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.

 

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.