"Fitting In"

Fitting In is the finished product of a painting I apparently started a couple of years ago and set aside. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of how it was before. Because the apples are so small on this 6x6 painting, I only used the palette knife a little bit. The apples were then shaped with the brush. The drapery was largely done with the palette knife and polished with a brush.

I also made a change to the name of my blog. For marketing purposes, I think it is best to be consistent, so the name is donnaweathers.blogspot.com as opposed to mosaichippo.blogspot.com. It isn't as clever, but it's less for potential collectors/buyers to remember.

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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:

Tomapples

​I've actually painted this scene before, but it was in pastels.  I thought I would give it a shot in oils with the palette knife, because, hey, I must love a challenge.  Boy was it a challenge.  So much of a challenge that my tomatoes look more like apples, so I titled the painting Tomapples.

SOLD Zakynthos Cave

I've painted this once before, but it was in pastels and sold it to a repeat customer in Georgia.  Still playing with the palette knives and oils.  The palette knives are so much easier to clean!

6x6
Oil on Cradled 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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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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Oil Revisit

I've recently been playing with my oils, due to a pet portrait commission I did. I can't post that one until it has been given to the intended. Meanwhile, I did this nude preggers. I feel as those she's probably pooped from the load. Potential names: "Pooped", "A Load Off" ... Not sure.

I enjoyed doing this painting. It is on loose canvas, but I will be mounting it to a 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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Sedona Peaks

I've been going back through my studies and I have been slacking on the posting! From my photo reference.

 

 

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Animals from Last week

Baby burro and colorful lion

 

 

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SOLD Atlantic Dunes

I don't think I posted this one yet.  I'm a little bit behind due to the group exhibit I participated in.

The Feather King

Well, it has been more than a week since I've painted anything, and my first attempt was a seascape with waves and cliffs and the whole shebang. Didn't work so I put it aside. I felt a little more comfortable with an animal today. Meet the Feather King. Male peacocks are so majestic, how can they not be called the feather king!

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Wave Study: Pacific Storm

Yesterday I decided to do a wave study while on my lunch hour. Armed with a box of Unison Landscape pastels, and a tiny turquoise Sennelier, I used several photo references and my imagination. This is 5x7 on white Wallis paper, and took about 20 minutes for 90% of it which I finished off at home.

 

 

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Windy Calanque Journey

This may look familiar to you.  You haven't lost your mind.  Yes, you have seen it before.
I repainted the same scene for my Week 4 assignment in Karen Margulis' online class.
It's bigger this time around.
9x12
Pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord
We did a watercolor under painting.  I used blue watercolor underneath where the orange-ish cliff would be, and orange underneath where the blue water would be.  Fun exercise!

The new painting is immediately below (9x12), and the old painting (8x10) (sold) is underneath it.

Electric Marsh

I wish the vibrant colors would show up in the photo, darn it.

Kissing Cousins

To me, it looks as though this "pear" of cousins want to kiss one another but fear the taboo.

Zig Zag

Here is another 5x7 study. I call him Zig Zag because of the dark mark above his wing. We saw this blue heron (I think) walking around Volendam in The Netherlands so I snapped his photo. He was so friendly and not even remotely afraid if people.

 

 

 

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Pynki on the Move - Week 3 assignment

For my assignment for Week 3 of Karen Margulis' class, I painted an animal.  This was a bit bigger than I am accustomed to painting.  I wanted to punch up the colors quite a notch, so I made sure the VALUES were correct regardless of the color.  That's why Pynki is pink (... and turquoise ... and green ... etc.)

He was fun.  He wasn't supposed to look like a baby elephant, but that's a flaw that I don't mind.  It was an adult elephant in the reference photo.

The name is made up, and I went with a "creative" spelling just for the fun of it.

Lavender of Gordes - Week Three - SOLD

I had a lot of "wipers" from my "dailies" this weekend that didn't come out the way I had hoped so I went back to something familiar.  I painted this in oils over Thanksgiving weekend, but took some liberties with both. In the pastel painting, I omitted the cypress trees.  In the oil painting, I kind of straitened out the curvature of the rows as shown in the original photo.

The photo, the oil and the pastel (in that order).  I'm sure this isn't the last you've seen of Lavender of Gordes!