Splash... another update

Just a quick update on this painting tonight. I am getting ever so closer to being doing this layer so then I can move onto the colour layers. Most of the waterdrops are done... except for the lower right corner. Still got some work left there.



Apple Splash, work in progress
11" x 14" oil on canvas
© 2008

Quote of the day: A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. - Herm Albright

Sleepyhead

This little guy, with his half closed eyes, looks like he is just waking up from a mid-afternoon snooze. Perhaps he was up too late the previous night.... Who knows!



"Sleepyhead"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2008

Violets

As promised, a new chickadee ACEO from me tonight. I've been practicing painting flowers and mixing greens lately which naturally lends itself to these little paintings. I have a larger watercolour with flowers that I have been trying to figure out the perfect mixes of its greener. I'm getting closer, but not quite yet. So... there shall be another one of these in the near future.



"Violets"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2008

A Little More on Apple Splash

This weekend was nice quiet weekend. I managed to get some work done on a couple paintings, but never actually finished any. There is still a number of water drops and streams to work on/tweak on my apple painting, but I can definitely start seeing the end of the griselle layer (black and white layer).



Apple Splash, work in progress
11" x 14" oil on canvas
© 2008


I'm hoping to have a new ACEO/miniature painting to post tomorrow. I've been experimenting with granulating watercolours for the backgrounds and practicing my floral painting skills. I got some absolutely beautiful flowers this weekend from some great friends. I tried taking pictures of them tonight, but they just don't photograph the same without daylight. The batteries are fully charged and tomorrow I'll be snapping lots of reference photos.

Morning Dew

I'm letting the paint dry on my oil painting for another day (I have a tendency to drag my hand across and through the wet spots...). Tonight's offering is a chickadee amongst some dewy leaves I photographed this summer. I seemed to have waterdrops on the mind lately for some reason....



"Morning Dew"
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour
© 2008


Quote of the day: To do in what you love is freedom and to love in what you do is happiness. -- unknown to me

Apple Splash, Almost Done the Underpainting

I'm getting ever so closer to finishing the under painting of this one. I've got all the areas blocked in and and just need to finish the gazzion waterdrops on the apple (and the splash of course). It's really starting to come together now and I can't wait until it is time to put colour on this one.




Apple Splash, work in progress
11" x 14" oil on canvas
© 2008

Happiness Is...

not a destination. It is a method of life. (Burton Hills). I really enjoyed painting this little guy... and the little smile on his face (beak?) is a happy little accident in the way the paint went on the paper. I'm not complaining though. That's one of the joys of watercolour painting... the little accidents that occur when paint goes on paper. Those, and the water blossoms (what happens when water/colour is dropped onto almost dry pigment) are my two favourite things about watercolour.



"Happiness Is.."
3.5" x 2.5" watercolour
© 2008

Fall-Time Robin

A quick little watercolour painting for tonight while I wait for (oil) paint to dry.




"Fall-Time Robin"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
© 2008

Apple Splash, Update

I put this one aside for a while, getting too overwhelmed by all the details in the picture. Sometimes taking a break from something helps to clear the head so one can figure out a plan to continue forward. In my case, the acrylic paintings (yes, I've started another acrylic painting), helped to to give me the mental break needed for this one.



Apple Splash, work in progress
11" x 14" oil on canvas
© 2008


I've been concentrating on the water stream and working out from there. So far so good... My palette has been very limited so far. The darks are a combination of ivory black and burnt umber, and the lights are titanium-zinc white. I'm generally following the wonderful workshop by WFMartin on Wetcanvas.

Chicago Bean, Finished!

I think I'm doing this one... I'll probably let it sit for a while before varnishing just to make sure there is nothing else I want to change. I'm happy with the reflections on the bean, especially the buildings and people on the right hand side of the bean. The palette was kept fairly simple: cobalt blue, black, cadmium red, and yellow ochre.



"Chicago Bean", work in progress
8" x 10" acrylic on canvas
© 2008


Quote of the day: Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them. ~ Anonymous

A Little More on my Bean

I got a couple more hours (with many breaks during) work done on this one tonight. It is getting very close to being done, and there is even a small chance I'll finish in time of the "Different Strokes for Different Folks" deadline. I'm going to get a bit more done tonight before heading to bed.



"Chicago Bean", work in progress
8" x 10" acrylic on canvas
© 2008


Quote of the day: While I am doing my work, I am aware of the fact that there are 1000s of other artists right now in their own studios going through the same mind-chatter and fears that I'm going through. Simply, artists learn how to proceed, or they don't. -Robert Burridge

Chicago Bean, Work in Progress

Another busy day today (trying to recover a 'dead' computer), but I did manage to get a little more done on my shiney Chicago bean. Posted below is a closeup of the part that I worked on. I'm working with a limited palette. Started out as a Zorn palette (blue-black, yellow ochre, white, and red) but I just couldn't get a nice sky so I added a cobalt blue. The canvas was first covered with a nice loose burnt sienna base before I started painting. Its coming along slowly... but I'm having lots of fun doing it.



"Chicago Bean", closeup
8" x 10" acrylic on canvas
© 2008

Oh No! Not Another Work in Progress

I had every intention of finishing this one this weekend, but I suppose you can't always have it your way. I was feeling frustrated with my two oil paintings so I thought I would give the Different Strokes for Different Folks challenge hosted by Karin Jurick a try. Her picture this week seems like a good challenge for me.... it was a shiney object and I love painting shiney objects. But... as not to bring on the evil anti-muse oil painting demons, I thought I would whip out my acrylic paints and give it a whirl



"Chicago Bean"
8" x 10" acrylic on canvas
© 2008


This is as far as I gotten today. Though I had good intentions to finish it tonight, I do have until Tuesday evening to submit it. I got my fingers crossed that I can finish it in time.

Autumn Chickadee

Finished this one today.... having fun with fall colours. The trees are really starting to change colours now with the cool rainy weather starting to move in. I'm thinking of collecting some leaves this weekend and giving a try at painting them from life. Could be interesting and fun.



"Autumn Chickadee"
3" x 5" watercolour
© 2008

Snowy Perch

I've been busy working on several pieces this week, including this one. Reds, for me, are quite the challenge...especially to get all the different shadows and highlights just right. I absolutely love the combination of the blue snow and the bright red bird. I do believe that there shall be more cardinals in my painting future.



"Snowy Perch"
2.5" x 3.5" watercolour
Private Commission
© 2008


Quote of the day: If you want to be happy, be. Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. It is the one thing we are interested in here. It seldom happens that a man changes his life through his habitual reasoning. No matter how fully he may sense the new plans and aims revealed to him by reason, he continues to plod along in old paths until his life becomes frustrating and unbearable— he finally makes the change only when his usual life can no longer be tolerated. -- Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Лев Никола́евич Толсто́й)