Dark-Eyed Junco

Dark Eyed Junco, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

I found a picture of a Dark-eyed Junco on a free photo site and wanted to paint it's squashy-ness. Most Junco's are gray, but I took artistic liberties and turned the gray to blue! 

Sunny Snowfall

Sunny Snowfall, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

Surprise! Snow has overtaken the eastern half of the U.S.

I attempted to make the most of it by taking some photos at the first peek of sunshine.  Normally, I enjoy the snow, but this last one did me in with it's accompanying freezing temps. The streets have ended up with jagged clumps of frozen snow which are not fun to drive on each day.

This tree was standing still, casting it's playful shadows. It looked very cheerful against the short-lived blue skies which quickly turned back to gray.

American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

I am lucky to occasionally see these yellow finches where I live. They are so fast and small, that if they weren't yellow, my eyes would miss them. They seem to bounce in air swoops as they fly.  This is a female, as the males typically have black heads. Another fun one to paint.

Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

As I was reading about the Indigo Bunting on Wiki one thing that struck me was it often migrates at night using the stars to navigate.  A celestial bird after my own heart!  He was beautiful to look at while I painted during this cold snowmaggenden.

Tufted titmouse

Tufted titmouse, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

This is the first of the bird series that I painted, but it got lost in the shuffle of painting more of them and taking pictures of the pieces. So here it finally is, the little songbird, in all its glory that sparked me to losened up and concentre on a single image (with no eye-glasses). I worked on a few birds over the weekend, so more to come. 

American Kestrel

Well, as my luck would have it, I had a minor incident where my glasses broke in my frozen pocket when I was shoveling away the blizzard off my sidewalk.  I've ordered a new pair which will get here soon. In the meantime, I am sticking with easy compositions to paint, as detail strains my eyes and I don't have as much visual endurance.

So looking at the bright side, I shifted gears to a small series I've been wanting to paint for a while, and have been trying to "fit" it in.  Better late than never :-)

American Kestrel, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

Birds of all kinds have always fascinated me. Probably because I am always looking up at clouds, changing sky, etc. and they are always darting through. Plus, most of them sound lovely.  The American Kestrel is also known as the Sparrow Hawk, but is a small falcon. They are occasionally seen in the area of Louisville where I live, urban hunters looking for mice or small birds. 

Mr. Up-to-No-Good

Mr. Up-to-No-Good, oil on gessobord, 6x6"

This is the 2nd in my series of bird "portraits". It's been a fun and interesting change for me. I hope you like it!

Snowy Road

Snowy Road, oil on gessobord, 10 x 10"

I started working finally on one of the "bigger" Ampersand gessobords that I bought myself for christmas. It is a bit of an adjustment, but at the same time it felt like it was the right time to paint a bit bigger.  People have asked me in many different, creative ways why I don't paint in a larger format.  The main reason is money.  When I decided to paint on a daily basis, I really attempted to complete at least one work per day, and the only way I could afford that was to paint small.  Oil paint itself is a huge expense and the gessobords that I use and love, rapidly escalates in price as the size increases. So I have to wait until I can splurge on a bigger size board. It's pretty simple. 

Snowy Road took about four days to complete all in all. I will let the pictures speak for themselves; they document the painting as it evolved.  I loved painting the snow as it was waaaay more colorful then the naked eye can see!

Snowy Road day 3

Snowy Road day 1

 Snowy Road, sketch

Winter Lake

Winter Lake, watercolor and pastel on watercolor paper, 

8x8 inches

I have painted this image several times. It always jumps out from my photos as I search. It seemed like the right thing to do to try it again with pastels and watercolor.  I like the differences that the medium brought -- it's equal parts calm and animated.  Not bad for the middle of a tremendously cold winter. 

Happy Birthday to my daughter Reid, who turns 17 today!  Reid is a junior in a Visual Arts Magnet program at her High School. She recently won a Scholastic Gold key for a painting she did (sadly I don't have a photo), and a Silver key for a multi-media (mostly textiles) portrait piece.

Bridge in the Woods, watercolor and pastel on 

watercolor paper, 6x8 inches

I found an old photo that I had taken in January, when everything was brown and grey. Sound familiar?  There is always color to be had even during the grey days. 

I have been working towards a more abstract execution. Or at least that is my projected goal. I think with each of these little paint/pastels, I feel I am accomplishing this while I am in the middle of working on it. When I view the finished product though, it's still too tight. Rome wasn't conquered in a day. On I learn.

