Corsica III

I had to sneak in one more painting this month for the virtual paintout in Corsica. I found so many places I wanted to paint. I made a lot of changes from the reference photo on this one too. I just can't stop myself from trying to make an environment prettier although I find the reference photo very interesting. I added a person to make the scene feel more lived in. It's funny to me that I feel compelled to add people to my paintings for the virtual paintout. I really don't feel comfortable painting (or drawing) people so I never added them to my paintings until October, when I started the virtual paintout challenges. I'm still not ready to try them in any medium other than oil (since they can be painted over if I mess them up) but maybe this will be the year that I venture outside of my comfort zone. Below is the reference photo from Google street maps.
Corsica III

Image size 14" x 14"

Oil

Unframed - gallery wrapped canvas, no frame needed
$195.00

Rice Paper Koi Again

I know, I know, you've already seen this painting. I received a request by e-mail asking if this painting is still available so I'm re-posting it to show that yes, it is still for sale.

Rice Paper Koi

Image size 21" x 28.5"

Watercolor on rice paper

Unframed

Cyber Cafe - Silk Painting

I've found so many places I want to paint while virtually visiting Corsica, so I've taken the challenge again. I decided to make this one more fanciful so I chose Silk dyes on silk as my medium. When I found this scene, I was attracted to the laundry hanging between the windows. I don't know why I find that so appealing. Laundry is not at all appealing when I see it in our house. It's funny how something becomes charming when it's in another culture. Oh well, I guess I should be happy that I have a clothes dryer and don't have to hang my laundry to dry. I've included my reference photo below so that you can see that I went crazy employing artistic license with this one. I re-built the building, added plants and changed the colors on the building and shutters. I wonder if it can still be considered a reference photo.

I have one more Corsica painting in the works that I will hopefully finish this week.

Cyber Cafe

Image size 16" x 16"

Framed
Sold

Bougainvillea ACEO

I feel like I'm cheating for this week's posting because this is so small but we were out of town this week. This is a colored pencil ACEO and is 2.5" x 3.5". ACEOs are artist trading cards and are a great way to collect original art, however small, for very little money. I drew this one while I was on the plane. Colored pencils are so easy and clean to use in such a small space (I was in the middle seat - yuck) and it keeps my mind and hands occupied so that I don't tear the arms off of the seats when we hit turbulence. I think the airline appreciates that.
I don't want you to think I was being a slacker this week. I was painting on a wall mural. I should have taken a picture to show the work in progress but of course I didn't think about that until I got home.
I've listed this on e-bay and if you are interested, you can bid by clicking here.

Bougainvillea ACEO
Image Size 2.5" x 3.5"
Colored Pencils
Sold

Tropical Silk - Silk Paintings

Another silk painting for this week. I have always liked tropical art and I've been digging out my photos of tropical subjects because I'm in the mood to paint some now. I may try palm trees in some other mediums. I may do this design again in silk with brighter colors. I may do so many tropical paintings that you get tired of seeing them. I hope not because I really enjoy having you all visit my blog. : )

Tropical Silk

Image Size 16" x 20"

Silk dyes on silk

Framed
$400.00

Winter in Corsica

I've been traveling (virtually) in Corsica, France this week. As I was traveling on the coast, I noticed mountains with snow in the background. I was intrigued because I wasn't expecting to find snow on an island in the mediterranean so close to beautiful beaches. This is my favorite location since I've been participating in the virtual paintout challenges since October. I have another painting, done in oils, that I'm working on and I hope to finish in time to post it before the January 31 deadline. This one is painted with gouache on gessoed wood. I really wanted to capture the coldness and clouds covering the mountains. I decided to use the airbrush to add the cloudiness because the paint lifts when I try to add color. I thought the airbrush would allow a layer to be adding without disturbing the previous layers. That probably would have worked if this were painted on paper but on this surface, the lower layer curdled when I sprayed the clouds on. Arrgghh! Not only did I NOT achieve the look I wanted, I ended up scraping off paint and repainting the mountains. Oh well, that's all part of experimenting, right?

Winter in Corsica

Image size 6" x 6"

Gouache on gessoed wood - sides painted dk brown. Doesn't need frame

French Aloe

I was once told by an artist that paintings that are predominately green don't sell. That may or may not be true but I sure love 'em. This started out as a study for a larger oil painting but I've spent so much time painting it, I'm no longer considering it a 'study'.

The reference photo for this was taken in Eze, a medieval village in the south of France. Of course, I'm sure the plant is the same as an Aloe in the U.S. but it seems much more exotic since it's been 'imported', n'est-ce pas?

French Aloe

Image Size 7" x 7"
Sold

Gouache on gessoed wood - can be displayed unframed