#51. The Only Zinnias

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September 7th, 2014: Oil on Board, 10" x 10".  Only two of my Cactus Zinnia seeds I planted made it to flowering plants this year, I like them when they get older and the petals get all skinny and crazy looking, but since I'll be gone all next week I figured I better paint them while I can.  I was setting up to paint on another of my little 6" x 6" panels but then I remembered I had a couple 10" x 10"s and thought it would be fun to paint these two blooms nice and big, which it was!

#50. Sticky Stinky Gumweed

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September 4th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  A cupful of Gumweed, or Grindelia.  This stuff that grows all over our property is a strange strain that doesn't seem to have petals at all, just the sticky button centers.  It can be used medicinally, and in these parts, people use an infusion of it when they have a cold or flu.  It's really, really bitter and has an overpowering medicinal smell, making it a bit too fragrant in my studio today.  I think it's pretty just the same.

#49. Classy Coral Bells

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September 3rd, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  There is something so classic to me about red flowers, green leaves and a white background, I can't quite put my finger on why.  Our coral bells never make that many flowers, but I love the saturated color of the few stalks that put out.  I was really interested in the whorled shape of the leaves but I'm not sure I captured it that well.  I think my favorite part is the little glass vase and the different colored stems.

#48. Onions are for Eating

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September 2nd, 2014: Oil on Board, 8" x 10".  My Mom gave me these big, beautiful onions from her garden (mine didn't do so well this year) and I felt compelled to paint them before we ate them.  I love the contrast between the round, smooth onions and the tangle of dried leaves.  

I also experimented with pulling a monotype from this painting.  There is stage in my painting process where I tend to blot at my underpainting with tissue, but the tissues look so cool I thought I would try it with some rice paper.  I lost some of my darks and some detail so I'm thinking of touching it up a bit, perhaps with some ink drawing before I call it done.  To be shared when I finish it.

#47. Poor Man's Bouquet

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September 1st, 2014: Oil on Board, 8" x 10".  Not bad for a free bouquet; Black Eyed Susans, Everlasting Sweet Peas and Wild Asters in a can.  It was a challenge for me to finish a larger piece in one sitting and after spending far too long on the sunflowers I sped through the rest of it to get it done in time to post it before making dinner.  Ironically, the sunflowers ended up being the part I like the least... go figure.  My favorite part is, of course, the can.

Hung up on Yellow

August 30th, 2014: Oil on Board, 8" x 10", Work in Progress.  I'm trying to take advantage of the flowers that are left before they are all gone so I thought I'd do a slightly larger painting of some Black Eyed Susans.  I flew through the underpainting and all was going well until I went back in to work on the flowers, which I couldn't seem to nail even after wiping them out and trying again about four times or so.  I seem to have troubles with yellow, getting enough contrast and still keeping the color semi accurate.  So I gave up for the day and I'm not sure what will become of this as the arrangement is already all wilted.  I was really excited about painting that can too, oh well.

#46. Cosmos in a Cup

 

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August 29th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  I've been so busy with other things the last couple weeks I've missed most of the last of the flowers (fall comes early here).  I had my eye on some big sunflowers, but finding them withered and dry today I went for these cosmos instead.  I like the looseness of the flowers and these pink and white cosmos always make me think of my Grandmother... her favorite colors. 

#45. Milkweed Cocktail

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August 8th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  I really wanted to paint the milkweed flowers, which are really interesting looking, smell amazingly sweet and are loved by me as well as the Monarch butterflies, but I missed the flowers and the pods are all there is now.  Supposedly you can actually eat these strange and softly spiky things, but don't take my word for it, I've yet to try them myself.

#44. Black Eyes

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August 7th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  Although I love me some Black-Eyed Susans it always makes me a little sad when they start blooming.  They seem to be the heralds of the end of summer and the coming cold.  For some reason (perhaps because sunflowers were one of the first things I remember trying to paint as a child), sunflower paintings always seem a bit cliche to me.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is one of my favorite paintings once I finished it!

#43. Happy Harlequins with Step by Step Photos

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August 6th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  These harlequin marigolds are so cool, I love how each flower has unique markings and coloring.  My favorite one is the almost all red one, I love how the red is so dark it's practically black.  Below you'll find the step by step process of this painting, I've been trying a slightly different method (I enjoy documenting the process mostly because I get a kick out of scrolling through the photos afterwards and watching my painting magically complete itself).

Burnt Umber wash and sketch.

Covering the whole thing with color...

which I then blot with a tissue.  I really like the simplicity of the painting at this stage and wish I could end with something sort of in between this and what my typical finished painting looks like, alas, I tend to get a bit hung up in the details.

