Clear Glass Mug (A New Setting)

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I listened to a podcast that mentioned using titles that weren't just about helping the artist locate their painting file. I wanted to do that, but all I could come up with was adding my second title in parentheses. This is my last post for 2015. My new year's resolution will be to reach 500 posts (only 20 more) and start painting larger works (in addition to small ones).
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

Rhea's Clear Glass Mug

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I spotted this mug at my nephew's house on Thanksgiving and asked to borrow it. I thought it had the perfect look.  But, I forgot to take it that night and returned home without it. My family helped me out and so the little mug took the long journey to my studio. It went from Brooklyn to Virginia and back to New York. What a great family.

Most Viewed of 2015

These are some of my most viewed images from 2015.

Thanks to everyone for a great year.

Three Stacked Cups Revisited

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I feel like my painting is looser and more joyous. It didn't take long. I don't like to admit it, but when I get stuck, I feel kind of down. This all sounds too profound for a daily painter. Truth be told, I have been working on something new, but because it's new it didn't turn out as expected so I had to put it aside. I'm back to what I enjoy and hope to try new things again in the future.

Three Stacked Cups

I haven't posted in a while, but that isn't because I haven't been painting. I have, but I haven't been very pleased with my work. I know other people have been through this. When this happens to me, I tend to keep painting and eventually feel good again. 

Change is in the air

I've made a big change in all my sites' names. The change is that all my sites now have the 
same name. The names are shorter, easier to type and easier to remember. 

They all have the words robin rosenthal art and it looks like this

robinrosenthalart

Here are my sites:  

website: http://www.robinrosenthalart.com

blog:http://robinrosenthalart.blogspot.com

facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RobinRosenthalArt/

instagram:rhttps://www.instagram.com/robinrosenthalart/

Other sites include either my full name as on daily paintworks or begin with robinrosenthala

dailypaintworks:http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/robin-rosenthal-1804

twitter: https://twitter.com/robinrosenthala

pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/robinrosenthala/

Thank you for following me and supporting my art journey.

Mack

 

Commission

Mack is a very handsome standard apricot poodle with a laid-back temperament. His owner is an architect and how fitting that she posed him in front of a local building's architectural feature.

Dog and Cat Commissions

Both commissions were picked up yesterday and are on their way as holiday gifts. Two people will be surprised and I hope pleased. 

Overbed Table

This may not be a very exciting post for most viewers, but bear with me. I have a new
table which is an Overbed table that holds my shadow box. It can easily be raised or lowered to all positions between 28"- 45" just by pressing the lever. This makes it easy to view my still lifes from above and from front on.  The downside, it has to be assembled, but if you're handy it is well worth the trouble.

Apricot Cat

Commission

Craftsman Cabinet

This is one of my favorite studio fixtures, a Craftsman 5-drawer cabinet. I keep my painting panels, gloves and new brushes in the first drawer, oil paints in the next two, painting tools like pliers and wringers in the fourth and drawing supplies in the bottom drawer.

November Newsletter

Catch up on all recent events and see what's new in my November Newsletter.

 Click here.

Blue Scissors and Purple Cup

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This painting comes after reading the first 7 chapters in the book Blue and Yellow don't make Green. The  basis of this book is about mixing pigments according to light physics; some colors are absorbed while others are reflected. It's a new way of thinking for me and when it gets too scientific I just look at the color charts.

Banana and Glass on Blue

I'm still working on painting glass. It's probably my favorite thing right now. I start with the inside of the glass and it's abstract. I'm not concerned with being too accurate. Then I work my way outward placing one color spot next to another. When I get stuck, I take a break.

Blue and Yellow don't make Green

Here's an interesting approach to color mixing, it's the science behind it. It took me a while to slog through the first chapters including mixing violets. Michael Wilcox made it understandable. I have the feeling it's going to answer some of my questions about color mixing.

Brown Boxer

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I'm finished with my painting of the boxer who I had photographed at the farmer's market. I have always had strong feelings of what constitutes animal welfare. In retrospect, this owner only wanted to show off his dog and sometimes holding them down is the only way to do that.

Brown Boxer

I took a photo of this boxer during the summer and her human obligingly held her in place. I didn't think anything of it until I started to draw her. My drawing doesn't capture the look on her face; it's not so much anger as resignation at being forced to sit still. The focus of the painting will be her head and his hand.

Dress Shoes

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I've renamed my painting to be more descriptive and make it easier to find in my files. The previous name was too silly and that's awkward. This painting came out just as I hoped it would, loose and painterly.

Job Interview Shoes

This is the preliminary drawing to a painting of black shoes. It's life-size and I hope it will be a quick and loose painting. I'm often inspired by something I see or by another artist's work. This is inspired by a Wayne Thiebaud painting called Black Shoes. He's an artist whose work I always enjoy. 

Tomato on Green Plate

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This little painting was a challenge. The knife in my setup was foreshortened. When I paint a foreshortened object my mind says one thing and my eyes say another.  After many tries and then focusing on "seeing and not thinking" I figured it out. Wouldn't it be great if all difficult tasks could be performed without thinking!

Beer Glass and Fruit

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"Honey, do you know where my nice beer glass is?" That's what my husband said as I was finishing my painting today. All objects are fair game in my house.
I posted a video last night. If you want to see it, here's the link A Quick Tour of my Studio. I used Animoto, a simple video program, but I didn't realize their trial logo/watermark would be placed on it unless I pay a fee. Since I'm not going to make another in the near future, it will have to stay as is. 

