Category: Oil Painting

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Oil Painting Still Life

Medical Supply Still Life

Medical Still Life #1 Final v2, oil on Gessobord, 8x8"
Medical Still Life #1 Final, oil on Gessobord, 8×8″

My attention, time and energy have been focused on elder care and family needs rather than art for the past couple months. Creating a still life out of medical supplies (plus a couple of caps from used-up tubes of oil paint) made sense on the day I started the project.

I intended this to be a one-afternoon painting but each time I thought it was finished there was one more thing to “fix” or change. Fiddling with it became a way to squeeze in a little painting when time and energy permitted. I finally called it done so I could start something else (a series of rather dark self-portraits, which I’ll be posting soon).

To show you all the fiddling, I thought a slide show might be good. Click on the image or link below to start the slide-show if you receive this post in your email.

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Categories
Animals Oil Painting Painting

Dillon, a Dog Portrait Commission

Dog Portrait of Dillon, oil on Gessobord panel, 8x8"
Dog Portrait of Dillon, oil on Gessobord panel, 8×8″

Now that Christmas is over I can post this commissioned dog portrait oil painting. The person who requested it had previously been gifted this commissioned dog portrait and asked me to paint their friend’s dog Dillon to give to them as a gift. Below are the steps in the process.

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Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Pomegranates and Wine Corks

Pomegranates and Corks, oil still life on panel, 10x8"
Pomegranates and Corks, oil still life on linen panel, 10×8″

I’m still having fun painting poms and trying to understand them. Below is the process I used, with photos of the set up. I like starting with a Pitt pastel pencil to sketch in the composition and then go to thinned down transparent oil paint.

I’ve switched back to working on panels again from paper in order to have a slicker surface that allows wiping off more easily than the Arches Oil Paper which is very absorbent.

This painting is available. Click for purchase info on my DailyPaintworks Gallery.

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Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Pomegranate, Persimmons and a Brick

Pomegranate, Persimmons, Brick, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 10x10"
Pomegranate, Persimmons, Brick, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 10×10″

(SOLD) This painting went through so many changes. I started it before I got the awful cold that kept me out of the studio for over a week. I lost my focus while painting the cloth draped in the background and at the end of the day scraped off the afternoon’s work. When I came back the next day, my foam core shadow box had collapsed and was on the floor along with the drapery and the LED light that I’d perched atop on a piece of plexiglass. Fortunately the brick held steady as did the fruit.

That accident gave me the opportunity to try a different background. I removed the white paper I’d been using to cover the black walls of the shadow box and painted the now darker background. I had fun painting the persimmons and the brick and I think I did a good job understanding them; the pom not so much. It  should have a more geometric, boxy shape, not be so rounded.

Below are the stages in trying to get this thing painted, along with the set up as it changed. Click on an image to see full picture, scroll over images to read captions.

(SOLD)

Continue reading “Pomegranate, Persimmons and a Brick”
Categories
Drawing Faces Flower Art Oil Painting Painting People Portrait Sketchbook Pages Sktchy Still Life

Bits and Pieces (while falling to pieces with a cold)

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Sunflower and Pomegranate Studies, oil, 5×10″

After I did these two studies on one piece of Arches Oil Paper focusing on values (started with transparent earth color underpainting), I caught a nasty head cold. I feel super lousy and haven’t had the energy to paint but I’ve done a couple sketches, below.

Pomegranate and persimmons on a brick. 2B pencil in 8x10 moleskine.
Pomegranate and persimmons on a brick. 2B pencil in 8×10 moleskine.

Drawing helped take my mind off my sneezing and nose running like a river.

FarhooD S via Sktchy app. graphite, 11x8
FarhooD S via Sktchy app. graphite, 11×8″

I think I made his hand too small. Here’s his photo on Sktchy:

Categories
Flower Art Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Less Struggle, More Sunflowers

Sunflowers #4, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 12x9"
Sunflowers #4, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 12×9″

I’m still trying to figure out sunflowers. I hate to quit before I’ve succeeded so decided to give it another try, continuing from the four attempts in my last post. Off I  went in search of fresh sunflowers. After striking out at the first two shops, I decided that if they didn’t have any in the next store I would put an end to the sunflower project. But freedom was not yet mine; they had sunflowers.

Below are a couple steps in the process. This time I didn’t spend as long sketching or blocking in and I made a point of starting with darker tones which I think helped. I get fooled by the concept of “yellow” and have trouble really seeing how dark yellow can be in the shadows.


And believe it or not, I’ve started yet another sunflower painting that will be the last one for a while. I’m desperate to get back to portraits and a still life I have in mind.

Categories
Oil Painting Painting Plants

Struggling with Sunflowers Again

Sunflowers #1-A; oil on Arches Oil Paper, 17
Sunflowers #1-A; oil on Arches Oil Paper, 17″x10″

Sunflower Attempt #1 (Above) This one quickly went off the rails, the flowers got scraped off and then not repainted because the actual flowers had keeled over and I had nothing to work with.

Sunflower Attempt #1-B (Below)

There are some interesting things about this composition but I was still working too large (about 16×11″) and by the time I started painting after getting it sketched and blocked in it was too late in the day and the next day the flowers were falling over. The brown scarf

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Food sketch Oil Painting Painting Sketchbook Pages Still Life

Figs on a Grey Plate

Figs on a Grey Plate, oil on Arches Oil Paper, 9x11"
Figs on a Grey Plate, oil on Arches Oil Paper, 9×11″

My fig tree is supplying me with figs that are delicious to look at and to eat. I’m working on simplifying my paintings, aiming from strong values and composition, and trying to stop at “good enough for jazz.” This is so much more fun than trying for perfection and ending up with overworked instead. This painting is available on DailyPaintworks here.

Below are the steps in the progress of this painting and below that some bonus fig

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Categories
Flower Art Oil Painting Still Life

Mom’s Vintage Perugia Italian Vase

Mom's Perugia Italian Vase, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 12x9 inches
Mom’s Perugia Italian Vase, Oil on Arches Oil Paper, 12×9 inches

My mother loaned me this beautiful vase years ago to paint. When I was looking for a subject to paint this week it called out to me from the shelf where it’s been waiting for so long. Below is the step-by-step progress of the painting, which is available on DailyPaintworks here.

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Categories
Food sketch Oil Painting Painting

Sliced Granny Smith Apples

Granny Smith Sliced, oil on Arches Oil Paper, 11x9 inches
Granny Smith Sliced, oil on Arches Oil Paper, 11×9 inches

I was struck by the beautiful cream color of the apple when I cut it open and then all the subtle pastel colors I could see in the flesh because of the light shining through and reflecting off of the apple skin and the turquoise plate. Below are photos in the process of painting the apples from life, with a snapshot of the set up. This painting isavailable here: (Click here for purchase info)

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