Today's Apple 4 x 4 Daily Painting

"Today's Apple" 4 x 4" Oil on Gessobord
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Painting at home today.....and taking lots of photos. I recently bought a vintage salt and pepper set (Anchor Hocking with the aluminum tops). They take great photos so I hope I can turn one of them into a small painting. Lots of reflections!

"Salt Shaker" Work in Progress, 5 x 7" Oil on Gessobord

Thought I would show you how I start a painting. I toned the board with some burnt umber and walnut oil, then wiped it down with a paper towel. Then I do the drawing with some reference marks on the side....to get my drawing right. I don't do this everytime, but it helps when I paint something man-made. Who cares about fruits and vegetables if they are abit off?

Going to paint on Wednesday and Thursday this week, then Friday I'm off to Savannah, GA for the CPSA Governing Board meeting March 4th - March 8th. I'll take lots of pics, I hope, in Savannah and share.

Egg Cup and Shells

"Egg Cup and Shells" 6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

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Photograph was updated at 1pm MST because it was horrible!

This sweet and beautifully red egg cup was one of our purchases (hubby and I) from the antique mall. Very vintage...

The still life is set up on a vintage, wonderfully finished wooden box that we also purchased. It gives off such a warmth that is yummy.

This painting will be in the exhibit in May at Higher Grounds Coffee in Golden.

Strawberries in Blue Bowl 6 x 6

"Strawberries in Blue Bowl" 6 x 6

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Second painting for today! This one was fun to paint.......and one more for the exhibit in May.

Pear 4 x 4 Daily Painting

"Pear" 4 x 4, oil on Gessobord

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After yesterday's frustrating session, I went back to a 4 x 4 painting today. I know the frustation is only temporary and the thing to do is keep painting...which I will.



Would say more, but I need to start on my next painting...it's got a bowl in it....so some elliptical stuff but we'll see.



It's a beautiful day here, door open and lovely music.....have a great day!

Ellipses....Aaaaaack!

"Joe in a Dainty Cup", 6 x 6" oil on Gessobord

(It was painted in a day so guess that makes it a daily painting)

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Now who's bright idea was it to paint a dainty coffee cup (with coffee in it? and a saucer?) Yep I think that was me in one of my grandiose moments. "Oh sure, no problem, it's just brushstrokes, shapes and color!" I felt like swearing outloud every two minutes...but I didn't want to hurt Junie B's ears, because she never swears (big fat wink).

Ellipses (flattened out circles) are very difficult to draw let alone paint. I was all ready to call it a day when I remembered to look at it backwards in the mirror. Oh my.....I couldn't leave it the way it was. It may not be perfect, but it was the best I could do for today and that's all I will ask of myself...to paint the very best I can on any given day.

Reposted the photo on 2-24-11.

"Limelight Times 9"

"Limelight Times 9" 9 x 9" Oil on Board, Challenge for Daily Paintworks

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I follow a daily painting site called Daily Paintworks. Each week one of the painters from the site issues a challenge, and two weeks ago it was to paint a subject over several times in a small format taking no more than 10 minutes each. I just entered mine and it is on page 1 near the beginning of the paintings.

Ten minutes is not very long!!! No time to fuss or adjust, just get it down. One of the painters is Carol Marine, whose work I admire. I'm paraphrasing Carol here...."think in brushstrokes". Painting for me is so much more fun when it's about the brushstrokes (as well as light and shadow) as opposed to the object.

Strawberry and Spoon

"Strawberry and Spoon" 9 x 9" Oil on Gessoed Masonite

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I started this one with a black and white painting back in November, and had planned to glaze the color over the top, but I have found that I don't enjoy the glazing process as much as I had thought I would. So this is just painted alla prima right over the top of what was there. (An underpainting of sorts.) I'm just pleased it's done and I don't think I will have to hide it in the closet.

Each size and format brings it's own challenges. The bigger the painting the more I am intimidated. So I will just have to keep going as I did with the 4 x 4's. Onward and upward!!

Crock and Pear 6 x 6

"Pear and Crock" 6 x 6 Oil on Gessobord

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Since I finished my order for Castle Gallery in Indiana, I thought I would start getting prepared for our small works exhibit in Golden in May. After painting all the 4 x 4's which seemed to come so easy, moving to a 6 x 6 format is a bit more intimidating. Had to remember to keep picking up the LARGEST brush.

Limes and Chile...Saucy!!

