Tomato

6" x 6", oil on panel

And finally, after many attempts, the tomato---now a little spoiled but still edible.

Double Tomato Study

6" x 6", Oil on gessoed Crescent Board

This week I started a small still life of a single tomato on a white dish towel---simple and straight forward...so I thought---I wiped it off twice.  I'm still working on the third attempt but decided to set it aside today because it was too wet. So I got another tomato and did these quick studies to play and have fun and remember why I wanted to paint that stinking tomato in the first place.  I toned the surface on the left side with burnt sienna and on the right with green. I like doing these studies, I often do them as a warm up exercise. I'm hoping now I'll return to my other tomato with fresh eyes.

Avocado

One of my favorite foods...

3 3/4" x 5 3/4", Oil on canvas (sold)

A Single Apple

 
3 3/4" x 5 3/4",  Oil on canvas

Study of Three Eggs

6" x 6" , Oil on panel

The Eraser and the French Curve

7 1/2" x 5", Oil on paper

The Last of My Titanium White

3 3/4" x 5 3/4",  Oil on canvas

Cup of Tea

3 3/4" x 5 3/4" Oil on canvas

Still Life Study

Oil on paper, 6 1/2" x 7 3/4"

Figure Study #21 and #22

This is from a life drawing session today. I'm trying not to let myself do just a portrait when I come to these sessions.  The temptation is strong because I'm working small but I really want to practice the whole figure.  I went back to painting oils which was so nice.

#22, oil on gessoed paper, 10" x 8"

Below is from last week. I wasn't so crazy about this one but I do like the quality of the pastels in places so I thought I'd go ahead and share it.  The other thing that's different about using pastels vs paint for me is that I sit while I draw and stand while I paint. When standing I can easily step back and look with a fresh eye at my progress. Sitting while I work I often wait too long to get up to check for mistakes.  That's want happened with #21. I was well into it when I realized the proportions were wrong so I had to stretch her out and that cut off part of her head.

#21, oil pastel on paper, 9" x 12"

#21 detail

Portrait Study #20

9" x 12", oil pastel and markers on paper

I'm enjoying the chunky, imprecise quality of the pastels. It's hard to see that in the small, full image (above) but in the detail (below) you can get an idea of what it would look like viewing in person close up.

Portrait Study #19

12" x 9", oil pastel and markers on paper

Finally…. another portrait attempt at a life drawing session I attended today.  It's been super busy these last few weeks but hopefully life will slow a bit  now and I'll get to draw and post more.

Figure Study # 18

oil pastel & markers on paper,  12" x 9"

This was from an open studio life drawing session today.  Normally I would paint since it's one long pose but today I felt like continuing my exploration of oil pastels.  When I was working on the pears,  I had this idea of sketching first with markers then drawing over with pastels----so that's what I tried today.  Can't wait to do another one.

Three Pears

Another scene from the dining room table...

Oil pastel on paper, 12" x 9"

And below, some pear sketches from my sketchbook.  In December, I had found this fantastic pear at the grocery store that still had a couple dry yet sturdy leaves attached to its stem.  I carefully brought it home with visions of painting it but alas, it didn't happen.  I have since searched for another like it but have had no such luck. But I did find the tall guy above with the twisted stem who was very nice to draw. So I think my searching is done and I can move on.

oil pastel, sketchbook 12/2013

Flowers for Pupa

Oil pastel on paper, 12" x 9"

Another oil pastel from the dining room table.  I did this over five days here and there when I had time. Each time I set to work on it the light was different and the flowers had wilted more so a I really made a lot of it up.  Below is a the first impression of these same bunch of flowers that I had done in the end of December.

Acrylic on canvas, 6" x 4", 12/2013

Survivors

oil pastel on paper, 9" x 12"

These are two broken off pieces from my outdoor plants I was able to rescue before they froze.  I've been admiring them on our dining room table for about a month now.

