These are the decisions I made before I started this painting. 1) Create the background with a high contrast of dark and bright. 2) Create the flowers in mass groupings in a variety of whites. 3) Add contrast in texture by showing some of the pedals and an edginess to the stems. 4) Try to make the bee realistic without getting fussy.
This may not be the most brilliant painting I have done, but I did accomplish my original goals. Then, after I posted it, I realized from looking at the post that I didn't like the high contrast background so I mushed it out. I added a few dots of color in the pedals and rephotographed it.
I have been traveling for a couple of weeks. Now I am home and back to painting, so I warmed up with these little poppies. It is hard to jump back in with confidence, but that is what is necessary. I made a fun discovery when I got back. I had not scraped my palette before I left and was getting ready to do that. I cover my paints with little cups called "Paint Savers." A while ago I had glued pieces of felt to the inside of them and applied a drop of clove oil to keep the paints soft between sessions. When I took off the covers after about 2 1/2 weeks of them sitting, the paint was still fresh...not even glooey. It is important not to mix clove oil with the paint, or even get it on the paint brush, because it will not allow the paint to dry on the canvas or panels, but the fumes will keep the paint soft for at least 2 1/2 weeks...so that is cool! I don't expect to have any issues with the painting drying, but time will tell. Also it is important not to use silicone or a
glue gun to adhere them because the clove oil will basically melt the glue, but I used Elmer's wood glue and that worked fine.
Peppers are fun to paint. They have such vibrant colors and interesting shapes. When posting images with red varieties of colors, the photography tends to blend them into one color. The difference in reality between the orange pepper and the red pepper is significant. You will have to use your imagination with this one. I like the exercise of doing still life paintings and I like taking a break on occasion from painting people. Even though they are both made up of shapes, lines and values with lovely colors, the pressure of getting people "right" can be daunting. I mean, if I make the pepper a bit lopsided or fat, who would notice?
Monday, April 4, 2016
8"x10" oil
This is painted from a photo taken by my friend at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT, on Lake Champlain, looking at the Adirondack mountains in NY. It is a must visit place if you are ever in the Green Mountain State. The bottom photo shows my first stage and the photo reference on the left. I had fun painting this and it brought back lovely memories.
Carol Browne another artist, posted a photo of her dog with the request that others interpret it in their style. I thought he was so cute, so I jumped on the band wagon and whipped this out. The second image is the first layer of paint I put down, just to give you an idea of how I start a painting
A beautiful day in the summer and the neighborhood is having a group party with lots of pot luck dishes and plenty of things to eat from the grill. There are horse shoes, frisbees and volleyball. Someone is playing a guitar around a campfire built to roast marshmallows, not for keeping warm. But eventually everyone meanders down to the pond to watch the ducks, try their luck fishing, or paddle out in the canoe. These little people are hoping to catch some minnows or tadpoles.
Truth be told, I still love to swing. I would love to fly if I could, but swinging is an approximation I think. It is pretty special when you get your first swing. When I was little, a first swing was a board hung by ropes or a tire swing from a tree and then we would graduate to a rope swing over the creek. As a young adult I swung from a tree swing that was suspended from a huge tree over a gorge. That was clearly the most thrilling and the most dangerous and if it hadn't been for my own perceived peer pressure, I would never have done it. Anyway, this little one is clearly enjoying her first swing in spring.
There is always some apprehension about trying something new. You go through the checklist of skills you have mastered that should allow you the capability to accomplish the new task, but then there is that tiny bit of hesitation to overcome. Well, a new slide can be that obstacle and the joy experienced by the fast but safe trip down can be exhilarating. Do you remember that feeling? When was the last time you successfully overcame an obstacle and was thrilled by the result? We all need this in our lives.
The beauty of childhood is that a little girl sees the shape of the apple tree and the abundance of sweet fruit and spontaneously dances with it! True story. It is my granddaughter and we had such a lovely day picking apples and eating lunch on a blanket in the shade. I hope your day is filled with little dances of joy!
