White Flowers And Porcelain

White Flowers And Porcelain

6"x6" oil on Raymar panel $120.

Purchase HERE

Artist Note

This was a demo for one of the 

Artist Guild classes.

It is the last month 

of the Guild sessions until August

and we are doing a refresher 

of everything which has 

been  reviewed this semester.

I started this painting with a 

 dark transparent paint

 covering 

the board 

and then I lifted off

the lighter design with a rag.

This exposes the white 

of the canvas. 

To make the main flower shape

 whiter I used a brush 

dipped in Gamsol to totally

lift off the underpainting.

I find it pretty easy to gradually 

build up  the shapes with

layers of color making sure 

only one or two flowers 

are a tad realistic and the rest 

just abstract suggestions of color.

Maybe this is the easiest way of all

for floral still life paintings.

I bet most of you have tried it. 

What do you think?

Fracturing from the Imagination. Step by Step.

Fracturing from the Imagination.

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

This is a re-post I thought some of you would find interesting.
I am doing color charts galore...trying to rediscover my palette
since the cataracts removal


Artist Note

I love painting from my imagination.
Finally at the stage where I feel I know the lemon well enough
to paint without looking at one. I start off with a basic design
and then I respond to what the paint does on the canvas.
Here are the steps I took to do this piece.

First I randomly applied color
in two stages.
A thin underneath wash of colors
see the cool mauve and transp
yellow oxide.
Then I did the drawing of shapes
with a rigger  brush and dark paint.
Next I painted the warm red, lifting off
with the handy tool to expose underneath colors
leaving random areas and fruit, plain.

I added the dark at the top
and made a slightly darker
square at bottom right.
This was intuitive.
At this stage they were all going to be
lemons.

When I had put in the dark top
and moved down to place the darker area
I realized it was because I need another dark
so I made the lemon into a plum.
This is the great thing about painting
from the imagination. You have time to
listen to your inner art voice and
respond accordingly.
I paint at this stage in complete silence.
No music or story going on.

I usually start with the lightest and
focal point area as I did here.

Anyway, at this stage I feel  confident
that I can solve the rest of the painting
and as I feel the fracturing technique becoming
more and more natural

This post was in 2012 so by now the
fracturing has certainly become as natural as breathing.

Another Mustard and Garlic

Mustard and Garlic

6'x8" oil on canvas  Sold.

Artist Note.

I am so busy I decided to 

re-post an image

from a  previous post 

using the Gray Poupon mustard jar

I have painted it several

times.

This is from Jan 2015.

I find it interesting to see

 the two different approaches.

Still sorting, eliminating or boxing

for either the garage sale

 or keepers.

This is a lot of work!

Thanks for all the helpful hints

on having a garage sale.

All written down for a guideline.

They have given me peace of mind...

well... as much as is possible

at the moment. 

Happy I started the process early,

 but still so much to do.

My classes prevent a full-time focus, 

but also provide a refuge

from it all.

The sale is on Sept 2nd

Nothing as great

as having kind and caring 

blogging friends.

Thank YOU!

Turquoise Leaf and Oleanders - day 23 in the Challenge

Turquoise Leaf and Oleanders

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Day 23

I have loved this little leaf dish because the
glaze is so drop dead beautiful.
It gives the impression of caribbean water.
Glazes are something my mother excelled at
as a potter, and this is a color
she would have loved to have used.

Sun is out today - hooray!

My Favorite Gift

My Fav Gift

6x7in watercolor on Yupo  NFS


Below is a photo of a gift from a blogging friend.
Plus a bit of seasonal holly!

The true spirit of Christmas giving is in
this gift. Can you imagine how my heart
jumped with pleasure when I opened this up.
This gift is from someone I have never met but
when she saw this beautiful glass ball filled with
feathers she thought of me and my feather series
Her thoughtfulness left me speechless.
It arrived just as we were leaving on a 6 hour
drive. I hung it from the car visor so I could
try and paint it while we traveled.

First I explored with some sketches.

and then I went into my first ever Yupo
experience...and what an experience THAT was!
Can you imagine every bump in the road...
The journey flew by.

I sincerely wish everyone's Christmas will be 
full of love for those with us as well as those 
who have departed, but live on in our hearts.

Tea for the Holidays /Workshop Wrap-up

Tea for the Holidays

6x8in oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

I love my red teapot, and for this holiday season

it seems appropriate to paint it with the 

pine cones and berries.

Artist Note.

I didn't manage to finish this demo until the workshop

was over, but they did get to see the main steps involved.

It was an exciting workshop with accomplished artists.

I think the main change I saw in their work from before

to after - was a stronger use of color and not over-stroking

the paint. That came about as they learned the different 

ways to use the knife and brush. 

Over-stroking the paint can lead to 

a frown from Julie!

As well as regular canvas I also provided sheets of the 

Fredrick black primed canvas sheets to try. 

They really seemed to enjoy working on that particular surface.

The landscapes were worked out first with value thumbnails

They did fracture more than you can tell, but

"tidied up" to their own personal interpretation. It was the

second fracturing workshop for three of them.

Here are some of their workshop paintings. Unfortunately

some of the photos I took had showed too much glare and 

I apologize to the artists for missing some out.

