Day One Hundred-Forty One

                                  'Eggplants and Habaneros'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I really liked these, so I thought I'd try them again on a smaller scale.  More challenging to get them all to fit into a 6 x 6 format !   That's kinda the enjoyment of working small, though.   Everything has to be scaled down, but that's part of the fun of it !  Again, I simply love orange with purple...

Day One Hundred-Forty

                                                  'On the Chopping Block'

8 x 8 oil on panel

60.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I've always wanted to try an eggplant.  I bought one once (a really cool one), but then proceeded to paint something else, and I forgot about it.  I left it in it's bag and it went bad.... so disappointing... Well, these are mini eggplants and habeneros, and I can't remember what the little red one is... maybe sorreno? does that sound right?     I loved the multiple colors in this one...and I love orange and purple together.
     A Little note on color:
     I remember reading somewhere, when I was teaching, that to DARKEN a color, go to the next darker color on the color wheel, instead of adding a darker neutral or gray (Payne's Grey)...  I guess they also said to LIGHTEN one you would go to the next lighter one on the wheel.   It really seems to work.  I used that to get the darks on the peppers here.   So, to darken the orange I put in red-orange and to lighten it I put in yellow-orange, etc.

Day One Hundred-Thirty Nine

                                                                  'Ta Derra'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     This portrait is from a picture I took of one of my high school students several years ago.  I was looking for someone to paint, and I really liked this pose.  TaDerra graduated in 2007, and was going to college last time I spoke with her... She's a really darling girl.   She looks severe, but could be very funny and lots of fun, too.

Day One Hundred-Thirty Eight

                                          'Color Punch'

     I tried to put the color down, and leave it alone.... such a difficult thing for me, and for some of the rest of you, it seems.   I always want to manipulate it, at least a little bit... I also tried to punch up the colors, and exaggerate the intensity to see what that might look like.  I liked the way the pears appear much more vivid, and the purple shadows I was happy with, too.  

    

     This second painting is the beginning of a portrait of my granddaughter.  I learned this technique from Chris Saper's book on Portraiture.   The idea behind the terre verde underpainting is that the green complements the fleshtone which is the color in the final painting.  The entire painting, including values is completed first, allowed to completely dry (which doesn't take more than 2 or 3 days because it's only mineral spirits and a bit of pigment)   Then the final color is painted over, and I've found it almost has to be done in one sitting....  Then, the final touches can be added a day later ( darkest darks, and the highlights)  I used this technique on my entire series of 70 portraits from a year or so ago, and was very happy with the results.

Day One Hundred-Thirty Seven

                                                                      '8:00 AM'

     I can't believe I ended up with this arrangement. Originally I was going to break the eggs into a bowl, and I had a whisk to add to the mix....  I really liked the sculptural quality of the carton, so I thought I'd  just leave the eggs in it and give it a whirl.   Very challenging form !  The teal blue-green, I thought, gave it a little color and contrast.

Day One Hundred-Thirty Six

                                                            'Three's a Crowd'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I love the play of the red apple against the green... what a perfect use of complementary colors... my students would always have to learn this, and the other 4 color schemes, as well, in the color theory unit in Art I !!    Complementary, Analogous, Monochromatic, Split Complementary and Triadic... (now if I was just be able to recite the 7 principles of design from memory).. ha !!

Day One Hundred-Thirty Five

                                                             'Katie's Favorite'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I put this directly below eye level, (or at least tried to) and set it on a little chair with a light blue seat.  The colors worked, I thought.  I like the end result of the simple arrangement.  Sometimes 'less truly is more !'

Day One Hundred-Thirty Four

                                      'The Answer is Clear'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I've been looking at some wonderful clear jars and bottles, etc., that painters have done lately... One is Raymond Logan... His jars are so interesting to study that I decided it was time I tackled one myself.   Actually I had two set-ups going at the same time. One was on my left, with a light, and this one was on my right, using the light that I usually use to see my palette.   It was interesting because while I was painting my arm was getting in the way of seeing my subject !  ha!  Anyway, the left one wasn't going so well ( I didn't like the set up very much)  sooooo, I started having fun with this one, and I'm really glad I tried it....  It's STILL all just a matter of studying it with your eyes, and then painting exactly what you see !! fun !!!

