Sunlit Roses

...Sunlit Roses...

oil on panel - 6" x 8"

Here is one of the paintings I did for the Crockett Paint Out. Crockett, CA, is a charming little town with a lot of older homes in the downtown area that have fancy details on the house and flowers in the yard. Roses especially grow well here. Big, huge bushes, covered with blossoms! I complemented one woman on her roses, and she said she doesn't have to do anything to them! Wow, I remember having a rose bush in WV, and I was always watering, fertilizing and spraying, and it didn't look half as good as these!

I painted these roses because they are joyful. And looking at them gladdens my heart. (Is that an old fashioned expression?). Oh well. That's how it is...

And, I hope, you will have your heart gladdened by looking at this painting!

Who? Me?

...Who? Me?...

acrylic on Aquaboard - 6" x 6"

This is a painting I did for the Daily Paintworks Challenge. I thought it would be fun to try, especially since I haven't painted many animals. And I haven't done acrylics in years! And this was my first time painting on Aquaboard! (Why not just set myself up for difficulty!) And to make matters worse, my panel holder failed and dropped the painting, just as I was about to add a stroke--so the painting fell onto a fully loaded brush! I cleaned it up as best I could, but that is why there are two black spots behind the kitten's ear on the right. But I do think it turned out fine. I love the expression on the kitten's face!

Unframed, varnished, and shipped for free!

Click here to buy.

The Red Barn

...The Red Barn...

oil on panel - 6" x 6"

How's this for an "S" shaped composition? There really was a road curving uphill to the barn, but it didn't curve this much. I exaggerated the curve to hopefully make the painting more pleasing to the eye. According to the book, Composition of Outdoor Painting, by Edgar Payne, "The dominant curves and slanting lines in this type generally suggest grace and movement and an easy relation of the parts."

By the way, I have found this book to be one of the most useful books I own. When planning a painting, I like to try out different compositional arrangements in a sketchbook first. I know, the wording is old fashioned (it was first published in 1941), but it has more actual principles that you can use than almost any of the art instruction books published today. If you are a painter who does outdoor subjects, I highly recommend it. I had considered at some point doing a book review on it, but there is so much in it, that would be hard to do in a single post.

I hope you are having beautiful weather and can get out and paint!

Study for studio painting

Landscape Study

This is my current work. It is a small painting (5" x 7") which I did as an experiment. I am trying some new colors: especially laying in the underpainting with cobalt violet. Since I like the effect, I am doing this painting again, only larger. Also I will work on some compositional problems when I do the larger work. This is why it is good to do small studies.

Oh, in case you have not had your daily dose of cuteness today, I have baby geese!

 As you may know, I live in a beautiful place. I am in an upstairs loft condo at the edge of a lagoon.

Well, yesterday morning, I looked out the window and there were two Canada Geese with 13 baby goslings, right below my deck!

See how they come and get under their mother's wing to get warm... So cute!

Of course, Oscar, the wonder cat, was on the case right away!

Here he is, hanging off the edge of the deck to get a better view!

After awhile, the parents took their little ones into the water, and they all swam away.

Here is Oscar, looking very disappointed... Poor guy.