Bean Bag Buddy

This weekend there were a lot of garage sales in my neighborhood and so I found four little stuffed toys I thought I'd like to paint.  This little one had a hard time sitting up, filled with beans it wanted to scrunch down. Toys are fun to paint and this one was interesting because of all the little tummy angles.

Milk Jar

I worked to put the principles I learned this weekend into this still life, moving through the painting one value/color spot at a time beginning with the pink teacup. I have to admit it was fairly easy because I tried to paint what I saw. No thinking but lots of concentration.  The milk jar was a new thrift store find.

Landscape I and II

Landscape I

Landscape II

Here are two two landscapes I did on Sunday, the last day of the workshop. It was an overcast day and I was trying new mixtures of greens using Gamblin's Permanent Green Light as its base. You can see that PGL on the first landscape is a bright green that pops out and in both paintings creates interesting values and temperatures.

Around the Blue Glass Plate

This past weekend I went to the Woodstock School of Art for a workshop with Karen O'Neil.  I've taken several workshops with her. It's like rereading a great art book after several years and being able to grasp subtle concepts unknown to you before. Well, I feel that way after every workshop with her but this time I hope I've taken an even bigger step forward.  It has to do with nailing the values, assigning the right color and taking those small steps between value shifts.  This painting isn't a finished work but an attempt to work on those concepts.

Red Onions

I found these red onions with their green tops at the Troy Farmer's Market on Saturday.  That's my favorite outdoor market.  It's so lively with music, places to eat and loads of fresh produce. I was thinking of Linda Hunt as I painted this still life. I painted it with lots of colorful reflections.

Red Rose

This rose is my best in show. I'm happy that I've figured out the shape and painted it loosely.  Last year I took images of my neighbor Marion's beautiful garden. This rose was one that said "paint me".

All Arms and Legs

I dog sat Athena on Saturday. She is a sweet older dog who only wants to please. I've been wanting to paint her for a while and luckily I had time to take just the right images.  Here she is all arms and legs sunning herself on my deck.

Frenky

Frenky is a small long-haired dachshund, whom I met along with his friend Mocha at the Albany Rural Cemetery on Saturday. I had heard about this historic cemetery and thought I could take some images for landscape paintings.  It was a beautiful spot but it was Frenky (owner is Russian) who turned out to be more paintable.

Cherries on Glass Plate

Sometimes I amaze even myself. I must have loved this still life because it was almost effortless to both arrange and paint. It could have been the colors, shadows and the cherries' taste, which was delicious.  I decided to submit this painting to DPW's Monthly Contest.

Rose Redoubt

I've been teaching myself how to paint simplified roses. This one has all the elements, a cup shape, circling petals and graded color that draws the eye down. Yup, it's a rose.