14. Checkin' on the Herd

Checkin' on the Herd 9x12 oil/linen

Today's effort is perhaps a little more of a finished painting rather than an exercise. Why?   Well, a couple of reasons.

1.  Mainly because I just wanted to paint this!

2. The gallery is asking for western horse images - so it was a chance to practice some of the edge control in a more completed work, and at the same time meet that obligation.  

I allowed a little more time than an hour.. probably more like 2, for this.  The objective was to use purposeful brushstrokes,and not get bogged in detail...hard to do on a subject like this because all those little parts of the saddle just scream for attention.  I think it is sufficient, what do you say?

13. Adjusting Stirrups

Adjusting   Stirrups 5x7 oil /panel

Sometimes you gotta paint something just because you love it. I love this image - I think it might be a riding lesson, or perhaps just a new rider, and the stirrups weren't quite right.  The pony waits patiently while the instructor gets everything set just right .  The back lighting was probably what really attracted me... I especially love the way the light pours through that pony's tail. Painting something back lit requires very subtle changes in value - the back lit object is almost a silhouette but there are slight changes in tone to depict the form.... but not much.

Did you know that there are really very few white horses?  Most of what we would call a "white" horse is really a gray - it has to do with the color of their skin under their coat.  Take that and use it in conversation this week!

Gotta make more panels!

a row of dailies on masonite panel

Just thought ya'll might get a kick out of seeing the daily paintings as they are before I cut them. Normally, the panels are cut to size first, but didn't have the right blade for our table saw.  I had this sheet of prepared masonite, and marked off several 5x7 panels (and one oddball size)....

Sorry about the color... this was under incandescent light, which is just all wrong for real color.

Bought another sheet of masonite today, and will be priming and cutting that down to panels this week....

Friend and fellow artist Judy Palmero suggested I describe how I make these panels. Here's a link to that  from my other blog, :making painting panels  and a link to Judy's blog http://judypalermo.blogspot.com.   

12. Just Peachy

Just Peachy 5x7 oil/linen

This was a fun little arrangement - mostly because I had three white objects.... the background, the creamer, and the cloth are all... WHITE!!!  Of course you all know you don't paint white things just white... (you DID know that, right?) and with all this white floating around,  I had to select a different color white for each thing.

the background is a pale purplish bluish white, the creamer is a warmer greenish white, and the cloth has a tiny bit of red in it.  

It was fun playing around with edges in this one.. I  realized all of a sudden all my brushes are getting worn out - it's sort of like your underwear and socks.. they all seem to go south at the same time.  I've been using rather large brushes on these little paintings too... using a big, fuzzy, worn out brush will sure keep you from getting bogged down in detail...... 

Catching up!

Waiting for Daddy 5x7 oil/linen

So, finally replaced the keyboard, but still waiting on the roofers to come and fix the leak.  Meanwhile, we have to keep the new keyboard off the desk in case the drips start again!

So, here's the next painting.  This was a fun experiment, but, lemme tell ya, it was NOT EASY!!!

First, working from a photograph is never really that good.. the colors and values are usually way off, but I wanted to try a difficult subject (and it doesn't get much harder than the portrait of a child) because the exercise was to only see pieces of color... no drawing, no trying to "paint a nose, or an eye, or a chin..".. I figured if I picked a hard subject, I'd be more likely to not slip into drawing mode. So, I just started by putting a few marks on the canvas to indicate where the top and bottom of the head would be, and started putting down pieces of color. I even blurred the photo on purpose so I'd see values and color, not details. It was a great exercise, and I'll do this again... to train my eyes to see value and color.. After all, we're not really painting "things" - we're painting  how the light affects things, and so if we can accurately judge value and color, we can paint any subject at all.....

A little mishap

Our roof sprung a leak in yesterday's rain - right above the computer desk.
The keyboard and mouse got soaked and are not working.
Since that's the only computer with camera software and Photoshop I am unable to post paintings till we get it up and running again. Stay tuned!

10. Last of the Summer Pansies

I made this one a wee bit more "formal" because I needed something this size to send to an upcoming show.. so I figured this was a good opportunity to practice some edge variation and purposeful brushstrokes in a "real" painting.  I guess the pansies are gone for good for this year. What few were left got eaten by one of our free range cows.... and then these were really getting wilty, but I whipped out my artistic license from my pocketbook, and painted them fresh! :-)
I found that little green bottle in a meadow during a hike last summer.  I love the color of it.  (the peach I stole from the fruitbowl).