Day One Hundred-Thirty Three

                               'Feeling Fortunate, Cookie?'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     While I was painting this I had the bright idea to include a fortune cookie (or two).  I stopped, got dressed to go to the Chinese restaurant down the street, when my husband happened to ask what I was doing?  I told him I had to go out, to the Chinese restaurant for a fortune cookie.  He said we might have some...  We Actually HAD some that I had bought in the back of the pantry...  Imagine that !  I included the cookies, and plan to do them again sometime.   They were hard to get the angles and precise sculptural quality just right.   What a fun, recognizable little 'form' to include with my chopsticks and container.

Day One Hundred-Thirty Two

                                                    'Chinese Lunch Today'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I picked up these chopsticks while at lunch with my friend this week.   A fabulously creative art gallery first, and then Chinese cuisine....  A good time was had by all, plus I learned how to make the wonderful spicy mayonnaise that they serve on their sushi.....  All it is:   regular mayonnaise, plus the Chinese spicy hot sauce, called, Sriracha.    (You can get Sriracha at Schnucks.)

Day One Hundred-Thirty One

                                    'Relaxing in the Shade'  

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I liked the way the lemon was half in the shadow of the bowl.  My periwinkle bowl has been sitting for a week or so, so it has caught all of the other items that have accumulated on my work table.   It's pretty much full with all the apples, etc. from the last few paintings.  I decided to paint it with just a minor scooting items around, and the lemon really spoke to me half in and half out of the light.

  P.S.  Can anyone explain a way to get the buy now button?  I've been able to move the code (as in the case of the Fresh Paint site) but I can't seem to get the buy now button to the blog....  I've tried not clicking email  and instead clicking the website choice when I get to the code, but that didn't work either... If anyone could help me it would be so much appreciated..... thanks, in advance... Sandy

Day One Hundred-Thirty

                                                               'Golden Beets'

8 x 8 oil on panel

80.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I didn't realize until I was almost finished, that this painting became a classic example of a split-complementary color scheme.   It's dominated by VIOLET, and the two colors on either side of it's complement (YELLOW)... Those two would be YELLOW GREEN, and YELLOW ORANGE..  Not to say that there aren't plenty of others in the mix, but the focal area contains mostly those colors.   I think that's why it works for me.  Also, I had fun with the saucepan, which would actually be used for cooking these, plus the reflection.

Day One Hundred-Twenty Nine

                                 'Gabby and her Hightops'

6 x 8 oil on panel

70.00  + 6.00 s + h

      This is a painting of a painting that I painted back in 2008 of my brother-in-laws grand daughter.  I thought the painting of Gabby would give continuity to the pair of high tops.   I don't know what I must have been thinking !  I was going to simplify these !  Oh well, I'm glad I did the little shoes.  I always had my Drawing 1 students draw a pair of shoes WITH laces for a sketchbook assignment.  I loved the weaving of the laces, and the positive and negative shapes.  WELL... they were a challenge to paint !  Never let it be said that I let my students off the hook when it came to work-- ha !

Day One Hundred-Twenty Eight

                                           'Size 5 Asters'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

I found another cute pair of these Mary Janes and was holding them at the Goodwill Store.  A woman there informed me that these were very special little shoes... She said her sister used to buy this brand for her daughters and they were very expensive.  (I just thought they'd be cute to paint)  A dog, or something, had gotten a hold of the strap of one, so, that's why they were at Goodwill, I guess.
       My sis got the painting of the other camel colored ones that I posted last week.   She is putting it on a little easel in her grand daughters room... I guess I'll always be on the lookout for more !! ha !!

