Friday, April 27, 2012

Flowers #6 Daisies in a Corner


Daisies in a Corner
6x6"
Oil
$72
DPW $50

     It seems I am under their spell. These little flower paintings are just so much fun. In this one, I used a dark blue canvas for a warm yellowish painting. I then used, very sparingly, a touch of red giving me a painting with red, yellow, and blue--the primaries. Limited palette, simple composition, shapes and values, not petals--done! Let me try that again.



Thursday, April 26, 2012

Flowers #5 Daisies


Daisies
6x8"
$96
DPW $65


     These small florals are beginning to charm me. I can see why they are so popular with many artists. When I finished this one, I felt like saying, "Let me try that again!"
     I read Carol Marine's Art Byte on what daily painting means to her and found it inspiring and freeing. The artists on DPW teach me so much. Naturally, I have my favorites and really study them, examining the way they use art elements such as line, shape, color, composition, and also some odd little techniques. For example, lately I have been painting on red canvas. You can sometimes see it peeking through and I like that.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Flowers #4


Flowers #4
6x6"
$72
DPW $50

     The little flower paintings I see on DPW are delightful and inspiring. There are so many artists doing these, I was not sure I wanted to try, thinking I might not have anything fresh to offer. Of course, that is crazy thinking because we all know the creator did not worry that s/he was making pink flowers over and over again. I will just paint and try to remember that Emerson said, "These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day."

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Animal Close Up Challenge


Young Deer
8x8"
Oil
$128
DPW $85

     Deer come through our property all the time. (They ate all landscaping long ago.) They are such pretty creatures, so naturally, I have scores and scores of photographs. This week's Challenge was to paint an animal close up and I chose this little one.
     I wanted the picture to be warm and analogous, featuring just the eyes and nose. I used only yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and prussian blue for the whole thing, along with a little red for the insides of her ears. The black eyes and nose are a mixture of prussian blue and burnt sienna. Limited palettes are sometimes not really very limiting at all.

     


Monday, April 16, 2012

Forest 5


Forest 5
7x5"
Oil
$70
DPW $50

     Persistent may be too mild a word. Stubborn probably. Anyway, I got an idea and wanted to try it, so I took the painting from a few days ago and reworked it and now I like it. To me, it is an entirely new painting, still very simple, but at least it does not put me in a bad mood to look at it like the first version did. The old colors were too somber. The emotion was not right. The forest can be "dark and deep" but it does not have to be depressing.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Toes & Tail


Toes & Tail
6x6"
Oil
$72

     I am a persistent person, but I am also literate. When the writing is on the wall, I can read it.
     I have learned why one does not see many forest interior paintings. It is because they are almost impossible to paint well!!
     I am not the one to do it. At least, not now. Maybe I will return to it one day, but for now I am looking for cute cats. Here is one of my favorites, Pablo, the fabulous.     


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Forest Interior 4


Forest Interior 4
5x7"
Oil
$70
DPW Auction $50

     I think these forest scenes are coming down to a color issue. I am very glad I have embarked on this project because it will force me to address some matters that could otherwise be masked by subject matter. Paint a cute cat and I might overlook that it is a mediocre painting if the cat is cute enough.
     I have color theory education. I am just having a stumbling block in making my body believe and paint what I know. I think this is so important that I am willing to paint some bad paintings in order to learn it.



Sunday, April 8, 2012

Forest Interior 3


Forest Interior 3
5x7"
Oil
$70
DPW Auction $50

     I am being diligent in my landscape work. I really believe in it because so much must be dealt with in each little 5x7: color theory, composition, line, shape, and even deeper meaning. If I use color to create the emotion and value to create the drama, in a way, I have a metaphor. With my beautiful forest all around me, I should never be hungry for material. (Those two little daffodils at the forest edge are for real.)
     That being said, tomorrow I am painting my sister's cat.

     

Friday, April 6, 2012

Flowers #3 Easter Challenge





Flowers #3
Easter Challenge
6x6"
$72
DPW Auction $50

     What a day I have had! Daily Painting is supposed to be every day, not all day every day. I was surprised to find these lilies in a spring bouquet I picked up at the market.  I thought, Ha! They will be just right for the Easter Challenge. They began to open and look beautiful and dramatic. But after painting them all morning, they just looked like Easter lilies, ho hum. Pretty, but ho hum. Finally I cropped to this and found something I liked. It was hiding behind a fully bloomed Easter lily.
     Happy Easter.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Forest Interior 2


Forest Interior 2
5x7"
Oil
$70

     I have so much to learn. Landscapes, hm. This got away from me. I was trying to limit the colors and still ended up outside my color scheme. Here is what I wanted: cool, blue-green key color, red-orange secondary color with accents of yellow and violet. It is cool, but the secondary and accent colors are a little confused. And how did cerulean blue get in there?! Incorrigible.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Flowers #2


Flowers #2
6x6"
Oil 
$72
DPW Auction $50. 

     When I saw these hot red Gerbers against the green drapery, I said, "Wow!" But when I began painting, I was in for a surprise. I thought I was seeing a dark object against a lighter background, but I was not. I put the red acetate sheet up and saw clearly that the red was a much lighter value than the green. My problem was to make the red still a "wow" without losing the value contrast and turning the red a washed-out pink. I stayed on the warm end of the palette and used yellows, not white, to lighten the red. I had to sacrifice some intensity, but the flowers still convince me that they are red.
     

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Flowers #1


Flowers #1
6x6"
Oil
$72
DPW Auction $50. Click to bid.

     I want to be able to paint flowers and make them fun to look at, not boring. I have been studying and have picked up a few ideas from some of my favorite artists. I tried some here and when I began, I thought, this is not going to work, but it did! I like it fine. 
     Even though this is not really my very first painting of flowers, I am calling it #1 because I hope it will be the beginning of something.