Clouds over Kiawah

A high school buddy of mine has a place on Kiawah Island and said I could use her photo of a marsh as a reference. I toned the paper with orange and allowed some of that to peek through. Still using the oil paper but I computer it down to 8 1/2 x 11. I know that isn't a standard size for paintings, but I accidentally bought some diploma frames (nonreturnable at this stage) and thought the oil paper paintings would fit in them perfectly. I am still using a palette knife, too.

8 1/2 x 11

Oil on Arches Oil Paper

 

 

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Through Here

I have discovered a new product that I like, and this painting is the first result after using it. I'll try to get a better picture after it dries: a skill I still haven't mastered.

I have always enjoyed painting oils on paper, but never liked having to do the three layers of gesso (and having to wait for them to dry) before painting on the paper. I did quite a few ACEOs that were oil on paper. Plus I have so much watercolor paper around that I needed to do something with it!
Arches now makes a lovely oil paper that looks and feels like their watercolor paper. Let me tell you: it is great! It feels great, it holds heavier applications of paint, and can take some abuse. The only drawbacks for some folks may be (1) the absorbency, and (2) the inability to completely get back to the white if the paper. If these are issues for you, then it is likely not for you. These are not issues for me though.

I watched a promotional video about it, and the paper is durable enough to roll like loose canvas. Though I haven't painted en plein air with this paper, I can definitely see the potential. It is lightweight and easy to carry, and it isn't expensive at all. One 9x12 pad of 12 sheets is $7.98 at Blick Art. One 22x30 sheet is only $6.44 as you can see here. Arches Oil Paper - BLICK art materials
Now what am I going to do with all that watercolor paper lying around!?
Oil on Arches Oil Paper
9x12

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Santa Monica Sunset

I've never had that much success with sunsets. I always end up wiping them down, so I went a little semi-abstract with this one. Block in was done with a large brush, and the rest was structured with a palette knife. This is also bigger than usual and I really enjoyed it.
Oil on Board
18x24

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"Sunny Forest Floor"

I've never painted a scene anything remotely like this.  Initially I was intimidated, but it wasn't that difficult, actually.  Partially painted with a palette knife and partially with a brush.  Partially painted yesterday and partially painted today.  I'm partial to this painting.  :-)
6x6
Oil on Board

"Brewing Storm"

I wasn't sure whether or not to consider this painting "finished" or not.  I suppose it could just be a semi-abstract landscape.  I did, however, like the color scheme which was a pretty limited palette of: Cadmium Red Dark (Classic Artists Oils), Quinacridone Red (Classic Artists Oils), Hansa Yellow Orange (Classic Artists Oils), Cadmium Yellow Medium (Utrecht), French Ultramarine Blue (Winsor & Newton) and Titanium White (Winsor & Newton).

Normally, I would have used Gamblin Galkyd as a medium, but this was a lunch hour painting and all I had were my paints, the board and a palette knife.

I started out with a very thin underpainting (on the land and rock area only) with the Quin. Red and the Hansa Yellow Orange.  Hansa Yellow Orange is like Indian Yellow in other brands, but I particularly like Classic Artists Oils' Hansa Yellow Orange better.  In the dark areas, I used a combination of the Cad. Red. Dark and Fr. Ult. Blue.

The gray in the painting was made from all the colors in the palette scraped together with a bit of white added to get the right value.  I rather like it.

SOLD - "Baby Blue"

98% of this was done with the palette knife. Since it's a small painting, I had to break out the brush for his beak and eye.

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Repainting Painting

I revisit paintings a lot.  Maybe it's a comfort thing.  Maybe it's a lazy thing.  I painted these pears from a reference photo from Wetcanvas in pastels (and sold them to a friend).  Thank you, Sandy.  There's a big difference between the oil version and the pastel version though.  Here I was very bold with the colors, and the use of the palette knife brings about quite a different painting.
The pastel version first, and the oil version second:

The Most Beautiful Village in Provence

Oops!  I forgot the picture when I first posted this!  Roussillon was one of the most beautiful villages in Provence. On our tour through Provence, our lovely guide, Virginia explained that there were quite a few villages boasting to be "The Most Beautiful Village in Provence". I, for one, could not choose. They are all beautiful in so many different ways. Roussillon is very unique with its ochre cliffs. I painted this scene before in pastels, and thought I would give it a shot in oils and with a palette knife. I'm pretty happy with this ... well ... except for that stupid shadow from my easel that I didn't edit out!  Doh!  

