Lemon Peel

Lemon Peel

8x6in oil on canvas panel    100.

One of my sons who lives in another state
surprised me today with a visit (for Mothers Day)
and I naturally want to spend
time with him. So this is a fast one!


.

More Lemons

More Lemons

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

This is a warmer paint choice than yesterday's blog.

Artist Note.

I love blue and yellow/orange colors together,
 but I wanted to see if I could have a more
monochromatic color harmony and still have it
where I liked it.
I toned down the blue into a soft grey
using Venetian red and Ultramarine blue.
The trick when using dark colors together in a mixture
is to first make them as light as the value 
you want... and then mix together.


Venetian red is very powerful stuff and it got on my
hands, nose and ears. I now know where I scratch
when I am absorbed in my painting.

Slow-dry Lemons

Slow-dry Lemons

5x7  acrylic    sold


Three lemons are fun to paint.
I am one of three daughters (middle) and I reflected on the differences
between us...as I was trying to set up the lemons from
different angles, sizes and shadow areas.

Artist Note.

This is in acrylic.
I am going to do another one and try it a different way.
With this one I put Slow-dry in the mixtures to keep them
nice and soft. Acrylic took some getting used to for an oil painter like me.
The colors hues seem to be completely different than oils, even with the same
color name. I only seem to use it when I want to try something new or dry fast..
I use a Styrofoam egg carton for my acrylic palette.
The cups are deep enough to keep the paint moist longer
and a damp, folded paper towel fits in perfectly so you can
close the lid, have lunch and come back to find everything still very moist.

.

I also keep them as a reminder of the color palette I used for different paintings.
They stack open really well.
Styrofoam is a horrible material for disposal into the landfill, but one of our high
schools has a garbage machine only for Styrofoam and the kids place their lunch
containers in it...unwashed! It makes solid blocks to be used as paving blocks
and other building parts. Quite brilliant. I love the school for getting it.
Guess where my old palettes go!

Doorway Shadow

Doorway Shadow

6x6in oil on canvas panel  85.

This is my entry for the Daily Paintworks Challenge

 The Shadow Challenge. We are asked to find a subject with a dramatic shadow
and to make the shadow an important part of the composition.



Artist Note.

This is done from memory of a beautiful row of doorways in Guadalajara, Mexico.
I really enjoy making the shadow transparent by looking at the color changes
on the different surfaces

Fractured Blues

Fractured Blues

6x8in  oil on canvas board   SOLD

Different shades of blue on small vessels, reflecting into a bronze tray.

Artist Note.

This was the lower part of a demo I did for the Guild members today.
It was of several Iris with these small pieces, on a reflective surface.

The demo was about using transparent colors underneath
and then placing opaques over them.
After finishing the demo, I scraped off the top part and concentrated on
trying the fracture technique on these beautiful little vessels.
I have the paint much thinner than usual because I wanted to
maintain the glow from the transparent areas showing through.
There is a quality to this piece I really like. I am not sure if it is
the color harmony or the fracturing. Maybe both?

First Onion Painting

First Onion Painting

14x11in  oil on canvas panel

I thought it would be interesting for you to see the first onion
painting I did for the Fruit and Vegetable show, but never entered.
Compared to yesterday's image it looks very ordinary.
The question is...if I had entered this one
would I have won the Peoples Choice Award?

Artist Note.

I appreciate everyone who sent an email asking about the shaper
I showed. I am replying to all of you as fast as I can.

Peoples Choice Award - O is for Onion

O is for Onion

12x12  mixed media  

I was in an Invitational Fruit and Vegetable show recently and was
amazed to find out I won the Peoples Choice Award.
The top artists in the area were participating and most of
them have very contemporary attitudes in their work, so
I thought if I wanted my work to fit in, I would allow myself to go a little
crazy with my piece.
Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the show to find
nearly all the painted works were hard edged and beautifully realistic.
All of it was very, very good.
One of the reasons I was amazed to win.


Artist Note.