This is from a photo taken by Dreama Tolle Perry. She gave those of us who were in her online class, Dream Love Paint, permission to paint from it. Her painting passion is lovely vingettes with window boxes, flowers, shutters or her cat, Eddie. She encourages others to paint their passion. I can be pretty much all over the place in my interests, but mostly I like to paint little people. I like figurative work in general, but especially children and most specifically my grandkids or children of friends. I love the work of Karin Jurick who is able to capture people in the most relaxed postures imaginable. Her work is inspiring, and I am hoping to continue developing my style and subject matter to a level that is different than where I am at today. Doing daily paintings and studying, learning from others, and from past masters is a good way to grow.
Some paintings almost paint themselves. Even though I was very deliberate about painting this, I did it quite slowly, for me, as I was talking with a friend the entire time I did it. I like how the limited brushstrokes are able to say a lot. It has an edgy quality, but there are enough soft edges to balance it out. I really like the limited primary colors as well. I painted this over a panel that I had covered up a painting I didn't like. I had painted it with a turquoise paint I never use because I don't like the consistency of it. You can see the turquoise showing through here and there, which I think works well.
This
couple is in front of Georges Innes's "New Jersey Landscape" shown at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA. It is
not the typical pastoral scene I associate with New Jersey, but then
times have changed the scenery since 1891. Innes believed that the
spirit of God was present in the natural world. This is what he was
trying to convey in his landscapes, and as a result they are very
ethereal looking with soft edges he rubbed with a cloth I need to try
that sometime! My edges are usually pretty evident.
A
follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed
that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world.
Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was
less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying
nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors
that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they
blend together without contours. - See more at:
http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf
A
follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed
that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world.
Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was
less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying
nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors
that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they
blend together without contours. - See more at:
http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf
A
follower of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg, Inness believed
that the spirit of God was present throughout the natural world.
Although this painting may represent a specific place, the artist was
less interested in defining recognizable details than in conveying
nature’s immaterial essence, here expressed in finely modulated colors
that have been painted with a brush and then wiped with a cloth, so they
blend together without contours. - See more at:
http://www.clarkart.edu/Collection/15667#sthash.B1kat9qp.dpuf
This lovely hippie girl is meditating on Childe Hassam's "Boston Commons Twilight." It is a lovely, warm painting. The young woman caught my attention because of the bell bottom jeans and fringed purse which definitely gave me a Deja Vu moment.
Thank you Judy Pritchard O'Hara for allowing me to paint from the photo of your beautiful rooster. I actually did two paintings of him today, this one is oil, and another one in acrylic on slate. I am not sure what the attraction is for chickens and roosters, but I have to say, I am drawn to them to paint.
I did this portrait using the technique I learned in the Dream Love Paint workshop, starting with a layer of transparents (see below) and then building up with opaques.
This was the final piece in the Dreama Tolle Perry online class. It was a lot of fun to paint and I am happy with the results. The five things I am taking away from this course are the following: 1) Wipe the brush off after almost every brush stroke to keep it clean and not contaminating the clean colors 2) make sure to put my mind and painting environment in the right state to focus on the painting 3) work steady but don't rush and don't let distractions creep in 4) Make sure the first layer of paint is darker than you know the final painting will be 5) set up my palette the same every time and keep it clean. These are things I had been exposed to and inconsistently practiced, but they really sunk in with this class. The great thing is that I will have access to the videos for the rest of the year to refresh my mind and also maybe pick up 5 more things.
This was fun to paint. Dreama's colors are so bright and joyful and she chooses images to paint that highlight those beautiful hues. I really struggle making straight lines though. I think I need to either avoid them or take a drafting class. It is a good thing that I do a limited number of architectural subjects!
This was exercise 5 from the online course Dream Love Paint with Dreams Tolle Perry. Whenever I go to a workshop I always intend to learn 5 new things. I limit myself because I know that is all I can really focus on and put into practice consciously. I don't feel like I need to write everything down because I will probably not look back at my notes even though I have every good intention to do just that. I have taken several workshops with Dreama but I keep returning because it not only positively influences my work, but because it positively influences my life. I have taken some really wonderful workshops but if I didn't identify those 5 things I would put into practice, I didn't grow as much as I should. I will tell you the 5 things in the next few posts.
