Palette Knife Sunflowers - SOLD

Palette Knife Sunflowers
Oil on Canvas Panel, 11" x 14"
SOLD.

This one is a leftover, after I said "No more sunflowers."
Different, I know. Done with palette knives.

Palette Knife Hydrangeas - SOLD

Palette Knife Hydrangeas
Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 16"
SOLD.

I've been scanning a new artist today (new to me, anyway) and she's fantastic. I am trying to figure out how I can get from the level where I am to a level like where she is. A class? A series of workshops? I'm not sure. More practice drawing? A concentration on composition? I need to study, I think.

Here's the link to Kim's gorgeous work:
http://kimcasebeer.com/

and notice what that skill level fetches! THAT'S where I wanna be.

Lake Sunset - SOLD

Lake Sunset
Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 16"
SOLD.

Since I had these colors out anyway, I decided to do a made-up sunset, with a bare tree and some beach grasses.

Lemon and Plum - SOLD

Lemon and Plum
Oil on Canvas Panel, 5" x 7"
SOLD.

I just adore these intense colors together.
Plums are gorgeous anyway, but then to pop a high yellow next to it? YUM.

Sunflower Medley - SOLD

Sunflower Medley
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 12" x 12"
SOLD.

Last week Monday I bought two bunches of sunflowers for around $20. But they didn't last at all, having wilted by Wednesday. So on Thursday, with a ride at hand, I took them back to the store, and got two new bunches. Now THESE are lasting!

But I'm getting tired of painting them, and I know you must be tired of seeing them, so this will be the last one for now. Tomorrow something different.

Sunflower Skirts and Tutus - SOLD

Sunflower Skirts and Tutus
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 12" x 12"
SOLD.

Something with sunflowers, but from a little different view.
Don't the leaves and fringes remind you of skirts and tutus?

Sunflowers - SOLD

Sunflowers, Done
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 30" x 40"
SOLD.

I wanted to post the final version of the large sunflower painting I've been working on all week.
I'm pretty happy with it. I still have to go around all the edges, top, bottom and sides, but I'm waiting with that for the front to be dry.

Large Sunflower commission, Progress

I thought you all might like to see the painting I'm working on right now.

 My still life set up. Very sophisticated and professional, don't you think?

A good start, some flowers done, some not..

Almost done, lots of tweaking to do, some decisions to make (polka dots or not), (change the values on the bottom, lighter table edge and darker beneath?) and some changes to make; leaves, bowl to green. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
Oh, did I mention that it's HUGE? 30" x 40" Big for me, anyway.
So definitely a challenge.

Beach Sky - SOLD

Beach Sky
Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 16"
SOLD.

Back to the landscapes, and thinking today about sand and surf.
Maybe some rain blowing in?

Hydrangeas in a Jar - SOLD

Hydrangeas in a Jar
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 11" x 14"
SOLD.

I do paint hydrangeas all year round, but it's especially fun to have real, live models to paint from.
Yesterday I trudged across the neighborhood with my scissors, knocked on a neighbor's door, waited, knocked again, waited to ask if I could clip a few stems from their huge bush. No answer, and there's the bush with about 100 blooms...what would you do? (Clearly, I clipped.) Ah, purloined hydrangeas...

Summer Blues - SOLD

Summer Blues
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 10" x 10"
SOLD.

While the hydrangeas last, another little painting from life.

Dancing Beach Towels - SOLD

Dancing Beach Towels
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 24" x 30"
SOLD - Going to My Favorite Beach House.

This is a revision of an older painting, which has been bugging me for about a year now, hanging out of the way on a back wall. The towels always looked like they were dragging on the ground, there was too much boring sky, and there was a wrong-sized chair and laundry basket in the foreground (very carefully drawn and painted, but the wrong size.) I finally got just the combination of courage and pissed-offedness to attack it properly, doing surgery on the stuff that wasn't working. I actually like it now, but don't look too closely at what the shadows are doing. I know... it's artistic license. It's too big to ship, so it's a pick up.
Thanks for looking!

Single Sunflower, Revised - SOLD

Single Sunflower, Revised
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 8" x 8"
SOLD.

And this is what it looked like before (below). Much improved, yes?
I trimmed it up, added some highlight yellow, and changed the background color. I like it a lot better now.

Beach Baby - SOLD

Beach Baby
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 9" x 12"
SOLD.

Just for a change of pace, a summery little beach baby. I think I may have gotten the reference photo from Flickr, I don't remember, it's been sitting in my photo resources for awhile now. As happens with figures, as soon as I had completed this one, I wanted to do it again, to improve it. Always it's the underlying drawing that needs fixing. Still in all, I think she is sweet.

Last of the Sunflowers - SOLD

Last of the Sunflowers
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 11" x 14"
SOLD.

Happy Fourth, everyone!
Hope you have plans for a nice picnic or a get together, backyard barbecue, go see the fireworks, all that lovely family stuff. Especially if you have kids or grandkids!

When I went to move my sunflowers around, all the petals started falling off. They have already curled up, but I figured I could fudge that. So this will be the last of the current sunflower series. Hope you have enjoyed it.

Clouds and River - SOLD

Clouds and River
Oil on Canvas Panel, 9" x 12"
SOLD.

A quick little landscape, since I've been missing painting clouds.

July Sunflowers - SOLD

July Sunflowers
Oil on canvas panel, 12" x 16"
SOLD.

I'm still experimenting with the greenish background. This time I used Viridian, Lavender and White, and I'm pretty happy with it. Not too dark and just subtle enough. This is the largest of the oils of sunflowers so far. I still have to figure out how not to have a double light source, as I have one light on my palette to the right, and one light behind me to the left, and it makes for confusing light on my subject.

Summer Ramble - SOLD

Summer Ramble
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 12" x 16"
SOLD.

A landscape for a nice change. Fresh, yes?

Sunflowers on Blue-Grey - Sold

Sunflowers on Blue-Grey
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 11" x 14"
SOLD.

I turned my jar around to make these guys face more front. No guilty kids today.

Monday Sunflowers - SOLD

Monday Sunflowers
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 12" x 12"
SOLD.

I didn't realize it when I was sketching these out, but they remind me of kids...."Who marked with crayons on the wall?"...and everybody turns away. Wasn't me...Crayons?...Where?