Color Study

It's a rainy Sunday and I decided to do a color study. I put together several pieces of the plastic cups and dishes I purchased yesterday at an antiques festival. The dishes are Melmac and come in beautiful pastel colors.

At the Farmer's Market

When I saw this dog he seemed stressed out by the crowds at the market. I'm not sure if I captured that, but I felt his stress painting him. Every painting takes on a life of its own. I thought I'd share the following quote I like.

“A true work of art in no way depends for its justification on its seeming connections with the place that many call the real world and that I call the visible world.” Gerald Murnane, A Million Windows

White Teapot and Sliced Orange

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The break I took from painting these past few months has been hard to come back from.  I haven't been able to get into the flow, zone, gesture, you know what I mean.  I like Samuel Beckett's quote about struggling, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

Chocolate Shoe

I received this chocolate shoe from my friends Tom and Maggie. It was fun to paint and then oh so delicious to eat :}

Oh Radishes

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For some reason I began this post with the title "Oh Radishes".  I checked the title for previous use and found a charming poem by Chloe' Oh Radishes from her blog Plenty of Color. I agree, radishes are beautiful, and why nature chose these colors is a mystery to me.

Blue Carton

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I'm working my way back to painting every day. 

I ordered new paints and panels.  

I have no more excuses. 

A New Focus

You know how you wonder why a painting isn't working, but you haven't been able to figure it out? That's what happened to me with this painting. My eye kept looking at the handle's shadow between the two front tomatoes. That became my center of focus, and in fact I wanted it to be the cup.

After reading Richard Scott's book Sketching from Square One to Trafalgar Square I asked myself what interested me most about this still life? How do I emphasize the cup and deemphasize it's shadow?

I changed the value of the shadow and that lessened the contrast. This helps redirect my eye. My eye now goes back and forth between the front tomatoes and the cup. This change worked for me (although this photo doesn't). Richard Scott's techniques for seeing and sketching have helped me think about these techniques in painting.  Have I said before that I really liked this book?

A Lulu of a Dog

Commission

You can tell a lot about a dog by looking into its eyes. Lulu is a little powerhouse with an intelligent gaze. I was captured by her eyes and a pose that said she was going to spring into action. I bet she's a lot of fun. 

Experience and Creative Design. Ltd.

My paintings will be on display at Experience and Creative Design, Ltd.

through the month of June.

Iris

Sold

I want to thank Brenda for sending images of her cat Iris to me. I chose this one because I was drawn to her beautiful green eyes. In April, I asked if anyone had good photos of their cats, so I could get some painting practice. I soon received images of Iris, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to paint and haven't at all since my last post on April 20th. Life gets busy but I'm happy to say I have the time again. I'd love to get more practice painting cats, so feel free to send me an image of your cat.