Flowers mostly finished... I went back in and messed with them just a bit after this.

And then, on to defining and highlighting the leaves and stems.

Flowers and greenery finished, I attended to the small bottle.

Then, I usually spend way too long getting the background just right (or close enough).  From here it's just a couple select highlights and fumbling around with the signature to finish her up.

#42. Delphinium and Coreopsis

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August 5th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  No funny titles today, it was hard enough just remembering how to spell delphinium and coreopsis!  I tried a slightly different approach today, and it actually came together somewhat easier than usual.  (Or maybe my new easel really is making me a better painter.)  I think I'm finally getting the hang of yellow too, it seems to be the color I struggle with getting good contrast and bright color at the same time.

Miss Maos, Work in Progress

August 4th, 2014: Oil on Wood, 5" x 7", Work in Progress.  I felt like doing something different today, so I worked on this small piece of one of our little princesses.  I'm not sure what I want to do with the background yet, or if I just want to leave it as is, and I may play around with some glazing on her too.  It already makes me smile every time I look at it.
In other news:  I just got my first real easel!  (I've been using a rudimentary homemade version of a table top easel for years, made out of four strips of wood and propped onto my desk with a rock... I'm not sure why it took me so long to get a real one.)  I'm hoping it will somehow make me a better painter, but this is yet to be discovered.  I'll let you know.

#41. Not So Sweet Peas

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August 2nd, 2014:  Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  Sweet peas are one of my favorite flowers, so after years of trying unsuccessfully to grow the annual kind I found some perennial sweet peas that can survive even the harsh winters here.  Happily, they are growing and flowering quite well.  Unhappily, they do not emit the sweet scent that makes me love the annual sweet peas so... therefore, pretty and hardy but not so sweet.  I painted the flowers over about three times before settling for their current state.  The bobbled (there is probably a more correct term for this) glass vase was a challenge and came out a bit wonky, but I like it anyways.

#40. Saved from the Grasshoppers

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July 31st, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x6".  I saved these perfect columbines from an onslaught of attacking grasshoppers, there were very few left out there that weren't already half eaten.  It felt like I struggled through the painting but it actually turned out pretty good in the end... if I do say so myself.  I have also discovered I really like painting columbine leaves for some strange reason.

#39. Escaped Scapes

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July 30th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  I thought I cut all the scapes off my garlic already, but today I found a few stragglers that escaped my pruning.  I mixed them with a couple onion flowers for some textural variety and put them in one of my favorite new vases from the thrift store.  It's a pretty simple little painting but I've spent the last two days trying to work on a larger piece and after sketching it out, being dissatisfied and wiping it out five or so times, it was nice to accomplish something with my time today.

Not much at all, or why I should have stayed in bed today.

July 28th, 2014:  Oil on Board, 12" x 16".  Sometimes all you have to show for a days work is not much at all.  After giving myself a too enthusiastic haircut this morning (it was supposed to be just a trim, but I ended up cutting off way more than I intended to... it just kept looking uneven) I spent the afternoon working on a slightly larger painting than usual, at the end of which I decided I really did not like the composition.  So I wiped the whole thing out and was left with a putrid green wash... I added some red so I wouldn't be starting with said green tomorrow.  Now the question is, do I try the same thing tomorrow with a slightly different composition or just do something completely different?

Even my lucky studio cat didn't help me today!  Oh well, on to better painting tomorrow.

#38. Last Try Lilies

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July 25th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  I thought I'd try the day lilies once more, this time with some yellow ones.  They still feel difficult and I think I'm moving on to something else, perhaps to revisit them next summer.  I do really like the new vase I scored at the thrift store, along with others to be used soon, and I think it came out nicely. 

#37. Scapescape

 

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July 23, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  I cut these scapes off my garlic weeks ago but I've been saving them in the fridge until I had the chance to paint them.  They are past their prime as far as eating goes, but still good for painting.  I love the crazy shadows they cast.  I'm also trying something different with my signature, throughout the years I've gone through phases of using just my initials and I liked the way it looked on this piece for some reason, I may stick with it or not. 

In other news: I just upgraded my studio stereo to one that sounds much much better and, get this, also plays vinyl!  I am so excited to rock some of my old records!

#36. Rainy Day Lilies

 

SOLD!