Day One Hundred-Twenty Seven

                                                           'Nutcracker 2010'

8 x 10 oil on panel

80.00 + 6.00 s + h

     The 'Nutcracker' was performed by the local dance studio where I tap.  It was at the community theatre, which is closeby in Kirkwood, Mo., and is a great little venue without a bad seat in the house.  There are only 11 rows which go around in a semicircle.   The performance was amazing.  My son, his wife, and Gracie, who is three and a half were in attendance with me.   It was so impressive and professional. I guess I wasn't expecting it to be quite so great....   I just had to try to do some toe (point) shoes, since I used to toe dance many moons ago.  The program was still laying on my dresser, so it got a spot in the painting, too.   I had a good time with the shoes, and the contrast of the printed image on the program.... The ribbon gave me a new found respect for Claudia Hammer's ribbon paintings..(not that I didn't think she was amazing, anyway !)  But boy, were they a challenge.   The light is hard to show on those soft surfaces, like the ribbon and the shoes.  This morning, though, I was pleased, and just added a few finishing touches before I was done !!

Day One Hundred-Twenty Six

                                                  'Carmel Apples Tonight'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I thought these might be fun, but a bit of a challenge, which I like.... The reflections off of the cellophane were the fun part, I guess.   I like having larger and smaller subjects that relate to one another.  The colors of the caramels were interesting, because each one seemed just a little unique.  I do like the way it ended up.  (I also got to eat a few caramels in the process, ha !)

Day One Hundred-Twenty Five

                                   'With a Cherry on Top'

6 x 6  oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     This is another red/green combination that I love.  For fun, I put the cherry balanced on top !  It's challenging to come up with different arrangements, but it's fun working to accomplish it !

Day One Hundred-Twenty Four

                                           'Colorful Beets'

8 x 10 oil on panel

70.00 + 6.00 s + h

I found these at Whole Foods and was blown away with the beauty of them . I bought two bunches of them, I couldn't decide which ones were the prettiest.  I guess the people that shop there think I'm a bit nuts.  I take out, examine, and then put back one after another until I get the perfect one ! ha !  Well, I started painting them, and since my two granddaughters were here I had to keep starting and stopping on them. By the time I got ready to put the final touches on them this afternoon, they were totally wilted, so I had to guess at the extreme lights and darks...  Soooo, I hope I got it right... My 3 year old, Gracie, assured me the painting looked exactly like the still life... so I guess I'm good !!!

Day One Hundred-Twenty Three

                                                             ' Down and Out'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

    The cherries didn't quite make it into the bowl, thus the name.   I just really couldn't think of a title.... can you tell?
     I love to paint cherries, because they have such delightful highlights, and the surprising part to me was all the reflected light they get off of other surfaces.  This periwinkle bowl is one of my favorites, cause I love the color.  I picked it up at Tuesday Morning, and have smaller matching ones.  It was made in Portugal

Day One Hundred-Twenty Two

                                         

                                                     'Baby Gap Mary Janes'

6 x 6 oil on panel

SOLD

     My sister really liked the other baby shoe painting I did awhile back, on day 84, I think.   She and I really have fun with our granddaughters and the little shoes remind us of how precious they are !   She found these, and gave them to me to paint.  They were fun, because I love the style, and the color is kind of different, so I enjoyed setting them up and working with them !

Day One Hundred-Twenty One

Color... Helpful Hints

  
 
     Yesterday the scheduled postings got messed up, and posted two postings in one day... At that rate I'll NEVER keep up with my daily paintings.   I've been painting several ahead, and posting them as SCHEDULED to post the following day at 7:00 AM.   Well, for whatever reason I guess I got the dates wrong and they both posted, so 'Cherry Takeout' should have been today's post... Well, I thought I'd write a little about color, and something that I discovered while working upstairs in the room without enough light.


     I've discovered that all of my darks, (raw umber, burnt umber, paynes gray, van dyke brown) all look exactly alike, so that I'm never sure which one to use to get the color I'm looking for.   I mixed a bit of white next to the color, and in doing so it allowed me to more easily assess the colors properties.  I did that, and took a picture to show on the blog.  I made another interesting observation while doing so.  Look at the two pictures.  One was taken, putting the palette under a Natural light-bulb, like Reveal by GE..  The second, yellowish one, was taken putting the palette under a regular tungston bulb.  The tungston bulb is an average, normal light bulb.  (The tungston bulb is the one I use to light my still life)
     My point is just to explain how to better determine the color of your dark globs of paint AND that when you use this tungston bulb to light your still life you are getting massive amounts of yellow added to the mix !!
     If you don't want this yellow added to your still life- use Reveal lightbulbs to eliminate it...

