Paintings today - Monday Sept 19 2011

I've learned a very good way for PC users to view these photos without that "slideshow" @#$% that Google has provided. Right-click then choose "open in new window". WONDERFUL! Thanks to René Beeldendkunstenaar in his blog René PleinAir.  Thank you, thank you!


I've worked on the skateboarder with the red tee shirt for a couple of days. I did  Eagle 3 today after lunch. I might fiddle with the eagle, but for now I'll leave it alone. :-)


I didn't do all of these today or this week. I'm getting caught up to-date with posting to this blog.

Eagle 3
12 x 16 Oils on gessoed panel

Enjoying an expresso
9 x 12 Oils on gessoed panel

Farm Couple
12 x 18 Oils on canvas panel

First coffee in the morning - 1
12 x 18 Oils on canvas panel

First coffee in the morning - 2
12 x 16 Oils on canvas panel

First coffee in the morning - 3
8.5 x 11  Oils on gessoed construction plywood

Flower after the rain
9 x 12 Oils on gessoed panel

Sunflower from our home garden

PRIVATE COLLECTION

Sunflower from our home garden  8x12  Oils on canvas panel

We have a small vegetable garden in our back yard where we (attempt) grow tomatoes, potatoes, purple hull peas and sweet peppers.  I'll plant seeds for almost any vegetable and wait to see what happens.  Our cucumbers started out really well then - decided to not do really well.  Our Brussel sprouts aren't brusseling but our dill is looking good.

Enough horticulture.  This painting came from me seeing the sun shining from the back of the sunflower blossom and I tried to capture that bright yellow against a dark background. I continue to battle GLARE in photos of my paintings. I'll be that I couldn't get the glare if I were to TRY to make a photo of the glare.

Squirrels and I plant sunflowers among the veggies. I buy my sunflower seeds from the store, the squirrels get theirs from our bird feeders.  When the sunflower seeds are ripe, I put the seeds into the bird feeders and the squirrels plant some of them.  A form of recycling I suppose!  :-)

Girl in the Monaco Flower Market

$150.00 plus shipping

If interested, contact me at ken.barclay@yahoo.com

Girl in the Monaco Flower Market  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

Another painting inspired by a Jilly Bennett blog. This time it's her Monte Carlo Daily Photo blog. What a rich resource her blogs are! AND they're INTERESTING to read as well as to view!

Anywayyyyy - I took some liberties in making the painting from Jilly's photo. So what's new? 

I had done a painting a while ago of a vendor in a Flea Market Flower Stand and had fun trying to paint things that looked like flowers. I struggle with plant life-forms for some reason. Trees, shrubs, flowers and etc. make my palms sweaty. Some research into some "how to paint green things" seems in order! :-)

The Rose

$50.00 plus shipping

The Rose  9x12  Oils on masonite panel

The Pro Flowers web site tells us: "White roses represent innocence and purity and are traditionally associated with marriages and new beginnings. The white rose is also a symbol of honor and reverence, and white rose arrangements are often used as an expression of remembrance. 

OK, so what does this white rose mean to the lady?  From her expression it might be one of an arrangement sent to her by her new found male "friend".  Or it might be that she's in her garden enjoying the scent of a fresh rose.

For me, this is a subdued painting - not a lot of color. I did put a red hair band in her hair just to ease my angst.

Market Flower Vendor

$75.00 plus shipping

Market Flower Vendor  11x14  Oils on masonite panel

Another "EH!" photo from my naughty camera. ANYWAYYYYY. . . . 

This is from a photo I had in my computer files. I've long forgotten where it came from or when I downloaded it.  I do know (I think) that this was photographed in Seattle's Pike Place Market. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!  :-)

The original photo had much more floral detail in the background which, in my humble opinion, took away from the lady graciously making an arrangement for her customer.

Water Lily

S O L D

Water Lily  16x20  Oils on canvas panel

This is the first (only) bloom in Melissa's "frog pond". The frog pond is our 50 gallon water element near her pergola on the North side of our house.

Irises

Irises  12x16  Oils on Masonite Panel

These irises are in front of our house. The window is where my "studio" used to be in the front bedroom. The shingles aren't really blue - artistic license going on! 

Yellow Tulips - Rookie Painter Challenge 5

$100.00 plus shipping

Yellow Tulips  12x16  Oils on gessoed panel

This is my entry into the ROOKIEPAINTER blog Challenge Number 5.

I don't do flowers very often and maybe this painting will illustrate why. I not totally happy with it (am I ever?) but there comes a time when I need to just STOP and leave well enough alone.

I'm looking forward to the next "challenge" - I THINK!  :-)

Really, it was fun to make this painting and explore new stuff. 

It seems that my camera is being naughty once more and focusing on anything but the subject I'm photographing! It has the "automatic focus" and I've not learned a way to override that.  Maybe if I were to read the manual?  hmmmmmmm

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!

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. 

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. 

Red Colombine

Red Colombine 20x24 Oil on canvas board.

I did this from a photograph my cousins took on a cruise to Alaska.

I don't do florals very often - I struggle with them. Maybe because I don't know anything about the subject? I am NOT a gardner!

Besides, Red Colombine should be the name of a baseball outfielder!

Skunk Cabbage - WIP

Skunk Cabbage - (WIP) 20x24 Oil on canvas board

(WORK IN PROGRESS)

The idea for this painting comes from some photos sent to me by cousins who went on a cruise to Alaska. Althea is an accomplished photographer, Burt probably goes along to carry the luggage. :-)  He's very handy - or used to be.


I need to finish this with some glazes then put some detail in that long doo-hickey-thing coming out of the flower blossom. It should have many "bumps" on it. I think that the part is a "pistil" or a "stamen" - my biology friends might tell me?