Sunflowers

Although I haven't posted anything in a long time I am working, really I am.
Here is a painting I did last summer from a photograph I took of sunflowers that grew as volunteers in my garden. I decided to have a little fun with it and do something a bit different, especially with the background. It made me happy while I was painting it, that tells me something, I don't feel that happiness & freedom with the very tight still life paintings. Although they look good they are more of a grind for me.

What do you think of this painting? I'd love comments.

Pumpkin in progress

I have got to come up with better titles. Anyway, I am posting this painting which I am doing in the classic technique. First you do a charcoal or NuPastel drawing (I used the NuPastels this time), fix it, then use raw umber to model the forms in a monotone full scale of darks to lights. Then you start laying in color, thinly, again modeling forms rather thinly and keep going like that. This is in the second stage - unfinished. This is not an alla prima technique so I won't be posting a different painting a day while I'm working on this.

9" x 12", oil on stretched canvas

Portrait of cauliflower

After 3 wipe outs trying to paint a Tabasco bottle, a la Lorrie, I went back to vegetables. Still not ready for glass I guess. Not great, I know - how would you handle all those bumps?
Nothing yesterday, I was tired and had to run errands in town. Tomorrow is my Sunday Painters group and I'm working on a large still life there, so maybe another small one on Monday.

7" x 9", oil on panel

Hatch Chilies

These chilies smelled so good while I was painting them! I was going to paint the striped cloth I put them on but I wasn't sure I knew what to do about the stripes in the shadows so I'll save that for another time.

Apples

This is the painting I did yesterday. I took about 6 photographs last night, inside, and they all had too much glare on them to use so I had to wait until today to photograph it outside. That made it very blue, because of the shade, so it has been color corrected. We think it's pretty close though. It's not a great painting but I like it a lot better than the first painting I did in Carol's workshop of an apple and a banana. I've improved already!

7" x 9" oil on panel.

Trois Pears

Wow, I can hardly believe I actually finished a small painting in a day! Yellows are a bit challenging for me. I wanted to make the shadows of the pears darker but it seemed to be getting too gray in there, so I decided the painting was done. I made this one very loose and brushy.

I got smart today and got the Nikon on a tripod to photograph it instead of trying to use the little Leica point & shoot - square to the edges, no shake, much better photo.

7" x 9", oil on panel

Eggplants

Ta da!

Here is the first small painting I have finished since our workshop with Carol Marine. It was supposed to a painting done in a day, and that is what I'm aiming at, but "best laid plans" and all, it was a week before I got back to finish it. I learned some things by that happening. Number one is, if you absolutely have no choice and have to leave before finishing, at least get the same color on all the parts that will need it while the paint is still on your palette. I had left one stem and had a hard time matching the color and stroke style again.

We live and learn, right? That's why we practice, at anything, painting, playing piano, whatever - sooner or later we'll get good.

10" x 10", oil on stretched canvas