Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fun Times


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I wanted another go at these apples and the plate. And yes, the fork too. Which reminds me of an email I got a while ago from a "fan" asking me if I had to include silverware in every painting, and daring me not to. Isn't it funny how those kinds of comments just eat away at us. I have to admit, I feel like apologizing every time I stick that fork in there. Well, it's time to stop apologizing! I like forks (and spoons and knives). They are such perfect compositional elements, to be added wherever needed. Do you have something similar eating at you? Join me in tossing out the apologies!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Three Different Apples


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When I first started painting apples I had a tendency to paint them all the same, even when they were quite different. It was easy - I saw the same general colors and hey, I had it on my brush already, so - what the heck?! I like to think I've graduated to a higher level of apple painter since I can now see (and paint) the subtle differences between them. But, to be honest, I might simply be a better apple buyer, choosing the ones specifically that are quite different. Only my Fred Meyer produce person knows the truth!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Sunshine and Lemonaide


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Summer is over, officially, and it's definitely feeling like it here in Eugene, but I'm clinging on by painting sunflowers and lemons. By the way, this is my favorite of this sunflower series. I was trying to do darker backgrounds for contrast against the light petals, but really the lighter background is my favorite.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Flower Fun


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These flowers were in my spendy bouquet, so I thought I'd give them a go (not one to waste). I think they're called spider flowers? Anyway, I wasn't quite sure how to paint them, so I did my regular - squinted and painted what I saw.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Drinking Tea in the Sun


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You can see I'm trying to get the most out of these sunflowers! But they're still holding up. Maybe next year I should grow some myself. Duh.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Sharing the Red Dress


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Here are two more of my spendy sunflowers, along with a red vase from the thrift store. I've painted the vase once before, from above. Glass depends entirely on the little subtle shifts, and most importantly, the highlights! If you over-do/exaggerate any of it, it ceases to look like glass, in my experience.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Too Sexy For My Bottle


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I had to buy a whole bouquet of other flowers just to get some sunflowers. The ones that were just sunflowers were sad and dilapidated. You can picture it, right? Me, shuffling back and forth in front of the flower section trying to make up my mind between the cheap, sad flowers and the perfect pricey ones. Arms crossed. Brow furrowed. I am so cheap. But in the end, art persevered!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Late Summer Grass


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This is my entry for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge: Paint the Grass, which I am hosting (btw, if you have an idea or image for a future challenge, please email me). I photographed this wild clump of grass in the front yard of a fellow Eugenian recently. I am baffled by grass in general, so I thought this would be a good exercise. If you'd like to see the reference photo and join the challenge, please visit the grass challenge page. Also don't forget about the monthly DPW contest - the prizes are big!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Places Everyone!


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Don't these guys look like actors in a colorful play, just before the first act? Well, I thought so anyway.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Bottle Guardians


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I guess I'm on a bottle kick. What I really need is to run to the store to pick up some new still life subjects. All I've got are a few tomatoes. But my folks are visiting so my painting is minimal. I'll get back to it soon!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Glass on Glass and a Flower


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Last week was particularly busy in my world, and part of that included judging the first ever, monthly Daily Paintworks contest. I can't even begin to tell you how difficult it was to narrow down all the terrific art that was submitted! Here are the top 3 winners:


You can see bigger versions, and the other winners on the contest page. In case you're thinking about entering this month, the top 3 winners receive $750, $500 and $250, respectively, and the top 15 are featured artists for a month on DPW, and get that month's membership free (we actually had 19 this month because 4 of the original winners were already featured artists). Enter here.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Workshop Announcement

May 5-9, 2014 - Advanced Workshop (you have to have taken one of my workshops already) - Dickenson, TX - email Sue or call 713.851.5316 or 281.337.4147 to register.
FULL w/ wait list

This is a special place. I've taught there once before and the atmosphere was like a grown-up art camp with the most fabulous food. We were all best friends by the end. If you can make this one, I highly recommend it! It's going to fill up fast.

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Cattitude


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This was a total experiment. I took some photos of this cat last year at a friend's house but wasn't excited about them because the sun wasn't out and the ground was totally boring. But I ran across it again yesterday and thought, "what if I paint the whole thing with big juicy strokes and try to use a different color for every one?" Well, I ended up repeating some colors, as you can see, but for the most part I stuck with the experiment, and am quite pleased with the outcome.

Friday, August 30, 2013

History on Wheels


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This one was particularly hard to paint because it was made up primarily of darks - and all subtly different ones. The cool thing about that though is all the sparkles really stand out! I took the photo for this in California. I was driving through a small town with a friend and we happened upon an old car show. Maybe I should start looking around for shows like that, on purpose...

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Still Runs


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New Workshop Teaser: I will be announcing a new workshop for 2014 on Tuesday, Sep 3rd at 9am (morning) CST. This one is going to be in Texas, and will be an advanced workshop, which means you have to have taken my regular workshop already. It will be May 5-9, 2014.

