Little Brass Pitcher

This little 6x6 is on sale today at the 

Daily Paintworks Auction. 

Starting bib--$60

Little Still Life

I have been sick all week with either the flu or a virus--whatever it is it's been terrible.  I haven't done anything art wise so today I just had to rally enough to paint a little watercolor from a set up I put together. This is one of my new pitchers from ebay.

I didn't have the energy to get out the oil paints but hopefully this little set up can become an oil painting too.

Batik Watercolor on Rice Paper

I have been researching how to do this batik technique on rice paper and today I decided that I had read enough, watched enough and was ready to jump in.  It's a rather lengthy process with hot wax used as a resist for the watercolor but I think it will be something that I might enjoy doing more of. I love texture in paintings and with this technique there is definitely texture! I think this one is a bit too much texture but I think I know how to fix that, hopefully. I ripped the paper in the process hence the "deckled" edges. Anyway,  here's to embarking upon a new fun creative adventure!

Blue Hydrangeas

I had a still life all set up ready to paint when I found this partially painted hydrangea that I started who knows when and decided to finish it. I didn't have a reference so It was rather challenging to paint from memory--especially the glass.

I am not sure what painting this is in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I am pretty far behind but any day I paint is a good day. Brush miles!! I need my 10,000 hours.  Any one who as read Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" will know what I am talking about.

Day 9 of Painting Challenge

These are the same tulips as yesterday in a different vase. The tulips were beautiful and lasted for two paintings.  It was fun and challenging to paint them. Flowers are always a challenge and the challenge is to not put in every detain you see. That's actually hard!

Painting #2--Pink Peonies

This is Day 4 or Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. Although it's Day 4 it only the 2nd painting for me.  These are Peonies set up and painted from life.

"Pink Peonies"

30 paintings in 30 Days--Day 3

Not sure if I will paint all 30--actually I am 2 days late but at least I will try. That's the ONLY way to get better---JUST PAINT!

"Wine and Red"
12 x 12 Oil on Panel
PURCHASE INFO

Just look at the beautiful arrangement Zach and Brooke give me for my birthday! So beautiful I had to paint them---because when they're gone---there gone.

Quickie Watercolor from my Imagination

I have been watching Charles Reid's watercolors and I am fascinated at how wonderful his watercolors are. His techniques are quite different. I'm going to practice his style. I need to be doing some leaves for DLP before the week is up and I get behind!

Since I have completed Sketch Skool I am determined to draw challenging things and this table was beautiful but definitely a challenge. And the greater challenge for me is to just go for it with a pen. No pencil and erasing.  It was fun to go over to my friend, Rynda's house to sit, talk and sketch. It took about 2 hours. The light was shining straight on ---and I am glad that wonky is allowed!

Oriental vase

Switching gears from my DLP journal and pulling out my oil paints for our get together with my painting buddies. We are still painting from Greg Kreutz's book, Problem Solving for Oil Painters. He is a fabulous painter and teacher. We love his classic style of painting yet it's still enough impressionism to appeal to me.  We have fun on our painting days. We learn so much from each other.  Normally I am more of a high key painter than this (painting in brighter, lighter colors) but I like this classic style too. The vase is fairly high key as well as the apples so that was fun.

Graphic Tulips

These Tulips came from a tulip image in my brain and was painted very quickly.  I like simple images and might pursue more of these graphic simple paintings. They are fun.
This is oil of 6x6 panel.

Pears of Color

I am always experimenting with  oil paints and I have always loved to start from a gessoed black canvas and go from there. I wanted to make this colorful and bright with strong brush strokes and try not to lick it so much. This image was chosen as the "Pick of the Day" on Daily Paintworks for their Facebook page. That was a thrill!
This is an 8x10.

Pink and Grungy

This is a paint-over of a recent scrape-off.  I could still see the design so I painted over it leaving the background showing through. I still enjoy a grungy look which is a throw-back to my mixed media days.  This one is an 8x10.

The Mystery Pear

Yesterday was a fun day painting with my buddies, Rynda and Betty. We again painted from our favorite book called, Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Gregg Kreutz.

I am always ready to grunge up a painting with texture and color. I actually used a recycled canvas with a failed painting that I had painted over in bright red. So that was my undertone---bright red. You can see it peaking through. Thank you again, Greg Kreutz for helping us paint another painting from your great book!

And ALSO: Lolla Students,
So sorry again for my senior moment with the Neuland Video. I have added the edited video to the blog. I know that I must have surely messed with your creative minds with that one!!!

The Red Zins

Every month Betty, Rynda and I get together at my studio and do an oil painting project. We mostly are trying to become better painters so we usually either do a Richard Robinson workshop or we analyze a painting that we all like and think is interesting and attempt to paint it. (Of course we don't sell these paintings.)

Our painting for this month was from a wonderful book called Problem Solving for Oil Painters  by Gregg Kreutz. We all admire the way he paints and this book is a really good source of information. We decided on this inspiration painting from this book that you see on the monitor:

I decided that I would experiment with some textures in the background so I stenciled in some

Wood Icing for texture for my underpainting. I think it actually gave it an interesting effect. I might use it again. I used to use it all the time with my acrylic paintings.

 It's really not one of my favorite paintings but I think it turned out to be a

 good likeness to the original so therefore---a success!

So another fun day with the paintin' gals!

Lori's Tulips

My sweet best buddy, Lori, is not only a fabulous artist but she is a great photographer too. This is a Julie Ford Oliver"Fractured" technique painting. I am enjoying the fracturing technique and hopefully I can get comfortable with it.

 Here is Lori's photo. 

Lori's lighting on her photo was so luminous that it was hard for me to capture. Capturing light is something that comes with practice (lots of it!) and I am working on that. Glass is another thing that I am working on. It is a process for sure!  I reused a canvas that already had an orange underpainting. You can see it peeking through the fracturing. All in all, I am enjoying the fracturing so far. Thank you for the wonderful photo, Lori!

Pretty Flowers in a Jar

I always enjoy my watercolors. They are opposite from oils but always fun.

I think I fractured something!

Thank goodness it was only paint!  This is Julie Ford Oliver's wonderful technique of "Fracturing."  I absolutely love the look of this technique and I really hope I can do more of this. You can watch her how-to videos on Daily Paintworks. I haven't had time to paint since I have been living the
"Lollapalooza" high life recently. I am taking a little break before starting to film Lollapalooza Three so I thought I better pick up a paintbrush before I started rolling backwards.

I painted her sample painting for my first time trying it. Next time I will paint a still life and see what happens.

Painting at Corse Gallery

I painted this 36x36 at Corse Gallery the other day. It is still there and for sale waiting to go into the trendy new restaurant down the street. I am excited about that--I have never had a painting in a restaurant before. It's a big painting that I started in Alice William's workshop that I just couldn't get to work so I decided to try again before I sent it to the dumpster. I love this vase and I love apples and I love Poppies so---I think it worked. Hopefully it will sell. That would really be exciting.