# 64: Make a Move

6" x 8" oil on canvas

Another study in white with some good moments and some missed moments.
I used blue paper to reflect this time and so the painting is cooler. I also started with an wipe-out and so the under painting was dry and very dark. I found that I missed working into the wet surface of a fresh under painting. It was like starting with a different opening...

Painting is a lot like chess in that you need to be able to plan a couple of moves ahead and be flexible at the same time. There is also an opening a mid game and an end game. The end game I find the most difficult to learn,(this one felt like a stale mate), especially when I have to deal with interruptions and distractions like making appointments or even cooking dinner. I am going to give the subject another go and explore  white on white further tomorrow.

#63: Lucky Dice

6" x 6" oil on canvas

This was a second attempt of the same set up. I decided to tone down the color for a while and work on using neutrals. White on white is a bit tricky.

# 62: Damned Tomatoes

 6" x 6" oil on canvas

The title says it all. One of those frustrating paint days when the tomatoes kept falling out of place and the contrast never made it to the canvas. I felt the need to explore red and black...mostly because of a dream that I had about painting red and black. I worked out something in that dream.....

# 61: On the Edge

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

# 60: Wall Flower

8" x 10" oil on canvas

I was happy that the art center in Laguna started a long pose session on Sunday. It is a great group people, even though one of the members, who was painting directly behind me, started hiccuping during the last sitting. I totally lost my focus and did not end up happy with this painting...though to be honest, I struggled throughout with the proportions and the lighting. I can see it so clearly now that the hiccups are gone..how I should have dropped the left shoulder.

# 59: Excuse Me

6" x 8" oil on canvas

 

Sometimes I think that my color choices are a little irresponsible. I didn't think of the color wheel at all when I put this together, but you know sometimes a after fussing with this and that a color combination strikes me as being "paintable" and I go with that. What is missing here is value contrast, still I really enjoyed painting the blue glass with all of its bumps.

# 58: Support Group

6" x 6" oil on canvas 
Sold

I like the color harmony of this painting and I feel that I am getting better at working with red. For some reason, I find stems difficult to paint. Now that I look at these tomato stems, I wish that I had put some of the background color ( a warmer green) into them. 

# 57: Red Delicious

6" x 6" oil on canvas

Sold!

# 56: Totally Radish

6" x 6" oil on canvas

 Sold!

These radishes used to have lovely leafy greens...but they had rotted while they had waited patiently to be painted ( I was stuck on squash). So I discarded the greens and set the little fellas up for a painting anyways.  I loved the color of the radishes, their funky shapes and curly little roots. The problem is, who would know that they are radishes. Thus the title of the painting.

# 55: A Private Conversation

6" x 6"

Another color study and the last of the squash for a while.

# 54: This and That

6" x 6" oil on canvas

I focused on establishing a color harmony and went with the Munsell color wheel and triadic harmony.  Almost everything is in the mid tone area and so it ended up looking muddy...or at least I was fighting muddiness throughout the painting process

# 53: Ridges

6" x 8" oil on canvas

bid on this painting

So many ridges in this and so many opportunities to over work it (which I did).  One of the most difficult things about painting is reducing all the visual information down to what is essential and to suggest with less. I may have bit off more then I could chew with the fabric, but I was inspired by some Carol Marine paintings to try it.

I tried something different, based on the DPW weekly challenge, which is that I started with a pretty intense ground color...a manganese violet and I tried to keep from going over all of it...to allow it to show through. It worked in the places where I was not stressed..but that darned squash had me again. I swear that I had a harder time painting that little fella then a portrait and so we will seeing it again again until I "get it".

I also worked on having a dominant color (light blue) and a dominant value (light), however the composition is not quite balanced..I think that I need some darker areas under the squash on the right.

# 52: Attitiude

6" x 6" oil on canvas

Bid on this painting

I don't have  a lot to say about this painting...except that painting the glass felt good but painting the little squash did not. I really have difficulty with creating a sense of form when I am using warm hues such as reds and oranges. I know that it is about using the complement in the shadow areas but I am also going to try something else as well. I will paint the little squash again today and work on establishing a neutral in order to unify and neutralize the entire palette. Then I will be able to use pure color for a bit of "pop" in selected places. I learned of this trick by reading another blog.

# 51: Four Peanuts

6" x 6" oil on canvas 

I am finally feeling better and got a painting done yesterday. It felt good to get back on the saddle again and painting for peanuts.

# 50: Girl in White

8" x 10"

I have been a little under the weather lately and was not feeling very well when I painted this yesterday. It shows Still, I decided that I needed to post something, since I did not post anything yesterday.

# 49: Ten-Hut!

 

6" x 6" oil on canvas

This was a fun painting to do. Once again I enjoyed using the cobalt but painting porcelain is very difficult. I need to squint more as I paint. The painting ended up having more drama then I intended. It looks like the Goose is trying to encourage the pear to come to attention. I started it by trying to reduce my the brushstrokes. here it is after about 50.

 And here is my fan club.

# 48: Golden Pair

6" x 6" oil on canvas

Sold

I spoiled myself  by adding some cobalt blue my palette but these pears asking for a nice backdrop. The pears were green but have been slowly ripening and were the perfect color to be painted again. These painting felt mostly un-labored and I managed to keep everything within a 2 hour window of time. I am still working on limiting my brushstrokes in the beginning stages and i think that it helping me focus on the big areas.

# 47: Gesundheit

6" x 6" oil on canvas

SOLD

Well I fell off of my limited brushstroke diet. I am focusing on color harmony and it took a couple of attempts to  home in a background color.

# 46: Seduction

6" x 6" oil on canvas

It seems like the sexy pear is seducing the gallant creamer. This one ended at about 55 brushstrokes. It is a little simple, but that might be a good thing for me.

# 45; Crazy Daisies

 

6"x 6" oil on canvas

I am trying something different this week based  on the DPW weekly challenge. The idea is to predict and limit your brushstrokes. You begin by doing a careful drawing/analysis of the of the shapes, predict the number of brushstrokes you will need and then count the stokes as you proceed. This was a trail run. Here are the daisies after 31 brushstrokes and before I went back in to "fix" it. It was kind of nice really and almost finished. 

So I tried again and did this painting to submit to the challenge.

                                                                      SOLD!

This time however...though I was sorely tested..... I did not go back into it. It was so hard to just leave it alone! This is a very good exercise for me and I plan on continuing it through the week. The fact that I won't be able to "finish" anything will bother me a lot but I really need to learn to well enough alone.
So far this month,  I have switched to painting almost exclusively with big brushes (1-1/2" - 2"). I have reduced my palette down to 7-8 colors and now I am trying to reducing my brushstrokes to 50 or less. I seem to spend very little time actually applying the brush to canvas compared to the time I spend with the set up, just looking and looking and mixing the hues.