Memorial Sand Day

I haven't quite finished this one.  I need to make a few more adjustments and I should be finished.  I like the direction that it is headed though.  


I was so inspired by Carol Marine's beach scene painting that I took some photos of my own and painted one of them.  Initially, there were three little girls in my painting, but one of them was giving me a problem, so I removed her and brought the ocean waves around.  My friend made a funny comment about that.  She said something like "what if life was like that?  If someone is problematic, you simply paint them out of it."  That sounds like it may have been an episode of The Twilight Zone.  


Here are the before and after, but like I said, I haven't finished yet!

Before

After

Spoon Up

Another lunch time project.  I am still having fun with metal and grays.  The photo was taken by my co-worker with his iPad.  I liked yesterday's fork better, but at least I am painting!  I got a little too fussy with this, still wanted to make some adjustments and I forgot to sign it, but there is only so much time on your lunch hour.  It's the journey that's important, and not the end result!

Spoon Up

Lunch Fork

I haven't had a chance to sit down with my notes and upload the rest of my photos from Carol Marine's workshop, but I promise I will!  Today, I needed to paint, so on my lunch hour, I played with grays.  Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and white.  This was fun!  I wanted to add something else to the painting:  maybe an orange or lemon.  Maybe next time.

My Second Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

Yesterday was my  second day at Carol's workshop. She started off with another fabulous demo.  She makes it look so easy!!!  I'm new at the blogging stuff, so I haven't quite figured out how to properly format the posts as I would in Microsoft Word!  So, please forgive the wonky formatting.

The progression of Carol's demo is below:

Next up were value studies using only burnt umber.  We were given a very short period of time in which to do them.  Time really FLIES!!  It is an EXCELLENT exercise as it teaches you to see the values better.
Here are my value studies of an apple and a lime (in case you can't figure out what those blobs of paint really are.

After lunch, we returned to do 10 minute exercises.  There is no lollygagging in Carol's workshop!  We did six 10 minute exercises.  We divided our 6x6 canvases into quarters and had 10 minutes to paint one object.   She said she sees more people progress during this exercise than in any other.  After doing them, I get it.  I definitely felt the progress.  She also makes you clean off your palette after every exercise so that you don't make the same mistakes that you made in the first exercise.

Don't laugh at my paintings.  We only had 10 minutes!
I became really tired of the lime, so I switched to the orange slice and enjoyed it immensely!
I seem to be missing the final photo of my first attempt.  I will take the picture tonight and repost.
FIRST TWO:

LAST FOUR:

Time to shower and had to the 3rd day of her workshop!

My first day at Carol Marine's workshop

MY PAINTING

Well, as exhausted as I was today, the am thrilled to be in Carol Marine's workshop in Sedona, Arizona. Yesterday was exhausting because I spent Sunday morning packing, flying, driving and unable to sleep well at all because of the excitement of finally attending one of her workshops.  Surprisingly, a lot of the students are from California.  Carol spent most of the morning instructing and then finished off the morning with a fabulous demo. First, I will post my painting:  two green apples and a lemon.  After that, I am posting Carol's beginning, middle and finished versions of her demo.  Gorgeous, of course.

CAROL'S BEGINNING

CAROL'S MIDDLE

CAROL'S FINALE

Looming

I am not in love with this one, but I am posting it anyways.  I wanted to get that gorgeous turquoise red combination, but it didn't work out that way.  I may come back to this one again.  Next time, I think I will use different cups.

Pepper Pusher

It looks as though the bottom apple is heaving the pepper up to the top apple.
It's a tag team effort.

At Knife Point -- SOLD

A commission for a friend who has black, gray and red in her kitchen.  This was a good exercise in values:  the black espresso cup and saucer, the gray piece of paper, the knife ... I am happy with the result in person, but I can't seem to get a good photograph of it!  Maybe after it dries.

Patch - SOLD

Sometimes the paintbrush, paints and medium seem to have a mind of their own.
Patch is a commission for a friend.  Even if this version isn't the version she wants, I am very happy with this little rabbit.

Follow the Leader II

What is it about taking a photo of your art that allows you to over scrutinize and pick out flaws in a painting that otherwise did not appear?  I believe that at this point, I have to stop beating myself up about a painting and say "it is good.  Leave well enough alone."  It is supposed to be the journey that matters, isn't it.

