Lemon Trio

I wanted to explore painting fabric, so I laid these three lemons on a white tea towel.  The background is the dark gray of my light box.

Claire Christinel said that in a workshop she learned that she should look at values not just relative to the object, but also relative to the values in the rest of the composition.  (You can click on her name to see her blog.)  

I was thinking about that today as I was painting.  The edges of the lemons looked very dark against the white cloth.   I also thought some of the shadows of the cloth looked almost as dark as the background.

I've painted lots of lemons (there are usually always some in the refrigerator).  When I compare this painting to the others, I realized that I painted all the lemons differently, with different colors of shadows and highlights.  They all look like lemons, though.   The values are more important than the colors.  People say that all the time, but when I lined up my lemon paintings I could really see it.

Lemons and pitcher

Arrrgh!  I haven't painted in several weeks, and I can tell!  I made mud in a couple of spots in this one.

I am beginning to learn something about values.  I have a tendency never to make my darks dark enough. Then I have to go back and adjust.  I did that on the grapes here.  Since they are pale green grapes, not the dark purple ones I painted last time,  I laid down what I thought was a dark color.  But then when I started painting in the lighter body colors, they were too close in value to each other.  Lesson learned.

I just dabbed on some highlights and quit.  I have to go out of town today, so I'm posting this.  I hope to get back to a regular schedule of painting now that most of the festivities are over.

Thanks to everyone who has visited me and commented over the Christmas holidays.  It is so great to see the generous comments from some really terrific painters out there.  Thanks again!  You guys rock!

I'm saying this one is finished.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on my painting in my art class. This morning I tweaked it a little, but I think it's done.    This is my attempt to paint sort of like David  Leffel.  It's not a copy, but my interpretation, as Lorraine called it.  There's a lot more of me in this than there is of him!

I'm happy with it, though.    My little camera doesn't show the richness of the paint colors, but you can get some idea of it.  I hope some of the looseness carries over into my paintings.

I think next I'm going to paint a snowman.  I've been enjoying everyone's Christmas paintings.  Since it never snows here, I'll have to use artistic license!

Click on the painting to view larger.

12" x 16" oil on canvas

Work in Progress

Like most everyone,  I find these days very hectic.  Shopping and decorating and baking take up lots of time.  In addition, we are in the house-building phase, so I've been spending lots of time meeting with workmen and on making choices for paint colors, light fixtures, flooring, etc.

So not much time for painting this week.  I am working on a larger painting for my weekly class.  I bought a book about David Leffel, called "Oil Painting Secrets from a Master".  I find his paintings a little dark for my taste, but I do like the looseness of his brush strokes.  So I am trying to learn by painting a copy of one of the illustrations in the book.  

 This is just a corner of the canvas.  Maybe I won't get arrested.  I'm not trying to sell this or pass it off as my own.  Just trying to learn a new technique.   It's all I have to show for this week.

You Say Tomato

This one wasn't as easy as the bottles.  I liked the colors as I was painting, but at the end of the session I decided I had been too timid with the highlights and too "vigorous" with the stems and leaves.   So the next day I worked on those areas, increasing the highlights and painting over some leaves.   I like it better now, but I'm not in love with it.

I did learn something.  I used cad red and viridian green and then added titanium white to create a grayed highlight.  The green and red I also used to create some of the shadow areas on the tomatoes.

I think I probably should work on more than one painting at once, because I find that I am painting in blocks of color that become the underpainting.  Then I add more paint the next day.   It's hard for me to finish a painting in one day.  If I had two going, maybe I could alternate drying days.

8" X 8" oil on canvas panel

Thanksgiving Leftovers

As you can see, all that was left were the bottles after Thanksgiving.  My husband even asks me now if I want to keep a bottle before he throws it out.  

This painting was fun today, and I was surprised that I completed it in about an hour and a half.  I kept trying to remember to paint "shapes" not objects.   Now that I've photographed it, I can see the drawing errors, but I still like this one.   I plan to paint these again.  

8 " X 8" oil on canvas panel 

Bowl of lemons

Yea!  Something to take the place of those peppers.  I was getting really tired of them.

