Cherry Blossoms - beginning - 36x36 A work in progress

Cherry Blossoms - beginning - 36x36  Oils on canvas

 WORK IN PROGRESS - Day 1 -  3/31/2010

 I've roughed in the areas of sky or leafy background behind the upper part of the cherry tree.  I've also begun the little creek or lake at the bottom.

It's going faster than I thought that it would. I've only done one painting as large as this. I finally remembered that I would do better (maybe) with bigger brushes than the ones I was using.  DUH!


Tomorrow I'll continue making the cherry tree limbs. 


WORK IN PROGRESS - Day 2 - 4/05/2010

Well, it today wasn't "tommorow" as I said it would be. I built fifteen (15) picture frames during the days in between the fist post and this post .  (Cut, glued, nailed, sanded and painted those frames.)

TODAY I "grew" more limbs, branches, blossoms and etc.  I ahve also been fiddling with the area beyond the shore line of the lake and am feeling better about that part.

The blossoms seem to be going well. Sure is a LOT of pinnnnnnnkkkkkkk!  :-)

The grass at the very bottom needs some fertilizer - or something! Maybe some varying grasses heights and colors?

Almost done, though!

The Antique Dealer - Menton France

$175.00 plus shipping

The Antique Dealer - Menton France  18x24  Oils on canvas panel

Another painting inspired by Jilly's Menton Daily Photos. This fellow is an antique dealer sitting on one of his pieces looking a "bit" displeased with something. Maybe it was the last meal he ate, maybe there are no customers. Maybe, perhaps, who knows?

I think that his eyes are kind but his mouth reflects some disappointment(s)?

Children Sitting On A Park Bench

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Children Sitting On A Park Bench   16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Image updated 3/31/2010

These two are intently watching something in the grass. I wonder what it is?  :-)

I'll glare at this one for a while - I feel the need to make more showdowy shadows! The light is coming from the right but the children's shadows don't show that clearly - if at all.

I took a break from making canvases and frames to make a painting.  My palette had some two-day-old glumps of paint on it so . . . .   Surprisingly some had not dried at all and some were completely dry!  I dislike wasting paint, but I like to have enough on my palette that I don't have to find the tube then squeeze out some more.  Half the time I don't know the name of the color I'm using at the time anyhow!  Much of what I do is straight out of the tube - for instance the boy's shirt is four or five reds with Gamblin's Radiant Magenta as the lightest "red".

3/31/2010 - UPDATE - I darkened the "shadow" side of the foreground objects - the children, the tree and the trash container.

What have I been doing, anyway?

I haven't made a post to this blog in a while because I've been posting to my "studio blog". I've been "building" a 36" square canvas and four (4) custom picture frames.  I need to go to the "lumber store" and get more wood to make a few more frames.

I heard from a "reliable source" in one of my art clubs that one of the art-show judges considered "gallery wrap" paintings to be unfinished and shouldn't be shown in a show/exhibit.  So . . . . I'm putting frames on my gallery-wrap canvas paintings for the art show(s).  I guess that I don't mind too much.  I'm not a fan of gallery wrap paintings myself, but they seem to be popular in magazines & such. 

Whatever!

Happy WARM Tuesday

Today we had temps in the low 70s F and almost all of the snow is gone!  Hoorah! I was busy making a 36"x36" canvas for my daughter's painting.  I cut up a 2x4 piece of lumber to make the stretchers. The idea is that I'll take the canvas off of the stretchers for mailing when the painting is finished, dry, varnished and etc. Sounds like a good idea - we'll see.

The last of the snow! That's the rain barrel that jumped out and kicked me in the leg for no reason! The barrell with 60 gallons of water frozen solid and it JUMPED and hit me! Amazing!  :-)

Me in the sizzling heat of 73 F making the 36x36 canvas. :-) 

73 is hot when the temperature 2 days ago was freezing and 5+ inches of snow! 

Good grief!  More photos in my Art Studio Blog.  

(I was smiling - the photo just doesn't show it)  Really!

First days of Spring - Snow, then & now

Sunday March 21, 2010. At least 5 inches of snow on the ground (and everything else for that matter).!

I cleared a path across the deck to get to my studio.

Tuesday March 23, 2010.  0 inches of snow on the ground. 

There are a few "clumps" of snow here and there on the ground and on the North-facing roof tops. The ground (lawn) is moooshy soggy. And the mud sticks to the bottoms of our shoes - good for making bricks, maybe?

Cherry Blossoms Study #1 - Study for Work In Progress

Cherry Blossoms Study #1  11x14  Oils on canvas panel

Study for Work In Progress.

