#11 "Hangin' on by a thread..."

Some colors are just elusive to me. I needed a studio buddy today to be there to hold my arm with the brush and just say "STOP!".................."look"...........................then "listen"........ to what your instincts tell you. All of that after a good break to cleanse the eyes and relax the arm and brain!

Instead, I was alone and chose to "fiddle" with the colors, etc..., until I had muddied most of it up. All I can say is, I sure put in the work today.

The bright side is, I am thoroughly enjoying the process ( most of the time). It is pretty impressive to see how much work I have done in January already.

"Hangin' on by a thread..."      5 x 7"      oil on panel     

The colors aren't quite right on this but I can't seem to get them like the painting.

Some pigments  are just that way.

Thanks for looking....

Painting #10 "It's a long ways down..."

Where does the time go? I really plan on behaving and getting to work right away on my painting but I got distracted by a number of things in the studio. Putting things away as I hunted for that one little "must have" for in my still life set up. Never did find it.

The sun was shining and Sedona demanded to get to go for a walk. I never argue with a chance to soak up some sun, esp. in the winter. That left little time for my painting so I elected to paint from a photo I took earlier this week. Sedona is afraid of going down our stairs, in spite of the fact she goes up them like a streak of lightening!

I was interested in challenging myself to forget warm or cool and just try to look at value and not over think it; just respond and pick up paint, put it on.

"It' s along ways down..."       10 x 8", oil on matboard   

I will paint many more of her. She is a great model. Snapped a few today as she lay on the studio floor, bathed in sunlight...

Thanks for looking.........

Painting #9 "No matter how you slice it...

Some days you have so much pending, you almost forget what you were planning to do when you went to the studio. That was my day. Before I knew it, a couple of hours had gone by and I was running short on studio time to get my daily painting done.

I decided to grab a quick bite for lunch, first. The leftover cherry turnover made perfect desert. But wait, it was too hot to eat and the cherries oozing out the seam just screamed "paint me!". I was already to start when I just needed to change the angle.........too late! Gotta eat it. Yummy! Okay, on to plan B...

I had some leftover fruit that needed to be used or thrown out, so I sliced the orange and then the apple ........but that was a little boring, so I had decided to slice the apple sideways.....wa-la a set up!

The title seemed obvious...........

" No matter how you slice it, it is still apples to oranges..." 

5 x 7" oil on panel        

Painting #8 ......." Spurred On..."

All gessoed panels are not created equal! Today I wanted a different size than I had on hand in the Ampersand brand, so I used another brand from the local art supply store. I felt it was rather shiny and a little too slick so I used some 220 grit sandpaper on it and sanded in layers; first top to bottom, then cross that grain from side to side; then diagonal, then crossed that grain on another diagonal. Giving it less shine and a little texture, I proceeded to paint.

 "Spurred On"

8 x 8"   oil on panel  $75

To put it mildly, I struggled! Big time! I was too far into the painting to scrap it since I was feeling under the weather due to a reaction to medication, but I was determined to do the painting today.

The plan was to paint this with real drama and darks,  but I rather like it this way, too. I am pretty sure I will try it with the drama using linen on panel.

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....... 

#5 painting,...Calling the Spirits ( in umber)

Setting up became very time-consuming today, as I am esp. easily distracted by so many things that need done. Finally, I found a design that I liked then to set up to paint. Last night my neck and shoulder really caused me some pain, making it difficult to paint, therefore today I decided to try to eliminate some of the aggravating factors.

One is holding up the viewfinder, constantly tensing up the muscle that attaches to the base of my skull. We joked about solving this issue in Carol Marine's workshop but I thought...why not try to really solve it. So I thought the issue through and came up with this;  

I used a piece of bamboo to hold the viewfinder, cutting notches in it with a utility knife. Then I inserted the bamboo piece into the opening of my Stanrite Easel post. It worked great!

  I played around with the position until I had it right in my line of sight.            

You can see my composition in the photo on the right.

 I am loving these panels and can't get myself to move beyond the beauty of working in umber. Today I used raw umber. Love it! Using less medium today and that seems to suit my style better.

Calling the Spirits         ( in umber) 5 x 7"

 
I will eventually do this in color, as I bought this turqoise vase because of its wonderful color. Let me know if you have any questions....