Two Ripe Tomatoes

I added a few more colors with this painting. This might be the first time I've used one color for the background and another for the surface on which the still life sits. These tomatoes could use a little more work - darker shadows, straightened background. The tomatoes themselves were pretty orangey, but perhaps I should have added more red so they'd appear a bit more like tomatoes.

Ripe Tomato

This tomato has been in the fridge for over a week waiting patiently for me to get to color paintings. Tonight it is dinner! Looking at this painting across the room is different than seeing it up-close. Step back from your monitor and see what I mean.

Orange on Blue Cloth

This color combination really appeals to me. The orange doesn't appear as sphere-like as I would like it to. Sometimes it seems better to note the problems in a painting and move to the next one. I tend to use a lot of paint. There's something really satisfying about scooping up a brush full of paint, pressing it against the canvas and see the brush strokes as I pull it across the canvas.

Lemon on a Yellow Cloth

Yellow on yellow! This large juicy lemon is the subject of my first color painting. It was fun finally getting into the color tubes. It is also somewhat overwhelming; there is so much to consider all at once! I've put the painting back up on my easel several times during the last week to painting and repaint. I'll turn it loose now and move on to something else.

Color

I started my first painting with color today -- just a simple composition of a lemon on a light colored cloth. It isn't close to being finished, so I"m not going to post it yet. It is proving to be a real challenge, but I trust I'll catch on and go faster with some experience.

Chillin' Vase

Every time I post a painting I realize there is more I could do to improve it. But that's the beauty of "daily painting" you do the best you can in a reasonable amount of time and call it finished. Not sure if you can see any improvement or not. On my end I know I'm becoming faster and much more comfortable with each step in the process.

Bottle Studies Her Shadow

As the light filters through the thick glass of this bottle it casts a beautiful color on the ground and wall. The shadow seemed rather ordinary, because I smoothed out the fabric. I did like the way the top of the bottle in the shadow was tipped at a rather steep angle.

Unlike other paintings I've done, this one cried out to be painted in color. The light that shines through the bottle casts a gorgeous color on the table and wall. This will be one of the first paintings I do when I start using color.

The Dance

I like the thick glass of this bottle. This was my first attempt with glass and it turned out to be so much fun! Yes, another oddly shaped shadow. The backdrop had a slight wave to it that resulted in the wave in the shadow. I liked it so much I didn't dare straighten the backdrop.

Flying Tile - Reworked

Couldn't resist spending a little more time with this today. It still isn't where I'd like it, but I continue to learn. This photo was taken in my studio while the painting was still on the easel. Sometimes I take the photo outside in natural sunlight. Neither seems to accurately represent the raw umber and white I use in these tone paints.

Pear on a Flying Tile

This was never finished. The shadows that look like wings for the tile appeals to me. So today I spent some more time with it. I'm not yet satisfied. The photo I took of my still life set up wasn't taken from the proper angle, so I'm now working without a reference.

Playtime in Light Tones

This still life was a challenge for me in several ways. Lemons on a light yellow cloth is a light toned subject on another light toned fabric. I struggled with the folds in the fabric as well.

Paint-out

Today was my first day to participate in a "paint-out." A paint-out is just going outdoors to paint. I belong to a plein air group that schedules group outings. Just getting all the gear easily portable is a major task! I was glad to participate, but my final product left about everything to be desired.

After the paint-out I hit the hardware store to find something to serve as a brush holder. It must be light weight and easily attach to my easel. Took all day and some creativity; I now have what I hope will be a great brush holder. YEAH!

Photograph of same painting taken outdoors.

Just the Ledge - Reworked

Since I didn't finish this piece on Sunday, I thought I'd spend a little more time with it tonight. The color of the photo is different because I took it in my studio. The other photos were all taken outside in natural light.

Just the ledge

As I was painting the On the Ledge, I realized I wanted to see what this same composition would look like without the apple. I did this painting much more quickly -- I'd like to go back and make a few changes. I might take it to my next class and discuss possible changes with my teacher. The smaller brush I bought today will probably help me with a bit of the detail.

On the ledge

What to paint, what to paint? Day two of the workshop and since I'm not using color yet, I'm going to continue just doing tone paintings. Then, lo and behold, Carol has us do a tone painting! Back to what to paint? :-)

As I looked over my table, there was the most perfect ledge next to the window in the studio. Both my morning and afternoon painting would be of this spot. I loved the way the wood behind the apple reflects into the black ledge. I hope you can see what I saw. Also, the little nics in the wood were interesting -- I wondered if I should include such tine detail but I was drawn to them. I think they echo the line of the window's corner. What do you think?

Cozy Lemons

I attended a two-day workshop with Carol Marine this weekend. I was interested in her thoughts on the use of color and how it would compare to what I've already learned. The workshop was fun and informative. I painted 4 paintings. Selecting a subject and getting started is becoming easier for me. I realized this weekend how much I've really learned in two months.

This composition seemed to turn out well. I paint on sheets of canvas and will mount the canvas on Baltic Birch. I need to load photoshop type software on my computer so I can crop my images. This is my first square painting. Every painting so far has been 6 x 8". As I started painting this one I realized I needed to make it square to improve the composition.