Also I created an email list that is just for workshop announcements. If you're already on my regular list, you don't need to be on it, because you will hear anyway! But if you aren't, and you only want to hear about upcoming workshops, please email me.

There is a whole line of these old trucks just west of town. The ghost town I mentioned a few posts ago turned out to be a disappointment, but I had my heart set on painting trucks, so I dug through my files for this one. I completely changed the sky color and am quite pleased with how it worked out.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Disorderly Roses


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This is a scene from around my town of Eugene, OR. I was taken by the disorderly rose bush by the front porch, but somehow in the painting it turned out more orderly than it really was.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Blushing Rose


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My husband went with me on my last visit to the rose garden, with his new camera. As I was walking around a woman stopped me and said, "Ma'am, when your husband is standing there looking so intently through his viewfinder at the roses, what's he looking for?" I said I didn't know. When we got home he proudly showed me all his pictures of bugs. : )

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Trying to Hide


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I've been squeezing in some time at the local rose garden before the flowers check out for the season. I have a better idea now of what works and what doesn't for a painting, so I'm getting better results. That's good because what I've got'll have to last me until next spring! This rose was like butter and basically painted itself. I love it when that happens.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for my workshop in January! It's full now, with a wait list. I am using a service called bookwhen for registration, and the way the wait list works is - when someone drops out, the entire wait list is emailed and the first one to snag the spot gets it. Also, my refund policy is - if you cancel and I can fill your spot, you get everything back. But, the later you cancel, the harder it is for me to fill your spot, fyi.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Frapple Dapple


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I just announced my workshop for Oregon next year. In case you missed it, here's all the info. Don't worry, there will be more, but I am cutting back. I will only be doing 6 next year total, rather than the 12 I've been doing a year for the last 6. I'll try to get the rest announced as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, I'm diggin' dapples! This is from an old photo reference I took in Arizona. I just heard tale of a ghost town about 2 hours NE of my house with lots of oldies, so my goal for this next week is to carve out some time to go there. Road trip!

Workshop Announcement!

January 20-24, 2014 - Springfield, Oregon (Eugene's sister city) - register here, $550

Thursday, August 22, 2013

City Stroll, Late Afternoon


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This is from another photo in San Francisco (so was yesterday's, fyi). I thought the light was so cool I sort of parked myself against the wall of the building and took tons of pictures, waiting for the people to be just right.

This scene had a lot of subtly different darks, and historically I've always been terrible at mixing them. When I'm mixing subtly different lights and mids I mix them close to each other on my palette to compare, but somehow that never occurred to me with darks. Doh! So I did that this time and feel I managed them a lot better. Who'da thunk!?

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Morning Market


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I won't do this every time, but I'm including the reference photo for this painting before anyone asks. : ) You can see I omitted the little details, like writing on bags and the lines on the pavement. I also simplified the background somewhat. Well, I simplified everything! I've been inspired lately by Kathy Weber's people scenes, especially this one.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Colorful Stacks


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My husband got this set of colorful, little cups for me recently, complete with ceramic spoons. I guess you can't tell they're little, so I probably shouldn't have said anything ... ah well.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Chatting on the Steps


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First of all, I have a new workshop to announce. I am going to wait until Friday, August 23rd at 9PM CST. The location will be in Oregon, FYI. Check back then if you're interested. They tend to fill up fast.

Second, I took the photo for this in San Francisco at the top of a hill, in front of a big building ... with steps. Not sure I can give you any more info than that.

Third, several people asked for the photo reference from yesterday's painting, so here it is.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Parked in Green


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My friend Raymond Logan recently said to me, "The landscape (and photography) serves you, you do not serve the landscape." I've been told this before, but it finally sunk in this time (thanks, Raymond!), and I changed the scene from what I saw in the photo. Actually it was a pretty boring photo, so I am positively thrilled with how it turned out!

We are home from Texas and I am rarin' to paint tomorrow. Can't wait to experiment with more photos!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Art Create Designs and Categories

Acquiring a perform of excellent art is like seeking for pearl jewelry in the sea. You just might fall onto a unusual discover without even understanding it. Imitations and copies are plentiful in the marketplace, though, and it requires a eager eye to sort replications. from the authentic things. Lovers won't think twice paying out a large amount of to get a item, but if you're willing to own a duplication under a price range, then art printing and replications. will do. An art print can renovation your internal décor, and it can tie up the concept in your space. You can't just choose printing at unique, though. You need a common information of assessments so you'll end up with a beneficial financial commitment.