This is the final version of Follow the Leader.

Follow the Leader

The colors in this are a lot cleaner than my last post, but my apples look a little too cut-out.  Otherwise, I am pleased with how my apples look (shadows, stem, values).  Also, this was my first time working with a white object.  The pitcher handle and spout needs to be cleaned up a bit, but I wanted to go ahead and post this one.  I also used Robert Burridge's Goof Proof Color Wheel when picking the colors for this painting which can be purchased her.  I definitely feel that I am making progress.

Eavesdropping

This is the first painting I've done implementing some of Carol Marine's techniques from her ArtBytes on Daily Paintworks.  I will be taking her class in Sedona in May, but the ArtBytes are a good introduction.  One the one hand, I feel it's a bit overworked, but on the other hand, I feel I am moving in the right direction: representational but loose and free.  It looks like these two apples are having a private conversation when along comes the red vase eavesdropping on their conversation!  I would appreciate any feedback you all are willing to provide!

Pink Tonto

When I was a kid, my grandfather had this big white horse named Tonto.  We were very young, so  my dad used to lead Tonto around while we sat upon his back.  So this is my tribute to Tonto.

Boston Terrier puppy

I was uncertain whether or not I would be able to pull off making a puppy painting, but after all, it's just painting shapes, and the shapes will come together to make a puppy!  I tried to capture the pitiful "I didn't do it" look on his little face.

I also ventured into Golden Open acrylics for this one.  Tonight I will be doing dog painting demos at Very Venice Gallery.  I want people to be able to take the paintings with them (dry), so I took the adventure.  Though I still prefer oils, I have been having fun with these slower-drying acrylics.

Red Simba - SOLD

I painted an oil version of the same horse I painted a couple of entries ago.  I do love my oils, and I definitely prefer this one.  Normally, I don't use a lot of Cadmium red.   I usually use only Quinacridone red.  I used a bit of both on this painting.  I painted the sides of the cradle with a mixture of Phthalo blue and Quinacridone red and drug some of the paint up onto the green (after the green had dried).  I like the effect!

SOLD - Pink Corn

Back in October, I visited my mom and sister.  My mom and I drove from South Carolina to Tennessee, and the drive was spectacular!  The fall colors were just so much to take in. I do exaggerate the natural color notes in my art work, but in this landscape in North Carolina, the real colors were not too far from my paint colors!  This is a diptych of two 6x6 paintings.

Painting Ponies

I have embarked on a pony ride adventure of a different sort.  Growing up, I was obsessed with horses.  I drew them, subscribed to magazines, read books about them, bought figurines of them, and eventually wore my parents down to buying me one.  Simba was my Pinto, and this is one of the horse paintings painted with her in mind.  She bucked and threw me once or twice, but I did love her and she was beautiful.  Thank you, Simba.

Rainbow Chihuahua

I wasn't sure what to call this Chihuahua.
He's so full of color, I thought Rainbow Chihuahua was appropriate ... at least for now.

Florence Meets Rome

I absolutely love old architecture.  If an old building has a dome, I love it even more.  I occasionally sketch architecture from photos, and have done the occasional painting.  I have a few pastels (among other things art-related) lying around.  I've barely used pastels, except to dabble, but I am so inspired by Michael Newberry's beautiful pastel drawings, I sketched this on my lunch hour today.  When I visited Florence this summer, I was enraptured by the city.  The cathedral in Florence is unlike anything I've ever seen.  I didn't have a photo reference, but who can forget that orange-ish dome?!  The base of this sketch was completely made up, but it reminds me of the photos I've seen of the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, hence the name of this sketch.  This sketch is unfinished, but I kind of like the semi-abstract nature of it, so I think I will leave it as is.

Evolution of a Canvas

Originally this canvas was of a painting I painted in an Abstraction class I took at Otis College in Los Angeles.  We were exploring Cubism, and I chose architecture.  I painted a mosque that had really cool geometric shapes.
This is how it looked initially.

It looked like this for several years until I decided to re-use the canvas for the still life set-up from my previous  entry below:

I wasn't happy with the direction of that painting, so I decided to re-use it again for this painting of a tree in Palisades Park in Santa Monica which overlooks the ocean.  So far, I'm happy with this one.