July 16th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  After not being completely happy with yesterday's lily, I figured I'd try some more today.  I went for a lighter background than usual in the hopes of making the flowers pop a bit more.  Although this is my favorite of the two, I've decided that these guys are just hard to paint... there doesn't seem to be much contrast in the flowers (in reality and in my paintings) which makes them feel a bit flat to me.  After working on the portrait of my Dad for awhile, these little paintings are feeling a bit less exciting to me as well.  Maybe it's time to try some new subject matter?  Or maybe I just need some time to get back in the groove, although I'm leaving for the weekend again so that is going to have to wait for next week.

#35. Silly Lily

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July 15th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  This painting was going along fine until I was distracted by the weather warnings on the radio for quarter sized hail and 60 mph winds... after which I ran outside and tried to cover up my car as best as possible.  Once I got back inside, I rushed through the background... I think it could have come out better, but at least the worst parts of the storm skirted around us.  No hail or wind damage!  It was so dark due to the storm clouds that there was no light for me to take a good photo, so I'm posting a day late. 

Portrait of my Father. Finished!

July 13th, 2014: Portrait of my Father, Oil on Board, 11.5" x 18.5".  I almost finished this yesterday, but I worked so late I couldn't get a picture of it.  This shot looks a little weird because parts of it are dry and parts are wet, makes the colors look a bit uneven in spots... I'll take a better one when it's all dry.  Today was just finishing a few spots, adding a few highlights and trying not to fuss over it too much.  I wasn't planning on putting the heart on the tree with his initials, but I had the thought at the very end and figured "What the hell, why not?".  I'm so happy with this, can't wait to let it dry, varnish it up and put it in the old frame I've been saving for it and hang it on my wall.  It will be one of my ways of remembering him, in one of his favorite settings.  Thanks to my Mom for taking the wonderful photo to work from, it made this painting!  I keep fighting the urge to share it with him, wish he was here to show it to.  I miss you Dad.

Almost There

July 11th, 2014: Oil on Board, Work in Progress.  I'm trying to get through the background and in to the foreground.  I've gotten used to working wet into wet and it's been challenging with dry areas and wet areas, I keep repainting certain spots because it's so hard to tell what it will look like when it's all dry and then varnished.  Blacks are especially tricky, they look so much darker when wet.  Anyways, it's getting there, I can't wait to see it finished!

Getting Closer

July 10th, 2014: Oil on Board, Work in Progress.  I'm still working on this piece of my Dad, and still struggling with the many different colors created by the lighting. I finished the clothes and shoes (which I love) and hair today and the rock and piece of wood he's using as a seat.  Crossing my fingers that I can finish the rest tomorrow... this has been moving slower than I expected.

Some Progress

July 3rd, 2014: Oil on Board, Work in Progress.  It's funny how things always seem like they'll be easy until you start trying to paint them.  With the light of the lantern and the glow of the fire, there are some strange colors and highlights going on here and nothing is really the color that it seems it should be.  Typically, I avoid doing any sort of portrait from a tiny little photo, which is what I'm working with here, but I really wanted to do this portrait of my Dad.  There was a moment of panic while working on the face when I realized it no longer looked anything like him, but somehow I got it back and I'm feeling pretty good about it at the moment.  Another session or two and I should get it finished. 

More than I can do in just a day, work in progress.

July 2nd, 2014: Oil on Board, Work in Progress.  I've had a busy past month.  Between getting my garden in full swing, losing our dog and doing a memorial for my father I seem to have only managed to complete 2 or 3 daily paintings in June.  Bad painter!  Today, after cleaning up my studio, salvaging what I could of my half dried palette of paint and trying to remember how to paint at all, I felt more inspired to work on the painting of my Dad that I started months ago than a small daily painting.  I spent all afternoon just working on the campfire, but hey, it's better than nothing.  It's been awhile since I worked on something more involved so I'm figuring it out as I go.

#34. Plain Old Clover

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June 10th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6" x 6".  This is just some plain old white clover.  You'll find it trying to take over your pristine lawn, at your neighborhood park and playing field, from city to country, rural field to mountain meadow.  It seems to be pretty ubiquitous in most parts... at least most parts I've been... but I still think it's pretty.  To think I was worried this would wilt as I painted, these little guys kept moving around but they just got taller and perkier the whole time, first time I've seen that happen. 

#33. Those Wild and Crazy Roses

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June 9th, 2014: Oil on Board, 6"x 6".  I actually did a step by step sort of thing today to share my process, although I seem to do it differently every time.  The roses were some of the few left that weren't destroyed in the hail storm yesterday.  I tried some different colors in the background and the shading this time, just to mix it up a little.

Setting up today's subject involved a short walk followed by way too much time playing with the branches, assorted receptacles and moving the lamp around until finding the perfect composition.

Then I finally got to the painting.