Abstract Art, Art Deco

You're selecting an art print, so the validity of the artwork shouldn't issue. You'll have to consider artwork styles, though. The stand apart high top quality of a print is completely very subjective, but you can classify styles depending on styles or resemblances. Subjective art, for example, is determined by overstatement or oversimplification. Subjective artwork are purposely unexplained and unintelligible, pushing the viewer to understand significance through feelings or opinions. A Picasso is considered in thousands of methods by as many experts, with an attraction that continues through different societies and years. Art Deco is an kind of abstract art, enjoying the size of the Commercial Trend with specialized styles and metal shade combinations.

Impressionism vs. Expressionism

Impressionistic art is all about performance. A Monet or Renoir is purposeful in shades and swings, copying shades of lighting design in comparison or supplement to the topic. This design is a sign of the beginning Nineteenth millennium, and is usually in addition to the Expressionist activity. Impressionism efforts to convert truth into the fabric, but Expressionism foregoes this strategy in support of very subjective presentation. The best (and most popular) example of Expressionist art is Van Gogh's Starry Evening, a presentation of a scenery from a struggling soul's viewpoint. You'll be able to tell between a Monet and Manet, a Eat from a Van Gogh with enough contact with their specific performs.

Realism and Surrealism

There are other art styles to consider, but for your first choices, you should also consider performs between Genuine and Surrealistic styles. Authenticity is obvious in scenery art, illustrating characteristics and still lifestyle as is and without modification. Surrealism is the excessive reverse, evoking amazing, often repulsive pictures and moments as if these were aspect of a getting desire. Evaluating art styles is more engaged than the primary groups, but this few guarantees you have enough to perform with as you consider and assess items for their very subjective, specialized benefits.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

New stuff

I thought I would keep everyone updated with what's going on in my studio, aka living room.  I completed the meat still life and have started another Vanitas for an invitational at Principle Gallery.  I'll post some pics of it once it looks like something. Kate will also be participating with a much cooler still life than mine.

I am pretty burnt on still lifes so I wanted to focus on some figurative work for awhile.  I had to take a couple steps back on the fisherman piece as I decided that having a second figure really didn't add anything.  So after some swearing followed by crying followed by more swearing I went back to do more color studies.  I probably cried again somewhere in there.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sneaky sneaky

What's better than a gallery that does everything they say they're going to do?  How about a gallery that does even more?  M Gallery has a sneaky habit of throwing together amazing shows and putting my work in magazines without even letting me know.  I tend to find out about it when an editor contacts me or when a magazine shows up in the mail.  They kind of remind me of the cobbler's elves who would come out at night and do all the work without asking for any credit.  It took great personal fortitude against temptation to resist photoshopping some elf ears onto a picture of Maggie and posting it here.

Friday, February 1, 2013

The Body

Painting.

 
 Deeeerp!


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Meaty Meat Meat

So I am on the home stretch for this particular still life painting now that I have my new super ADD antidote.  Unfortunately I had to do some problem solving along the way, and by "I", I mean Kate solved all my problems.  I had to switch out the cooler temperature light that was illuminating my actual painting.  There was too much of a discrepancy in temperature between the bulbs lighting the setup and the actual painting.  As a result, I decided to dim some things down a bit, like the cleaver.  Being a stereotypical starving artist, the hardest part of the still life was deciding whether or not to discard the steak that was sitting under the lights on a dirty board for 4 hours, or to just eat it and risk food poisoning.  I need to paint something less delicious next time so I don't have to worry about this, like broccoli, or tofu dogs, or a dead cat.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

You Be the Judge Contest


I usually don't plug a lot of stuff on the blog but I thought this was a pretty unique opportunity.  Portrait artist Brian Neher has created a FREE to enter art contest with a grand prize valued at over 10,000 clams. (see sponsors below) In addition, it is the public who will be judging the contest through their website. 

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Meat is Art

Just like the title says, I am continuing on with a theme for my art that inspires me;  grinding up animals into delicious sausages and patties for my grilling pleasure.  Trying this same setup with Tofu simply wouldn't be the same. 

There are two primary differences in the execution of this still life over my others.  The first is that for the first time I am using colored gels over the light source in order to get a specific field color; in this case orange.  It gives quite a nice harmony to all the objects to have some amount of red orange in them.  The second difference for this still life is that I am doing it on Concerta, which has given me superpowers for the first time in my life.  If you don't know what its like to have ADD,  think of a 4 year old you just fed 100 pixie sticks to and set them loose in a toy store that also has free puppies.  It's pretty much that level of focus.  But now I feel like the guy from the movie "Limitless."   I have so much focus I can see things before they happen like a Jedi.  The still life below is only 2 days worth of painting. 

Monday, January 7, 2013

New year, new painting, new model

Actually, an old model.  I did my first drawing of Maddie when she was a year and some change.

General's charcoal, Nitram vine charcoal (for wispy thistles and original sketching), and Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Medium, which isn't as pebbly as General's White Charcoal.  What the hell is "White Charcoal?"  Are they worried they'll confuse us by calling it "Chalk?"