I used acrylic paint and glued down a couple of actual pieces
of onion skin. I used the handy shaper I demoed in yesterday's
blog to create some dispersion of pigment into gel medium
and splattered and smudged, having a lot of fun. I threw in a
few tears and decided it was done.
Not my typical work but it is good to let go now and again.

A Friend Came With Snapdragons

A Friend Came With Snapdragons.

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   100.

Lucky me. I do not remember painting snapdragons before so I really
enjoyed doing them. The colors are beautiful. Thank you, Karen.

Artist Note.

I painted them outside in the sunshine to be able to really see the gorgeous colors.

Yesterday, I said I would show some more techniques using the home-made shaper.

On the snapdragon painting above, I was getting
into trouble so I lifted out the problem areas without
getting into muddy colors caused by over-blending.
I had not used staining colors so it went back to the
white of the canvas,

Patterns can be made by turning the
tool sideways. Handy for fences etc.
This is a staining color so it is great for
all kinds of layering.
The shaper is also handy for lifting out
other types of light areas. See next.

I am using the same bit of canvas so
there are some "lift off" areas at the top. 
On the right I used a staining green
with purple so when lifted off, here and
there, some interesting layers can happen.
I painted the basic shape of a rose at
bottom. Looks messy I know but this is
about the principle involved, and not perfection...
(good job only artists are reading this!)

Zooming in on the rose...
I used the shaper to lift out where I wanted
the light areas of the rose petals to be.
This is where the flexibility beats
out the shapers you buy.

The rose is easy to finish with the paint
already lifted off beforehand to
show where the light pattern goes in
I left the transparent areas in some places
and placed green over the lifted out green area.
This is not a finished painting, only a demo
to show the use of the shaper.

Fracturing the Floribundas and Great Tip

Fracturing the Floribubundas.

The beautiful roses are starting to wilt so now is a good time to try
to learn more about fracturing them. So many small petals are impossible to do.
Capturing the colors and overall shape is more what I am after.

Artist Note.

Yesterday, in my blog's comments, Lisa asked how I prevented getting MUD.
It is a common problem all oil painters have to solve so I told her how I worked.
See my reply...also on yesterdays comments.
Below illustrates what helps me the most.

This Great Tip is about a little gadget I make for everyone I teach.
It is really cheap and works better than
the more expensive art shaper.
The purpose is to be able to lift off the paint cleanly.
It is also much more flexible than the one you buy.

Here is a step by step.

I get a razor blade scraper/holder
from Harbor Freight or hardware store
They are $1.99
Make sure they have the
screw at the top as shown.
Next to it is a piece of squeegee
rubber.

I cut the rubber
to the size of the blade.

Unscrew and trim rubber if needed.
The piece of rubber I used had a
ridge which I removed

Here is the completed, small squeegee.

How to use it?

Say your paint is too heavy
or you want a lighter
transparent shade

Just glide your shaper
as you would a squeegee
and lift cleanly off.
If you wish to return to the
white of the canvas then use
Gamsol or your preferred turps.




I use a 6inch squeegee for my large paintings, but this is marvelous for small ones.
On tomorrow's blog I will show some neat techniques you can do with it in
either oil or acrylic.

Hope you found this helpful, Lisa!

Demo for the Guild

Demo for the Guild

14x11in oil on linen   not for sale

This is the demo I did for the afternoon session yesterday.
It is not a finished painting and there are still a few things
I want to take care of.

Artist Note.

Below is the underpainting. The rose colors and greens are done using
 transparent colors.

I notice the dark green at the top of
vase is too strong and is basically right
in the middle of the canvas.








I lifted off the green paint on the vase and repainted it a
solid white...well, slightly different shades of white!
    See below.

The single rose was too full-on and
competed for focal point. I slightly turned it sideways and added leaves.
I changed the color of the band on the bowl and placed a couple of
petals in water.
I allowed the shadows on the right side to balance the weight
of the cluster of objects on the left.

The general opinion of the group was an appreciation
for seeing the changes take place and the reasons why.
Painting is always an adventure and an understanding audience
makes demos much easier.