Oak Tree

Oak Tree

6x8"

Oil

$96

(DPW Auction $65. Click to bid.)

     I live in a beautiful place, forest all around, and yet I find it difficult to find the painting in my lovely surroundings. "Can't see the forest for the trees."

     This scene is right outside my studio window and I love looking at it every day just as I do many other favorite scenes 360 degrees. (Lucky me.) I have struggled with landscapes for a long, long time, but I am stubborn. I know that if I can get the hang of it, I will have a mountain of fun. (Yes, I know, a pun.) The treasures are right in front of me. I am trying to open my eyes.

Apple Challenge

Apple

5x7"

Oil

$72

(DPW Auction $50. Click to bid.)

     This week's challenge is to paint one of my favorite things, an apple. How simple can that be? Apples, however, surprise you with their unround shape and subtlety of changing color and value. At first, I thought I would be finished with it in just a few minutes, but as time went by I found more and more to give my attention to. Such a simple object but possessing riches for a painter to put her hand to.

Daffs 2

Daffs 2

6x6"

Oil

$ 72

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     Here is another effort at flowers. The daffodils lasted just long enough. Maybe the key to painting flowers is to not paint the flowers; just paint a general shape and let them read as flowers. Some of my favorite flower artists do that. It is just that they do it so well.

     I will continue to work on my flowers, but another element I want to remain conscious of is the color harmony. I want there to be an overall color to the painting. This one is blue-green. Using analogous colors on the wheel will help me just as long as I do not allow the colors of the subjects to be too bossy. The actual color of the little vase here is red. It is probably best to paint what you see, but I had a different goal today.

Daffs

Daffs

7x5"

Oil

$70

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     I live in the Sierra Foothills where deer eat everything! But they do not eat daffodils. (I wonder why.) 

     I rarely paint flowers because I am a little inept at it, not because the deer have eaten them all. I simply decided I wanted to practice flower painting and there in my yard were those stalwart daffodils, perky as could be, so they became my subject. Now that I have cut them (killed them), I will have to buy flowers if I am going to practice further which I certainly intend to do.

     Flowers make a lovely picture, but they can turn out quite boring if not done well. I am of the school of thought that it does not matter what you paint if the elements of painting are handled in an exciting, expressive, and beautiful way in order to delight the eye. Here's hoping my flowers will cease to be flowers as such so much as a bunch of beautiful lines, colors, shapes, and values.

Figs 3

Figs 3

6x6"

Oil

$72

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     This is the third of my figs paintings. Each one has presented its own challenge. In this one I liked the fig hidden within the dark foliage, making the focal point dark against dark. How can that possibly work? I tried to use light values in front of the fig, making the fig recede. Again the dark was very important, but this time I did not use Chromatic Black. Instead, I mixed Viridian and Alizarin along with a little Ultramarine Blue. Now there is a black to be proud of!

     I think this is the last of my figs for a while. That tree was full of promise, but my eyes will not see it right now. Maybe another day I will again see the possibilities of those deep greens and reds.

Figs 2

Figs 2

6x6"

Oil

$72

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     This is the second of my figs paintings. I thought it would get easier but it was actually more difficult. I wanted to make this one warmer, and I think I did that, but the darks were very hard to keep. They kept lightening up as I worked. The beauty of the composition was in the darks, so I did not want them to fade into mid-tones. I had used Chromatic Black with greens and reds but finally had to use straight black to get it as dark as it really was.

     I never weary of nature, but I wonder if I am growing tired of figs. I will see because there is one more composition that interests me before I put this fig tree to rest.

Early Morning Horse

Early Morning Horse

Oil

7x5"

$70

(DPW Auction beginning bid $50. Click to bid.)

     I have not done a Challenge in a few weeks, and this is actually last week's Challenge, but I wanted to do it even if I am a little late. Love painting animals. I usually focus on their faces but this time I wanted to emphasize the sunlit side of the body and keep the face secondary. I also wanted to work on shapes within the picture rectangle. Here is the hard part: how to create a light shape across the horses back and distant background field and still highlight the sun on her side without using dark against light for the strong edge. Usually I try to do one thing at a time, but I am glad I tried for this "challenge" of doing the two things at once. It would have been easier (and maybe more successful) painting a light horse against a dark background, but in my efforts to improve I think it is OK to fail in order to succeed.

Figs

Figs

6x6"

Oil

$72

(DPW beginning bid $50.  Click to bid.)

     I often enjoy painting apples in the tree, so when I found a fig tree full of figs, I took its picture. Here is my first effort, and while I kind of like it, I think the reds and greens are much cooler than an apple tree and so not quite as welcoming. Still, the reds and greens go well together, made from alizarin crimson and viridian, real partners in a color scheme. The best fun was in trying to paint the light. I picked a spot and used my sharp edges and darks against lights to create the focal point in the dense, dark foliage, and I kept reminding my self to "paint the light." I think I will tack a sign on my easel: "Paint the light!"