# 113: A Lesson

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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I painted this a few days before coming down with a nasty cold. I had every intention of painting everyday this week but I just can't focus on a painting when I am sick. Posting this today I can see that I was just not altogether there when I painted this and I remember my interest puttering out in the end.
 

# 112: Birds of a Feather

6" x 6" oil of canvas

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Another white on study and Pinocchio having an identity crisis.

111: Garden Jewels

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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My second attempt at the same subject. I like this better in terms of contrast and composition and the palette was a lot of fun. I don't know if I will manage a painting today or tomorrow....it being Christmas and all, but maybe I will able to squeeze a simple one in. I was thinking of a forlorn Pinocchio.

# 110: Tomato Treasure

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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These lovely tomatoes have been waiting in my refrigerator for week, waiting to be painted. I had forgotten about them. but i needed a break form toys and so they finally had their day and had kept surprisingly well.  I feel that this painting is a near hit and as long as the tomatoes will allow another sitting I will attempt a similar arrangement again.

# 109: Finish Line

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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# 108: Little Engine

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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The little Pinocchio has a lot of character for such a simple toy. I am summoned to jury duty. Hopefully I wills till have time to paint later on today.

# 107: Landed

6" x 6" oil on canvas

I ma finding the toy paintings much more difficult then the fruit, however I do feel that I am learning to be more precise with my brush work and so I will continue. I am going to take a break form the Biplane  though. I like the dialogue between the plane an the boy, but the plane is rather difficult to paint and I need a break. that means that Pinocchio will have a new adventure  with some new friends tomorrow.

# 105: Wingboy

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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# 104: Stranded

5" x 7" oil on canvas

Poor Pinocchio lost his foot and got left behind. 

Painting man-made objects is much different then fruit. With fruit you can get away with a lot because of irregularity of the forms.

# 103: Green Ghost

6" x 6"

# 102: Demure

7" x 9" oil on canvas

To post or not to post that is the question. 

whether it better to wipe off canvas and out of mind

that which is questionable and start anew

or to save and post such efforts as evidence of

a tentative passing?

I have had disappointing figure painting session of late and I haven't been able to figure out where or what the block is. Perhaps I need to use more purple or perhaps I was feeling a bit of pressure due to fact taht the master painter Mian Situ joined our session today. I actually would have been happy spending the three hours just watching him paint and perhaps next time I will do just that. Anyways we were all pretty excited to be painting in the same room with him.

After painting today I went to my friends Mardi Seth's opening at the Huntington Beach library. It was great fun with good art, good company and good eats . So all and all one could not ask for a better day, despite my earlier painting mishap.

Mardi Speth and some of her art

# 101: Two Reds

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

A more finished version of the previous apple group. The fabric was quite a challenge but I did start seeing some of the compositional opportunities it offered near the end and started worrying less about painting it exactly how I saw it.

#100: Unfinished Apples

6" x 6" oil on canvas

Ding- Ding- Ding! I have hit the 100 mark. Though I have not painted every single day, i have been pretty consistent, missing only Tuesday (that day I go draw and draw the figure). I have even tried painting on Wednesday night, though I tend to beat, I do what I can. I decided to commit to posting the painting as is the next day. This painting was in fact painted on Wednesday. I had to stop because I started to fall asleep on my feet and I had an early rise the next day. 

I decided that I was going to work on it some more on Thursday. Well that didn't end up happening and so I am up-holding my commitment after all and here it is in all of it's unfinished glorious state. instead of "finishing" it, I decided that I would paint the same subject today, since it seems to me to have  a lot of potential.

# 99: Clemen-line

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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Clementines are in season and are very yummy as well as being good to paint. 

I tend to do a high key white study at least once a week now. porcelain is always a challenge, but the  head of this goose was tough.

# 98: Box of Cuties

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

# 97: In and Out

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

Yesterday I painted the figure at a workshop but it was a wipe-out and so I did another painting in the evening but couldn't that a photo of it till this morning. 

I liked the last set-up so much that I tried again with different lighting and eye level..... not as successfully though. I like the pears and the color...it is that glass that is driving me nuts. I didn't see the mistake in the bottom of the glass until I saw it on the screen. Ah well. 

# 96: Quarantined Pear

5" x 5" oil on canvas 

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I have been feeling pressured  because I want to photograph the paintings under day light. These days I have less and less time to complete a painting. It could be a good thing, in that I could be less apt to over work a painting, but unfortunately I tend to panic. Optimistically, I am confident  that I will get better at dealing with the time limitations as the winter progresses.

As always, I love painting golden pears and I think that the color harmony is OK. I did struggle with the half tone areas.....and  painted them in and out numerous times.

# 95: Ready for Pie

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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# 94 : Thirsty Daisy

6" x 6" oil on canvas


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I haven't paint for three days a-in-a row but it feels like much longer. Funny how wrong I feel when I don't pick up the brush for a few days. I decided to tackle the blue glass again. It still eludes me but I think that these are best flowers so far even though the one on the left looks a little forlorn and wishful.

" 93: Small Portrait

7" x 5" oil on canvas

# 92: Blue Glass

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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# 91: Boxed Up

6" x 6" oil on canvas


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# 90: Where's the Pie?

7" x 5" oil on canvas

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# 89: Grape Bouquet

6" x 8" oil on canvas

SOLD

I had fun with the colors on this one. However the composition makes me tired. It seems to be a long way down to that grape on the ground and now that I see it on the screen I can understand why. There is an interruption of visual flow in the shadow. So now I have a dilemma. It would be an easy fix, but do I go back and fix it or do I leave it as is?

