From Photograph To Canvas..Sort Of

Yellow Pansy Study 1, 6x6, Oil on canvas, Click to Bid

This pansy painting was done from a photograph and I had to pick and choose which blooms I wanted to use and where to place them.

Pansies (at least the ones I have) tend to bloom in little bursts of color that are scattered willy-nilly so in order to create any kind of composition I had to do a little layering. Sometimes it gets a little confusing when I'm looking at a photo with a ton of blooms to find the particular bloom I wanted in which particular spot on my canvas.

I'm liking these little color spots though. Fun to paint; fun to see all lined up, drying on my auction table! :)

Purple Pansy Study 1

Purple Pansy Study 1, 6x6 Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

Round one of purple pansies. It's a pink purple but it's definitely purple. Adjusting the values has been a real challenge but worth pursuing.

There are, in fact, shadows but there are also delicate mutations of color on the petals so I was teetering between technical accuracy and overall effect. What I really want is an overall effect so from across the room the painting has character. I like looking at this one lined up next to the others. I'm able to see the sun catch the tops and edges of the petals.

Effect wins over realism in my studio. :)

White Pansy Study 2, 6x6, ​Round two of my white pansies. 

​Round two of my white pansies.  Another white pansy but different flower entirely.  The center color spot on this flower was much bigger and bolder.

As for the process, I cooled the shadows and backed off on the values a little - which goes against my instincts.   I'm still exploring and have a few other pansy colors to look at.

Dont Be A Pansy

White Pansy Study 1, 6x6, Click to Bid

So I'm moving on to pansies now and exploring edges, values and brushwork along with color temperature.

I just bought a few 4 inch pots to work from as well as some old photo references I have but some of the photos are lacking in the strong light / shadow that I like to work with so I find myself enhancing and embellishing once again.  But I guess that's what it's all about anyway.  If I wanted a perfect copy I'd stick to taking pictures, right?

A Seasons Greeting #2

A Seasons Greeting #2, 8x10,SOLD

A remake of a sold painting. Every once in a while I get a chance to do a special request. This is one of them. I love that.  :)

It's All Over But The Shoutin'

Yellow Rose Study 3, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

With this study I wanted to explore a warmer and more intense background and foreground with the yellow roses. I really love the pop on this small study. However....

'Is it appropriate for the gallery piece I have in mind?' is the question at hand. I sends a completely different message than the previous two. It feels a little louder, bolder. And of course with the dark background it feels a little more mysterious to me. 

And that's my reason for doing these little pieces. Sure, instant gratification (well, some more instant than others) and hopefully a little pocket change to pad my art supply account but by and large I find it immensely helpful to work out these questions on small studies than to discover issues and make changes on larger, more complex pieces. Changing an entire background color after it's in (or even partially in) is ridiculously frustrating- voice of experience. I like a challenge, but when the scale tips to frustration it starts to show in the piece and then it's all over but the shoutin'. 

Same Story, Different Day

Yellow Rose Study 2, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

"Take - two" for my yellow roses. Same set up actually. I just added another rose. Still with the painting and scraping, painting and scraping. It just doesnt happen on the first, second, third... try or so it appears. What's up with that? 

Anyway, I'm happy with the final result. Finally. :)

A Whole New Can O' Worms

Yellow Rose Study 1, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

So it turns out that yellow roses are a whole new can of worms. At least for me. I believe that's because I lean towards strong values and that simply does not work for these little babies. Again, that is MY experience. 

I scraped several times re adjusting values and temperatures until I FINALLY unlocked the mystery to yellow... and then it was "Viola!" :) Well, maybe there's really no actual mystery but there WAS a " Voila!". 

It's an oddity that I never got frustrated. I just kept on going like the energizer bunny. Painting and scraping, painting and scraping... 

Every once in a while a painting will all but paint it'self but by and large, there's a push - pull thing happening in my studio. A little ugly before the pretty. But I'm pretty committed to pretty. :) Pretty much..

Out Burst

Out Burst, 8x10, Oil on Canvas, Click to Bid

So this is my second attempt at this set up. The first, done on an 8x8, is doomed to the back of the studio and will never see the light of day. I much prefer it on a more horizontal canvas. It seems to help the spray effect I was liking. 

All that aside, I am not sure how I feel about the brass pot. It could be I'm just not a hard metal kind of girl and that could be a problem because I really wanted to use it in a larger gallery painting that I had in mind. I'll do some more experimenting before diving into THAT one. :)

Side note on this painting: I must have shut off my brain early because I signed instead of initialed this study and I did NOT paint the sides of this canvas ( but I could if I was asked to...)