This painting evolved.  I started with the bowl of lemons, and I thought, I don't want to put them right in the middle of the canvas, so I moved them a little to the side.  I was liking how it was going until I stepped back and realized the painting looked too off center. But I had too much invested in those lemons to wipe it and start over!

My granddaughter came the day before Thanksgiving (that's how long ago I started this!)  and she said, "Nana it looks like it's falling out of the painting."

So I added the lemon on the table this weekend to give it balance, and today, I tweaked the painting a little more, adding more blue to the background.  So I am thoroughly tired of this one, too!

Here's what my grandchildren and I did before I started cooking...we made pilgrims and Indians out of toilet paper rolls and construction paper.   If you click on the photo you can see it better.

Beer and peppers

My husband has been asking me to paint some peppers.  So I did this one for him.  I thought a cold beer would be just the thing to go with them.

It's getting close to Thanksgiving!  I'll be doing the cooking this year, so like most everyone, I won't be having much time to paint.  I'm working on a painting right now, so maybe I'll get that finished before I have to fire up the oven!

oil on canvas

Pears and urn

This was an experiment.  I was looking at a painting yesterday that I really liked.  The artist explained that she had cut out pictures of dishes from various magazines, assembled them in an arrangement she liked and painted it.

I thought, that sounds easy!    I'd just gotten a food magazine with a picture of two pears that I liked.  I found a picture of an urn in another magazine and decided that would make a nice arrangement.  I made a sketch and started painting.

I was having a great time and was about 2/3 finished when I realized  the lighting on the urn came from one direction and the lighting on the pears came from another!   I decided it would be easier to leave the urn as is, so I changed the lighting on the pears.  I think I really prefer painting from a set up rather than from a photo, at least until I gain more experience.

I Got a New Book Today

I've been looking at painting blogs for about three years, long before I decided to take the plunge myself.   One artist whose work I admire is Elizabeth Floyd (no kin to me).  She started by posting simple studies of fruits and vegetables and over the years she has become an incredible artist.  You can see an example of one of her paintings here.

Last week she blogged about buying a new book and posted some photos from the book.  It was so beautiful,  I had to buy a copy from Amazon.  It's called "Painting the Still Life" by Olga Zaferatos.   It came today, and it's like eating a box of chocolates.  I love it!

Does anyone else have a book they love and recommend?

Apples with Leaves

I feel the same way that Lorraine Shirkus expressed it earlier this week.  I am desperate to post a painting.  I have painted and wiped this week, and nothing seems to work.

So I here's the last thing I did.  I worked and worked on this, trying to adjust the values on the apples, but I just didn't get it.  To me, they don't "read" as apples.  They are some mysterious unidentifiable fruit!  LOL!

There is, however, one leaf that I'm thinking....hmm, that isn't too bad.  Sigh.  Maybe tomorrow.

I actually painted this as a challenge from a reference photo at Studio Atlier .  You can see the challenge photo and what others have painted at this link.  Check it out.

Red Bell Peppers

I rummaged around in the refrigerator and found these bell peppers to paint. I was working on painting various values and colors in the reds.  I think I have made some progress, but I will work on this some more.

I was the first person up in my household this morning.  My body didn't know about daylight savings time. I wandered into the kitchen and made a loaf of orange-cranberry bread. It made the house smell great, and was good with our morning coffee.

Pear trio

Pears are very forgiving.  You'll never hear one say,  "That doesn't look like me".  Or, "You made my butt look too big."  Which I probably did.   Pears are just easy going and fun to paint.

8 " X 10" oil on canvas panel

Bottle of red

I love painting wine bottles.  There is so much color in the glass that isn't obvious at first glance.  I decided that it was time I tried to paint fabric, so I added that to my set up.

It's chilly today.  I poured the glass of wine back into the bottle & corked it.  We may have that along with our dinner tonight!

7" by 9" oil on canvas panel

Glass jar and wildflowers

I've been wanting to paint glass, so this morning on my walk I picked a few wildflowers still blooming merrily by the road.  I brought them home and put them in a little jar of water.  I was pleased with the glass, but not with the flowers.  I haven't figured out how to paint values in flowers yet.  I think these look amateurish.  Which I am of course, but I have high aspirations!

