The Dune

I painted 98% of this painting a few weeks ago and had been meaning to fix a portion of the sky. I finally got around to it and it only took two minutes. I have no idea why I procrastinated so long, but I am glad that I finally finished it as I am happy with the result.

The Foot of Notre Dame de la Garde

Last year I visited Marseille and Provence.  They have these little tourist trains (as they do just about everywhere in Europe) that will take you around town so that you can look at stuff.  At first, I was embarrassed to do this, but my friend Sheila and I realized it was the best way to get to see Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille at the top of the hill.  I snapped a random picture of a tree at the bottom of the hill, because I liked the intense shadows.  This tree could've been anywhere, but I know it was in Marseille at the foot of Notre Dame de la Garde! That is one of the reasons I prefer painting from my own pictures.

6x6
Oil on Board

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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Fuzzy Wuzzy Koala Bear - SOLD

I forgot to post this fuzzy wuzzy purple koala bear who sold pretty quickly.
He looks more purple in person.

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.

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.

   

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.

My Fourth Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

I had a ceramic bell, so that's what I went for.

Here are the paintings that I worked on.  I had a hard time with the bell initially, but worked on it again and was finally happy with the bell.  The problems were a couple of things.  First, I had bought some Galkyd to use as a medium which dries incredibly fast.  Not a good idea in the dry Sedona climate, and not a good idea when paintings need to be adjusted.  So I had to start over on a whole new panel!  Second, my drawing was way off.  

WONKY BELL

The second time around, I got the drawing of the bell right.  Carol had spoken about the ellipse.  She continued her drawing right off the panel, and this really helped with my 2nd bell.  Frustration wasn't the word because I was almost in tears with frustration with that bell!  

BETTER BELL

The bell painting isn't isn't finished, but I will finish it.  I also photographed my set-up.

Carol's set-up

Beginning of Carol's demo

Carol painted such a lovely demo when demonstrating the glass! In my previous post, I included a picture of the painting that Carol did after the workshop that wasn't a "demo" per se since the entire class was not there, so the morning of the 4th day at the workshop, her demo was glass. 


What I loved about the demo was the restraint used.  Just a little pop of yellow in the middle of the daisy.


In the past, I have painted with tons of color.  My understanding is that this is common for beginners.  This little painting was just darling.  Form the flower by painting the negative space around the petals instead of seeing all the different petals.  Suggest them.  Don't define them.  Strangely, today we fixated on comfortable bras.  This probably wouldn't have happened if there had been any men in the class.  LOL.  Such a fun group.

Finished product

My Third Day at Carol Marine's Workshop

The third day we focused on brushstrokes and composition.  Our exercise was the "no fussing" exercise.  It was one of the few paintings that I actually finished.  Every stroke was a different color even if it was slightly different:  altered with white or grayed down.  It's a great exercise for getting your brain out of the habit of "fussing".  The painting should end up looking like a mosaic.  I had actually tried this exercise from one of the Dailypaintworks Challenges and named my blog Mosaic Hippo as a result since it was the first painting on my blog!

Upon Carol's recommendation, a bunch of us visited the Windrush Gallery in Sedona.  What a visual feast!  Afterwards, a few of us returned to the Sedona Arts Center for some after the workshop painting and a glass of wine.

Carol was gracious enough to paint some glass for us and produced this beautiful morsel.

Fork it Over -- SOLD

Yesterday, I went on another "Still Life Item Quest".  Initially, I only intended to visit what was an awesome Flea Market in Santa Monica.  At some point, the Flea Market changed locations, and can now be perused in less than five minutes!  Since that wasn't satisfying, I continued my quest to Out of the Closet thrift store, 99 Cent Store, and CVS looking for items to paint.  I found a vase, a few cups and plates at Out of the Closet, made my way home and painted this.  I'm pretty happy with it even though I fussed too much with the pear.

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.