Categories
Art Flower Art Glass Oil Painting Painting Rose Still Life

Spring Rose Series #5 (and #2-#4)

“Spring Rose Series #5” Oil on Yupo, 12x9”
“Spring Rose Series #5” Oil on Yupo, 12×9”

I was happy with this painting of my roses, done from life in 2 1/2 afternoons, especially after having tried and failed several times to paint my neighbor’s pink roses. (See below for photos of the process).

I’d read that oil painting on Yupo paper worked well and was archival so decided to give it a try with a pad of Yupo I’d bought long ago for watercolor. It hadn’t fit my watercolor style then, but I found it very fun to paint on with oils and also easy to wipe off. It’s similar to painting on DuraLar except it’s not transparent.

Photo of setup and steps in the process
Photo of setup and steps in the process of painting above

Every time I tried to paint my neighbor’s roses, I’d get the drawing and block in started, run out of time and the next morning the flowers had slumped or collapsed to the point I’d have to give up, wipe off and start over.

Roses painting attempt 3 and 4
Roses painting attempt 3 and 4

I finally decided the square oil primed linen panel was jinxed and abandoned it. (Or maybe it was karma? The first bunch I’d taken without permission but even after I’d gotten permission his roses just wouldn’t hold up.)

Rose painting attempt #2
Rose painting attempt #2
Dead Flowers Again!
Dead Flowers Again!
Categories
Art Flower Art Oil Painting Painting Rose Still Life

Spring Rose Series #1

“Spring Rose Series #1”, Oil on Linen Panel, 10x8”
“Spring Rose Series #1”, Oil on Linen Panel, 10×8”

My roses have started their spring parade of long stem blooms and I can’t resist painting them even though I’m allergic to their scent. This painting started a whole series that went from OK (this one) to 5 total fails (each painted on top of the previously scraped one), to one I declared successful, which I’ll post next time.

See photos of the setup and work in progress below. 

  • Setup, blue pastel drawing, paint drawing
  • Starting with the leaves
  • Flowers started, wiping off left rose to redo
  • Continuing with background
Categories
Art Oil Painting Painting Still Life

Silver Teapot and Happy Apple

"Silver Teapot and Happy Apple" Oil on oil-primed linen panel, 10x10”
“Silver Teapot and Happy Apple” Oil on oil-primed linen panel, 10×10”

This was my favorite oil painting experience ever. It was one of those paintings where everything just came together. Yay!

I painted it from life in two afternoons. I think what led to my success was that first I got the drawing right and then I just put the paint down and left it, doing very little touching up and/or correcting (aka overworking).

Below are a few photos of the setup and the beginnings of the work in progress.

  • Photo of setup and start
  • Getting the drawing right
  • Beginning to block in the dark values


Categories
Art

Guy with Big Fish: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #6

Guy with Big Fish: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #6” Gouache, 8x8 inches
“Guy with Big Fish: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #6” Gouache, 8×8 inches

Now this was fun to paint and everything actually went pretty well. I’m starting to make friends with gouache and enjoying recollecting and putting to use some old watercolor skills.

I left off his fishing pole and some other fishing tools because I wanted to focus on the fish. I LOVED painting this fish and I’m thinking about buying some fish to paint. I’ve painted fish before, but only when standing at the fish counter at the local Ranch Market 99 and sketching these.

Categories
Art facebook people Faces Gouache People Portrait

Cute Grandma and Baby: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #5

Cute Grandma and Baby: People Facebook Says I Should Know #5.” Gouache, 6.5 x 6.5 inches
Cute Grandma and Baby: People Facebook Says I Should Know #5.” Gouache, 6.5 x 6.5 inches

Unlike with oil paints, there’s a point with gouache where it just gets nasty if you try to add one more layer or brush stroke. The positive side to that is that it encourages me to try to get the color and value right as quickly as possible; to put a stroke down and leave it, not thinking “close enough, I’ll fix it later” like I tend to do in oils (a lazy, bad habit).

On this painting I passed the point of no return on the woman’s face and have to admit I did a wee bit of softening/smudging in Procreate before I posted this to fix the lumps too many layers of paint made on her nose. Even so I didn’t do justice to how cute both she and the baby actually are in their photo.

Categories
facebook people Gouache People Portrait

Guy with Giant Chicken: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #4

Guy with Giant Chicken: People Who Facebook Says I Should Know #4.” Gouache, 8x8 inches.
Guy with Giant Chicken: People Who Facebook Says I Should Know #4.” Gouache, 8×8 inches.

Another mystery photo! Is he an artist who builds giant chicken statues or perhaps a chicken rancher with his trademark chicken? 

I noticed that when I paint with gouache on cold press watercolor paper I end up with little white spots in dark areas so this time I tried a different gouache technique. I covered the whole sketch first with thin washes. It wasn’t that helpful. I learned that for that to work it’s necessary to get the values right in the underpainting, making darks really dark.