7" X 9 " oil on canvas panel

Teapot and Pomegranate

This painting is from my weekly class.  The instructor had me make a value study of the set up, and then in the following class, I painted over the value study.  I put a lot more time into this painting than I do when I'm painting at home.  I like the way the teapot turned out, and my little leaf!  Not too happy with the pomegranate, though.  I couldn't get its little snout right.  Next time.  

This may be my last painting that I post this week.  I'm off to Houston to help out my daughter again.  Her husband is out of town and she's a working mom.  I help get the kids off to school and help with meals and homework.  I'm taking my painting gear, and I'll retrieve my camera, left on my last trip.  I just don't know how to upload photos on her computer.   Have a good week! 

Glass bottles

In this study, I wanted to try to capture the translucence of glass.  When I finished, I decided that the thing I like best is the shadow of the glass carafe.  Isn't that funny how we like one little part of a painting?

If you want to see glass beautifully done, check out Carrie Waller's award-winning work here  or here:   Her watercolor work is breathtaking.  

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel

Little Brown Jug

This is a little jug that belongs to one of my daughters. When I saw it, I wanted to paint it.  I am using a borrowed camera, and I don't think the colors are as bright as they should be.  But at least I can post now.

I want to thank everyone for all the encouragement they give.  When I started posting, I never knew about the wonderful fellowship of artists who blog.  I love it!

I'm back, but I left my camera in Houston!

Everyone has been so kind.   My grandson is well and back in school.  I've been painting, but I left my camera there.  I haven't figured out how to use my daughter's camera here.  So I will keep visiting your blogs and commenting, but I don't know when I'll be able to post paintings for a while yet.

No new posts this week

I'm in Houston helping out with a sick little boy.  My daughter called me for help yesterday.  Her husband is out of town, she works and has missed two days of work staying home with her son.  He's been running a fever for five days, and has had two trips to the doctor.  It's a virus and just has to run its course.  So I'm here for the rest of the week without acesss to my own computer.  I did bring my paints, but don't know if I'll have time for painting.

Some good news:  the long-awaited construction on our new house began this week. The bulldozers are in there getting the lot levelled and ready to pour the foundation.  Yea!

Mango In and Mango Out

I guess I'm destined to be known as The-Lady-Who-Paints-Fruit.  I can't seem to paint anything else and have it come out looking right.

I worked and worked on that bowl.  There was lovely reflected light from the mango inside the bowl, but I just couldn't capture it.  And I'm not mentioning my ellipse.  Oh, I guess I just did.  

I envy those people who can paint something in an hour and then post it!

7" X 9 " oil on canvas panel

What color is an eggplant?

These are Japanese eggplants I got at the local supermarket.  In Texas the premier supermarket is H.E.B.  They are local, and they have the freshest, most beautiful produce!

I set up these on a white ground, and I put a piece of yellow paper on the left, out of the painting.  The yellow reflected in the shadow of the eggplants.  There were lots of purples and magentas visible, but I was surprised to see turquoise in one of the planes of the top one.

I'm not pleased with the stems and leaves.  I still haven't figured out how to paint a leaf.  But I kinda like the eggplants.

My blogging friend Jean Townsend posted a link today to Jeff Mahoney's website.  He wrote about the doubts and frustrations that plague painters.  It is so disappointing to want to paint something and then not have it come out right.  His post is so right on and worth reading!  I want to thank Jean for finding it and pointing it out!

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel

Comfort apples

Painting a portrait put me out of my comfort level.  So today I went back to apples!  I love the shapes and smells and colors of them.  Painting this little study put me in a good mood.

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel

Portrait workshop with William Kalwick

Yesterday I attended a workshop in portrait painting at the Coppini Institute.   This is my study of the model.  At the end of the day, I was feeling discouraged, but later I looked at it and I can see some positive things.  I drew the sketch with everything in the right place.   And you can tell it's a girl!  I can "see" things I couldn't see before--like the reflected light under her chin and under her ear.   I'm not happy with the eyes, but  I know that I can learn to do better.  So all in all it was a good day.

