English Wild Roses

Wild English Roses.

6x8 in oil on canvas $130. SOLD

Artist Note.

The wild rose has been painted 

by some famous artists.
Below

Renoir  (1841 - 1914)
placed them on a hat.

detail

Vincent van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
painted the one below.
He was as taken with the pattern
of the leaves as much as the flowers.

John La Farge  (1835 - 1910)

painted the next one.

It is a Study Of Sunlight

The waterlily is pretty fabulous too!

Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954)

painted many 

florals that I love.

Pretend there is a wild rose in 

the still life above.

The next artist died three years

before Matisse was born.

The English painter

William Henry Hunt (1790 - 1864)
Wild Roses and Birds Nest
I had a print of this one in my
bedroom when I was young.
Maybe that is why I love birds nests?

John William Waterhouse
(1849 - 1917)
included wild roses in the
background
and they are a beautiful
secondary interest.

No roses, but
the painting Waterhouse
did inspired by
Tennyson's poem
The Lady of Shalott
is mind blowing.
I have stood in front of this
huge painting
in speechless awe.
(treat yourself and click on link)

All of these artists painted the
wild rose in a totally different way.
I embrace them all.

Yellow Roses And 1,000 Posts

Yellow Rose #1

6"x 6" oil on canvas panel $110  SOLD

It is rose season.

I managed to get two paintings

completed before the petals fell.
Thank you for sharing your
beautiful roses, Joan.

Artist Note.

I am giving myself a
pat on the back today.
This is my 1,000 post.
I had a shock when I saw
it on the sidebar.
That's a big number!

Quite a while ago I went back
 and deleted some of the
images/posts I thought were
ones I wished I had not shown.
I had gone 488 days without
missing a post, and the
quality... or lack of it
was definitely noticeable,
 and that is
the double edged sword
of "daily painting" and
posting it.

Yes - it is a marvelous way
to improve the actual craft
of painting, but the
creative side does not always
shine through under
those circumstances.
Not for me anyway.

I started to understand
that I needed
to paint every day with
an explority curiosity.
"Good" paintings did not come
out of this, but being aware
of what I liked
 and didn't like 
sure did  - and that
helped me develop
my own style

 I maintain the habit
of painting or sketching daily
Some paintings are
 definitely better than others
..just like some days
are better than others!

The enjoyment for me
is always
with the immersion
into paint and process.

Please share with me what
makes you happy about painting.
The process or the results?

Red Teapot and Van Gogh

Tea With Van Gogh
6x8" oil on canvas panel  SOLD

Artist Note.
Good to be back painting after
being hit with a nasty virus.
I am still coughing and living
in a whirl of
tissues and nose blowing.
From now on it is fist bumps
for greetings
instead of handshakes.

A good friend came back from a
trip to Europe with a gift of two
tablecloths  - both with images of
Vincent van Gogh's work.
This one had his gorgeous"Irises" painting.
see detail below.

I have set up a couple of 

still life displays using 

the tablecloths as the background.

They are rich and exciting.

I decided to use the red teapot

to see if I could balance out

the power of the colors 

in the cloth.

The next one has fruit

in a clay bowl.

You can just see a tiny bit of it

at the right side

I started this before
Mr.blanky blankVirus
decided to form an
intimate relationship
with me and
managed to complete it today.
Yea - on the recovery road!

Market Day - and handy hints.

Market Day

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

A family enjoying our award winning Farmers and Craft
Market here in sunny Las Cruces, NM


Artist Note.
This is another re-post.
This one is from three years ago.
I am recovering from a bug but thought i could pick
up some old posts with good information in them.


The monthly focus is the Figure in Landscape at the
Artist Guild this month. We are a mixed group so
to help the ones without much access to live models
I find it easy to use the tried and true "Stick Figure "
method.
It is easy to find figures in magazines or newspapers to

use a magic marker and do the following
exercise. You can use photos you care
about by placing a piece of glass over
them and draw on it. ( I use a photo
frame piece of glass and tape the edges)
When you do a couple a day you get
used to the basic proportions of the
body - the spine, where the elbows
and knees have a joint,
and the important line of action.
(The movement angle)


I have an exercise where I draw
the stick figure in different positions and
then show how easy it is to use a simple stroke of 
the brush to make the clothes.    

First the drawings.
I spray fixative
over the charcoal
so it can be used
many times and
washed off
afterwards.