Ode to Jim Dine

Ode to Jim Dine, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

Happy Valentine's Day!  I send love to all my readers and friends. 

I have always loved the simple heart images that Jim Dine painted, printed and built over the years. It's the alter-ego of Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture. 

And to honor my version of the saint who's day we commemorate (patron saint of beekeepers, who is often represented with birds and roses :-)) I painted these hearts.

Parklands 4

Parklands 4, watercolor and pastel on watercolor paper, 

6x8 inches

Getting more abstract, and bringing more color into the mix. Just for the fun of it :-)

Parklands 3

Parklands 3, watercolor and pastel on watercolor paper, 

8x8 inches

"Parklands 3" turned out to be a painting/drawing that is gaining with the momentum I am trying to achieve.  I love when a serene and quiet scene has an element that seems to be going at a totally different speed, if you look hard enough.  Not to spell it out but with this scene, it is obviously the foreground. I continue to have fun, looking with an open eye, for ambiguity in a world full of color and shape.

Parklands 2

Parklands 2, watercolor and pastel on watercolor paper, 

8 x8 inches

This photo reference was from a solo hike I did back in December when the weather had been gray for too many days. I got my rump out to explore a relatively new park in the Louisville area.  The only problem -- it was a long drive from where I live.  By the time I arrived I was claustrophobic from being in a car by myself, so I walked for quite a while to shed that feeling. And I took some very serene and still photos.  There wasn't another human to be found, which left the landscape begging for attention. Not a difficult thing for me to do.

The pastel on this drawing became a bit whimsical and active. I'm starting to miss larger scale drawing all of a sudden, despite the fact that I am quite content still with painting small. 

Shoreline

Shoreline, watercolor and pastel on watercolor paper, 

6x8 inches

As my research and exploration continues with pastel, I have discovered an interesting technique that seems to be not altogether uncommon among pastel artist, and that is applying an under painting of watercolor.  I went and bought some new watercolor paper and a few colors and brushes to explore this technique. I stated in the previous post that I  know little about pastels, but I absolutely know NOTHING about watercolor. Luckily, my mistakes won't show as the pastel becomes the top layer. Plus I hope to become looser and more abstract with practice.

Pastel over watercolor adds a beautiful, playful level of layers depending on your method of application (smear or not to smear, that is the question). So far, it has been a lot of fun to "play" with, and I feel it is working for me right now.  It allows me to be out of my cold, basement studio and upstairs at a table where I am quite comfortable.  I can "prep" a drawing by painting in the evenings when I am tired, and then continue working on them in the mornings before leaving for work at my 8-5, with the lively pastel when I am...not tired. 

Just for the record, my watercolor paper is acid-free, cold pressed (140 lb.).  I like the texture so far, but I am still a newbie. I will be working on pastel as long as the weather is cold, or I get bored, whichever comes first :-)  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing. 

French Landscape

French Landscape, pastel on paper, 5x8 inches

I have been looking online at some abstract landscapes done in pastel.  I find myself enlarging sections of them and looking at the layering of color, completely amazed. I have to admit, I have done very little work in pastel, but I have always wanted to learn. So, throwing all caution to the wind, coinciding with me not wanting to paint in my freezing cold studio, I found  a reason to work upstairs again with a new medium. This photo is from my sister's collection of her tour de France back in July, that I had on my list of photos to paint from. It was a simple scene to start a small pastel journey. I left the photo unedited so you can see the small size and the bound sketchpad that I am working on.

Near Sleeping Bear

Near Sleeping Bear, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

I declare this my favorite painting I have done so far of over 150 posts !!! I worked for a long time on this one trying to get it  right, and I feel accomplished.  Before I started it though, I had a larger gessobord picked out to paint on. I ended up putting it away feeling intimidated by the jump in size ( I know... I need to jump this hurdle, and soon). Now, all I wish is that I had done a larger version of it. But, it's still my favorite!!

Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

With the 30 day challenge over, I gave myself one day off to rest 

(!!).  When I resumed Sunday morning, I literally asked myself what I wanted to paint and the answer was "more Michigan". Even though I normally like the cold, I do believe each of these lake paintings is giving me more sanity to handle the cold, and handle my extremely cold studio (have I mentioned my cold studio :-))

I am learning more about painting light. When I returned to painting back in April/May, I worked on technique and color, which was more difficult for me than I remembered. The muscles were hibernating.   Now, I am trying to continue improving in these areas and expand my ability and focus on light.  Light has such an enormous impact on the viewer. It will always strike a cord or set a mood whether you are viewing work close up or from across the room.