get back to painting!