Painting a Day - 33

Plum
2x2"
Oil on Canvas
Bid Here

This is my smallest painting in awhile and the smallest one I've done on canvas.

The colors on this photo are a bit off, I'll try and fix that. Still getting used to this iPhone thing.

Painting a Day: 32

Pear
5x7"
Oil on illustration board
Wasn't able to upload this piece this morning, my phone was dead. This is also the piece before I put the final glaze on, but I'll do that tomorrow. It's amazing how so little can alter a piece!
It seems strange I'm doing this all on my mobile device, well, everything except the painting. The photo, the cropping, the blogging, and soon even the selling will be done entirely through this thing and the different applications I have found. Several sites still require the use of a computer, and I still prefer typing on long posts, so I can't completely give up my laptop. But I can go anywhere and be able to stay up to date with this device! It even has a Photoshop-like app that I use, and I'm amazed!
I think I'm going to do a little post on just how useful smart phones are! They'll soon replace my retail job, given a decent enough programmer who cares.
A word about my palette and process. I've settled into a palette I'm comfortable with, though I haven't painted consistently in so long I've forgotten some little nuances of colors I once could use blind folded.
I had permalba, yellow ochre, cad yellow light, burnt sienna, burnt umber, raw umber, and maybe some cad red light and sap green, though I think I only used those two on my last paintings and not the lemon or pear. I can't be positive, so I'll list them for what it's worth.
As for process I lay in values with burnt sienna and umber, then start putting on thick brushstrokes of paint. I can't thin the paint on the panel because it just rubs off. After this thick layer of paint dries, I do some glazing with burnt sienna to make the shadows warm and make them even. It's easy to use too much light in the shadows and the burnt sienna brings everything back to the right value.
Plus, working light colors into wet glaze is just as satisfying as adding highlights! Well, almost.

Painting a Day - 31

Lemon
Oil on canvas
4x6"
Sold

Starting the painting again, now that india nite is done and work has reached a not spring time of year! (at least here in Louisiana!)

Expect one a day for a while to come. It's hard getting back in the swing of things, but it's going to work out.

Painting a Day - 13

Still Life with Fork
5"x7"
Oil on Shellacked Mat Board
Sold

I didn't post a painting yesterday because I went ahead and published the article, and then before I finished setting up the still life my heart started to go about 130bpm and I had to go to bed before I passed out.

Now I'm better so all is well.

The idea for this one is just I have yet to do a fork. I've done a spoon and a knife, but no fork. And as there was always something red, I added the cup because the other tomato got eaten and the strawberries were rotten. There were some cool colors in the rotten strawberries, They might be even cooler tomorrow!

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I'm going to go back and fix some problems with the background, and I added much warmer highlights than were there. It was way too cold. I might do a rotten strawberry in north light. This whole west light thing isn't working out.

I hope you enjoy it!

Painting a Day - 6

Still Life with Thrown Bowl
5"x7"
Oil on Shellacked Mat Board
Top piece has been sold

Yesh, I feel bad about missing yesterday, so I worked pretty hard on this one. At least time I can say it's my ceramic throwing that's lopsided and not my painting. My bowl is really thick, and though this is the most circular of my bowls... it really isn't. I got that bowl painted right, yo. Actually, I'm happy with everything, surprisingly enough.

Mom really hates her spoon, but I really think she is getting better. I've decided we're going to be doing fruit. Lots of fruit. Maybe a landscape just to see if she likes that. I keep throwing things in there to challenge her and see what she does with 'em. I don't think she's doing bad at all. I'll let her paint fruit so she can see she is definitely getting better.

Well, that's all I can think to say. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will have a job framing, so keep your fingers crossed!

Ja!

Painting a Day - 1

Still Life with Knife
5"x7"
Oil on Shellacked MattBoard
The top piece has been sold

My mom and I are going to start doing Painting a Day images together, and these are our firsts! The top one is mine, and the bottom one is my mom's.

It took forever, because I was trying to teach. It wasn't just a straight shot to painting. So it took about two hours, but that wasn't just painting. Also, we started working with my brother who did nothing but whine and complain. It was awful at first. But then Sam settled down (didn't finish painting, but it was turning out okay. He's just OCD like I used to be).

Also because Sam was there, I had a really, really awful angle with the light. Mom had a really good angle. Sam had a great angle. Ah well.

Mom was so excited! And she should be! She doesn't even draw and then she turns around and does a pretty darn good painting. And she had such a fun time! It was fun working with someone who was learning about seeing all these random colors. It was very refreshing actually.

I'm happy, but doing a painting a day should help me get better. I feel kinda off kilter a bit. But I feel more excited than I have in forever!!

Oh, yes, if you wish to buy either, leave a comment. My mom said "If I could get a bit for mine I'd be so happy... it'd just make my day!"