Happily Planted

Happily Planted  oil - 10 x 8

In probably her most favorite seat in the world, is my Aunt Judy. Here she is sitting in a beach chair, on the beach, in Nags Head, NC where life is good. Her birthday was on Saturday and I wanted to paint something for her and I needed to paint something for the "Fall Challenge". So, to kill two birds with one stone, I painted this today. The challenge was to use a limited pallet of two reds, two blues and two yellows along with white. I have been wanting to try a more illustrated look, by outlining a figure in a dark value and keeping the brush strokes loose. I just love how this turned out! I hope she likes it too.

Jeff

Jeff  oil - 6 x 6

Jeff is an officer at Baltimore Yacht Club and only the second painting of BYC members I have done. I will be taking this painting and a few other little paintings down to the Member's Art Show on Saturday at BYC. I was hoping to have a few portraits of members to bring but I only have Inside Joke and Jeff finished. Maybe, if I bring my painting supplies to the boat, I can get one or two more painted next week during my "Week on the Island".

Einstein

Einstein  oil - 12 x 6

Einstein is my brother and sister in-law's beautiful, black, lab. He is friendly and seems to have a way with the ladies. Every where he goes girls make fuss over him.  He doesn't seem to mind. I painted this in a day as a daily painting but I like this photo so much I may paint it again in a much more controlled style.

Update: 

I refined the original daily painting of Einstein and uploaded this new photo of it. Now I like this painting much better. It is still very loose and painterly but it looks more finished.

Gigi

Gigi  oil - 6 x 6 (finished) 

I took a little time this morning to make a few minor changes. I am now pleased with the final painting.

Gigi  oil - 6 x 6

Gigi is another friend of Emily's. I am not pleased with how this turned out. The photo was beautiful so I can't blame that. Sometimes you just don't have a good painting day. I painted all day on it today and even though I'm not completely happy with it I am posting it anyway. Maybe I should take a day off from painting. 

Kai

Kai  oil - 6 x 6

My niece Kai will be my last portrait painted in Florida. I hope I will be able to keep up this pace and paint about two portraits a week once I am home. I have a few back logged photos to paint now.  I can always use more so keep sending them. I will get to them eventually.

Live Model

Florida Girl  oil - 18 x 14

Over the last four weeks I have been taking a portrait class at the Elliott Museum in Stewart, FL. Florida Girl is of the beautiful 16 year old model that sat for us. I enjoyed the time I had with the other artists and our model was wonderful. It is not easy for a model to sit still for three hours (with breaks) for the four session but she did very well. I took a picture of her so I could finish her hands at home since it is nearly impossible to get the exact hand position each time she sat down. But, I decided to leave it sketchy like it is. The Elliot Museum had us painting in the antique car exhibit. among antique cars. The smell of turpentine and oil paint mixed with the smell of engine oil and musty leather. The people visiting the museum didn't seem to mind us painting there. 

Photo of our model

Leesy

Leesy  oil - 6 x 6

This is Emily's friend Leesy. She enjoys following my blog, so a little bird whispered in my ear and told me she would really enjoy seeing a portrait of herself on my blog. Surprise! This portrait is of you Leesy! My three girls are visiting me here in florida this week. They are sun bathing on the beach while I enjoyed a quiet day painting.

Chrissy

Chrissy oil - 10 x 10

This is my niece Chrissy having a fun day on the Chesapeake Bay. She goes to college in the northern most part of Michigan so I hope this brings her thoughts of the warm sun on her face. I painted this one a little larger because I now have painted on all the 6x6 gesso boards I brought to Florida. It's almost four times as large, so it almost took four times as long to paint. 

Emily

Emily  oil - 6 x 6

This is the the latest DPW Challenge, The One Stroke per Color Challenge. I chose to paint a portrait since I have been on this portrait kick for my daily paintings. Emily is a fellow artist and a very good friend. She has encouraged me in art with amazing enthusiasm. Emily is quite a beautiful and colorful lady. I know I have not done her justice but all the colors painted with one stroke each, in this painting, suits her. This was really fun to paint.

Madeline

Madeline  oil - 6 x 6

My niece, Madeline had her birthday this week. She is two years old. I did this painting of her from an older photograph that my brother took and sent to me. She looks very serious here but she is a very lovely happy child. This makes two portraits in two days. How long can I keep this up?

Laura Lynn

Laura Lynn  oil - 6 x 6

On February 5, 1986 Laura Lynn, our first born, was brought into the world. She has brought sunshine into our lives ever since. This is the first portrait I have painted as a daily painting for posting on my blog. I want to do these often, then maybe, I will get much better at them. This summer I will be taking photographs of people to collect and later paint. If you don't want your picture taken and you see me with a camera you better hide because I plan on taking hundreds of photos. This way I will have a lot to choose from.

Zippo Lighter Challenge

This weeks Daily Paint Works Challenge is to paint from a photo of a zippo lighter, supplied by DPW, but the catch is, you could only use a limited palette of Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Titanium White.

Need a Light?  oil - 6 x 6

This exercise reminded me of the advantages of a limited palette. For one thing, the painting can't help but have color harmony. Also, there wasn't as much need for color mixing and therefore values become the focus, as they always should be anyway. I am looking forward to seeing what DPW comes up with for a challenge next week. 

My Companion, Tug

Tug  oil - 10 x 10

I painted Tug over the last two days from a photo off my computer. Tug has been the best pal for me, except that she would rather be outside sniffing for birds, squirrels and geckos, instead of watching me paint. She will take naps some of the time but a one year old dog needs to play.

I have gotten a lot of wonderful complimentary responses to the study Do Over here on this blog and by e-mails. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the comments. Thank you! A Thank you also goes out to the artist in New Mexico who bought Do Over, Thanks.

Shake it Off

Shake it Off   oil - 6x6

It's been difficult leaving my new dog to go down to my studio to paint. I will eventually be taking her down to the studio with me but Tug is still learning the rules in the house and can't be trusted just yet to just lie down and take a nap. So, for the time being, I've had her in her crate for the couple of hours a day I've made it to my studio to paint. I really enjoyed arranging this still life. The color orange is such a jolly color and tangerines pitted texture is what makes them so fun to paint... and eat!

Shhhh Don't Tell

Meenoo  oil - 12x12

At the risk of spoiling the surprise for my sister-in-law, I am posting the painting I just finished for her. She should be so busy preparing for Christmas, that she won't be checking in on my blog. Don't tell L, if you are seeing this before Christmas. This is a painting of L's new kitten,  Meenoo, a wild and lovable kitty from Shreveport, LA. L fell in love with this tiny, wild kitten, while visiting Shreveport, and had to save him from a life of living on the streets. He's a cajun cat, so he was named after the cajun word for cat, Meenoo. I hope she likes the painting.