Bill is a wonderful teacher.  He broke up portrait painting into manageable steps,  "just like painting an apple", he said.   That made me happy!

He did a thirty minute demo for us.  First he did a sketch using burn sienna and viridian green.

Then he laid in the darkest darks in the painting.  This helps you establish a value scale.

He lays in what he calls the "local color",  the main colors of the skin.  He stressed adding shapes, not painting a face.

Then he adds the lights of the skin and connects the values together with darker lights.   This is his painting when he was about half way through.

This was his finished study.  It was amazing that he could do this in thirty minutes!

He broke up our classes into twenty minutes intervals to give the model a break.  We all worked on the same task together.  For example, the first 20 minutes he had us make our sketches.  That was all we were supposed to work on.   He would go around and offer suggestions and corrections to each individual student.   The next session, we worked on laying in the darks, and so on.  That way we all stayed more or less together, and he could discuss what we were supposed to be doing, how to do it, etc.
I really liked his teaching method, and I think the whole class agreed.

His website is www.kalwick.com.

Another apple study!

My seven-year-old grandson  commented to me the other day, "Nana, all you paint is fruit!"

He's right.  It's hard to explain to him the concept of making studies.  Anyway, I had a little trouble with glare on this photo, but I think this was the best one.

I took this outside in the morning light to photograph and disturbed lots of birds gathered in the shrubbery around the bird feeder.  We have lots of titmice, cardinals and a large Mexican jay.  He's as blue as the sky.  I noticed that there's no activity around the hummingbird feeder.  We had a little cool front come through three days ago, and I guess that was their signal to head south for the winter.

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel.

Citrus Spill

I liked the way these lemons and clementines spilled across the table when I was arranging my set up.  They just fell into position without my having to do much rearranging.

I enjoyed painting on a larger canvas for a change.  I have painted this pitcher before, and I can see that my painting has improved.   Below is my first version, painted in June.

 Still miles to go, though.

12" X 16" oil on canvas

Orange Re-do

I started this painting a few days ago, and ended wiping it off.  I was trying too hard for too much detail on the sliced orange.    I set it aside and tried again today.  I like this version better.

After I wipe off a painting, there is still a faint image of the prior efforts.  Jennifer Bellinger once described it as a "ghost painting".   You can use that faint image as an underpainting.  It made the second attempt easier.

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel

Value study Apple and Leaf

This was done in today's class.  The instructor had me buy four transparent paints--transparent brown, yellow, red and green.  I used those four colors in the value study.  All the previous value studies I've ever done were with regular paint using burnt umber.  I like the tints of color these paints provide to the value study.

So today wasn't a total loss.   (See today's prior post.)

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel

Nothing to post yet today

This morning I attempted to paint an orange that was sliced in half, but I ended up wiping it off.  I set the timer for an hour in an attempt to keep it nice and loose.  That didn't happen, and there's a reason.  I'll start at the beginning.

I have three wonderful daughters.  Now that they are grown, they all like each other and me.  (Not always the case during the teen age years.)  One of the fun things when we all get together is all four of us end up sitting on my bed, laughing and telling stories.  Sometimes I learn things that I'd rather not know about, but that's another story.

One of the things they laugh about ME is that they inherited my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  I say they didn't get it from me, because I still have all of mine.

Anyway, if I do have OCD, they all benefited from it.  I like things neat and clean.  I would move through the house picking up, putting things away, wiping and fluffing and dusting, putting the chairs back under the table, stuff like that.

Let's see, I had a point here.  Oh yes, why I wiped off my painting.  When I paint, I find if very hard to suggest things.  That's why so far my paintings are very realistic.  I don't WANT to paint like that.  But my OCD kicks in, and I find myself trying to paint  Every.  Little.  Segment.  of that sliced orange.   When the timer rang, I stepped back and looked at my painting and I didn't like it.  So I wiped it off,  and I'll try again later.

Anyway, this afternoon, I have my second class with the ladies.  I'm supposed to do a value study of an apple.  Maybe I'll post that.

