Holly at Tea Time

Holly at Tea Time.

6x8in oil on canvas  $125.SOL|D

I decided not to paint a Christmas cactus this year as it
took me several attempts to get it right last year.
I have two red teapots now and this one is without the
polka dots. I will do one that later.
This painting comes with a red easel so it can be propped
anywhere as part of the Holiday decorations.

Artist Note.

Continuing the previous posts on techniques.

Opposing Strokes on Colored Ground.  see below.

This one is very popular and for good reason. It brings life
and activity to a painting.
A bright brush is needed. Once again I use a short handle
brush and I find the angle brush is also good for this.
I picked an orange background only because
I didn't want to go too jumpy and by that I mean it can
look spotty if there is too much color and contrast.

The "opposing brush stroke" is needed in this technique.
Place each stroke at an angle to the previous one.
The little areas in-between can leave the spots of color
When it comes to the edges of objects you can
follow the form in short strokes or place your brush on the
edge and pull it away preventing a halo of
the same brush marks all the way around.

opposing strokes

Paint and Line. see below.

I really love this one. It is not as popular so we do
not see as much of it.
Paint an abstract of colors. You can have somewhat of
an idea of the colors you want and the shapes you are
going to draw later.

Then draw your shapes over it.

What a surprise - another apple!

I responded to the shapes and colors by adding
some more colors after I drew the lines but I was
careful to leave the basic idea of
an abstract color design in place.
This technique, at a far more sophisticated level
is used in the drawings of
one of my favorite artists.
Carolyn Plochmann (b. 1926)
She puts paint on and scrapes some off, and repeats.
Adds line, takes some off, changes the lines colors
and keeps working it until it is where she wants it.
It is a visual feast to stand before one of her works.

Finally - The Holly!

 Holly

6x6in oil on canvas board  85.

After several attempts to paint the holly, I finally pulled it off. Well, to my satisfaction at least.

It is said that an artist reflects his time and culture. I can see how this is true, particularly at this time of year because I think of Christmas and Holly as one. Growing up in England, my mother would take us on hikes to pick the holly and she would cluster it on the dining room table with tall candles, on all the fireplace mantelpieces and over the doorways. A visual treat - the glorious red berries adding the perfect touch of color. Even back then, the red was what appealed to me.

I wish you all a warm and peaceful  Christmas and Happy Holidays.
I appreciate and thank you for following my blog.


Artist note:
The problem I was having was not remembering to have only one dominant color. Once I came up with a design  (see below) keeping this principal in mind then painting all those leaves and berries became easier. I do prefer the red over the green and having it as the accent color makes it more appealing to me.