Crappy Camera - Box on Blue

Sorry for the absence.  I've been painting but not posting because I have a really crappy camera which I intend to eventually replace.   My friend Sheila took this picture back in 2004 in the French village Eze. 

I think it's a pretty cool picture.  When I showed her one of Raimonds Staprans' paintings, she said his painting reminded her of the photo she took in Eze.  So I took a stab at painting Box on Blue. The painting isn't finished, and, of course, there is the crappy camera issue.  I think compositionally, I followed the photo too literally which does not work for the painting as it puts everything dead in the center.  I may shift everything to the right (except the window of course). See how Raimonds' table is set off to the right?

Here is the beginning of Box on Blue taken with my crappy camera.

Running Sleet

Sleet is all dry now!  Overall, I'm pretty happy with him. I didn't mention before, but Sleet is a reference image (copyright free) from the vast supply of images provided by members of Wetcanvas.  The Wetcanvas member who provided the photo is "Canis Lupess".  Thank you for the image!

A Grey Beginning

GREYHOUND STAGE 1
20x16
In addition to the FOUR -- potentially SIX -- commissions I have going on (not to mention my job, and working at the Very Venice Art Gallery on Saturdays), I thought I would keep a big dog painting in progress because I just don't have enough to do.  I started this greyhound Saturday night.  Got the basic drawing down, and covered the canvas.

Occasionally I would jump up from the sofa and add a little bit more, but decided to take a breather and sleep on it.

Sunday, I spent most of the day making a delicious broth from the Thanksgiving Turkey carcass, and two soup followed!  Chicken Lentil Soup, and Truffle Turkey Soup.  Both are delicious, and there is plenty of turkey broth leftover to freeze.

GREYHOUND STAGE 2

After resting after all the cooking, grocery shopping and walking a bit, I jumped back into the Greyhound.  I shortened his snout, added more paint and refined the drawing.  I still need to fix his left eye.

Running Sleet - Lunch Hour Painting

Started this little guy on my lunch hour.  I only had 45 minutes or so, and my co-worker's blackberry.  It's all I had at the moment!  I will finish him up either tonight or tomorrow morning and re-post.

Seashell Study - 10 min. Exercise

I painted this one at least six months ago (maybe longer).  I challenged myself to only spend 10 minutes painting it.  To get the stripes on the shell without fussing too much, I put different colors of paint on the brush at the same time.  I definitely think my painting has improved since then!

Lulu

This is a commission piece for a friend of mine.  I'm not quite finished with Lulu.  Initially, I started off with her entire body in the painting, but I had to wipe it down.  It just wasn't working for me.  In fact, she was looking more like a llama than a dog.  I will probably darken the area under her chin to "push it back".

Mosaic Sweetpeas

6x6

Oil on Board

This is from an earlier post -- just a better photograph.

I decided not to change anything, but I did add my signature.

Penguin Progression

Penguin Progression.
Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper

3 ½ x 4 ½

I posted the first part of Penguin Progression on Facebook before I started my blog.

The final version: He now has two feet!

 

The Sentinel

6x6
Oil on Board
Happy Thanksgiving!  It's been a busy holiday, and I have been cooking, cleaning, cooking, resting, painting, cleaning again, resting again ... wow...  I'm exhausted!  When I take photos of the figure paintings I worked on this weekend, I will post them.

I painted this little guy a while back.  I just love meercats.

Still Life - Work in Progress

6x6
Oil on Board
Sorry for the blurry photo, but I didn't have a lot of time.  I took it just before I left for work this morning.  I am still working on this painting too.  Initially, I began with the Rectangle Challenge from Daily Paintworks (as I did with Mosaic Hippo), but I strayed, and then it evolved.  I kind of like the drama of the dark.  Is it an issue since the table is orange on the other side?  I don't know.  I think it would make a pretty interesting large painting.

Tulips and Blue

6x6
Oil on Board
I'm still working on this one, but I like the direction it is headed.

Beyond the Train

 

5x5

Oil on Board

This is from a photograph I took from inside the train on the way back from Siena.  I think I might paint a larger version of this one. 

Smile for the Camel & Malibu Lagoon

Today, on my lunch hour, I started painting this camel.  Time flies when you love what you do!  Since he isn't finished, I am also posting a painting I did a couple of weeks ago of Malibu Lagoon.  When I finish the camel, I will post it again.  Thanks for looking!

Smile for the Camel
5x7
Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper

Malibu Lagoon
5x5
Oil on Board

Penguin Beginning

Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper

3 ½ x 4 ½

Who doesn't love a penguin?  I'm not quite finished with this little guy, but here is most of him.  I still have to put in his left foot. He was another one of my lunch hour projects.

Mosaic Hippo

Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper
7 x 9 1/2
This is the first post on my daily painting blog.  The reason I named the blog "Mosaic Hippo" is, well, because this hippo painting is the first painting to kick off this blog.  But I do have to give credit to my friend Cindy who suggested it.  My son Brendan concurred that it was a catchy blog name as opposed to "Donna Weathers' Paint Blog" or "Donna's Daily Paintings".  Yawn ... 

I work full-time, so my painting time is limited.  I try to paint every morning when I get up, and sometimes after I get home from work.  However, it is still not enough time, but it is what I have outside of the weekend, so I decided my lunch hour can be another slot of time to paint!

So, this is my first "lunch hour" painting.  I took on a Daily Challenge from Daily Paintworks. The challenge was posted by blogger artist Mary Douglas.  Basically, you choose your subject (in my case, a photo of a hippo), and limit your strokes to only painting rectangles.  Additionally, you adjust the color of each subsequent rectangle stroke.


I LOVED this challenge, and the results of the Mosaic Hippo.  I told my son how much I enjoyed it, and he educated me with a quote by T.S. Elliot that makes a lot of sense: “When forced to work within a strict framework the imagination is taxed to its utmost – and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl." — T.S. Eliot

I will be doing this challenge again!