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!