This is an 11x14 "sketch" for a painting for my daughter. The final size will be 3 feet by 3 feet on stretched canvas.  I didn't have a "small" square support/ground to work with, so I used one of my canvas covered masonite panels.

Question to knowledgeable artists:  is a canvas panel called a "support" or a "ground"?  I looked at the Golden Paints.com  web site and I interpret them as saying that a "support" and a "ground" are essentially the same thing only different.?!  Aaaack!  I'm assuming that the support is the material to which ground is applied.  Then my oil paints are applied the the ground that has been applied to the support.

So . . . . . what is the thing called that I frame (maybe) & hang on the wall? 

A PAINTING! (DUH!)

What is a Ground?
Historically, a ground is a surface specially prepared for painting by applying a layer of paint of even tone in preparation for further painting techniques. Acrylic Gesso can be used as a ground in the true sense, or a layer of gel, medium or paint can also be used for this purpose. With the availability of so many suitable products, a ground can be very specifically tailored for the requirements of the artist. 

What is a Support?
The term "support" refers to any material onto which paint is applied. Canvas, wood, and paper are common painting supports, but the types of supports used for artwork are very extensive. Cave walls and animal skins were among the first supports. Plaster frescos and wooden panels later became prominent, which eventually gave way to linen and cotton canvases. Modern supports such as polyester canvases, AcrylaWeave® and Syntra® panels will most likely succumb to other advancing technology. The search for the ideal support is perhaps a never-ending quest, and is very much influenced by the types of materials available at the time. 

Henri Rests A While

Henri Rests A While  12x16  Oil on canvas panel

This painting of Henri is another really wonderful from the blog Menton Daily Photos by Jilly.

After reading Jilly's narrative accompanying the photos of Henri I think that he's a guy that I wouldn't mind "hanging out" with.  There is another photo of Henri on "his" page that I might attempt but his expression in this photo spoke to me.

Thanks, Jilly for letting "us" look at your world!

I thnk that I'm not going to do any more with this, but . . . .   I think maybe his eyes need some attention.

Having a snow morning!

Snowy Sunday March 21, 2010 morning!

That's my studio in the back yard. There is four (4) inches on the ground (roofs too, I suppose). I think that it's a safe bet that I won't be going to my little studio very soon today!  :-)

Melissa's vegetable garden in the back yard. We almost put some onion sets in the ground but decided to wait until after Easter.

Looking south down the street in front of our house. Very pretty to look at.  The snow has covered the street since I took this photo earlier this morning.  I had to use my "snow shovel" to grope for the morning paper in our driveway. FOUND IT!  And thanks to the carrier delivery person, it was completely dry! 

Having a snow day - March 20, 2010!

Yesterday afternoon the mid-afternoon temperatures were in the mid 60s F.  About the same time today, SNOW and temperatures in the low 30s F.

4 PM Saturday

A dusting of sleet & hail

5 PM Saturday

1/2 inch fluffy snow on top of the sleet & hail. Very slippery.

The dogs like to eat the snow.  Go figure. They also like to run then put on the "brakes" so that they slide.  I don't encourage them.

Theme Day: Changes

Theme Day: Changes  12x16  Oils on canvas panel.

It's funny how "we" find wonderful photos to give us inspiration to make a painting. A blogger friend made a watercolor painting from a photo image on the blog built by "Jilly" where I found the photo for this painting. The website is Menton Daily Photo and contains beautiful images and descriptions of the subjects in and in the area of Menton, France.  The subject photograph blog post for this painting is Theme Day: Changes.

I could probably touch up this painting here & there, but NAH! I'm going to leave it alone, relax & enjoy Jilly's blog posts from Menton, France.  This is probably as close to being in France as I'll ever get!

The Eyes

The Eyes  9x12  Oils on canvas panel

I "found" this photo in "Georgia - Between Caucasus and Black Sea", the blog of Jemal Kasradze

Mr Kasradze is a professional photographer in Georgia, Russia and does (in my humble opinion) beautiful and thoughtful photography.  I'm confident that you will agree after you visit his web site.

 

Woman Outside in summer

Woman Outside In Summer  20x25  Oils on canvas panel

Image update 3/31/2010.

I have some work to do, but thought that I'd post the painting anyway!  I need to let the paint dry then I'll put in shadows and do some glazes.

Overall, though I'm not totally unhappy with what I've done so far.

3/31/2010 - Wednesday afternoon.  Although I had done all that I am going to do with this painting, I made a new photo just this afternoon for this update. 

