Lavender With Blue Jar

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#081

On a better note (from last post), this is a second from my cardboard shadow box -- the one I talked about two posts ago. I really like this painting. The jar came from my favorite thrift store for 50 cents. The lavender is from my yard. With this one there was the added pleasure of enjoying the scent of the lavender while painting. Wonderful.

Challenge Gone Wrong

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#080

Another challenge. This one was to paint something surreal by putting items together that don't belong, changing the colors, juxteposing, whatever. Quite obviously, I DON'T DO SURREAL. haha

Almost didn't post this one, but want to keep true to post my dpw work, in sequence.

  

Duck. Duck. Chicken.

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#079

There's an artist on Dailypaintworks.com I've really been enjoying. I'll have to look up her name .... not enough coffee yet this morning to remember it. She paints still lifes using a shadow box that she made. I got so excited, I asked her if she would mind telling me how she did it. Then without even waiting for her answer, I grabbed a flattened cardboard box and simply spray painted the inside black (including all the flaps).  I close one end, set it up on a small stool to get it to the height I want, clip a small night light from the outer flap, and viola! a shadow box! You can also do back lighting with it by simply running the light through the back flaps. I also change out between a 4 watt and a 7 watt bulb. At the hardware store I picked up an extension cord with the socket on the end. I worked perfectly. I just clip it on with a binder clip. You can hang a piece of black fabric over it too, if you want... for extra darkness.

Meanwhile, the artist I asked about it very graciously got back with me with all the details (and more great help!), and I wasn't TOO far off.  Mine is just more basic, I guess. Simple minds. 

Oh Yeah! This painting is of two beautiful greenish duck eggs and a brown "fancy" hen egg. The duck egg in the front was HUGE! These eggs are going to become a permanent addition to my weekly farmer's market list, for sure! 

Jeanne's Marsh

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#078

Recently we went to southwest Louisiana. I love this part of our country, but I love the culture of its wonderful cajun people even more. And I especially love MY cajun family. Of course, it's really my husband's, but I adopted them.... Or I guess they adopted me. I'm a very lucky girl!

This painting was done on the porch of the family camp. Same idea as the previous post, but not exactly. I'm not really a landscape painter, but these last few have been fun. Back to still lifes tomorrow. :)

Challenge - Terra Cotta Turtle

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#077

Daily Paint Works has a weekly challenge. It's fun, because most often it involves trying something new, then getting to share the results with others that accepted the challenge. This particular one, had to do with placing your canvas right next to (visually) your reference, then painting it the same size. I decided to see if it would work for plein air too.  As you can see, I didn't quite get it.  To my defense (haha), taking the picture of this in plein air is hard to get accurate because it really isn't sitting right next to the reference (it's pretty far in the background). Moving the camera (or your head) a little bit will change the whole thing.  Does that make sense? It was fun, never the less. Try this challenge sometime to see how it works! :)

My Hosta Garden

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#076

I had soooo much fun painting this one! And for so many reasons! First of all, I painted this plein air on an amazingly beautiful spring morning.... in my yard. I wish you could've been here and experienced it... The sun warming up the cool dampness of the night, birds singing and darting around; and oh, the smells of spring! Plants popping up everywhere, in all shades of greens, blues, and yellows. The dogwoods and cherry trees were covered with blossoms, and the peonies were begging to bloom at any moment. 

This was painted a few weeks ago, but it feels like it was yesterday. You just can't forget the feeling that only early spring gives you! I guess it's that feeling of freshness and possibility. I'll hang on to that all year.

This was also my first plein air painting with my new outdoor painting gear. I've got a great set up now for plein air, so I'm really looking for to more out-door painting! 

And Another

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#074

And another avocado painting! The third one for me, and I noticed that other artists really enjoy painting them too. If you haven't painted one yet, you should really try it. They've got that wonderful organic shape, with simple dramatic shadows. And mixing the luscious color of the "meat" feels buttery... almost like guacamole on your palette.

The background is that Torrit Gray that I got as a free promo from Gamlin. It has a buttery feel too, and reminds me of suede when its down. Very rich and almost creamy looking. 

Bite Size

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#073

Speaking of watermelon.....

We've already had four this year! Each time, I ate way more than anybody else. And damn, are they filling! I've had images of turning into a watermelon and exploding! Kind of like Violet Beauregard in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I had to roll myself to bed one night! My poor husband!

Anyway, the melons (this post and last post) were fun and quick exercises to paint. The background color is called Torrit Gray (Gamlin). It was a free sample with my last Utrecht order. I didn't think I'd like it, but I actually do. It saved time for sure. 

Slowly catching up on my blogs after vacationing. Hope everyone's getting a great start to the summer! :)