Elizabeth

Elizabeth  oil - 6 x6

My daughter Rachel and her best friend, Elizabeth, will be visiting us here in sunny Florida next week. I loved this photograph taken while she and my daughter were playing in the snow on their college campus. Sometimes a portrait almost paints it self and practically jumps onto the canvas but that was not the case this time. Maybe because I started late in the day yesterday. Whatever the reason, after redoing all the features at least once I am pretty happy with the results.

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. 

Add a Twist

Add a Twist  oil - 6 x 6

This is a little still life I set up on a piece of granite. I liked how the shadows and the reflections all intersect while the granite colors still can be seen through the reflections on it's shinny surface. 

Valentine's Day Rose Challenge

Yours Forever  oil - 7 x 5

Daily Paint Works' weekly challenge is to paint a rose using the supplied photo or another rose. I used the photo but changed it slightly to show hints of leaves in the background. This was the first time I have ever painted a rose in oil. Roses are challenging to paint but very appropriate for Valentines Day. I hope everyone has a day full of love.

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.

10 Minute Challenge

Each week the Daily Paint Works is posting a challenge for artists to help them improve their skills. This is a very cool and wonderful thing they are doing for artists and it's free! I painted last week's old car challenge that I posted here as my painting for last week but this weeks DPW is to paint an object four or more times and each time paint for only 10 minutes. This has been a terrific exercise in simplifying and painting what you see the first time. There is just no time to redo or over work and area. I am posting my attempt at the 10 minute studies of a tomato, in hopes my artist friends will be inspired to try their own studies. I survived to tell you it wasn't so bad! Try it. You can learn a lot about how you paint and what to do to improve. I will be posting later this week another painting as my weekly painting. To see the DPW Challenge web site and to view the other artist's 10 minute studies go here.

Do Over  oil - 10 x 10

Old Car in Florida Challange

Imperial in Florida  oil - 6 x 6

 I am posting late in the week, this week, since I have been traveling. Funny that I am in Florida and this weeks challenge on the Daily Paint Works Challenge is a photograph, taken by Carol Marine, of an old car in Florida. This challenge was open to anyone and you can view the submitted paintings, including mine, on the web site:

 http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges  

This was very cool to paint with all the reflections. I think I will get my camera out and look for other objects with as much reflection.

Have you any Wool?

Have You Any Wool  oil - 6 x 6

I took this picture of my friend J's sheep, on her farm, a few miles from my house. She told me her sheep needed to be sheared but I think they look so cute and warm, on these very cold days, the way they are. I contemplated allowing the paint to dry and painting this in layers with more realism but I kind of like the looser paint strokes for this friendly farm animal.

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!

Paper Whites in the Sun and Tug

Paper Whites in the Sun  oil - 6 x 6

This was an ambitious subject to take on this week given that I started a large oil painting this week for K and T's wedding gift and we picked up our new dog "Tug" (a 13 month old female Brittany). I think I would like to do this painting larger and spend more time on the details and since I have several photos of this paper white I may do just that sometime in the future.  

Tug

Tug is very sweet and well mannered. We are very happy she has joined our family.

Seasonal Challenge: Winter

I am starting a "Seasonal Challenge" with my friends that meet for lunch on Tuesdays, but any painters are welcome to participate in the challenge. I will post photos of the paintings here. Hopefully, if there continues to be an interest in doing this, I will post a new challenge each season.

Here is the "Winter Challenge":

The name of your painting will be: "It's not easy being Green"

You may use only shades of green to paint any subject, any size.

Bring your painting to lunch,

 the first Tues. in April, 12:30 p.m. at "Chef Lin Buffet", Frederick, MD 

 The "Spring Challenge" will be announced at lunch.

 if you can not make the April lunch meeting, e-mail a photo of your painting to me at:

 dpkaelber@comcast.net

There will not be any winners, just artists sharing a challenge, lunch, and fun with other artists.

I can't wait to see these green paintings!

Have fun!

Mushrooms

It's a new year so it's time to try again to keep the old new years resolutions, (like exercising more and eating better), and to make new resolutions.  My new years resolution this year, in an effort to improve my artistic skills, is to post at least one new painting every week. Yes, that's right, I will paint 52 paintings this year. The first of these paintings for 2011, is of mushrooms on white napkins.  Painting white objects on a white background has been a challenge for me, but I wanted to not only paint and post each week, but also, to paint challenging things. I am pleased with the results but I will be trying a "white on white" challenge again soon.

Mushrooms  oil - 6x6