Painting #24...The One That Got Away

Well, I have a finished painting but it needs some 'tweaking' to say the least. Try as I might, I squinted, I glanced quickly, I turned it upside down ( but then I realized I would have to stand on my head, since I couldn't 'flip' my still life)....

The photo isn't quite accurate. The orange shows up too sharp and intense and there is a glare in a few places. I will take a new photo when it dries down more.

I believe it will work better if I use almost no medium when I have a high key background. Or I need to work in layers with more time to dry, not a one sitting painting. So that is good, I seem to be learning a thing or two...

The One That Got Away   5 x 7" oil on panel  

Thanks for looking.............Ruth Ann

Painting #14 Daily C

Okay, so this one took a lot longer than the others. The orange was drying out fast and curling up, so I had to take a photo of it while it was fresh. I started it around midnight and got the drawing on and some values in umber placed, then I called it a night.

Good thing I took a photo because it looked really bad this morning, even though I put water on it. With all this snow blowing around, it made perfect sense to just stay in and paint. I had lots of fun with this one and really got mesmerized by trying to capture the feel of an orange.

Then I finished and realized the rim was off plumb! I redrew the line and messed up the whole thing, as it lifted paint in an area that I felt I had just right....sigh! Well, here it is, reclaimed...

Daily C    5 x 7" oil on panel  

I bought two of these dessert dishes and shared one with my fellow daily painter, Kristen Dukat, so you may see the same one in a painting of hers real soon.

Thanks for looking...............Ruth Ann

Painting #7 Study in Orange

What a wonderful day! Traveled to Dayton to one of the galleries I am in and while in town we took advantage of the American Chronicles.....Norman Rockwell exhibit at the DAI. Fabulous! It sure put me in the mood to want to paint people again.  That will wait for another day, though, when I can devote more time.

The first attempt today was a "wiper"....so I did just that and started over. Entire new set up. I was able to settle down and thoroughly enjoy the process............whoops, where did the time go? I love that part of the creative process....time has no meaning.

Looking forward to tomorrow...maybe I will do the spur again?????

Painting #6 Jailbird Feather ( in umber)

Okay,,, you are probably wondering where in the heck I got that title.  Funny story! For those of you who know my husband, Claude, you know he is pretty quiet and not much on the "sense of humor".

Recently we were on vacation out west and had stopped on our way back from Tortilla Flats to explore this little ghost town. Upon exploring the old jail cell, there on the floor lay this black bird feather. I collected the feather to put in my newly adorned cowgirl hat. As we headed for Cave Creek I said to my husband, "I wonder what kind of bird this came from", not  expecting an answer from him but I got no response at all...then he turned to me and very seriously replied...."It must be a jail-bird feather!".
I cracked up!!!! One of the best one-liners he has ever come up with. Now, I can never part with that feather.

Jailbird Feather    5 x 7" oil on panel 

Today I also went a step further with my viewfinder.. I decided to cut a piece of cardboard with an opening to match the size I was painting on; 5 x 7".  Then I fastened it to my Stanright easel and moved it around until it had the composition I wanted. This really helped as I could move much further away so I didn't get caught up in details right away.

I also decided to try gridding it off with string to match how I grid my canvas. I love it! I usually do that with photos, so I love being able to solve the issue when painting from life.

Here is a distant view also....

Until tomorrow.......