Canning Beets, Today's Progress

This morning's progress.

A progress photo of the different stages

Canning Beets, Stage Two

Progress as of this morning.  I had to put the red in and darken the curtains to get a value range for the skin tones.  I'm painting this quite slowly, looking at the folds, shapes and values. 

Unnamed WIP

Began this half sheet painting this evening.  Some of the first washes consisted of New Gamboge, Azo Yellow, Smalt, Quin. Violet, Pthalo Green, and Cobalt Blue.  The skin tones have a Smalt/Quin. Violet wash in the shadows, then after that dried put in a warm skin tone wash (Transparent Brown Oxide, New Gamboge, Cad. Red Light) and a cool skin tone wash (Azo Yellow, Transparent Brown Oxide, and Quin. Rose). 

Making Mud & Overworking

I thought to get back into painting I would practice pears before going to a half sheet watercolor.  Well, the pears whipped me ha ha.  I taped off four sections on the watercolor paper and will do at least three more pear studies.  This study is 4" x 6" and it is very overworked.  Still on this blog you get to see the paintings that don't work as well as the ones that do.

This painting began with a reddish-blue section at the top 1/3rd, varying the amount of blue and reds.  The table was then a quin. burnt orange.  I liked the way the pears were painted but didn't like the background and table area so I washed off most of the paint and repainted.  I lifted, daubed added, and generally just went with the flow.  Great fun but a painting that doesn't look fresh. 

Tuesday Sketch

A quick sketch of a tomato with its stem.  What I liked was the shadow play. 

Chatter

These photos were taken this morning and you can see how pitiful the one rose looks especially.  Have been spraying the roses with soapy water because of aphids.  After the devastation from all the storms and tornados, it was nice to see the roses and the sun peeking through. 

Finally spoke with my step-sister in Joplin and all is well with the family.  The utter devastation and loss of life is heartbreaking. 

Fiesta Ware

I wasn't totally happy with the shadow area on the viewer's left and a few other areas.  This morning, the shadow area was reworked and doesn't look quite as green.  Also, added more color inside the white bowl as well as color in some other areas.  I like the way the painting now looks in real life. 

Fiesta Ware

7 3/4" x 10 3/4"

Watercolor

Up Close View

This photo shows a very small area of the painting I'm working on.  This area is looking quite abstract, isn't it.   I managed to paint several hours last night and hope to continue on this evening.  It is suppose to be finished by tomorrow.  Wish me luck

Chatter

We had our local Strawberry Festival last weekend so decided to post an old photo of a still life set up that featured strawberries.  The challenge for me in this photo would be to create an interesting palette. Then there is the challenge of painting all those berries, getting good ellipses on the cup and bowl, plus the reflections in the golden paper.  

I enjoyed my time away from painting which gave me a break to mentally relax and enjoy my family.  I'm excited to begin the half sheet watercolor paper I have ready for paint and today I will be drawing out another one.  Both should be fun and challenging. 

The Magic of 4-Leaf Clovers

The Magic of 4-Leaf Clovers

8 1/4" x 12 1/2"

Watercolor

Mother's Day

"Her children arise up, and call her blessed . . .  . " 

Proverbs 31:28

I am hoping you have a day making wonderful memories.  Enjoy!

The Magic of 4-Leaf Clovers WIP

This is the painting I'm working on today based on a reference photo of us sitting in a yard full of clover.  Still have lots to do especially with the little girl's facial skin tones and features plus the folds and shadows in the clothing.  I probably will have to use gesso or acrylic to put in some of the clover unless I get lift enough of the green.

Saturday Sketch

This sketch is based on a reference photo taken several years ago.  We are sitting in a patch of clover and I am telling a story about the magic of 4-leaf clovers. 

Thursday Sketches

 

Mom Canning

Mechanical Pencil

I have a couple of photos of Mom canning which I thought would make a good subject for a painting.  Home canning is becoming a lost art.  Subjects like this holds lots of nostalgia for me of seeing Mom in the kitchen, canning.

Bucky

Quarter Horse

Mechanical Pencil

Today's practice of Bucky, a quarter horse from a reference photo taken a few years ago.  The front legs aren't formed very well on this sketch and the body looks a little thick.  I am also going to have to get a close up of Bucky's face.  His face (eyes/mouth area) in the photo was hard to read. 

Wednesday Sketch

Mechanical Pencil Sketch

My goal with this sketch was to concentrate on the shapes I saw in the horse even though the measurements are off. 

Mollie's Berries Study

Here is the finished study of Mollie's demo.  I lost it in a few areas and the paper in the center is overworked.  Don't be surprised if sometime you see stem studies posted on the blog, practicing colors and brush strokes.  There are areas of this study I like, the color of the berries and their value changes, some of the seed areas and even a couple of the stems. 

Mollie's Berries, In Progress

Mollie shared a strawberry photo with us at paintingfriends.com and did a demo on how she paints strawberries.  Click her name to see her painting from the demo.  Notice how clean and pristine her painting looks. 

This little painting still has misket on it.  There is more to do, such as painting (fixing) the stems and lifting some too dark areas.  Still have to put in some seed areas and lift some lights.  Over all though I have had loads of fun painting this.  It is a challenge for me to work with red, to get good values so the painting reads right even in grayscale.  The other challenge is painting those stems so they look like stems and not a gobbledygook mess lol.