# 88: Languish

8" x 11" oil on canvas

instead of focusing on the portrait, i decided on painting the full figure.  The figure seems ready to slide right out of the frame...thus the title

# 87: My Old Black Shoes

 

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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painting your shoes is a lot like painting a self portrait. It is sort of personal. It was fun working in the shadows and the pattern of the fabric.

# 86: Grape Cascade

 

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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I wanted to work with cool hues for a change. It is funny how some days the paint just seems to fall off the brush and some days the paint feels like glue. There is a couple of wipe out behind this painting and I still couldn't get in the flow of it...I did enjoy working with the greens and the contrast though.

# 85: Tomato with Tea

 

5" x  6" oil on canvas

SOLD

I decided to give myself a white on white challenge with the tomato as an accent. it very difficult painting reflective white surfaces and I didn't quite capture the form in the tea pot. I am tempted to go back into because it is a cloudy day and photograph will not be possible I decided to hold off on from "fixing" it until the sun shines again.

I was also interested in linking shapes with value more in this composition and to provide the eye a few diagonals to travel on...I don't think that I managed it though. The original looked a bit jumbled.

 and so gave it the good ol crop fix

# 84: Tomato Juice

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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My effort from last night.  I am not sure about the background....I ended up reworking it without the visual reference.

# 83: Three to One

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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I was very limited on time with this one...sometimes that helps keep me form over working the painting, but this time I spent too much time spinning my wheels trying to get the values on the tomatoes. I do find the reds of tomatoes very difficult for some reason. I find stems difficult as well and so I will just have to try again. 

# 81: Orange Skaters

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

Getting the paintings done in time to photograph before the sun goes down is a challenge these short days...and besides it was raining today. So I took the photo under artificial light, which is not ideal. I will take another photo tomorrow as long as the sun is shining. I think that this will be the last of the tangerine and glass theme. It is time to work with a different palette. The poor little wedges really got backed under the Lowell light. I am really loving the intense light though. It is helping me push my contrast.

# 80: Cooperation

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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# 79: Orange Recluse

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

I have been away from the paints for a week due to my catching some nasty cold. Though I felt a little guilty for not getting busy sooner, I think that I really needed the break. I felt very relaxed while painting today which resulted in a fresh painting that did not get overworked.

# 78: Two in a Bowl

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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This is last nights effort. Wednesday nights I am tired and usually just start a painting to finished in the morning. However, that has not been turning out  because the next day I end up totally over working the painting. So this time i decided to work with the time and energy I had and call it finished even though it could use some "fixing" .

# 77: Four Lilies

6" x 6" oil on canvas
SOLD

This another response to the DPW challenge. Each lily section was painted in 10 minutes. Lilies are harder to paint then skulls, due to their translucency.

# 76: Six Skulls

6" x 9" oil on canvas

This is a double entry. A submission for the IF challenge word "scary" and the scary 10 minute DPW challenge.  I had a lot of fun with this. The challenge was to complete each small painting ( 3 x 3 section) in 10 minutes. You had to get simple and look for big shifts.  I am going to repeat the challenge today, this time with a pretty flower

# 75: Sad Jester

8" x 11" oil on canvas

5" x 7" oil on canvas

SOLD

Once again the small study turned out  better then the larger version. One of these that trend will be reversed

# 74: Peared Up

6"x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

It is fun to paint reflections and extra fun when there is cast shadow involved as well. On top of that love to paint red pears. So this painting was a fun one. I am pretty happy with the composition, the color and the value contrast. I also think that I finally find my brush of choice. It is a Da Vinci Topacrylic long handle bright, It holds it's shape very well and seems to be lasting through all of my abuse. I tend to be a one brush painter in that I don't tend to switch my brushes much while painting. Is this a bad habit?

# 73: Sun Bathers

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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I only had a couple of hours to set up and complete this painting and though it has it's misses, I am pretty happy with how non-labored it is. I should probably give my self two hour time limits more often. The DPW challenge this week is to paint a series of 10 min studies. It sounds like an good exercise for me and I will do one tomorrow. i have been working on my palette and i think taht i have found my basic starter. Indian yellow, Prussian green, Thalo blue, Cobolt blue, Thio Violet, Quinacridone red, ivory black and Titanium white. I know it seems to strange crowd, but I like how they work together.

# 72: Banana Jar

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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I wanted to work with a more muted palette and decide that I needed to get another painting out of the mini bananas before they turned brown. I am almost happy with this..there were some finishing issues that didn't become clear until I saw it on the computer screen.

# 71: Small Fuel / Mini Bananas

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

This is a bit of stretch for the IF entry...but one can say that bananas...big and small...provide excellent fuel.

#70: Woman in Green

6" x 8" oil on canvas

This is the small quick study that I did before the bigger one...which was a wipe out. Even though the bigger version was a  wipe out, I felt that I learned a lot in the process. I am getting more confident and am taking more chances when I paint...though not every painting will be a success. In fact, I suspect, that as I experiment more there will be more wipe outs ahead.

# 69: Last of the Lilies

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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This will be the final lily painting since they are fading fast.

#68: Pink Lilies

 

 6" x 8" oil on canvas

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# 67: Owl be Home for Dinner

6" x 6" oil on canvas

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Another study in neutrals. I feel that this doing me good and so there will be couple more times.

#66: Girl with a Fan

8" x 10" oil on canvas

SOLD

# 65: Knowledge

6" x 6" oil on canvas

The painting of the hand went better then last time, but I  am going to have to give at least one more go.