Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain

Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain

6x6, oil on board

Oh my..."Partly Cloudy" is....what?   To me, a total mess.  Today's painting is my least favorite so far...oh well.  I just don't necessarily have the stomach to be as loose as I need to be to pull off a good landscape especially with oils.  I should stick with a genre that I don't get bored with...maybe that's my problem.   I also find it tedious to mix colors...it impedes the process (for me anyway).   I guess I need to practice mixing so it's easier to come up with the color I'm looking for a lot faster.

WIP: Untitled, 12x16

On the heels of the above painting...I thought I'd better return to my beloved soft pastels.  In fact, the last two paintings in oil were so disappointing that I've started two larger boat scenes.  One, a familiar kayak scene and the other a small wooden boat.  I don't have titles for them yet.  But here's the progress on the kayak scene.  I love to kayak while my husband is fishing.  This scene reminds me of so many places but especially Horsethief Reservoir near Cascade, ID.   Given the winter we've had, I'm sure looking forward to warm summer months!

Winter Sunrise

Winter Sunrise

8x10, oil on board

I took an early morning walk the week our temperatures were below zero...so, it was fairly short lived.  But, I did get a few pictures of the colorful early morning sunrise which was just beginning to wake the neighborhood (only a few hours before another snowstorm moved in).  The warm sunlight was a welcomed sight against the frigid cold snow. This one started out much better than it ended up...I must still try to remember not to overwork things! 

A Piece of Cake

A Piece of Cake

6x6, oil on board

Despite the title...this little piece wasn't necessarily "a piece of cake"...but on some level it was fun to paint.  I did it a couple years ago from an early morning still life on my kitchen table in soft pastels.  I liked it so I tried painting it in oils.  I still prefer the pastel version below.  Eventually I'll know how to mix (and apply) colors better...assuming I stick to experimenting with oils.

White Bouquet

White Bouquet

6x6, oil on board

Painting 17 of 30...one thing I love to paint is glass...especially a vase or jar.  The variation of colors and highlights and reflections are a blast to paint. Of course, a little tougher with oils...but I'm getting there. I think.

A Walk To Work

A Walk to Work

9x9, soft pastel

Day 16 of 30 is a study piece from a trip to downtown Boise last spring.  I took many photos in March anticipating a few cityscapes that somehow were pushed to the back burner in 2016.  I still have hopes of completing them someday...so, I pulled one out to practice Desmond O'Hagan's techniques.   I may have to abandon my "painterly" technique!

Little Red

Little Red

12x16, soft pastel

Painting 15 of 30:  Little Red is finished.  It's always a toss up to be detailed vs. painterly....my style is somewhere in between.   I like definition...but too much detail and too much precision leads to stiff unnatural paintings with less expression.  If I was painting photorealistic then I'd put much more detail in.  So it's a fine balance every artist has to decide for him or herself when to stop and "let it be".   

This particular scene reminds me of myself.  I'm pretty darn petite...ok, I'm downright SHORT at a whopping 5'0".  Pretty much everyone seems to tower over me.  So I can identify wih this little dingy sitting side by side tied to a manmouth ship.  We may both be small...but we're so dang cute...lol.  Of course the older we get, we get a little rough around the edges.

Bedtime Buddies - Oil

Bedtime Buddies - Oil

6x6, oil on board

Painting 14 of 30 - Revisiting a painting I did in October of Macy...a Facebook friend's pup who is full of Westie attitude!  Having loved it in pastel...I decided to try it in oil.  This oil painting thing is definitely like trying to write with your non-dominate hand.  But again, I practice and practice....and practice.  I know it's not completely hopeless because I still bound out of bed each morning (often 4-5 am) excited to try again!