Lemons and water glass

Lemons again.  I enjoyed trying to get the different planes and colors that are in the lemons.

The water glass was a new challenge.  I've tried to paint a water glass only once, and I think this is better than my first time.  My ellipse isn't great, though.  The thing I like best is the shadow of the glass.

I started this painting two days ago and was very unhappy after several hours.  Today I was tempted to just start a new painting, but I lectured myself and made me try to finish this one.  I'm glad I did;  I need the discipline!  I'd always rather start something new...a fresh canvas, a new possibility.  But I don't want to have a bunch of unfinished paintings, so I trudged on.

These were the same lemons I used in my prior painting.  When I was cleaning up today, I discovered that they were getting very soft.  Several days in the set up and hours under the light hastened their demise!  I'll have to find another subject for my next painting.

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel

Saturday Lemons

I've been working on a larger painting, so I wanted to do a small study today. This is a totally different style than the pear. Much more informal. I actually like this better than the pear.

I don't have an expensive camara, plus it's a cloudy day, so I don't think the colors are true. I think the colors in the painting are richer.

7" X 9" oil on canvas panel.

(Click on painting to view larger.)

Painted pear

This is my pear from yesterday's painting class.  I took my value study (see September 2nd post), and she had me apply color.  The right side of my pear looked flat--I was using burnt umber, yellow ochre and burnt sienna to try to make it dark.  My instructor told me to add green, and that was it.  The shadow took on dimension.

This is a very classical style of painting, not how I hope ultimately to paint.  But I hope to continue to learn lots, and I LOVE the class.  There are five ladies of approximately my age (plenty-nine I always say).  And they are fun and kind and very nice.  Just what I had hoped for.

Painting class today

My son-in-law brought home too many bananas, so I spent this morning cooking.  I made banana pudding for tonight, and a loaf of banana bread for tomorrow.

My new painting class resumes today.  It was cancelled last week because of the storm and flooding.  I will be working on completing the pear underpainting that I did last session.   Hope to have something that I can post!

Gala Apple Bowl

I keep saying I just want to learn to paint apples!  What I really mean is I think they are a fairly simple shape, so it's good practice.

I painted these apples to enter in the September challenge at Artists Helping Artists website. There are lots of interesting and varied entries for this month.   Check them out.



8" X 8" oil on canvas panel

American Beauty

It's been a busy week, and I didn't get to paint much.  First, San Antonio got heavy rains from tropical storm Hermine, and our roof sprang a leak.  First time I've ever had to get a pot to put under a leaking roof. So I dealt with the roofing estimator.  Then the AC started leaking from the overflow spout and I had to get a repairman out.

Plus my daughter and son-in-law are thinking of selling their house.  Their neighbor told a friend of his at work, who wanted to come see the house even though it's not on the market yet.  So I spent two days cleaning and staging the house.  That involved throwing a lot of stuff away!

This apple is all I've had time for this week, but I'm hoping  to try again tomorrow.  I found it difficult to mix different shades of red for the apple.  And the reflected light looked green to me, but I couldn't seem to get it.  But I learn something every time I get to paint!  I like the highlight.

8" X 8" oil on canvas panel.

Lemon Challenge

I painted this for a painting challenge on Rookie Painter.  I've never entered a challenge before, and I was inspired by Linda Popple's entry.  It is fresh and has an abstract quality I like.

I had a hard time getting the correct values on the lemon.  It was a good exercise, though.  I think I'd like to enter another challenge.

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel
(Click on painting to view larger.)

Clementines and coffe mug

I fell in love with this little mug in a thrift shop.  It has orange undertones, and a shiny reflective glaze.  I like how the little oranges reflect on the surface of the mug, and the blue background is reflected in the handle.

My new painting instructor told me she uses Naples Yellow to lighten paint, rather than white.  I tried that with the oranges, and I liked the effect.

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel
(Click on painting to view larger.)

New Painting Class

I started a new painting class this week.  The instructor told me beforehand that she would have me paint a pear so that she could show me how she teaches, and so she can see where I am as a student.  I took several canvas panels that I had toned with burnt sienna.  She asked me if I had one that wasn't toned, because she uses a different method.  Luckily I had one.

