Lemons On Cutting Board sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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Yesterday I wiped out a painting after working on it for about three hours. Frustrating! I should have surrendered sooner. For a while, I thought this one today would be a wipe out too, but I'm happy with it after all. I liked the three "dots" and the yellow reflections in handle and blade. Though I hadn't planned on it, I had to add a suggestion of woodgrain to keep the knife from "floating." Lord knows, we don't need any floating knives.

Red, Yellow and Blue -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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This one was from a few days ago, but today I made changes to the blues, so now I'm happy with it. It's a blast to use such saturated color. I like the way the red colander influenced the yellow peel and of course the patterns of dots created by seeing through the holes and light shining through the holes.

Plein Air State Park -sold

My little furry companion and I went to Chino Hills State Park for a sniffing and painting session, respectively. Fortunately, she didn't sniff out any rattlers. Found a spot in the shade and painted this little shack as quickly as I could, but as you can see in the photo below, the light had changed significantly by the end, when I snapped said photo. When I started painting it was lit on both sides. Getting outdoors to paint is always a treat.

Apple With Teapot SOLD

This is the burnt umber sketch and value plan I started with...at least the midtones and lights. I can see how my composition is going to work. Maybe the teapot could be a bit less centered, but I do like the balanced feeling.


oil on canvas panel 6x8

Well, the result looks better in person. The green-gray of cloth and background is not really that gray....more blue-green. Walking my dog, I carried my clippers and a grocery bag to collect plant parts from tract landscaping. (Really! Not from people's yards!) I've used these branches many times. Don't know what they are, but they have tiny round blue pods that open into pink flowers. The teapot was lots of fun to paint...white, but not white at all!

Red Daisy-sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
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Last evening I finished a nice little painting along the red and green theme again. I intended to post it tonight, but realized I forgot to photograph it today while it was still light out! I went out to Chino Hills State Park this afternoon and did a little study of a shack. So the red/green painting and shack painting will be posted soon. This is one I did a few days ago. I'm still playing with the Munsell color wheel here...the complement of red being a warm blue rather than green. It's kinda refreshing! I hope you like it.

Three Little Orchids SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Yesterday morning I gave up and wiped off a painting I'd struggled with for several hours. I had worked on it in little blocks of time over two busy days--not the best situation. As I wiped it off, I thought I heard Carol Marine's voice; "If you work at it and work at it, and it still isn't working, it's probably the design. " Bingo! I happily wiped then grabbed a clean canvas. I've been admiring my little kitchen orchid who is still doing her thing, so I painted the new flowers.

Grapes and Kiwi

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
Chosen for the colors again, this was a fun little painting to do. I'm quite happy with the grapes, kiwi is okay, but the light colored cloth is what gave me trouble! I still don't think it's quite right. Maybe someday in the shower or half asleep I'll suddenly know how to fix it!!!

Red Onions SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Here's a fresh one. Yay! Lucky for us, there's a local farmer with a roadside stand just walking distance from our house. I'm sure it was the red-violet and green that caught my eye. I gravitate to reds and greens a lot. These smelled strong and fresh--they were probably picked just hours before.

Steel Bowl and Apple -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
SOLD
I've been busy with other stuff, and couldn't paint yesterday or today. UGH! I'll get to paint tomorrow. Here is something I did in January.
I'm really fond of this little painting. I was able to keep it somewhat fresh--not overworked, and I like the edges of the apple. The apple seems to vibrate edgewise and colorwise. Really lively compared to my last post, huh?

Plein Air at Chaffey Garcia House sold

sold
This morning I joined three fellow plein air (French for outside) painters at this historic home in Etiwanda. There's awesome old stuff to paint there, and the docents and caretakers really make you feel welcome.





I don't usually get so close to my paint, but my friend Margaret wanted to get my face in the shot. Thanks, Margaret!





