Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Big Glass Jar


A new glass object and found in my own basement!  The dark background is a change of pace for me as well.

I had the pleasure of observing Qiang Huang give a wonderful demo today. Although often his backgounds are dark, interestingly, today he chose a light background for his demo.  Below are a few images from the demo, ending with the setup and a photo of Qiang (a wonderful instructor).




Sunday, October 14, 2012

Lemons and Plums


How did we get halfway through October already?  Here we have two plums, huddled together, outnumbered.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Figs with Jar


Fresh figs from a local market-- a new subject!  Took a wee bit licence with the colors and their intensity.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Yellow Flowers with Lemon


I wanted to paint flowers with even more air around them than usual.  I liked the sparseness of this bouquet.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Three Plums with Quince


These were tiny plums.  They grew a little as I painted them--it is amazing how that happens!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Cherry with Marigold


I just came back from a workshop in Vermont with my very favorite artist --- Stanley Bielen!  The above is one of several paintings completed at the workshop.  It was a great experience.  Mr. Bielen is a generous teacher and all around nice guy.  Below is a series of images from one of his demos.

 
 





                                 







Saturday, July 14, 2012

Carnations with Cherries


Usually when composing a still life, I choose the fewest objects possible but for this painting decided to  have more overlapping objects.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Silver Teapot



White paint was used in abundance in the mixtures during this painting which did make me mindful of the advice often given "Too much white = dull, chalky colors".   In this case though, I still liked the outcome.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Mixed Bouquet with Egg


This is the first of a few recent still lifes.  The title should actually be mixed bouquet with misshapen egg!  I have temporarily given up on the egg after repainting it numerous times.  One of these days, I will go back and make the egg more well, eggy.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Figure Sketch


A group of us meet once a week to draw or paint from a model and the above is a recent sketch from a two minute pose.  I had bought Sherrie McGraw's book The Language of Drawing several years ago but I didn't read it thoroughly until recently.  It is such a wonderful book and Sherrie's drawings and words are so insightful and inspiring.  Anyway, the above sketch was my attempt to put the lessons from the book into practice.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Transported


Here is one more museum piece before I get back to my still life paintings.  I liked the bust looking forward while the tall gentleman bends to closely examine the landscape.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Admiring Rothko


One of the challenges with these museum paintings is portraying the artist's original.  I think the colors of this Rothko are more in the spirit of rather than absolutely true but I loved the way this gentleman's jacket blended with the lowest color bar.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

In the Middle


This was completed a bit ago but I don't think I ever got around to posting it.  What I liked about the composition was the way the tulip stems curved in opposite directions, making an overall very gentle S-shaped curve.  Sometimes you get excited about the little things.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Green Plate

I find it very difficult to maintain the the egg shape while painting them--they start losing that interesting, one end slightly fatter, one end slightly narrower, shape.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Perched

The title may be "Perched" but as I look at the painting, that pear on the right really looks like he is ready to do a swan dive into the little cup. Oh no, don't do it!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Feather

Spring forward! Yes, spring is almost here. It couldn't possibly snow now!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Extrovert and Introvert

This painting brought to mind an interesting article I read recently about extroverts and introverts. It said artists are generally introverted although I have artist friends with very outgoing personalities.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Tulip Bouquet




Happy Valentine's Day! Posting was delayed by out of town trip/taking a break/goofing off.

Usually, my motto is less is more but this time decided to do the whole bouquet.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Two Green Pears

Initially, I got rid of all that white canvas by covering the entire board with a mixture of ultramarine and burnt sienna. The cloth and pears were then lifted out with a paper towel and then restated with the appropriate colors.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Orange with Two Cups


Same painting--the top is the final version. Usually, I paint alla prima and when a painting is finished within a day or two, that is the final version. This time though, after a week or so, I decided to glaze the bottom painting, giving the cups and background a bluer and brighter tone.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Orange with Leaves

Found this orange with leaves still attached at a little market. Bought several of them but was only in the mood for a simple small painting, hence this little guy is all by his lonesome.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Orange Rim

This week, I thought I would mix things up with a different perspective and color palette.