(Click to enlarge)

Brown Betty

Vintage Brown Betty

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

I was invited to be a guest artist on the Moses Botkin Challenge.
A small group of very talented artists enjoy the stimulation of a
combined challenge once a month.
The Theme  for June - Vintage


And that brings me to Brown Betty.
This is my mother's tea pot and it is very old.
This style of pot is fondly referred to by the Brits as Brown Betty.
It was first made in England in 1695.
You have to admit that was a very, very long time ago.
It seemed that the specific type of red clay used appeared to retain heat
quite well so it became very popular to use for a teapot and still is to this day.
I can remember seeing the Brown Betty in all of my friends homes
when I was growing up. My mother loved this pot so much she brought
it to this country with her. It only gets used when another Brit comes for
a cuppa tea.
If you are interested you can click to read more info on Brown Betty

Here are the other Challenge entries.

"Old Hotness" 

Oil on canvas panel, 

8"x6" ©2013 

Diana Moses Botkin

"Old Red" 

Oil on linen, 

20"x20" 
©2013

Suzanne Berry

"Absinthe" Pastel, 

20"x16"
©2013 V. N. Ross

If you don't already, I hope you visit their blogs and get to know
these talented and fabulous women

Grapes and Pitcher

Grapes and Pitcher

6x6in oil on canvas panel $100. SOLD



This is an older piece that I always liked
so I rubbed a little linseed and Gamsol on it
and painted a little fracturing over it.

Artist Note.

It was fun this weekend concentrating on paintings
for my upcoming show in May.
I worked on three. The smallest one is 16x20
I starting with texturing the canvas with acrylic
modeling paste. I then brushed on a couple of
coats of gesso.
When dry, I did my charcoal drawings
over which I sprayed Krylon fixative.  Really handy
to do it this way just in case I got something wrong as
it would be easy to wipe it off without losing my drawing.
The next step was getting the getting the large shapes
massed in with transparent color. I will be
developing them more completely next week.

Tea for Two

Tea for Two

6x6in oil on canvas $100.

Celebrating ending the 30 in 30 day challenge
with a pot of tea with my hubby.
I have two new red mugs and was excited because
they matched the teapot, but the handles are small
and high up which makes them uncomfortable to hold.
Guess they will be for painting and not to use.

Artist Note.

First time ever painting a cupcake!

My Artbyte video should be released at any time by Daily Paintworks.
Nervous in case no one likes it.

Fruit Bowl

Fruit Bowl

6x6in  oil on canvas board  $100. SOLD

I enjoyed all the colors yesterday so today I rearranged all the parts...
on a smaller "square"  no less!
Going for another one tomorrow.

Artist Note.

Working within a square worked best when I lowered my viewpoint
and placed a knife and leaf at an angle to offset the  horizontal
lines..

Oleander Bouquet

Oleander Bouquet

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

All good things must end, and my trip down memory lane painting Yellowstone
from my sketchbook, is over, and I am rather sad to see it come to an end.
It was very enjoyable painting and then reminiscing with my hubby. He has a
great memory and we spent some happy evenings enjoying the trip all over again.

Artist Note.

Oh boy - after all those landscapes with a specific focus, it was hard
to get back into painting a still life again. I really admire those artists who
seem to be able to switch back and forth at will. It took me a while to get into
the landscape flow and now it will take me a couple of days to get the still
life flow back.
Does that happen to anyone else? Any suggestions?

Apricots and Turquoise

Apricots and Turquoise

8x6in oil on canvas board  $125. SOLD

Surprised I got anything done because I had some
heart pounding moments today. This should tell the story.

Not one, but two rattlesnakes, having a party mating
right outside my studio. About 5 feet from my door.
Those are the two rattles you see with the black and stripes.
I used my ZOOM lens naturally!!

Peonies, Apricots and Turquoise #2

Peonies, Apricots and Turquoise #2

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  $125. SOLD

I had a request for a sister painting to one I did about a week ago.
Same items only rearranged differently.

Thanks for all the congratulations on my 400th blog everyone!

Freesia and Turquoise

Freesia  and Turquoise

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100. SOLD

This beautiful little vase was handmade in Japan and I have painted it a lot.
The glaze turns from Turquoise into a deep cobalt which seems to float
on top of a rich brown glaze. There is no way I can capture it with paint.
It is fun trying though!

Flowers and Fruit

Flowers and Fruit

6x6in oil on canvas board  $100. SOLD

I did not have much time today so I did a smaller piece.
The 6x6in format is always fun to do.
I have all kinds of items in here. Cherries, a pear, apricots, lemon slices,
three roses, a vase and a bowl. It is a lot to put into a small area,
but my goal on these small pieces is to give the viewer the impression
of a full sized painting.

Spiders and Stripes

Spiders and Stripes

8x6in  oil on canvas  $125. SOLD

This one was inspired by the new Daily Paintworks Challenge.
The Stripe Challenge. Once again the fabulous Carol Marine
came up with a fun challenge.
I was tempted to use the one in yesterday's blog because it had a
small striped vase, but in the spirit of the challenge I painted this.


Artist Note.

I am loving painting these spider mums. They are so
full of movement.

I was asked what colors I use in my white shadows.
I always am influenced by the color of the light.
If it is warm then I add a little bit of yellow in my white mixture.
*Remember to always add white to each color to get them
to the correct value BEFORE mixing them together
Warm light produces cool shadows - see below.

I use compliments for shadows.
Veridian/aliz+white
Cerulean/orange+white
Ultra Bl/orange+white
Mauve/yellow=white
Cool colors dominate in mixture


Cool light produces warm shadows- see below.

Same mixtures as above but with
the warm color dominating
I often use a yellow green and rust
or yellow green and cool pink.


The main thing to look out for is the surrounding colors. White absorbs
the color of its neighbor. In the Spider and Stripes painting above
I used some of the mixture from the glass in the shadows.
My light source was warm.
Hope this helps, Carol.