Working with oil pastels is something new for me. I came across a nearly unused box in my drawer a few months ago and thought with the busy holidays and not much opportunity to paint I could maybe use these.  They were---are---great.  I kept them on the corner of the table with my sketchbook so they were always easy to get to when I knew I had a little window of drawing time.  Very little prep and very little clean up---perfect for very little time.  The two below are some of my first attempts I did in October.  The one above I did yesterday, I wanted to try nicer and bigger paper.

oil pastel, sketchbook 11/2013

oil pastel, sketchbook 11/2013

Olives

Happy New Year!

Oil on panel,  6 1/2"  x 4"

Balancing

8" x 4", Oil on paper

Standing Straight, Trying to Find Balance, To the Point...some other titles I was thinking of while painting.

Scissor Study

6 3/4" x 9", Oil on paper

Single Spatula and a chicken

6 1/2" x 4 1/2 ", Oil on paper

The painting above no longer exists. Why? Because of a chicken---

When I finished this painting I took it outside to show my husband. While we were chatting, I was holding the painting (attached to a piece of cardboard) at an angle to my side when, for whatever unknown reason, our chicken jumped up and tried to land on it. Right on my just finished oil painting.  And since it was at an angle, she slid down the paper with her little, sharp claws dragging across the wet paint.  It happened so fast it shocked us both.  Ironically, we had just been talking about said chicken, how we both really liked her (and still do).  Why did the chicken jump on my painting?  To teach me not to bring them outside!  Her claws didn't tear the paper but left deep indentions that I couldn't repair. Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Well, happily I had taken a photo of it before the damaging encounter. I was particularly happy with how the metal of the spatula turned out and with the small scratch on the handle.

Spatula Study

6" x 6", Oil on paper

Red Wine

6" x 6", Oil on paper

Experimenting more with the Arches paper.  I was aiming for an appearance of a print (being on paper with the traditional clean, white border) yet still be a painting.  The actual size of the paper is 12" x 12". So it looks like this:

Wine-Paper-Study

8" x 10", Oil on paper

I'm trying out Arches Huile paper for the first time.  It can take oil paint directly without primer.

A Sweet Dog

6" x 6", oil on cradled panel

This is another wedding related painting.  It's a commission from a dear friend of mine for a gift for her dear friends who got married today.  It's a portrait of their dog Suki.

Fruit Tart

6"x 6", oil on panel

This I did as gift for a bride-to-be who among many things is also a talented baker.  It was so hard not to just stick that fork in it while I was painting and eat it!

Figure Study #16

A new alla-prima figure study from today:

8" x 10", oil on gessoed paper

I was hoping to paint the whole figure but before I knew it the time was up.  Sigh... I would have liked to continue on this one.

Figure Study #13

14" x 11", acrylic and oil on paper

I did this study in two session----last Thursday and today. The first two hour pose I did in tones of green with acrylic (below), then the second I painted over it in oils.  I could barely sleep last night with the anticipation of getting to add the color today. Even though I didn't get to finish it completely and there's some funny parts I'm pretty happy with it. 

14" x 11", acrylic on paper

What's New --- Verdaccio

Figure Study #12

10" x 8", acrylic and oil on primed paper

I did this a couple weeks ago at the open studio two hour pose.  I began by doing a green tonal underpainting in acrylic and then finished it with oils on top as sort of an experiment.  At the time, I saw  a lot I wanted to change and planned to paint more on it at home but I never got to it.  Now I'm kind of glad I didn't mess with it.  I even like the yellow and blue preliminary sketch marks coming through.


Then something very different:

Verdaccio Study #1

14" x 11" Oil on linen

This is the verdaccio style painting I've been working on for a couple of weeks. The underpainting is complete and next I'll start adding color in thin transparent layers.
I'm taking an informal class with portrait artist Debra Richardson to learn her verdaccio method.  She provided the reference image for this study. Everyone in the class is using the same picture; it's super interesting to see how different each is turning out. I am eager to finish this one and to start another but of my own image.