She had me use transparent umber and transparent burn sienna to make an underpainting and then lift off paint to make the lighter areas.   Her teaching method involves making an underpainting for every painting. This is unlike any teaching I've ever had.  I hope I have the patience!

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel
(Click on painting to view larger.)

Peach trio on acqua platter

These peaches were so beautiful, I had to paint them first.  Then I sliced them, added a little sugar, and we ate them for dessert.  I love fresh peaches.  Yum.

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel

Susan Carlin Workshop

What's on the menu? 

Reclining reader

Last weekend I attended a two day workshop taught by Susan Carlin here in San Antonio.  Her website is here:   http://susancarlin.com/    The subject was painting the human figure. NOT portrait painting. Susan taught and did a demo the first morning and then we painted from a reference photo in the afternoon.

I didn't manage to finish the first painting. Susan urged us to finish at home, but I didn't get to paint this week, and the painting isn't calling me. I think it's more fun to start something new than to go back and work on an unfinished one. I don't think I'm the only one who has unfinished paintings lying around!

The second day we painted from a live model while Susan gave lots of helpful individual feedback. I painted the legs in the morning, and after we came back from lunch I had trouble getting the same colors for the arms and face.

We had a great time and Susan is a great teacher!

Recommendation

I want to recommend that you visit a blog named "Pilgrim's Breakfast".  The artist posts beautiful still life paintings of fruits and vegetables.  It's fun to look at her earliest postings and see how her style has evolved.  I think she deserves to have lots of followers! 

You can visit her blog here:  http://pilgrimsbreakfast.blogspot.com/   I recommend you check her out. 

I haven't been posting because I am in Houston this week helping out my daughter. She's a working mom and her husband is out of town, so she needs a hand with the kids. A good excuse for me to visit my grandchildren!

Sunday Morning Mango

My husband fingered the mangoes on the counter and announced they were ready to eat.  I've been saving them to paint, so I painted while he went on his morning bike ride. As his reward for biking and exercising,  I cut up the mangoes and served them to him for Sunday brunch.

I should have gone biking with him, but hey, I have my priorities!

9" X 12" oil on canvas panel

Sunflowers in a glass jar

I've been wanting to try painting flowers,  so when I went for my morning walk I picked a couple of wild sunflowers and brought them home.  I totally wiped off my first attempt.  I'm somewhat happier with this version.

Is it just me, or does everyone else have self-doubts about their paintings?  I know I'm just learning, but I hesitate to post something I've done, because I don't think it's "good".  I keep looking at what I think is wrong.  Or sometimes I don't even know what's wrong!   But I know it doesn't look right to me.

Hope this doesn't sound like I'm whining or begging for compliments.  I'm not.  I really would like to know if other people felt like this when they started.

(Click on the painting to view larger.)

9" X 12" oil on canvas panel

Lemon Study with blue background

This is all I had time to work on yesterday.    My other life gets in the way.   Family and household work still come first.

6" X 6"  oil on paper

Lemons and blue bowl

This was fun.  I painted this yesterday afternoon and decided it was finished.  No going back and "fixing" it.   This is a comfortable size for me for a daily painting.

I am learning on these paintings that getting values right is my biggest challenge.  I have a hard time getting the darkest values--I keep thinking "a lemon can't be that dark".  But when I stand back from the easel I see that I haven't made enough contrast between the lights and the darks.

(click on the picture to view larger)

8" X 10" oil on canvas panel

Lemon studies

I wanted to practice painting lemons with different colored backgrounds to see how that affected the colors in the lemon.

These are 6" X 6", which I find difficult to paint on.   I have large handwriting, and I feel comfortable painting on larger canvases.  I think those two things are related.

When I was a little girl, my grandfather told me he liked getting letters from me (revealing my age...we used to write actual letters) because my handwriting was large and he could read it.  I used to like getting assignments where the teacher said to write a page on a subject.  Didn't take me all that many words to fill up a page.  I felt sorry for those girls who wrote with little bitty handwriting.   They may be the same girls who can paint little bitty paintings.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!  It's just hard for me.


6" X 6" oil on paper