"Lime Light" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting

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"Yellow Chile Pepper" 5 x 7 Oil on Gatorboard, Daily Painting

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The other day I tried to paint the limes but it was so awful I had to wipe it off. The colors, shapes, and paint application (i.e. brushwork) was all wrong. Today I tried again and I am happy with how it turned out.

June and I will be exhibiting small works at the Higher Grounds Coffee Shop in Golden in May. The chile pepper will be part of that exhibit, now I just need to paint about 20 more!

Catching up on Dailies....Mon, Tues, Wed

Well actually, I painted all three of them today. It was a bit of a busy weekend. Hubby took me to see "King's Speech" on Sunday afternoon, and on Monday (Valentine's Day) we went antiqueing. As always looking for some great still life objects. I'll be painting them in the upcoming days, and I'll show you what I found.

But for today we have: "Strawberry", "Green Bell Pepper" and "Green Chile" all 4 x 4 oil paintings on Gessobord, all going to Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, IN.

Some Days You're the Windshield.......

"Two Apples" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting

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Some days you're the bug! I was attempting to paint two 4 x 4's today. First one went well enough, "Two Apples". Then I had this great set-up of limes with great lighting and shadows, but I couldn't get the shapes and the colors right. It looked like a big old ball of mud by the time I decided to go home. So I wiped it all off and painted the board bright orange and we'll see what I do with it from here.

Back in the Studio

"Red Chiles" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting
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"Reclining Pear" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting

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The weather seems to improve by 100% each day. Except for the snow on the ground, it was a lovely, warm sunny day. June and I had a very productive day!

I'm painting 4 x 4 oil painting for the gallery in Indiana, Castle Gallery. I sent them 15 paintings for the opening tomorrow night and the owner called yesterday to say several of them have sold already and she would like to have more. So I hope to have eight to ship off to them on Monday.

One Apple - Daily Painting

"One Apple" 4 x 4 Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting
SOLD

Much snow and cold here the last couple of days, so I'm happy I brought my oil paints and supplies home with me. The sun is out this afternoon, so I'm hoping tomorrow morning I can get back to the studio. I'm sooooooo lazy at home.

This apple was very strongly lit from the left lower back, thus the very strong light on the left and bottom side of the apple and the heavy shadows on the front side and back end of the apple and on the table. It's not quite backlighting or rim lighting but a little different from what I normally use. I usually light from the left upper front of the objects which reveals the form of the object differently and projects a cast shadow to the right back. It's always a challenge for me to change the lighting as my mind knows what the usually lighting should look like. I really have to observe when I change the lighting.

Glow - Daily Painting

"Glow" 4 x 4" Oil on Gessobord, Daily Painting

SOLD

Painting at home today, using a reference from a photo shoot last month with a yellow pepper. I painted a different photo and it was posted here. This was interesting for me to see the growth, I hope, from last month to this. For one, I feel more confident, but I still have that knot in my stomach just before I put the brush on the board.

"Apple and Jar" Daily Painting

"Apple and Jar" 5 x 7 Oil on RaymarPanel, Daily Painting

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For those of you who are artists, I'm trying out the Raymar Panels and I have to say I really like them. They take the paint very well, better than the Gessobord. They are also a more random canvas texture so they don't have that symmetric look that a more inexpensive canvas panel might have.

"Cherry on Blue" and a Great Lunch!

"Cherry On Blue" 4 x 4" Daily Painting Oil on Gessobord
SOLD

Painted this afternoon, taking the morning off to sleep late and lounge around for a couple of hours. June brought in empanadas from our favorite Venezualan restaurant. Great lunch for a snowy cold day. Still feel like I'm having to get back into the swing of painting. This little cherry was fun, especially the blue background.

From Painter to Grandma Over Five Days

"Lemon on Purple" 5 x 7" oil on Raymar Panel

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We had a lovely time with our granddaughter, Emma, Friday through Tuesday. Her Mom and Dad (referred to as the "Staff") took a weekend trip and went back to work yesterday. It was a most educational time. I learned lots of new songs like "Barnyard Boogie" and "Use a Word". Stimulating! ;-)

I was back in the studio today but I had to relearn everything having to do with painting (while humming "Use a Word".)

Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll be working a little easier and faster!

All the paintings that were created for Castle Gallery in Ft Wayne, IN were sent off yesterday. I spoke to the gallery owner on Saturday and she said she would let me know how they were received during the opening on the 11th of February.