Below is the sketch and in progress photos.

Giant chicken guy sketch with first thinned gouache underpainting
Sketch with first thinned gouache underpainting
Giant chicken guy sketch with finished thinned gouache underpainting
Finished thinned gouache underpainting
Categories
Art

Albany Bulb Tree, Gouache Plein Air

Plein air gouache on watercolor paper after adjusting in studio, 9x12 inches
Plein air gouache on watercolor paper after adjusting in studio, 9×12 inches

I had an awesome first day painting plein air in five years, inspired by a guy I saw painting the same tree the day before when I was on a hike at Albany Bulb (see last photo below).

My too dark painting in the sun and my subject tree
My too dark painting in the sun and my subject tree

Despite typical glitches there was some bonus fun, like the caricature sketch below of me, my tree and my dog, drawn by a funny, toothless guy from London who hung out nearby while I painted for a while. Then a dance troupe showed up to practice, led by a woman who annoyingly ended every sentence with a question mark. They were there to plan their performance for an upcoming festival at Albany Bulb (a former dump and now a rustic park by the SF Bay.)

Caricature of me, my dog and my tree by guy at park.
Caricature of me, my dog and my tree by guy at park.

Some of the glitches:

  • carrying a way too heavy backpack with easel and supplies when I could have just brought a stool and painted on my lap (a wheeled cart wouldn’t have worked to hike in a mile on rutted trails);
  • finding my palette a total mess because all the wet paint I added before leaving leaked into the others;
  • painting in the sun instead of putting up the umbrella I CARRIED with me so the initial painting came out way too dark due to my eyes reacting to the bright light.
he painter I saw in the same spot the day before, with tree from the other side.
The painter I saw in the same spot the day before, with tree from the other side.
Categories
Art Drawing facebook people Gouache Painting People Portrait

Tattooed Guy on Painted Bull: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #3

Facebook "People You May Know #3", gouache, 10x8 inches
Facebook “People You May Know #3”, gouache, 10×8 inches

When I posted this painting on Instagram I mentioned that I’d love to know the story behind this picture of a burly guy riding a painted bull in a parking lot in a desert somewhere who Facebook in its wisdom recommends I get to know.

Shortly afterwards someone I know recognized him and told me that this lovely gentleman was her former sergeant and that he is a much loved retired law enforcement officer. Below is my pencil sketch before I painted it.

Pencil sketch before painting with gouache
Pencil sketch before painting with gouache
Categories
Art Digital art Drawing facebook people Faces Portrait Procreate on iPad Series Watercolor

Guys with Hats: People Facebook Thinks I Should Know #1 and #2

Facebook "People You May Know #1", Procreate digital painting
Facebook “People You May Know #1”, Procreate digital painting

Every time I open Facebook it shows me photos of random people it thinks I might want to know. Many of them are in curious settings or have interesting faces so I’ve started saving them to paint or draw. Above is the first one, done in Procreate on the iPad, where I tried to simulate an oil painting digitally.

Since I don’t have permission to use their photos I won’t post them here but it will be fun to see if anyone recognizes themselves or their friends, given the small world we live in now.

Facebook "People You May Know #2", watercolor, 7x7 inches
Facebook “People You May Know #2”, watercolor, 7×7 inches

I tried painting with watercolor (above) over the graphite sketch below in a Stonehenge square sketchbook. I discovered that I am very rusty with my watercolors and this sketchbook is apparently NOT watercolor paper, so this is kind of a mess. But an interesting mess.

Facebook "People You May Know #2", graphite, 7x7 inches
Facebook “People You May Know #2”, graphite, 7×7 inches

I realized I need lots more drawing practice, after trying to paint a life-size three-person portrait in oils over several months and failing again and again. I put the project and the four failed canvases in the closet to try again another day after I improve my portrait drawing skills.

Categories
Art Oil Painting Procreate on iPad

Another Semi-Fail Flower

Matilija Poppy, oil on canvas, 8.5” x 11.5 inches
Matilija Poppy, oil on canvas, 8.5” x 11.5 inches

The only thing I like in this painting is the Matilija poppy and maybe the shadows. I’ve painted Matilija Poppies (much better) before like this one that also appears in the book “The Watercolor Artists Bible” along with several other of my watercolors. For some reason I find it much harder to paint flowers successfully in oils.

I started this mostly yucky painting by first using Procreate to design a color plan to work from (below) that I unfortunately didn’t exactly stick to. I like the digital version much better. Then I did a black and white underpainting in acrylic before painting in oils.

Color plan done in Procreate and black and white photo for values
Color plan done in Procreate and black and white photo for values
Photo of set up
Photo of set up