79. Loose in the Garden

5x7 oil/panel

Again, too small a panel, but I gotta do a couple of these small ones for a special event.....

78. Who Dat??

5x7 oil/linen

Okay, I should have known better.. 5x7 is simply too small for this subject matter, at least the way I want to paint and swish that brush around....  but I still had a bit of fun.  The title came to me because these guys are looking mighty intently at that person with the camera.. friend? or foe? or maybe they have a treat in their hand?

76. and 77. Cluck, cluck.....

Decided to post these together...  both small, 5x7, oil on panel, and the photos could sure be better.... but it is what it is at this point.  Trying to find the fundamental essence of the object and paint that without trying for detail.  

75. Arroyo, Dry Season, and a Re-do of an older one

8x10 oil/panel

This little arroyo is one that we cross frequently in our "winter training grounds".  These trails are lower in elevation than our house, and not that far away, so when we're socked in with snow everywhere, we can drive down a bit and reach dry trails.   Everytime we cross this wash, I think "I want to paint that".  So I did remember to snap a photo one day, and working from that, and alot from memory, I painted today's work. This took about 2 hours I'd say - had to simplify alot of things...

Backlit scenes are fun, and reflected light is so exciting to paint. This one was a real exercise in color temperature and reflected light and color. Sorry there's a bit of glare in the upper left I couldn't seem to avoid.

One of these days I'll get a photo box... maybe.

Next is a re-do of another daily.  It accidentally got smeared, and it's been sitting in the studio waiting for me to fix it, but I decided to change it up a bit.  The original looked like this:

I liked the feather alot.. it was fun to do.  but I felt it was too crowded, so I changed the foreground and here's the result. That is a Santa Clara pueblo seed pot, and my turquoise necklace and cross.

So, which do you like better?   

74. Cooling Off

5x7 oil/panel

This one really was done in the spirit of the daily exercise.. about an hour's time total, with concentrated effort of making each brushstroke right.   I am pleased with this one, even though its just a simple scene and small (5x7 because I'm out of my 8x10 panels).  

The fun thing about painting something white, especially something white where there is lots of light bouncing around.. is seeing all the color in it.  You can intelligently deduct some of these color even if they are not real obvious in what you are looking at.   As mentor Stapleton Kearn's says, "it's not WHAT a painting is about, but HOW it is about that makes it art".  So, enhance some of what you see to make a beautiful statement.

In this case, the sunlight is warm, so everything in direct light is going to be a warm  white ( I used cad yellow light and white)

Everything in shadow  is a cooler blue, but, because of the surrounding elements, some of the color of the water, etc. can't help but creep into the shadows, so it's got a bit of warmth in it too. I used a blue with a whisper of an earth red - 

The reflected light is where it really gets fun.  Things on the bottom of the horse, where the sun is hitting the water and then bouncing back up to the horse, will be warm.    Areas of the horse where his form turns upward towards the sky, will have sky color reflected, so you'll see some stronger, purer blues there.

Hope that gives you some ideas to try on your next painting... I'm planning a larger work with this same horse in it . We'll see how that one works out...

73. Saturday on the Plaza

12d16 oil/linen

This is not technically a daily - it took me several days off and on to finish it, but this was a conscious effort to apply some of the things I've been practicing in the smaller works.   I'm still not where I want to be, but at least I am still making an intentional effort to get there...  And really, that's all any of us can do, right?

72. Spring Chickens

1. 8x10 oil/panel

So much glare in our lviing room, so the background is really "glarey" (is that a word?)... Just wanted to keep it loose and pretty fast.... 

I'm hoping we get some little chicks this spring too... Ours will be all brown because they are New Hampshire Reds...