An Animoto Video

Click on my name below to view my video

Robin Rosenthal's Paintings

The Cottage

I added a bush to the lower right of the painting.  

This helps draw the viewer into the painting.

This summer some artist friends and I went to The Clark Museum to see the Van Gogh exhibit. On our way home, we saw this little cottage by a gas station. I kept the shape, but took some liberties with the landscaping.  Below is my palette, lights for the sunshine and darks for shadows. I adapted this from Peggi Kroll Robert's Painting From Photos video.

Amber Bubble Glass and Lemon

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I took yesterday off from painting except to work on the drawing for this painting. I needed to rest after Saturday's Stockade Villager's Art Show. It turned out to be a great day and the rain held off. I now consider it officially fall, with the summer shows behind me. So, it's back to work.

Stockade Villagers' Outdoor Art Show 2015

If you stop by my display and mention this blog post you'll receive a discount on any purchase.

Hope to see you there.

In addition, 10% of all sales goes to national and local animal welfare agencies or to one of your choice. 

Cigar Box Cat

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It's always fun to do something different, especially on a holiday like Labor Day.  In effect it was fun. That's how I felt about this cat painting. I took my inspiration from the texture and colors of the cigar box. The image of the cat was from one of those free-to-use sites.

The Lucy Challenge Cont.

I previously posted paintings of Trudi's dog Lucy, see The Lucy Challenge.  When Trudi and I finished, we thought it would be fun to ask our Beckman Street artist friends to join in by either painting Lucy, their own pet or another animal.  Here's two more paintings.

I love Lucy by Michelle Winnie

 Xmas Ziggy by Carolyn Justice.  Her dog actually sat for her.

The fun continues.

Pitcher and Fruit

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I bought these vegetables at the farmer's market and then arranged them around the clear pitcher.  I started painting the objects seen inside the pitcher and worked outward trying to think only of color and value. It sounds simple, but it took a lot of tries.

Three Green Apples 2

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Here's a painting that I reworked. There was a part that bothered me, so today I repainted it. It eased my mind.

Green Plate and Fruit

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I found myself falling into an old trap of naming objects instead of finding colors and values. I heard myself saying "what colors are those raspberries." To turn my voice off, I turned the canvas upside down and I saw the raspberries as shapes, colors and values. 

Pinky the Golden Retriever

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This golden retriever stopped to smile and pose for me at this summer's Art in the Park in Saratoga Springs, NY.  She was so friendly and had such a sweet disposition, I couldn't help but paint her on a pink background. Actually, I don't really know her name, so I took my cue from her pink tongue.

Lime Wedges and Plums

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I'm always reluctant to work with the color yellow. It's hard for me to make it look solid and saturated. However, today it turned into a plate and held its own against the dark plums. 

The Lucy Challenge

My friend Trudi Smith put out the challenge that we'd both paint her dog Lucy.  

This is the image we painted.

Here's Trudi's portrait of Lucy. 

Here's mine.

What fun!

Amber Mug and Fruit

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This painting reflects what I learned at Karen O'Neil's workshop. When painting there is so much to juggle but her basic tenets are paint what you see, be direct, and think about color and value; lastly have a good drawing and use a big brush. Maybe there was more, but I tried to adhere to those principles.

Glass of Tea with Fruit

This was another painting from last weekend's workshop. My ellipse or "read my ellipse" as my husband likes to kid me, was off. After adjusting it, I decided to post.

Clear Glass and Fruit

I'm lucky to have attended a Karen O'Neil workshop this past weekend at the Woodstock School of Art. This has to be one of my most favorite things to do. Karen is a wonderful teacher, the setting is beautiful and the other artists were really nice. Above is one of the three paintings I did during the  workshop. 

The Bookshelf - Completed

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This is the finished painting with some changes. I simplified the composition and worked it so that my eye travels around the canvas and doesn't stop in any one spot too long. Hope you enjoy the completed painting.

Rose of Sharon 2015

This year's Rose of Sharon is done.  It's fun to chart my paintings of a single object from year to year. This year's flower color is more vibrant and I hope I captured the light and atmosphere of today's sunny day.

Round One

This is round one of my yearly attempt at painting the flowers from my Rose of Sharon bush.  I wanted to explore a new color combination to get violet. I used Quinacridone Magenta and Phthalo Blue. It's a wonderful, vibrant color. Next time I hope to work on simplifying the form of the flower.

I Love Lucy

That's what my friend Trudi Smith would say about her dog Lucy. I took my first painting class with Trudi in 2003 when I knew nothing about painting. Twelve years later and happily painting, I owe her a lot and she has remained a good friend. She suggested we both paint her dog. What fun. I look forward to seeing her painting!

Short Stack

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This painting was completed for Saratoga Arts  10 x 10 = 100  2015 Summer Exhibition in honor of the City of Saratoga Spring's Centennial celebration. The show runs from August 1 - September 26, with an opening reception on Saturday, August 1 from 5 - 7pm. 

Best in Show 2015

I'm proud to say I was awarded Best in Show at yesterday's Art in the Park in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Bookshelf Days 5 & 6

Yesterday I worked on this painting, but didn't post, so today I'm posting for two days worth the almost completed painting. I'm taking a few days off and then I'll look at it with fresh eyes. Next time I'll tweak whatever needs fixing and then put it away for a show in September. I hope whoever was following along enjoyed watching how this painting progressed and is inspired to do their own big painting.