McIntosh and Friend

 

This was more for practice than anything else. I watched a video on values and read a chapter in "Daily Painters" on values. I'm also still trying to get acrylics to look like oil paints. I learned a few things by doing this "study." It's hard to see values when the apple changes color on top where the light is hitting it. Dark red mixed with white looks chalky not lighter. Backgrounds are hard to paint when the lighting on your subject is coming from a lamp right next to it. Shadows are not as dark as you think they are and a few other things I can't remember right now, but I hope I will remember them when I paint something else again.

Little Copper Watering Can

 

 

I finally got a chance to try out my new oil pastels by entering the Daily Paint Works "Copper Challenge." I decided to do a small still life with a small copper watering can. I almost gave up--oil pastels are difficult enough, but the copper was even harder. But I persisted and I think the can came out looking like copper. Not sure about the perspective and flower though.

As Far As I Got - Sketch

My sister had some beautiful maroon roses in her yard that looked like velvet and I thought one would be nice in a still life painting. But I was trying to get some spring cleaning done at the same time and this sketch is as far as I got on this "painting." It's a good thing I took a photo because the rose wilted before I could get to the painting part.

I've also been trying to get caught up on my outside work (weeding) since we had so much rain in May. All I seem to have gotten done when we had a brief dry spell was to get the grass cut. Then it got too hot for a few days to work outside--inside, too, until we got the air conditioners in the windows. (No central air here--yet.)

I would also like to enter the latest DailyPaintworks Challenge, which is to paint something that you see out of your window. Yesterday I tried to rearrange furniture on my porch and put some flowers in pots so I have something interesting to look at and paint. Still not done with the porch and it's already June. Too much to do during the summer.

Grandma's Vase with Tulip, Oil Pastel 7x9

I'm still playing around with oil pastel to see what I can get it to do. I'd really like to get it to look like regular oil paints. (I should probably give up and just use oils, but I don't like the smell.) It's painted on tinted watercolor paper with a coat of Art Spectrum Colourfix primer, clear. I think if I used a smoother paper it would look more like an oil painting, but I sort of like the effect of the texture of the paper that shows through in the background. I might enter this in the Color Challenge of Daily Paintworks if I can figure out if it qualifies for one of the color schemes. That was the original intent when I started, but where is brown on the color wheel?

Older Painting

I wanted to post something more cheerful than the last post, so I dug around in some of my older paintings and found this watercolor from 2006. The flowers were from my yard at that time.This is painted on Bristol vellum. I really like working on this surface, but you can't get it too wet. It's good for watercolor pencils too. I'm not sure what I'm going to paint next or in what medium. I have so many photos that give me ideas that I don't know where to start. I might just view some of my Artist's Network videos for a while and then decide.

Life's a Bowl of Cherries and a Cookie Jar

I started this a year ago and didn't get very far. Looking at it again I thought it might also qualify for "The Color of White Challenge."  So I decided to try to finish it.  I'm still at the "does it need anything else" stage. I will look at it for a while before I decide if it's finished. I spent a little more time on this one than the last one. It's done in watercolor pencil on watercolor paper. (8" x 8")

Pears Again

Pears, 9 x 12

I'm not losing my mind--I actually found the pears I thought I had done. I used Yarka pan watercolors again. And, yes, the pear on the bottom left is a pear-- an Asian pear.

Pears and Fruit

Pear, 4" x 5"

This is one of the pears I thought I had done earlier this year, but the date I marked on the back says September '09. So much for relying on my memory. Guess I better date everything! This was done in acrylic on a 4" x 5" canvas panel. I think I was going to go back and lighten up the background; and the next time I use canvas panel, I think I'm going to first put on a coating of gesso or just an extra layer of paint to fill in some of the texture of the canvas. I think I prefer a smooth working surface.

Pear, 6" x 6"

Here's another pear I did about the same time in oil pastel on pastel paper. I set this up in the spare bedroom which I didn't go into very often at that time and forgot I left it there. I didn't notice until I smelled something kind of fermenty. Oh well, it looked tasty.

Two Peaches and a Plum, 6 x 6

I thought I had done another pear, but couldn't find one. But here is some other fruit I did about the same time I did the pears. This is done in watercolors on Bristol vellum which is not supposed to be used for watercolor, but I really like the surface. It works as long as you don't get the paper too wet. Not sure I like the background. I think I used Yarka pan watercolors, which I bought when I was in Florida last year. My son Doug and his wife Pam live near West Palm where there is a Jerry's Artarama. Pam took me there again this year and I got another set (for backup) and some other goodies.