Vacation Puppies

While staying with friends I am working on paintings of each of their four, yes four,dogs as well as a larger portrait of another friends mastiff.

This is the first one completed. This is a 12"x12" oil on canvas of a miniature daschund named MaccaBee.

Painting in oils - the new me

I have begun a hard core exploration into oils.  I quickly found that working on one oil painting start to finish is nearly impossible.  Going back to certain areas too quickly just pulls up all your previous work and leaves you wondering how to cover up the bits of white canvas now staring back at you.  I started 2 large canvases last night, each 24" x 36" and both of Koi fish.  They are not really intended to hang side by side but the color palette is the same so they could easily go in the same room. 

I still struggle with the directness of the oils and find myself falling back into my Acrylic based habit of laying in the background colors loosely before going back in to refine details.  I am hoping to develop a more "alla prima" method and lay in as much detail as possible on the first pass through.

These are my koi paintings in progress: 

In progress - Koi at Top of Water

And In Progress - Koi Underwater View:

Trying new things cubism

Can you be stuck in a rut and not know?  Possibly.  I think it's essential to get out of your comfort zone once in a while: play with other mediums, other styles, or even just refresh yourself with the people who inspired you in the first place.

I am taking a drawing class - because as much as I paint - I tend to forgo the niceities of actual, finished drawings.  We went to Eden Park in Cincinnati and spent a few days wandering and drawing from life.  I wasn't overly impressed with my results - but the instructor furthered the assignment by having us take our drawings and do a composite drawing in a Cubist manner.  I still regressed to paint for the final product but I used gouache (not my usual) because the satiny yet flat finish seemed to help me switch gears to Cubism.  I read quite a bit and refreshed myself with images of Cubist work.  I do not claim to comprehend Cubism fully but it seemed to reveal more and more to me as I worked.  I was so happy with my Eden Park scene that I went on to start a portrait of my boyfriend in oils (still in progress).      

I am not changing over to cubism as yet but I am happy with the new perspective this little exploration has given me.

Clouded Leopard -IN PROGRESS

14"x18"  Acrylic on Illustration Board
IN PROGRESS
I saw a photo of a new species of leopard discovered last year and thought I would try to paint it.  I was not happy with several things and am currently re-working it. 

Pig Pen -in process

24"x36"  Acrylics on Canvas

This is an IN PROGRESS shot of one of my current paintings.  The subject matter comes from two memories of visiting my grandparents on their farm in Kentucky.  They had humongous pigs in a pen (much nicer than this one actually) and some of the smaller gates on the farm were actually beautiful old metal headboards.  They had simply gotten new beds and re-purposed the old ones.  I thought this was unique to my family but when I spoke to someone who grew up in Virginia they had seen the same thing done there.  I suppose it was the depression era generation way to get one more use out the old beds when they bought new. 

Owl in Snowy Woods

16"x20" Acrylics on Canvas

My latest bird painting and yet more -painting in white- lessons learned.  This is absed on an owl photo off the internet and I like the way it turned out.  I wanted the bark to look like it was covered with a combination of lichen and snow and it turned out to be my favorite part of the painting. 

Sea Turtle

14" x18" Acrylic on Illustration Board
I started this after a February trip to Melbourne, Florida which is a protected nesting area for many species of sea turtle.  I didn't get to see any live sea turtles as it was a little early in the year but got to see some huge models and lots of great photos at the conservation center. 
I tried to portray the atmospheric effect of the water clouding things as they get more distant and the play of light as it comes through the water.

Chickadees and Spring Dogwood Blossoms

10"x20" Acrylics on Illustration Board
A painting I began about six months ago and was never happy with.  I returned to it recently and repainted it completely with softer tones and looser brushwork in an effort to convey a misty spring morning.

Mother Nature/Nature Goddess

16" x 20" Acrylics on Clayboard
I love wandering through artwork on the internet and facebook looking at others' artwork.  This was a fun piece inspired by the change of season to Spring and by the Goddess subject in several pieces I had seen.  I had done the whole piece in watercolor pencil before pulling out the paints and regret not taking photos at that stage.

Hummingbird Summer

15" x20" Acrylics on Illustration Boad

Hummingbirds are one of my favorite visitors to the garden.  I painted them here with red cardinal flowers and black-eyed susans with an old shed for a background.

Snowed in Outhouse

                                                     

11" x 14" Acrylic on Illustration board

This outhouse is on the grounds of the town museum.  I love to get out and drive when there are ridiculous amounts of snow - just for fun - and when I saw this poor old outhouse half buried I couldn't resist taking a photo to paint.  Sort of a tribute to our modern plumbing - and a lovely quiet scene. 

Painting white on white on white was a challenge and alot of fun - as a friend of mine recently said - it's amazing how many colors one has to use to paint white!

Goldfinch in Sunflowers

15" x 30"  Acrylic on Illustration Board

The goldfinch that play in the flowers are one of my favorite birds to watch.  They blend so flawlessly among the lemon yellow sunflowers sometimes they seem like flowers themselves.

Bluebirds House Hunting

16"x20" Acrylic on Illustration board

My first finished painting after deciding to get back into painting.  The coneflowers are my favorite part.

My grandmother loved bluebirds and would build them houses on the rickety old posts at the edge of her yard so that she could sit and watch them from her porch.   I contrasted the bluebirds with green "birdhouse" gourds and yellow coneflowers because it always strikes me as odd that these delicate little birds are such a vibrant color and aren't really camouflaged by anything.