You can see my subject above: a back door and lavender bush in bloom. I'm actually inside the barn (with more cool old stuff, so I blended right in.) The sun kept going in and out behind the clouds, so with the deep shade of the barn, I had a real hard time judging all the whites...cool, no warm, now cool, uh-oh-warm again. It was tons of fun. It got too cold for all of us, so time to go home. At top is my result propped up against my backpack. Not a fabulous painting, but a wonderful morning!

Fruity Face #2 SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches
sold
Still playing with my food!

Fruity Face -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

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Apples, grapes, cherries--so common in still life paintings. I wondered, why don't people paint bananas? I don't know. Somebody should. So I went to the store and happened to see this especially curvy one. It kinda looked like a smile....so you know the rest. I really like this little painting. It makes me smile. Hope you do too.

PB&J Half SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

Here's a little something to eat with your Oreos and milk.

Oreos and Milk SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

One of my favorite treats---harder to paint than I thought! The first hurdle as all the elipses. Next came trying to get the values right. White things are not really white. The only pure whites are the highlights on the rim of glass and plate. The grandkids visited when the set-up had been sitting for two days; "Joel, don't drink that milk, and don't move those cookies!"

Idaho Flowers

watercolor on paper 9x13 inches

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I painted this from a photo reference taken while visiting our son and his family in Meridian, Idaho last summer. You would think these are hibiscus, but not in Idaho of course. I don't know what they are, but the bush was bigger than me and just covered with these spectacular blooms. The painting is much more vibrant than this photo. I need to get better at shooting and editing my photos! Suggestions, anyone?

First Orchid SOLD

oil on canvas panel 6x6 inches

Yesterday I spend nearly all my painting time trying to iron out image upload problems on the computer. UGH! If you see weird stuff on my blog, it's because I'm still learning how to do this. I had started this little painting the day before, and found time in the evening to finish it. After two years of waiting, watering and fertilizing this little kitchen orchid managed to bloom. Of course, I must document the event in paint! I hope you like it.

Standing Asparagus SOLD

oil on canvas panel 8x6 inches

Another sign of spring: asparagus in the grocery store! I'm really happy with this little painting. The pinks and greens produce a soft color balance. Last week at Carol Marine's workshop in San Luis Obispo I learned about color choice for toning your canvas. (And a LOT of other great stuff too! Click on my list to see her work.) Can you see the little bits of my pink ground poking through? I'm learning how to leave little bits instead of plastering the whole canvas with paint. I'm telling you, it takes a lot of self control for me to not overwork things! The drapery was difficult. I had to wipe it out and try again. I hope you like it.

Costello Family's Yosemite Valley

oil on canvas 36x48 inches

not for sale

Now for something different. I completed this painting in December as a Christmas gift to our daughter and family. (Their request.) So with this, I went from painting little 6x6s to pretty big! It was a blast. And I had a really good reason to buy a beautiful Best easel!!! The sky is my favorite part. I worked from six good photos Shelly had taken when they visited Yosemite last summer. I give credit to Greg La Rock (a fabulous plein air painter) who taught atmospheric perspective at his workshop I attended last spring. I doubt I would have gotten the depth without his instruction. It's finally dry and varnished, ready for the framer. We all are very excited to see it hanging in their living room. I hope you enjoy.

Iris and Green Vase -sold

oil on canvas panel 6x8 inches

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This iris just sprung up in my yard in spite of my neglect. The green vase is a thrift store treasure. This is an attempt at a "springy" painting. I try not to put objects right in the middle of my painting...(boring), but after I finished this, I wished I had moved it toward center a bit. Oh well, I like the green vase too much to wipe the painting off! "Next painting will be better!"

I hope it conveys a springy feeling.

Lillies -sold

oil on canvas panel 8x8 inches

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The rich orange color of these lillies was amazing. I had to paint them! The photo is not that great--the painting is brighter orange and deeper reds. I love the interplay of complements: orange and blue, red and green.