Game Changer

Game Changer, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, Click to Buy

This framed painting is headed to the gallery with a "Whoop Whoop!" :) Hey, not everybody needs validation but I freely admit I find it encouraging! 

I have yellow roses on the easel now and I'm going to tell you right now, same flower, different story. Whew! It's like re-inventing the wheel I suppose. But that's what I do... :)

Painting Roses in February...

Rose, 4x6, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

This is the last of this rose anyway. I'm moving on to other colors and other flowers. 

I was so happy with the way this one turned out I contemplated keeping it. I've had it on a table top easel for a while as it dried and really enjoyed how the colors played out as well as the edges. Sometimes it just all comes together, you know? 

Timeless

Timeless, 8x10, Oil on Canvas, $320Buy with PayPal

This is the result of all those rose studies. I really feel like it just all came together on this one. The value listed is for the painting unframed.  

I will be offering this one to the gallery next month if it's still available.

Red Rose Study 1

Red Rose Study 1, 6x6, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

I am finally starting to feel comfortable with roses and am no longer intimidated. I have, by no means, mastered them, let alone their leaves but I do feel more at ease and find them enjoyable, even relaxing to paint. 

I think I have more trouble navigating through photography and photoshop elements in order to present you with the most accurate images of my artwork at this point. After a few do overs, I think I have a pretty good image here. Try to ignore the little speckles. I believe that is glare from thicker brushwork. :)

Rose Study 6

Rose Study 6, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

This painting was done twice. While trying to adjust my lamp I knocked my canvas right off my easel and it landed jelly side down on my studio carpet. I took a deep breath, and as I picked it up, I fumbled it and it again, landed jelly side down on the carpet. Another deep breath, carefully picked it up again and inspected it to see if it was a wiper or a fixer. Hmmm. 

Unbelievably, it was a fixer. About the only issue was some debris from the carpet but that meant new brushstrokes for each and every square inch. Oh well, what else was I going to do that day? 

Rose Study 5

Rose Study 5, 6x6, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

I think I'm finally honing in on a palette that I'm comfortable with and a better understanding of what I'm looking for in a floral still life painting. I can see that unless I want to settle on "technique" this is a life time of learning and experimenting. So learning and experimenting it is. :)

Rose Study 4

Rose Study 4, 4x6, Click to Bid

​I actually used a white rose for this little study.  I dont know how I migrated to these colors but it's more of a value study than anything else at this point. Still, I find these flowers complex and a little translucent.  It's kind of like splitting hairs I guess.  I could probably study these till I'm blue in the face and never run out of new discoveries.  But since I prefer simplicity in my art, I may have to back off a little.

Rose Study 3

Rose Study 3, 6x6, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

I feel like my roses are taking a new dimension now.  The more I study them the more I can get a better feel for their mechanics - which in turn takes some of the mystery and complexity out of them.

I'm continuing my study until I can either get a real grasp on these delicate beauties or simply get bored and have to move on.

I have to add that while my photo light box has helped tremendously I still struggle with some color issues.  The shadows appear a little dirty on my monitor and I could not, for the life of me correct that in photoshop elements.  On top of that, Blogger has a tendency to change my images as well.  I have a hard time keeping up with technical issues these days and sometimes just accept it as a force of nature I cant control.

Rainier

Rainier, 12x12, Oil on Canvas, Buy with PayPal

I painted this last year - twice - but wrestled with a few areas since my focus at the time was still life. It was done from a photo which presented some problems of flatness and silhouettes that I had to enhance with memory. This is a view from my driveway but since snow is few and far between and this is a sunrise painting, I would have few opportunities to study the actual landscape in this particular climate setting. So there it was in my studio for a year until I felt I had done enough trees to experiment again with it.

Relatively few changes were needed in my opinion but I think they made all the difference. I really love the way it changes as the light in my house changes. I thought about using luminescent paint but I dont think it needs any help at all in this respect. Really, if it's not broken... right?

I almost hate to see it go and may just change my mind, frame it and keep it myself.

Rose Study 2

Rose Study 2, 8x8, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

The challenge continues.  Also, I got new brushes.  :)

Rose Study 1

Rose Study 1, 8x6, Oil on Canvas, SOLD

What I'm finding is that a lot of great artists have made the art of painting roses look effortless. It's not. There are so many layers of petals to consider. So I'm starting with the big shape and taking baby steps, one petal at a time until I can get a toe hold on these beautiful blooms.

Thank you for viewing my art! I hope you find it engaging in one way or another. :)