Saturday, May 30, 2015

"White Tree Peonies" (watercolor on paper; 11" x 8")


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In this loose and fresh watercolor painting, my intention was to capture the essence of glorious white tree peonies.  Do you think I succeeded?

Thursday, May 28, 2015

"Pink Peony and Love-in-a-Mist" (watercolor on paper; 9" x 6.5") sold


sold


I cut a pink peony and delicate love-in-a-mist from my garden and put them in a white porcelain with blue patterns for a fresh floral still life.  In case you haven't seen love-in-a-mist, I included a recent photo of my lovely garden. When blue, pink, white, and deep blue flowers fade, they become attractive seed pods, first green then dried, which last the whole season.


Love-in-a-mist is blooming!
Love-in-a-mists seed pods


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

"Robin's Nest" (mixed media on paper; 6.5" x 9") sold


sold


It's a risky thing to do, but who can resist peeking into four vivid blue robin eggs in a beautiful nest up the tree!  The painting is a mixed media of watercolor and oil pastel.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

"Red Fox" (oil on stretched canvas; 9" x 12") nfs


nfs


I asked my husband, whose birthday is coming up soon, what I could do for him.  He said: "Paint a fox for me".  None of his fox pictures in our backyard came close to the one I found on the internet--a healthy-looking fox staring at you in a snowy landscape.  I hope he likes the present!

Monday, May 18, 2015

"Birthday Cake" (oil on stretched canvas; 14" x 11") nfs


nfs


I don't know why, but I have always been shy about painting myself.  But as a practice, because only practice makes perfect and I need models, I decided to paint a self-portrait, using a photo my daughter took on my last birthday.  I am looking at a candle-lit chocolate cake.  Don't I look happy?

The hardest part was naturally the mouth, as the famous John Singer Sargent said, a portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth!  I am not sure whether it is exactly me, but it must be close enough.  All the people who saw it knew immediately that it was a self-portrait.  Below are some of the step-by-step pictures.


  







Thursday, May 14, 2015

"Iris Glow" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8")


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I celebrated the first iris to bloom in my garden with its portrait.  After a week of working on portraits, it was fun to paint loosely and expressively!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

"Man in Salmon" (oil on stretched canvas; 11" x 14") sold


sold


Back to Danni Dawson's portrait painting class.  Last Saturday was the beginning of the five-week pose, but the model couldn't make it.  We had instead Ed for one week as a substitute.  Lucky us!  I love his don't-mess-with-me look. Put a helmet and armor on him; he will look like a Renaissance-Italy general!


Step 1: After 40 minutes!  I used a gray-toned canvas for this portrait.

Step 2: I got this far during the class.

Step 3: The drawing was off, so I corrected the drawing and color temperature errors from a photo I took.     

Friday, May 8, 2015

"Springtime Warbler" (oil on stretched canvas; 8" x 10")


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It took a while to paint a male prothonotary warbler perched on a tree branch on a sunny spring day.  Why?  It was tough to achieve the feeling of the sunlight streaming through the budding, tender leaves.  Do you think I got it?

Friday, May 1, 2015

The Collage of My April 2015 Paintings


The Collage of My April 2015 Paintings


April went by so fast amidst flowers!  It may appear that I haven't painted as much as usual, and that's quite true.  I was busier collecting reference photos for the hot days, rainy days, cold days, etc.  Besides, the beautiful weather was hard to resist!