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.

Stretch Harder

Holy cow! I just looked back in my blog to find my last still life, and it was November 13 -- 3 months ago!
Even though it had been months, I took the bull by the horns and went for glass AND a flower!  Probably my favorite color scheme:  turquoise and red.  The vase is actually greener than I painted it, but some Phthalo blue found itself in the green I was ready to paint.  I liked the way it looked, so I left it.

   

ACEO - Lily Zoomed

A return to oils, and I feel it was a happy return.

Over the weekend, I prepared a whole bunch of art cards (several layers of gesso, sanding).  I do prefer the oils, and using Galkyd speeds up the drying time with the added benefit of a lovely shine.

Lily Zoomed
2.5 inches x 3.5 inches
Oil on Watercolor Paper

Joys of eBay - Rooster On the Move

I sold a rooster painting on eBay, and upon receiving it, my customer realized she wanted a larger version of the same painting.  I sent her a photo of the finished product before mailing it, and she is very pleased.
1st version she bought:
"Volendam Rooster"
6x6
Oil on Gessoboard

2nd painting she commissioned:
"Rooster On the Move"
8x10
Oil on Linen Canvas

Provencal Colors

Painting from all of these photos makes me want to go paint in Provence immediately!  I am enjoying the combination of greens and purples.

View from Beaulieu Sur Mer

From my reference photo in the South of France.
Taken from Beaulieu Sur Mer.

ACEO Provençal Lavendar

This is probably my favorite art card thus far.
A bit cliche, but I like it.  I think this would make a terrific large painting in oil.

Bedazzle the Butterfly & Betty the Beetle

Here "B" two more.  ;-)

Peppermint Seahorse

Peppermint Seahorse sounds like the name of a band to me.
I added a bit of Zentangle design to his interior and like the way he looks.
Tombow markers, ink, and pencil.

Snout Monster Hunting

Another fun thing I have been doing is making "blob animals".  I have two of Carla Sonheim's books: Drawing & Painting Imaginary Animals and Drawing Lab Mixed Media Artists Exercises which are both a lot of fun.  One of the exercises is to make a watercolor blob and see what kind of imaginary animal develops and take it from there.  It's a great deal of fun for anyone, but as an artist, it provides that child-like freedom of drawing/painting without the obsessive judgment that we frequently inflict upon ourselves.

This is Snout Monster Hunting.

ACEO - Capri Grotto Passage (acrylic) - SOLD

I returned to the acrylics for this one and was quite happy with the results.
I absolutely LOVE the colors!

CAPRI GROTTO PASSAGE - Acrylic on Hot-Pressed Watercolor Paper

ACEO - Amsterdam Roses (oil)

I tried to paint a still life with the acrylic, but it didn't work out too well.  I ended up painting over it.
Since I've painted so many still lifes in oil, I thought I would tackle it on an ACEO.  From a photo I took in the Amsterdam Flower Market this past summer.  I kind of like this one!

AMSTERDAM ROSES - Oil on Fabriano Oil Paper

ACEO - Capri Grotto Cliff (acrylic)

I really had fun with these last two from my vacation photos in Italy.
I take the photo and bump up the saturation in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, blur it out a bit.

Another good thing about ACEOs is that they provide a good study for a future big painting.
This one, for instance is a definite possibility.

ACEO - Return to Oils - Antelope Valley Tree -- SOLD

I was having so much fun with the acrylics that I decided I could do the same with oils using the Fabriano Tela Oil Paper.  The scanner still picks up the texture of the Tela paper, but not quite as much as the canvas paper on some of the earlier ACEOs.

LONE TREE, ANTELOPE VALLEY, CA - Oil on Fabriano Tela Oil Paper

ACEO Bush Lupine - SOLD

I really enjoyed painting this one.  
I reintroduced Phthalo Green to my palette, and am quite glad I did!
Phthalo Green with Quinacridone Red and a bit of Phthalo Blue with a titch of white make a gorgeous gray which is used sporadically in the bush.

BUSH LUPINE, ANTELOPE VALLEY, CA - Acrylic on Canvas Paper

ACEO Sardinia / Sardegna - SOLD

I switched to Arches Hot-Pressed watercolor paper for this one, and was much happier with the scan.
Believe it or not, the photo reference came form Google Street View!

This one sold already, too.

 

ACEO - Ojai Path -- SOLD

Here was my 2nd ACEO acrylic landscape which has already been sold on eBay.

In 2011, I attended a workshop with Elio Camacho and painted this scene.  

This was my second round with the same scene.

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

Egg Under Easy

Back in May, during Carol Marine's workshop, I photographed most of her still life set-ups.  Last week on my lunch hour, I decided to paint her still life set up featuring a raw egg from my photograph (with her permission).  I have to say that I would have preferred to do this from life because I struggled a bit with getting the colors accurate, particularly the egg "white".  However, this was on my lunch hour, so a photograph was what I had, and a raw egg isn't really something I could set up on my lunch hour!

Here is my photograph of her set up:

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.