4/7/2010 - couldn't help myself - I had to "fix" some things.  NOW it's finished!

I'm not sure that the title of this painting makes sense, even to me.  There she sits wearing a sweater, a blanket over the back of her chair and a jacket on the other chair.  Maybe it's early Spring?

Bouquet on Piano

Bouquet on Piano  9x12   Oils on canvas panel.

I saw this bouquet in a YouTube video and paused the video enough to make a sketch! I honestly don't remember the subject of the video; a comedian I think.  The sketch was something that the dogs growl at it's so bad. I put the sketch in the recycle box.

I know absolutely ZIP, ZERO, NADA about flowers but these looked pretty and that's enough for me. I'm garden-challenged and am not allowed to pull weeds in our gardens at home. 

High Desert Adobe

$75.00 plus shipping

High Desert Adobe   9x12  Oils on canvas panel

I made a watercolor painting (a sad thing) and liked the subject better than the watercolor painting.  So I made a painting with oil - in my comfort zone.

It needs "something" but I'm not sure what. I'll put it aside and the "fix" will come to me - I hope.

 March 17, 2010 Update


I stared at the "original" painting and came to the conclusion that the roof was crooked in relation to the building - so I fixed the roof! I also darkened the building shadows and glazed the distant mountains & any shadow with Cerulean Blue.  I'll keep this!

Shurok - Painting #2

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Shurok - painting #2  12x16  Oil on canvas panel

I made a 9x12 painting of Shurok after he died not long ago and sent the painting to his "mother" who is one of my "blog friends".

I liked the composition and the kitty (and his mom) well enough that I wanted a painting of Shurok for myself, so I made the painting - again. It helps me feel better!

I made this canvas panel as well. It's a piece of masonite with a pine "frame" and gallery-wrapped with 100% cotton duck. I'm not sure that I am comfortable not framing my paintings in the traditional sense. I just need to make sure that the sides are painted to match the main painting.

Sometimes you feel like a NUT, sometimes you don't! :-)

Hex Nuts   9x12   Oil on canvas panel

I did this today in a few hours just because I felt like doing it.  I saw a picture while surfing public domain photographs for cherry blossoms. Why a photo of a hex-nut was shown amongst the cherry blossom photos is . . . . . . . .

I used Gamblin's Silver "metals" oil paint mixed with white & Gamblin's Portland Grays (light, medium and deep) for highlights. It looks really "different" when the light hits it just right and the silver shines. It doesn't photograph well, but the silver sheen is there. I made the canvas panel - covering a 9x12 piece of Masonite with 100% cotton duck canvas.

Art Shows Dilemma

I belong to two art "clubs" in the area (NW Arkansas) and both are having a judged art show about the same time. :-)

Show "A" allows 3 submission.. Up to 2 of the 3 might be chosen to be displayed in the show for judging and one possible award. I have to choose 3 paintings to submit for show "A".

Show "B" allows from 1 - 5 entries per artist. All entries will be displayed and judged for awards. I have to choose 5 paintings to submit for show "B"

After much agonizing and going back and forth I've made a "list" of 10 that I'll be choosing from - see the images below.

Please take a look at the ten paintings then tell me which 3 for show "A" and which 5 for show "B" - any painting can't be in both shows!   :-(

#1 - RR Crossing On Smith Ridge Road

#2 - Two Dollars An Hour

#3 - Last Bus to Zurich

#4 - Flamenco Dancer with Red Fan

#5 - A Couple on a Park Path

#6 - Farmer Reading His Newspaper

#7 - Lady With Yellow Scarf

#8 - Harvest Time - Gleaner #1

#9 - After The Ice Storm

#10 - Cupcakes

Which three (3) would you choose to be in the juried (to be entered) show?

Which five (5) would you choose to be in the other art show?

Leave a comment with your "votes"!  Thanks for looking.  :-)

An award - times three!

Another sunshine award!  An avalanche of 3 Sunshine Awards within a week! I need some real sunshine and some warm sun. This Sunshine came to me from Millie whose blog is http://millienguyen6.blogspot.com/   Millie makes AMAZING watercolor art. I work in oil paints and tried watercolors not long ago. After the first watercolor painting I put the watercolors into a drawer! :-)

The rules for accepting the award are:

- Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
- Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they received this award.
- Link to the person from whom you received this award.

Some have already received a "Sunshine Award" but they're getting another!  :-)

My first 6 are:

 1. Carolina Alzamora 

 2. Tony Kucera  

3. Irina Rekhviashvili  

  

4. Pilar B de Sala    

5. Sylviane Le Cann 

 6. Jill Polsby