Bookworm

11 x 14 "

pastel on toned paper

This is a piece I did about two years ago. I would have posted a drawing, but didn't have photos of any that haven't already posted. I'm posting this because I already had a photoof it on my computer. As I look at it now, I can see some things I would change.

I can't post my latest painting because the gizmo that lets me transfer photos to the computer suddenly stopped working. I really like the painting, too. I will be sure to put it up when I can get the photos that are currently stuck in my camera out. The company is replacing the gizmo (don't know the real name of it) but it will be several days, and since we are leaving for the east coast at the beginning of the week, this may be my last post until after Memorial Day. I don't do much in pastel anymore. After the last workshop I took in pastels, my husband told me the day after it ended that I was wheezing in my sleep. This has happened before. I myself probably would not produce enough pastel dust to be a problem, but a roomful of people apparently do. So, on to oil painting, which I like more and more all the time.

Two Limes

6 x 8 "

oil painting on linen panel

Okay, lesson learned. On very small paintings, keep the subject simple. After spending several hours yesterday painting a porcelain rose on a 6 x 6" panel berfore giving up, today I settled on the simplest of subjects and compositions and still have time for another. My husband said he liked the rose, but he is loyal and supportive. I don't like it and it will not survive. I also went back to linen on this one and rubbed a whisper thin coat of medium on the surface before starting to paint. I remember Richard Schmid mentioning this approach in doing his beautiful monotone portraits. Even though the medium is likely "fat", if you are painting immediately into it and finishing in one sitting, it's not a violation of fat over lean, since it's only one layer of paint. It gave the surface such a lovely feel to paint into, just as though you are painting wet into wet from the first brush stroke.

A Glass of Orchid

9 x 12 "

oil painting on panel

Getting more mileage of the orchid plant. As you can see, this is not planted in a pot. That's because when returning the plant to it's proper place in the window, I broke off a piece. That piece is what's in this glass vase. This time, instead of trying to copy exactly each petal, I just tried to get the feeling of the orchidness of the flower. That's unlikely to be a word. I also set the vase on a piece of glass and used backlighting. The photo seems bluer than the painting, although the color temperature of the piece is cool, probably because of the backlighting and the transparency of the flower. I may take another photo to see if I can tell what happened on the lighting of the shot.

Pitcher in Blue and White

8 x 10"

oil on panel

The really useful thing about photos of work viewed this way is that it's so much easier to spot weaknesses in the piece. This is the same piece I posted on Monday when I mentioned I didn't like the foreground. Instead of painting something new today, I went back and rearranged the setup and reworked the foreground on this one. This is better, but I'm not sure it couldn't be better yet, which might be true of all paintings. I'm going to leave it for now, with a new title.

Apple and Cup

6 x 6"

oil painting on panel

I had one small panel left before I recieve my next shipment. I don't know why composing a very small piece is so much harder than one just a little larger, or a lot larger. I gues it's because the slightest misjudgement is amplified beyond what it would be on a larger painting. It's good practice for that reason among others.

Bob's Orchid

9 x 12 "

oil on panel

I see these in my bedroom every morning when I wake up. These are my husband's and they are blooming for the second time since he bought the plant last fall. I thought they would make a great subject for a painting but I wondered how hard it would be to paint them, as the blossoms are somewhat complex and since I've not painted many flowers. Now I know, they weren't easy. I need practice with the leaves. Overall, I think I like it.

Striped Pitcher

8 x 10 "

oil on panel

This pitcher was a gift from a good friend in Maryland many years ago. I've always liked it and wanted to do a painting of it. I'm fairly pleased with it except for the foreground which could be better. Too much folded fabric, I think. I may go back and change that one day.

Rose

10 x 16"

pastel on paper

Some days just do not go well. This last painting session included a complete wipe off of a great deal of paint from one panel, an attempt to salvage another upon which I will withhold judgement until another day and an oil sketch from a head study on paper that I will probably discard. So here is a drawing from a little over a year ago that I've always liked. The title could refer to the model's name (which it doesn't) or to the flower she was holding.

If, in fact, we do learn the most from our mistakes, I must have learned a great deal today. Here's to a better day tomorrow.

Hot House Tomatoes

8 x 10"

oil on panel

My husband bought these hot house tomatoes still on the vine from Sam's Club. They were actually decent, considering this is May 1 in Wisconsin. There were originally more of them but they went into salads.

What I meant to do here was do a piece in values and variations of grays and neutrals, with the tomatoes being the only bright color. It's surprising how different a piece looks in a photo than on the easel. Strengths and weaknesses in the piece become more clear. I guess it's the distance the photo imposes.