Solo Lime

Painted Saturday afternoon at the workshop. I wasn't sure if I should have included the reflections from the overhead lights as they reflected their long rectangular shape on the inside of the bowl. I think they draw attention away from the lime.

Color Class

I had one and 1/2 days with my teacher this week. She critiqued all of my tone paintings and I began her color course. It is going to take me some time to process all this information, to say nothing of the practice in mixing colors. I'm really looking forward to many days in my studio where I can just play with color.

I'm going to have a couple of week during which I won't be able to painting. We're driving to Minnesota to go to a wedding. I am going to try to think about composition as we drive across the country -- What would make a nice composition and why?

Pearly Abstract

I was really excited as I set this composition up. I liked the geometric shapes but mostly I was drawn to the shadow of the tile and the pear. My original intent was to get the shadows to echo one another. Thinking the shadows would almost form wings for the tile. Painting this on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning with my class this afternoon, I didn't have time to finish. If I finish it, I'll repost.

The tile's perspective is way off for starters. The tile is also centered, another possible mistake. I thought it would be neat to try my hand at foreshortening with the tile edge extending beyond the edge of the table. I'm not sure if the amount of cloth that shows on the right edge is a problem or not. They are roughly the same size.

On the vine

I'm really drawn to tomatoes on the vine. This is the way we buy them at the grocery store. I just love the way they are like a little family, all connected. Again, I'm not getting my darks dark enough.

Spill the...

Monday's painting was a challenge. I like this little pot a lot. It has an interesting shape. The glass stones were a very difficult. I doubt anyone but me really knows what they are. This composition appeals to me. I'm drawn to object that contrasts in their tone -- the bright white little pot on a dark table cloth.

On the Chopping Block

It's Sunday and I'm suppose to be having my next lesson on Wednesday. I had planned to have 7 or 8 tone paintings finished, but had hoped for more. I'll just have time to get the minimum goal.

I found the onion more challenging than I expected. I painted the knife blade three times, scraping it off each time to retry. In the process I moved the cutting board line -- throwing that off as well! It's all good. This is about learning, after all. My favorite part - the little shadow of the knife blade on the table. I often have a little tiny part of a painting I'm most found of -- quiet often it is a shadow.

Pull Up a Chair

What a great day ! I found this little chair at a thrift store and couldn't wait to get home to see how I could incorporate it into a painting. This is my first day to complete two paintings in the same day. You'll be seeing more of this chair.

Drawing the chair properly was a particular challenge for me. I'm also not getting my dark areas dark enough. I've learned a lot -- but keeping it all in my head and getting it to come out my hand is going to take lots of practice.

I think this is my favorite painting -- I was glad my teacher made a couple of nice remarks about it.

Sour Trio

I enjoyed painting this piece on Saturday. It isn't the best composition because the bowl is dead center and I didn't finish the lemon on the left. But I still like the way the fruit sits in the bowl. I didn't get the bowl edge fixed properly and worked on it during a session with my instructor.

Some students don't mind if their teachers paint on their works in order to demonstrate a point. I wish that were me. Once a teacher draws on my work I lose interest; kind of feels like cheating to me if I didn't do it myself.

Sticky Subjects

After a lot of wandering around the house I decided on these three rolls of tape as my next subject. I'm not really sure why I was drawn to it. One dark, one medium and one light tone. It was a difficult task for me because of the circular shape and the odd angles of the shapes. It was a good experience.

I'm now on a roll ! It is June 22 and I've painted two days in a row.

On my own

I was so psyched up to paint when I finished my last class, but because I was in the middle of a major remodeling project of my home I had to wait. By mid June I was ready to paint, and began to set up my studio.

By June 2oth I was ready. What to paint? I spent so much time on the Wednesday figuring out what to paint that I finally had to go to bed and get up in the morning to paint. I hadn't considered that overnight the mushroom in my composition would begin to shrivel up!

The mushroom was more difficult for me to paint because of it's light color. The mushroom also doesn't reflect as much light as the tomato so the full range of tone is much less than the range found on the tomato.

First tone painting

Today was my fifth full day of lessons; I've raced through the drawing course. I was anxious to begin what my teacher calls "tone paintings." In a tone painting only one color is used and mixed with white. So it is basically a black and white painting.I painted this bowl in class today. My teacher liked the brush work on the inside back part of the bowl. I was amazed that I had something I could recognize! This was feeling SO much better than my high school experience. My teacher teaches for about 10 days then devotes about 6 weeks to her own oil painting. Then she offers another series of classes.

I left with the mission of painting 7 or 8 tone paintings. I thought I'd be able to do more.

Critical decision - a teacher

Do you remember taking art in high school? I do. That's where I was told I couldn't draw.

Fast forward many years. While taking a drawing class at a local museum, and realizing with practice I could learn to draw. I began a search to find a teacher that would be a good match for me. This took awhile, but when I spoke to Elizabeth, I knew she was the person I needed to learn from. So on May 5th 2007 I begin my first lesson with her. Elizabeth's students begin with her drawing course and only then learn about oil painting.