Painting #27 ..... The Day is Done

It was a tough time choosing what to paint. Having too many ideas can be a bad thing. Everything I chose for my composition was complicated and would make a great large painting; but not one I could do justice on a small one.

I finally chose my favorite hair clips that I caught out of the corner of my eye, sitting  on my taboret. They needed a little something more and I immediately tucked in the sweet, worn moccassins that we got at the auction last week. I adore the painting for today. Made me in such a good mood...love it when a plan comes together!

The Day is Done   4 x 4"   oil on linen   

And so it is....................until tomorrow!   Thanks for looking.     Ruth Ann

Painting #21 A Good Read

What to paint today???? I had many paintings circling in my right hemisphere just screaming to be put on canvas but they were large, complicated scenes that I hope to get to in the near future. I had to keep silencing that side of my brain and listen to the left side until I chose my subjects.

I have a large library of very worn and obviously loved books. Someday I hope to get to read them all! I thought they at least should appear in a painting. So here is an attempt at one...

A Good Read                6 x 8"  oil  on panel             

Hope you are curling up with a warm drink and a good read!!!

Painting # 19 Lean on Me

What a perfect day to be safe and warm in the studio. Outside it was snowing and blowing, making the roads unfit for travel. So glad my husband had the day off so I wouldn't spend all day worrying about him on the road.

Those pears were getting pretty ripe and the smell made me want to sink my teeth in for a bite, so I had to get them painted. There are two left now.

I had difficulty with the highlight on the red one. The light sounrce I used was a warm incandescent bulb. Therefore the highlight should be warm, right? But it looked so cool and blue. So I know I will have to work on that some but I had to stop, as I was just messing up the good parts, so before I completely destroyed it, I decided to let it rest.

Lean on Me           5 x 7" oil on panel    

Think I'll go "Lean " on my husband and watch a good movie. This struggle wore me out.

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 #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 #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....

Painting #4 ( 30 paintings in 30 days)

Dress Spur in Umber

After a strenuous day of hanging photography for the gallery's upcoming exhibit, I still needed to go grocery shopping and fix supper, eat, let the dog out....all before I could ascend the steps upward to the studio.

Usually, I would just wimp out and tell myself ":you can get to the studio tomorrow". With this bet with Kristen Dukat though, I am not caving in!!! Shoulder pain or not, I managed to choose a subject that I could get into; the spurs my hubby bought for me while we were in AZ recently.

With new paint, new panels that arrived in the mail, I was ready. After choosing my palette of earthtone pigments, I chose to tone the panel with raw umber, then proceed to draw using it without thinning it.
I liked the look so much that I just chose to continue and do a monochromatic rendering of one spur. I rather like it.

Thanks, Kristen for "spurring me on"!!!