Day One Hundred-Twenty One

                                                             'Cherry Takeout'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I started this last night, very late...  Just sketched in the shapes, and added the flat color... It was getting dark, and hard to see my exact tints and shades.  This morning the woman who is buying my table from Craiglist is coming in an hour, and I HAD to finish before I moved everything.  (We just purchased a new diningroom set, because we have a growing family and needed a bigger place to eat)  This table got moved into the toy room temporarily.  Anyway...  I think the highlights came out pretty good, and I was surprised at how much reflected light I saw when I really studied it...    I just loved this little container I found at the Container Store !  They had lots of different colors, too.!

Day One Hundred-Twenty

                                                               'True to Scale'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     While trying to come up with yet another still life arrangement, I thought I'd maybe do my Meyers lemons again, since they are still so beautiful, and I haven't eaten them yet !   I looked around the room (the baby girl's room, that is) and spied the girls' tea set that I found not long ago at a garage sale.  They play with it occassionally.   Well, I figured, "why haven't I thought of this before?"... The scale looks so small, but yet, that's the correct size... much smaller than my big ole lemons.   I think I'll have to be on the lookout for more of these to work with !   Each day, it seems, I discover something new that I didn't know the day before. ha !

Day One Hundred-Nineteen

                                                'Shawnee elephant pitcher'

6 x 6 oil on panel

40.00 + 6.00 s + h

     Oh my, Sandy.... could you have made this a bit harder ?.... I KNEW it was going to be challenging to get this little guy represented, because he's a bit unusual in shape, etc... but REALLY... did you have to put him at this angle?, and did you have to do him on a 6 x 6, where you barely had enough room to nagivate ?-- Oh, well, live and learn...   Next time, do yourself a favor, and 'simplify' a bit ! ha !
     Hope he comes across, because I have to quit on him... I've spent forever on that face ! ha!

Day One Hundred-Eighteen

                                   'Buffy's Oatmeal Bowl'

8 x 8 oil on panel

60.00 + 6.00 s + h

     Ya know how I was saying, yesterday, that I loved the spontaneity of that lemon painting?  WELL.. OMG did I do 'battle' with this bowl !  For one thing, the artist did cool colorations on the glaze, and the spout and handle, too... It has a large lip that actually has a ring of shadow within it...   I just went back and forth with all the details until this morning I just finally wanted to cry, "Uncle", I gotta lot of stuff to do today, and that includes many paintings, because I'll be busy babysitting later in the week.  You know that means there will be only time for game-playing, and play doh, and NO painting... ha !   Well, here I come, ready or not.... (at least my 2 year old critic said to me yesterday,  Grammie, I like yo painting !")-- tee hee- maybe that's enough for me !

Day One Hundred-Seventeen

                        'Fresh Meyer Lemons and Kumquats'

8 x 8 oil on panel

60.00 + 6.00 s + h

     After a busy, busy day, I finally settled down in the basement studio late last evening to start a painting.  The pressure on, I started sneezing, and clearing my throat, an allergy attack, it seemed.  Could be that my basement is 100 years old... do you think???  Anyhooo, had to take everything up and find a place upstairs to do this...   Lamp, turp, wet palette, easel, painting, lemons, rags, etc, etc... you know !!! Well, I was so tired and it was so late by now, I just thought ,  "I'll just get a beginning, to work on early in the morning, and try to finish to get posted"   I quickly sketched in the areas with my brush, and I wasn't even sure of my colors, cause the light in the upstairs room was very bad.   Well, much to my surprise, I liked it this morning !  Just a touch here and there, and a bit of highlight...  now that's "Fresh" Lemons !  ha ha !