I titled this one Ochre Naturel (spelled the French way since this is from Provence)

Ochre Naturel
5x7
Oil on Board

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Pacific Spray - SOLD

It has been many years since I've played with palette knives, and it was quite fun to embark on this journey!
I used Galkyd product by Gamblin to speed up the drying. Hopefully it won't take too long.
8x10
Oil on Board

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Figurative Experiment

I'm getting ready to take a figure drawing class on Saturdays, so I thought I would try my hand at a figure in pastels. I used the same technique that I used in Pynki, the elephant painting I did awhile back. The model is from website that provides virtual models called posespace.

 

 

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Online Mentoring - Karen Margulis

Continuing with posting my 5x7 exercises from my mentoring session. This is from a reference photo along the coast of California. It actually was the first 5x7 I painted during this mentoring course. I did spend more than 30-45 minutes on it. I think it was more like an hour and 15 minutes because I was having so much fun!

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Transparent Trio

My first pastel still life. The reference photo is from Wetcanvas. The only thing Wetcanvas asks of you when you use the photos is that you credit the owner. I didn't have any real tomatoes, but user Olika posted this gorgeous photo which I used.

Her photo:

There is an app I use to blur photos (versus squinting) to focus on shapes:

My painting:

5 3/4 x 8

Pastel on Schmincke Sansfix. Incidentally, I really like this paper, but it seems impossible to find online in the U.S.

 

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Dancing Rhino

One of the other paintings I painted this weekend was Dancing Rhino.  Actually he was the first of the animal paintings.  He does look like he's doing a little two step or something, doesn't he!

Peeking from the Shadow

This is my favorite coffee cup.  The day I painted this, the cup went directly from serving me coffee to serving as a model.

ACEOs

I've been doing something a lot different lately to change things up, and to basically keep painting.  I've discovered the world of ACEOs or Artist Trading Cards.  These are miniature works of art that are about the same size as baseball cards or the like.  They fit into plastic sleeves, and even have little frames that you can buy for them. 

From Wikipedia, "the ATC movement … has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs)."

I have been having a lot of fun with these as I can whip out little paintings in absolutely no time.

I even broke out the old dusty acrylic paints and have been having a lot of fun with them.  Following this post will be a few examples.  I've already sold quite a few of them on eBay!

Unfortunately, the scanner tends to pick up the texture of the support on anything except hot-pressed watercolor paper, so I believe I will stick to that from now on.

SOLD - TEMESCAL CANYON SLOPE - Acrylic

SOLD - Blood Red

I experimented with several things in this painting.  (1) I used a dark background which is a bit out of the ordinary for me, and (2) I used a new medium by Gamblin called Neo Megilp.  The Neo Megilp gives an incredible shiny finish to the paintings that I am very happy with.  I wasn't quite sure what to name this one, so Blood Red it is!

Also, I have struggled and struggled with getting good photos of my paintings, and I've resorted to scanning them after they have dried until I find another solution.

Punta della Dogana (after Maggie Siner) - NOT FOR SALE

I love architecture.  Even more, I love the way Maggie Siner paints the beautiful architecture in Venice and France.  I used Maggie's painting of Punta Della Dogana to guide me for painting semi-abstract architectural structures. I am very happy with the result, and intend to hang this one on my wall and use as a guide for future paintings.

Pork Rose

It's been a few weeks since I've posted, and though I was feeling rusty, I painted my first rose and am pretty happy with it.  I thought the rose was going to be more problematic than the pig.  Boy was I surprised!  I had a few titles in mind:  "Pig N Rose", "Rosy Pig", but I am happy with Pork Rose.

Swim Charlie Swim! - SOLD

Has anyone out there seen JAWS as many times as I have?  When I set up this little still life, a scene from JAWS popped in my head.  Two guys are trying to catch the shark for the reward and one of them gets pulled into the water with a piece of the pier.  When he starts swimming back to the pier, the guy in the "safety zone" sees the ominous fin behind him and yells "Swim, Charlie, Swim!"  That's what I thought of when I positioned the one cherry so that the "pier" (or boat) is just a knuckle away from safety.

Barbershop Forkette -- SOLD

I was still having fun with forks yesterday, and found four very different types of forks in my silverware drawer. This painting is one of the ones that I have liked the most.  I like the composition and the highlights in blue.