Finished work. Janis Joplin

I had begun this in acrylics awhile back but put it aside to work on oils. I went back to it this past weekend because I missed my beloved acrylics. Acrylics are after all - the add girl's oils. I was happy with the result. I worked from a scratchy black and white photocopy I loved her pose which seemed very ethereal and spiritual and highlighted it by giving her a glow which reminds me of classical paintings of saints or persons experiencing enlightenment.

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.