High Bay View -sold

oil 11x14 inches, gallery wrap canvas (sold) With this painting I have done some experimenting. My photo reference for this piece had a nice abstract quality. I turned my photo upside down for the entire painting process. I thought doing so would be a fun exercise and would help maintain the abstract quality. I also painted without any initial draw-in. Instead, I focused on laying in the shapes on canvas. Also, I painted on an oil ground for the first time and without any toning of the canvas. The painting dried quickly and opaquely. Needs a good coat of varnish. I submitted this to Carol Marine's "Try Something New" challenge.

Head Study

oil 12x9 inches Rough head study from my figure painting class with Joseph Todorovitch. I enjoyed the pose with her closed eyes and full mouth.

Nostalgia

oil 16x20 inches click for purchase information Finished, I think. I'll put it away and look at it again in a week. The background leans toward pink, which seems more harmonious with the greens and dark reds. I revisited the clock to revise the shape and make some deliberate marks.

The Art Room

Self Portrait oil 8x6 inches April, 2012 I'm very excited to announce that Taryn Day has chosen to feature my work today on her blog "The Art Room". Thank you so much, Taryn! Each day this month Taryn takes a look at the work of an artist who blogs. Today is my day, so check it out and see the other artists' work too, by clicking here.

Almost There

oil 16x20 Finally I have a shot with fairly good color accuracy and not much glare. I had a great time with the marbles, painting them with just a few brushstrokes and then cutting in the green drape around them to establish their edges. I'm thinking to do more marbles in the future. The book is very worn, and it looks it. Whew. There is a lot of green here, which I've known from the beginning could be overbearing. I've worked hard to get the greens just right: subdued, but not dull and lifeless. Still, you might have to like green to like this one! :-) Now if I can just get that dang background right!

In Progress

oil 16x20 When I finished this stage, I was not happy with the left background shown here. I left it for a day thinking maybe it would grow on me. :-) It didn't. So I wiped out that section and put my burnt umber wash back on. Letting that dry, I continued with the rest of the painting today. It's almost finished. Hoping to get a decent photo tomorrow in daylight.

More Progress

oil 16x20 inches While painting along I noticed that over and over again I'm mixing the three primaries. If you asked me how I mixed color for any part of the painting, the answer would be red, yellow and blue in different ratios. Backgrounds still scare me, so this time I'm taking the advice of a fellow blogger: go back and forth between object and background rather than saving background for last. Hopefully I can work still wet edges this way. Again, please excuse the glare.

In Progress

oil 16x20 inches Here's a better shot of the set up, though the camera's viewpoint is a bit different. The second is after my first painting session. I started with the clock and had to wipe it a couple of times. Overall, I'm happy with the start. I'm using a fairly limited palette: ult. blue, alizarin, cad yellow medium, yellow ochre, cad red light, burnt umber and Twhite. Though the photos don't show very accurate color, at least you can see what I'm up to.

In Progress

I've started this 16x20 still life. I spent several hours working on the set up which includes objects I've used in previous small paintings. The analogous and muted color appeals to me first, along with the nostalgic feeling. After laying it out on canvas, I decided it was too heavy on the left, so I removed the painting with the yellow flowers. I would have had to tone down the yellow anyway. The fact that I've painted each object before is reassuring. Hoping I can pull it all together in a cohesive piece. Sorry about the glare. I haven't figured out how to shoot pictures in my little studio without glare. Today I'm off to the Norton Simon Museum with some friends. Field Trip! Woo-hoo! No buses, no name tags!

Big 'n Little

oil 12x12 inches not for sale My son fishing with his little girl, AnnaLee when she was about 2 1/2. I love the way he is right down on the dock with his foot stuck out. She's holding the pole at the very end, maybe attempting her very first cast. Thanks to my daughter in law for sharing the photo.

Alex

oil 12x9 inches On Thursday I joined a figure painting group at "Perma-Dirty" art space in the Claremont Packing House. I really enjoyed painting Alex because of his fair complexion and especially his eyes. I used the Zorn palette: Twhite, yellow ochre, Gamblin's chromatic black, and this time cad red light instead of my usual cad red medium. The red light helped me get more warmth into the skintones in the light, but it seemed too warm to make the darks for skintones in shadow. Maybe next time I'll use both reds. Coming up on Tuesday evening I'll start figure painting classes again with Joseph Todorovitch. I'm beyond excited!

Lemon Light -SOLD

oil 8x10 inches click for purchase information I really enjoy painting lemons. Love the translucency. I submitted this painting to the current Daily Paintworks Challenge: paint fabric.

Tiny Pinecone - sold

oil 4x4 inches The last of my pine cone paintings, I had just enough time to squeeze in this little piece right after Christmas. On the 29th we welcomed a new little person into our family, our sixth grandchild, Elijah James. Here's his sweet little newborn face, less than 24 hours old. So precious!!! Happy New Year to everyone!