Big Red

This apple was big and red and maybe that's why my husband bought it for me to paint.  The sweetheart!  I've started a large painting and I try to work on it every other day.  It's another series painting but I won't say more lest I jinx myself. 

Green and Blue Glass Bottles

One of my favorite places to find interesting glassware and get inspiration is Goodwill. Two days ago I found this round green glass bottle. The bottom was stamped SUNSWEET. I can't image it was used for prunes, so it must have been used for something else.  It might be an antique or just decorative.  Anyway, I placed both glass bottles on a sheet of clear glass and saw interesting reflections (perhaps not this saturated). My goal was to paint spots of color and I was successful with the blue bottle.  I'm also happy with the green one which is less abstract. 

Green Pearl Olives with Pimentos

It's been almost a week since my last post.  I've been busy with life, of course, but now it's back to painting. And that's the thing, once I take any time off from painting, I take a few steps back. Two steps back one step forward. It will take me a few days to get back into the routine of painting again. 

Grape Tomatoes Glass Bowl

I did a couple of trial runs on the tomatoes before I started painting. I worked out their shading and colors.  I also created piles of paint for the corresponding  background colors to compare values and saturation without having to think about their placement.  From these piles I made adjustments while painting. This seemed to work well within the limited time I had to paint today.

Grapefruit on Pink Plate

Pink grapefruit, pink plate, pink and white striped cloth.  I've got a thing for pink today.  I've painted grapefruit several times in the past but it's been awhile. It's like revisiting an old friend.

Yellow Pepper on Blue Glass Plate

This painting took three restarts to finally get the pepper to look like it was in shadow. In each of the previous attempts I painted the shadow too light. So I went out of my comfort zone and pushed the color. It may look strange but I like it and I'm ready to move on. What else is new? My work is on  display for three months in a law office for an "in-house" show.  It's nice to have Higgins, Roberts, Beyerl & Coan, P.C.  supporting the arts. http://www.hrbclaw.com/Artists.shtml

Small Fruit Big Bowl

I think either my clementines are shrinking or they just look really small next to this bowl. I'm continuing to paint quickly and as a result I think this painting looks looser.  I'm trying to apply the paint in one stroke and not to go over it. But I do, and those areas either end up feeling tight or the new color seems off. I'm still learning.

Under the Spotlight

I'm going to try and do more paintings but this may mean that they're less finished than I'd like. Maybe it will  force me to work quickly and I'll learn to simplify my brushstrokes and paintings. I don't know.  I do know that there isn't always enough time in the day to get everything done.  So, when painting,  I'll have to work more mindfully.

Morning 2012

I don't always make New Year's resolutions because they don't usually last.  But, I'd like to make an endeavor to post at least 100 paintings this year. I think this is doable since I've posted 78 paintings starting April 2011. So, I need to make this a habit. As Leo Babauta author of Zen Habits  http://zenhabits.net writes, "Instead of creating a list of resolutions this year, create a new habit." He says the way to do this is to make it social, do one habit at a time, make it your top priority and enjoy it. That sounds a lot like paintings and blogging to me.