One Step In Front of the Other oil 2.5"x11" #374 still life

I have had some challenges lately that will be going on for a while so I won't be able to paint every day.  This is a dailypaintworks.com challenge.  I modified the challenge and started at the top spending 5 minutes on each shoe.  I used my granddaughter's shoes because I wanted to illustrate the idea of putting one foot in front of the other....sometimes the only way to get through your challenges in life.
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It's Free oil 5"x7" #373 figurative

A deal that can't be beat is the free Staten Island Ferry to get a view of Lady Liberty.  I love her stylish but relaxed pose(the tourist and also Lady Liberty).
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Alle'e Joyau 8"x10" oil #372 architecture

Quebec City has eye candy around every corner.  Today was a linear day so I painted architecture.

The Little Shopper 4"x4" figurative oil #369

One of the things I really like about the dailypaintworks.com challenges is that when I have a few days or a week when I don't do the daily paintings, I can go there and get an instant idea and do a quick warm-up that gets me right back into painting in a very freeing way.  This challenge focused on a photo with a very busy background and the challenge was about how to handle the background.  I cropped the photo significantly so I didn't have much background to deal with and just kept the whole thing loose and suggestive (which works in painting but not so much in personal actions).  Carol Marine liked the little girl's dress.  I was fascinated with the universal concept of a little girl going shopping and mimicking her female adult shopping role models.  My granddaughter grabs her little purse and assumes the posture of the shopper.  I cut out her face, because I didn't really like the facial expression, and it sticks with the universal theme here.  $60 +SH

Ragazza Sulle Scale 4"x4" oil 368 architecture

dailypaintworks.com challenge...I wanted to see what I could do with the given photo in a 4"x4" format  $60 + S&H
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Jackson 1 oil 6"x6" animal portrait sold #367

This was a commission from a long-lost friend.  So was the last post of Toby.  They are adorable grand-dogs and were really fun to paint.
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Toby 1 oil 6"x6" animal portrait #366

This was fun to paint.  I will probably be doing more of him so I called it Toby 1.
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"Puk" Mask mixed media #365

This is a little different...it is a mask to benefit out local arts organization, but it took me all day to make it.
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This painting, "Sunshine Balcony" is being auctioned off at http://dailypaintworks.com/Buy/Auction/17362 all proceeds will go to feeding starving kids in Africa...it is a chance to do some good in the world and also get a lovely painting

Hands oil 4"x4" figurative# 364

This was a dailypaitnworks.com challenge to paint your hands.  I have very thin wrists if you are wondering why they look that way.  I got the idea when I was playing around with some of the features of the imaging software.  So I painted the background with a bullet effect and it makes it look like praying hands or something spiritual...kind of cool.

After Bourguereau acrylic portrait 12"x16" #363

I have done this exercise one other time, in a different format and on a different surface.  I am fascinated by the creaminess and blending of skin tones that Bourguereau was able to accomplish in his paintings.  Neither come naturally to me.  I really struggled with the limited colors I had, but it was fun anyway.



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AG at Three acrylic 12"x16" portrait #362

This is my niece who now goes by AG, at least at her volley ball games.  I always think she is precious but her mom swears she was a terror at 3.  There are no traces of this left in her personality, but she will stand up for herself and she is a fine athlete and scholar.  She makes us proud. Oh, she is quite beautiful too (inside and out).
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Fog Rising acrylic 12"x16" #361 landscape

The fog hasn't yet lifted today, but hopefully we will see some sun before the end of the day.  This was a dailypaintworks.com challenge.

Blue Ridge Parkway 12"x16" #360 oil landscape

This is a notable bend in the road on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was designed to have almost no impact on the environment.  They built the road so that it sits on pillars instead of chopping out the side of the mountain.  As I was painting it I kept thinking about the mountain roads at home in VT that were so suddenly and unexpectedly washed away during hurricane Irene.  The day after I painted it, the local NC paper published a photo of this same spot during fall foliage....too funny.