DPW Challenge - Raw Umber Sky

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#052

I did this painting after being inspired by a Daily Paint Works weekly challenge (a monochromatic painting). It also prompted me to pull out a much larger painting that I started a year ago, got frustrated with, and set aside. When I put it down, I was not enjoying my "tight" approach to painting. That was when (and why) I started Daily Paint Works. Above is my small (6"x6") DPW entry. It was surprisingly easy, quick, and fun. Quite different from the UNfinished larger original below. I'm hoping this little exercise will get me fired up about finishing it. It's on a 24"x24" wrapped canvas 2" deep. If or when I finish it, I'll re-post it.

By the way, Winter Storm Warning number 5 or 6 now. Still hoping for the snow I need to get my saucer out! Fingers crossed as usual. :) Stay warm, and thanks for stopping by.

Edamame

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#051

Sometimes it's really hard not to eat your props. The other day, I was drawing a large image of one piece of popcorn. I had my prop sitting right on the paper so I could really see the details 'up close'. I had more popcorn (for eating) out on a paper towel next to me. I don't know if you've ever drawn popcorn in detail, but it takes some effort and time (for me, anyway). So I was almost finished, I looked up at my piece of carefully positioned popcorn prop, and... it was gone. I had eaten it. One good thing that came from it is that it caused me to pay special attention to not eating my edamame today. (Actually, I had two so that I could put them in the 'empties' cup.)

This painting was done over a purple background, and there is actually quite a bit of purple showing through in this painting. Unfortunately, my photography skills are pathetic. And my editing skills are worse. Guess I just have to keep trying!

Complements

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#049

This painting was done with what "purples" were left on my palette from the painting before it (Multi Purples). The grapes appear a bit more blue because I used up most of the reddish purples on the first painting. Maybe I should've made them blueberries! (history: The day before I mixed up as many different purples as I could.  Had some left over, and didn't want to mix more just for these few grapes. I don't paint with purple very often, and besides that, I'm "thrifty"... My sister would call that "cheap"! haha)

I'm really enjoying painting on the wooden panels! I put 2 coats of acrylic "gesso" on this one and then lightly sanded it before I painted. It was so smooth and even! Very nice to paint on. I definitely would recommend trying it if you haven't.

Hope everyone is staying warm, or at least thawing/digging out from this crazy weather! We're iced in up here in the north Georgia mountains, but there's plenty of fire wood. Even tho there's no sledding snow for my orange saucer, I'm still enjoying every minute of it! 

Multi-Purples

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#048

Wow! I can't believe it's been four days since I posted anything! Between being iced in with no internet, and fighting off a cold, it just hasn't happened.

This painting was so fun, and easy actually. I almost didn't do it because I thought it'd be too hard. One reason it was so easy, is that I had a whole palette full of premixed paint. The day before I painted it I mixed about every type of purple I could. I did it for another painting that didn't turn out very well. In fact --haha -- you may never see poor #047.  Anyway, I had a lot of these "purples" left. So I just started laying them in one color at a time, starting with the darkest, and viola! grapes! 

Sometimes the paintings you think will be so hard, just flow off the end of your brush like magic. Sometimes, it's the other way around. Either way, I figure its best to take it in stride. Easier to say sometimes than do, I know. I think my new mantra (like I have an old one) is going to be "either way"! I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a great weekend!

On A Board

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#045

This is my first painting on a board! How fun! I've had the thin wood slabs around for a couple months, and finally got them cut into 6" x 6" pieces. The paint just glides on! Smooth, smooth, smooth. I enjoyed it so much, I painted two pieces today. And it was the perfect day to paint and look out the window. I had to, after all, keep an eye on our anticipated winter storm. 

I waited and waited....  I've been waiting.... all winter. :/  I still haven't had a chance to jump on my new orange saucer. It's been years since I flew down a snowy hill clinging to one of those things. Moving to the Atlanta area from Michigan really put a damper on that! None the less, I've since moved to the North Georgia Mountains... I know my chances are much better here. So far though, only rainy icy sleet. Tonight I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you know what I'm doing! Weeeeeee!

Just A Study

A friend of mine sent me the cutest photo of 6 preschoolers sleeping on the couch at her grand-daughter's day care facility. I knew I wanted to paint it immediately. I would like to do a small oil for Daily Paint Works. I'm not one for doing prepaintings or studies, but I know that I'm skipping essential steps in the preparation of a painting. Soooo, thought I'd try a few small studies. 

This first one is merely a sketch. I used my small view
finder, and decided which piece of the photo I wanted
to paint. Then I sketched it in paying attention to the
composition.

The next thing I did should've been a value study! I forgot. haha I was too excited. Remember I'm new to this "not  jumping right in" thing! I really wish I would've done the value study because it would've helped a lot in the next step.

I would call this step a color study. I sketched it again, then
used watercolor to depict roughly the colors in the photo. I know
 already I only want to keep the middle child's outfit, and the
girl's top. I could've opted to change the colors in this step,
but decided to see how I liked it.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to try the oil painting now or not. I really want to use a very loose brush stroke, and noticed that the watercolor study is already too tight.  I think next I may try a quick study in oil with a large brush. Stay tuned. I may figure this out yet tomorrow. Have a great night!

Teapot With Plastic Pomegranate

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#044

I do not like plastic fruit... period. I painted with a group today (Tuesday), and my seat was nearest this staged still life. We had fresh fruit except for the weird looking "pomegranate" on the left. Turns out that I couldn't get a good photo of this painting either... so all the fruit looks like plastic anyway. Ha! I'll try another photo tomorrow with different lighting... Seems I've been spending more time lately on trying to get my pictures right than I am on painting the pieces.

The painting below is one I did yesterday when I only had about an hour to paint. It's another example of my bad photography. I'll get it right.... eventually. :) 

The name of this one is OJ By The Slice. I posted it on dailypaintworks.com. If you're interested in it, you can click here. Thanks for stopping by! 

Friday With Friends

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#042

This is a painting I did with friends on Friday. We set up a still life... Sonja brought the fruit, Susanne brought the bowl with fruit painted on it, and I brought a pitcher (I didn't paint it in). Turns out, what I brought really didn't fit in very well. You never know.

Since Friday I haven't painted. My sister and her friend, Linda, were here for the weekend, so we had lots of girlfriend time. Thank you, sis!! :)

Tomorrow I'll get painting! Feeling refreshed, relaxed, and ready! I hope your weekend gave you that, and that your week ahead is a terrific one!

Blades

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#041

Knives just aren't as fun to paint as a fork or spoon... to me. Unless they're paired (no pun intended) with an interesting and colorful piece of fruit or something, they really don't have a lot to say.  They don't have the expressiveness of a fork or spoon with all their curves and interesting reflective forms. (I'm afraid I couldn't get a very good photo of my "dull" friends either. HA!) Better luck tomorrow.

Tomorrow I've got an artist club group outing to a local gallery. The idea is to sketch/paint the art work of the current show. I think I'll try sitting behind everyone else and sketching them. Maybe I'll  have some figurative drawings to post. I've been wanting to try some small figurative pieces anyway. :)

In A Pickle

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#040

....On eating your props:  It started out innocently enough. I bought a small jar of Mt. Olive Petite Snack Kosher Dill Pickles.... to paint. Almost 3 hours later I have a painting, am posting a blog, and have managed to eat half of the jar of pickle props. The pickles were delicious. Nice and crunchy, salty and "pickley". See photo below.

Ha! I just noticed (after posting this) that the pickles in the painting look they have their fingers crossed!