Candy Apple

6x6 oil on panel click HERE to bid

 I've wanted to paint a candy apple since I saw one painted by fellow artist Kelley MacDonald some time ago.  We have a number of fruit trees on our property and this is the first year we took great pains to spray for bugs and blight and we were rewarded with a great crop of apples.  When I saw the candy apple making kit in the store I had to buy it.  Here's my photo reference, feel free to use it if you've always wanted to paint one too.

Art in the Round

Oil on 78 vinyl record Click HERE to bid

8x10 oil on panel Click HERE to bid

Last night at our challenge group we decided on 2 challenges for next month, one of them is just using the theme "Green", to be interpreted any way you want.  The other was simply because I have 3 boxes of old 78 vinyl records sitting in the barn taking up space, so you guessed it, painting on the record.   Today I primed several with spray acrylic primer.  When dry I'll sand them and then paint, but I also wanted to see if I could paint straight on the record since it has grooves for a bit of tooth.  It is a very nice surface to paint on, the oils don't get sucked into the board like canvas or gessoboard.  I'm not quite sure how to deal with the hole in the middle yet, in this case, perhaps a worm in the apple?  or clock workings?  Either way, it's pretty darn cool, and for sale.  Bidding starts at $1

I also finished my painting from yesterday.

Apples with Fred

6x6 oil on panel Bid starts at $20

click HERE to bid

Today I had a studio visitor, a fellow Findlay artist who has done mainly pencil drawings and would like to try his hand at painting.  I did the usual demo of  a value study with burnt umber, and then the one color per stroke, with an apple.  Here is my effort for the day.  Although I didn't quite get the apple and values correct, I kind of like the feel of this apple...kind of glows....

Here is Fred, he is a member of our local monthly challenge group and last month he brought an amazing portrait replica he drew after the artist Vermeer.  He has an incredible ability and talent to capture portraits in graphite, this photo does not do his work justice, but here is a pic of him with it from last months' challenge.   I shamefully forgot to take a photo of his painting today, but I'll get it next time.

Tangerine Tango part Two!

6x6 oil on panel click here to bid

Here is my second attempt at using the Pantone color of the year Tangerine Tango. I actually kind of like it.

Still Life with Still Life

6x6 oil on panel, click here to bid

I went out to the studio today with every intention of setting up more eggs and spoons, but I had put my finished apple from yesterday in the still life set up to get better light for a photo, then left it there. When I came in this morning, it was just calling out to me to paint the painting. So here it is!

Day 2 Carol Marine Workshop

For some reason my blog posts didn't post when I was at the workshop so here's one from day 2.

Even though it's only the second day of the workshop i feel like I've learned more in two days than in two years.....Carol uses a limited palette and I've been using only the same colors and I have found that her methods and palette make for much cleaner paintings and simpler decisions when painting.....after the 5th ten minute challenge today, I had my "ah ha" moment.....and finally saw what she was trying to teach us.....An added bonus is the great group of women and 2 men in our group, I've made some lifelong friends already...Lauri,Pamalonngabingbong, Trish the Dish, and Calamity Jane to name a few......

The above is from the 10 minute challenge she had us do....we did 5 in all of the same object and this one is my 5th and my best. I have to admit I was frustrated with the first 3 and didn't feel like I was making progress, but by the 4th and 5th time I was a believer.