594 Pink Cam

 Pink Cam

oil on canvas

10x8"

$176

     I love pink flowers. Red makes a bigger statement, but pink is my favorite, no question.

     I am trying to paint as briefly as I can. I want each stroke to stand on its own and not get lost in overworked places. Fresh!

593 Yellow Zin

Yellow Zin

oil on canvas

8x10"

$176

     What a lovely winter day with lots of snow for the puppy to play in! This zinnia is from last summer. Glad I photographed them while I could. They sure are gone now.

 

591 Kitchen Sunflowers

Kitchen Sunflowers

oil on canvas

11x14"

$338

     These big ol' sunflowers were a gift from friends to warm my new kitchen remodel. I knew immediately that I would try to paint them because they would serve my still life endeavors. I tried to see less (squint) and connect shapes. Such a lot to learn, even after you think you know everything there is to know.

     The kitchen looks good and the flowers looked good in it.

586 Sunflower Challenge

Sunflower Challenge

oil on canvas

6x6"

$80

     It has been quite some time since I participated in the DPW Painting Challenge. I should do it more often because it is such a good discipline. For example, here I am painting a flower, not my best thing. That is OK. It is good for me.

     This particular flower grew volunteer in my yard, so, naturally, I took its picture and I am glad I did. I needed it for this challenge.

572 Pink Camellias

Pink Camellias

oil on canvas

14x11"

$308

     As you may know, flowers give me trouble. Our camellias this year were so beautiful and I love that pretty pink color. I am just always worried that my paintings of flowers will look trite, and they often do.

     I did enjoy composing the canvas though. I am interested in the divine proportion. If you multiply the length and width of the canvas by .618, you arrive at a result that is better than the rule of thirds. I never brag about my math skills, but I find the way the divine ratio works is great fun.

544 Redbud Leaves w Rose

Redbud Leaves with Rose

oil on canvas

8x24"

$300

    The leaves here are more interesting to me than the flower. I liked the way they leaned far over to the right (our right, their stage left).

540 Poppies

Poppies

oil on canvas

8x24"

$300

     These are California Poppies that came up in my yard at the beginning of this summer. They grow everywhere. Sometimes they cover a hillside like a thick golden blanket. Sometimes they grow through a crack in the sidewalk. They are dear flowers, but they make painting difficult because they are so simple that your eye does not believe what it is seeing; and their orange and yellow against a blue sky looks almost childish, though beautiful.

     In this painting, I tried for a "surprise color" and surprised myself with the periwinkle blue that showed up in the stems.

Girlfriend Flowers

Oil on Canvas

6x18"

$120

     When you have your girlfriends over for lunch, it is a nice touch to have some fresh flowers on the table. (de rigueur) All the better to have something to paint after lunch.

Gingkos with Blue Marble

Oil on Canvas

9x12"

$216

I like to buy a little bouquet from the market and then see how long it will last. I got some good mileage out of this one from Trader Joe's. The leaves are from my new tree which I love, and the marble is from Bill's childhood Chinese Checkers game. I think ordinary things can be very beautiful.

Black Marble

Oil on Canvas

9x12"

$216

     I am not very good at arranging flowers, but I really got a lot of mileage out of those carnations.

Narrow Ribbon

Oil on Canvas

8x10"

$160

     The marbles are getting easier to do, but the ribbon would not cooperate. I finally just let it have its way.

Little Round Vase

Oil on Canvas

12x9"

$216

     I have painted flowers many times (often in great frustration). Seldom do I create a still life setup to paint. Lately I find I am enjoying it. I wonder what will become of that.

     I used Dynamic Symmetry to help me arrange the objects, and I used the concept of the color triad in a key, like in music. This is supposed to be a blue/green painting in the key of red.

Little Square Vase

Oil on Canvas

10x8"

$160

     These marbles are from an old Chinese Checkers game. I keep them because I think they are wonderful to look at, and I was happy to be able to put them in my little still life.

Pink Carnations

Oil on Canvas 

12x9"

$216 

     Pink carnations are modest flowers, but they are among my favorites. Very serviceable too. They do not cost much and they last a long time. I hope I can get some more paintings from this bouquet before they must go.

Rose Pot

Oil on Canvas

5x7"

$75

    

     Still studying Dynamic Symmetry and Fletcher Colour Control. We have here a sinister diagonal done in red orange in the key of green blue.

Snowy Rose

Snowy Rose

Oil on Canvas

11x14"

$308

     Spring had already come, but it always snows in April. 

     I used filbert brushes for this. I was better able to pile on the snow.

Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up

Oil on Canvas

11 x14"

$308

     The matilijas near me at Sierra College, Nevada County Campus, were in such a huge, dense array that people slowed down to look, got off their bikes to take pictures. I liked the way this shot showed them in a sort of tumbling cascade.

Matilija 2

Matilija 2

Oil on Canvas

12x9"

$216

     The matilija poppies are big wonderful wildflowers growing everywhere in early summer. They are known as the Queen of California Wildflowers. (Some people think they look like fried eggs.) They are large, maybe 6" or more across. They are pretty fabulous to see growing in huge clusters as you drive along. Painting them is a good discipline in painting white.

Susans Bunch 5

Susans Bunch 5

Oil on Canvas

9x12"

$216

     More susans, this time on a warm background. Painting the warm flowers on a cool background is a big challenge.  So easy to turn out as a 50/50 painting and I do not want that.

     Painting a series presents many opportunities to work out problems. The next composition is lined up and I am eager to get started. I will try again for the warm on cool and try to get the proportions right this time.

Susans Bunch 2

Oil on Canvas

12x9"

$216

     Black-eyed Susans, there must be hundreds of them in that little corner of the yard. One photograph yields dozens of compositions. Nature provides.