I saw this bird at the Audobon Zoo over a year ago. I have no idea what kind of bird it is, but it is a cute one. I started this a long time ago and just put some finishing touches on it. I think the colors in the photo are a little darker than real life, but it’s not too far off.

This is my first post here since January, unfortunately I am really too busy to paint regularly these days. Plus, it’s sort of hard to leave paintings to sit for a long time and come back to them. Partly I haven’t done much painting because I took about 14 weeks of pottery classes in a row. Partly I just have too much work and other priorities at the moment. In any case, I want to try and spend more time drawing for a while if I can squeeze it in. It might work better than oil painting while I’m very busy since the cleanup time is less. I think pottery is great for the dark winter days, so I might come back to that in November.

Hopefully I will have time and remember to post the things I made in my second pottery class soon too. As one would expect, overall they turned out better than the first class.

I am also trying to find time for a few digital illustrations. Right now I am planning three owl bookmarks which I will post here if I finish them. I have one about half done. If I get them done, I will print a whole bunch and give them away.

I always want to do about twice as much as I have time for. It is sort of a challenge to find balance.

Summer Tomatoes | 14" x 18" | Oil on Gallary Wrapped Canvas

The shading in the yellow tomato was particularly challenging which is why this painting took the three sessions shown below. I had expected two, but shiny, contoured yellow shapes seem to need more glazing than normal to avoid looking harshly and unrealistically shadowed.

First Session

Second Session

Third Session

Would you like a glass of wine? | 12" x 12" | Oil on Wrapped Canvas

I finished this painting last night. It is 12″ by 12″ and I started it a while ago, but I decided to withhold posting anything until completion. I’m quite happy with how this turned out. I have somehow developed a strong fondness for glass; especially clear glass. This was really fun because of all the reflections of the orange label through both glasses. You can see its color from the top of the wine glasses to the bottom.

Here are the stages of the painting.

You can tell from the last two photos how important the finishing touches are to glass.

This painting was done in two sessions. I think sometimes it takes me a long time to finish because when I like the painting at 80-90% completion, it takes some courage to keep working on it. I always have a little fear I’m going to ruin it at the end…and I am always happy when I don’t. However, it is very rare these days that anything I do ruins a painting…I am getting to a place where I have enough experience to avoid that (at least with the subjects I choose). Also, I have to make sure I’m in the right mood to work on something.

Here are some close ups of the detail.

You can see from that last one how the wine glass in front changes the appearance of the glass behind. The line of the top is broken. That is something I drew wrong because I wasn’t paying attention and had to correct on further study.

Up next: heirloom tomaters!

New

Unfolding White Flower | 16" x 12" | Oil on Gallary Wrapped Canvas

Old

I actually had a dream about how I needed to fix this one a couple weeks ago, which I find entertaining. There are some things you just can’t do quite as nicely without waiting for the paint to dry and then glazing…at least I can’t. The end result is a less flat looking flower. I am fairly happy with the result. I might be done now. I am never 100% sure.

Painting is an indulgent outlet for anyone who has a tendency to obsess over details. There is nothing more cathartic than sitting 4 inches away from a canvas for hours adjusting shades of white: pink-ish white, yellow-ish white, peach-ish white, gray-ish white, etc. Sometimes it’s like therapy.

I also thought it might be fun to show some closeups of the detail.

Up next: I have been working on two glasses of Chardonnay that I am really happy with so far. I’ve been photographing the stages and will post in hopefully the not too distant future.

This is the first painting I’ve done in 2010 that is larger than 5×7.  This one is 12×16 oil on canvas. I am mostly done, but I do have one more session planned for the kind of tweaking that can’t be achieved wet on wet.

I am happy to be getting faster these days. I used to spend a lot longer working out details. Partly I think the figure drawing class I took helped, and partly just experience.

The inspiration flower came from my back yard. Not sure what it is so if you recognize it let me know. I enjoy over saturating and adjusting colors in my paintings as you can see. It’s fun.

I feel kind of cliche painting so many flowers…but they are fun and more importantly they are easy models to find, especially this time of year. Plus, flowers are pretty.

Peeking Pink Petals | 7" x 5" | Oil on Linen Panel

One of the fun things about this painting is that I actually took photographs of this piece and different stages to share.

the inspiration

This bush lives in my backyard. I like to paint things I meet personally.

the sketch

I don’t always sketch before I paint. But if I want detail, especially in things like flowers, then I do.

stage one

stage two

stage three

stage four

the final version

My concentration for this painting was adding drama. That’s why the shadows are more heavy than the inspiration photo above.

Tomato and Garlic | 7" x 5" | Oil on Linen Panel

The other issue was that I did these from life, so of course every time I came back to it, the lighting had changed. That’s why I tend to work from photos…but I need to work from life sometimes too. It is different and fun. I just need to get faster.

I did take a photo of these two, but of course the lighting in the photo is completely different and they aren’t posed the same way anymore either.

Orange with Spring Blossoms | 7" x 5" | Oil on Linen Panel

I normally try to post a photo of my subject, but by the end of the painting, the flowers had all wilted. While I do still have the orange, it’s just not the same without the blossoms so I decided not to. To give you an idea of why my yard is so lovely right now, here is a photo from one of the bushes I picked flowers from.

I am grateful to be able to live in such a beautiful place.

Duke Garden's Duck | 7" x 5" | Oil on Linen Panel

I’m not sure if I’m done with it or not. I might add in a few highlights or something at a later date…and will probably finish the reflection in the water.

And here is the new finished version. This one’s color is actually more true to life. It depends on what time of day I take the picture. Daylight is better than artificial light.