Add the paint
using single
strokes for arms
and pants. I paint
a stroke to a joint,
say elbow, stop,
and then start again
I press harder so
the brush gets wider
for the torso

Add all the clothes,
shadows,
and background
and you have a decent
painted figure to go
into a landscape

The artists all
take turns to
paint over the
figures on this
same canvas.
They choose the
the clothes and
background.


This is not about perfection, but it is about finding
a way to grow an understanding of the basics of placing
a figure in the painting.

The top painting was a demo starting with stick figures.

Sorry about not being able to remove the old comments.

Blue Shutters And Colors Used

Blue Shutters - France

8x6in oil on canvas SOLD

What a green thumb the owner

of this house in France must have.

Handsome ivy-covered walls,

clay pots filled with flowers 

and herbs...

plus a comfortable chair to 

sit on.

Artist Note

This is another pick-up post.

This one from 

May, two years ago.

I have expanded the post

by adding the colors used 

because I had a request

for the information.

I painted a transparent

Indian Yellow (WN)

over my canvas mixing 

Transparent Brown Oxide

in the bottom half.

This set up a nice glow

to work my opaque 

colors into.

The warm Turquoise Blue

(LaFranc)

was made lighter with

 Naples Yellow first, 

and white added

for the edge of the shutter

on the right.

I used two different blues

for the shutters in the shade

(mixed with turquoise)

Ultramarine & Ocean.

The dark of the interior 

thru the top of the window, 

and other dark areas

are mixtures of 

Ultramarine and Oxide Brown,

both are transparent.

I often save my notes 

and it 

was interesting and fun

for me to 

go back and see 

how I approached it.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Closet Aprons

Closet Aprons
8x6in oil on canvas SOLD

Artist Note.
These aprons hang in the
 closet in my
downtown studio.
 I am given them as gifts.
Many people don't realise
that bright colors can reflect
back onto the canvas
so they do not get used too much.

This is a painting I did
three years ago.
I used a new brand of
paint and a new color.
It was a magenta type
red/purple.
and the problem was
it never ever did dry 
where I had left it transparent.
Well not for almost a year.
I have never had it happen
before or since.
I threw it into the
 Haz waste-pail
to go to the dump,
but should have written
down the name.

Has anyone else
ever had this problem?
Please share.
It would be neat to know 
what to look out for.

White Ravens

White Ravens

 - another study!

8x10 watercolor on Yes canvas

Artist Note.

I am trying to paint something 

I see in my imagination.

I am using the Yes canvas 

because I can lift and scrub

 as long as I use 

non-staining paint.

I like the strong shapes of the 

Ravens reversed into white

against the dark background.

I want to capture 

what I see when the birds 

are moving

in between the

grasses or branches 

when they visit the pond. 

This  is almost what I am after.

Now I have to try it with oils.

I have been painting Ravens

in gouache to get familiar

with their shapes before painting 

them in oil.

I want them to look like Ravens, 

but not in a photographic way.

I found

it more difficult to paint

 the white ravens

and the pink one below

I think it was because I was 

forced to see them 

in a different way.

Every exploration leads to 

a discovery.

Different Studies of Pink Tulips

Pink X Two

8x4" oil on canvas

fracturing demo

Artist Note.

I have been experimenting

with painting the tulips 

on different surfaces 

with different media. 

The top one in oil was

a quick demo on 

the fracturing technique.

I used alcohol ink on the one below.

Still a work in process. 

I want to keep it abstract

and am looking forward to 

doing more with it. 

I am still discovering 

what acohol ink can and cannot do.

I enjoy its unpredictability.

X three

 alchohol ink on yupo.

Below is another WIP.

I like working on the 

YES canvas surface.

It takes all types of wet media.

Watercolor lifts off cleanly,

but unlike paper

it feels slightly scratchy 

and has a tooth.

X four.

watercolor on Yes Canvas

I don't know if or when 

I will finish

any of these paintings.

Does it matter?

I enjoy doing them

and like

  having a stash of 

unfinished paintings to 

nibble on when I

feel like it.

Pink X Five

Pink X Five

6x6in. Oil on canvas. $110.

Purchase SOLD

Artist Note

Pink... I have several pink 

paintings going. 

Must be the time of year

because

my friends

have given me

pink tulips,

pink freesias,

and are you ready for this...

a pink striped teapot. 

Stay tuned.