Day One Hundred-Sixteen

'Front and Center'   

                                    

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

Finally....I got (or rather My Hubby got, the scanner to work)  He unplugged it, plugged it back in (not from the wall, but only the cord to the unit).    I think the problem might have been the baby girls were making me a picture on the copier the other day, and might have touched a button or two.... Here's one of the pictures they made for Grammie...

Day One Hundred-Fifteen

                                            'Katie Bear'

6 x 8 oil on panel

nfs

     Not the same portrait as her sister... This one is growing on me, though.  I attempted the 12 x 12 canvas of Katie, but haven't gotten the likeness that I wanted.. I might just put it aside and start over on another one later one, but til then, this one I'll frame for her Mom and Dad !   If a portrait doesn't work well, I can only tweak it so much, and then it starts to get 'tired' looking... (I get a bit tired, too... at least tired OF IT !)
      Still love doing portraits, though !!

Day One Hundred-Fourteen

                                             'Big Sister'

8 x 8 oil on panel

60.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I liked the little girl here.  Growing up before her time, maybe, but very responsible and mature, too, I'd suspect.   Lucky baby to have a sister who loves and takes care of you... ( I'm lucky enough to have one, too)

Day One Hundred-Thirteen

                                           'Indian Corn'

8 x 16 oil on panel

70.00 + 6.00 s + h

Since this canvas panel is 8 x 16 it doesn't all fit on the scanner, so some of the painting is not visible in the picture.  If you want to see the rest of the painting, email me at     sanso46@yahoo.com   and I'll send you a picture.
     Do you think that this corn is edible?  I never thought about it until just now.. Oh well, I had fun painting it, I remember painting some regular corn back in the 70's or 80's.   These were much more fun because of the colors and the stalky husk on top. 
     I've spent the last two days most of the day painting.. just breaks every once in awhile to go to the store, or cook, or eat.   I've got about 4 paintings started, and go back and forth between them... I've started a portrait of my littler grand daughter, because I did one of her sister, but I've been postponing it, knowing that I haven't been painting like I was before, when I was doing super realistic portraits.... Anyway, I started it and I can't paint it like before... I Really think my style has changed THAT MUCH.   I got to the place where I could paint a portrait in 2 or 3 days, and get it finished, and really get a likeness, and be very pleased with myself indeed !  WELL... that has changed.  I can't get myself to paint so realistic like that anymore... My paintings are still pretty realistic, you might say, but not like before....   So, in a good way, I guess, I'm making progress in the direction I was trying for.   My paintings are looser, freer and more spontaneous.

Day One Hundred-Twelve

                                                                        'Pensive'

8 x 8 oil on panel

60.00 + 6.00 s + h

     I've had this photo in my upstairs studio (also the grandbabies room) for years, it seems, and I decided to paint it for a daily post.  I love doing faces, and did a series of about 70 or so, of my students, and others, when I was preparing to retire from teaching art.   I painted them in oil, which I hadn't done since college, and put them on 12" x 12" canvases, with the deep profile that doesn't need a frame.  While working on this series, I taught myself to paint a 'likeness'.  My mom was an artist all of her life, and loved painting portraits occasionally, too.   She would always say how difficult she found the process of capturing the spark of the personality in the painting... That's one reason I tried to challenge myself to go about doing exactly that !!
     To view my portrait series... go to   http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanso

Day One Hundred-Eleven

                                        'Big, Fat, Garlic'

6 x 8 oil on panel

50.00 + 6.00 s + h

     These were the biggest garlics I've seen, at the Farm's Market... I'm used to the organic ones, and they are relatively small.  When I separated the cloves they were enormous, too.  They were fun to tackle, with the hairy, dried roots, they gave it some fun texture.  I guess that's all of these for awhile... I think I'll do some portraits, and other stuff for a bit !
     H A P P Y     N E W    Y E A R         T O    A L L     O F    M Y    V I E W E R S  ! !

Thanks for your support and comments for the past 100 days or so.  You motivate me to keep painting !!!