VALENTINE'S FLOWERS

STARTING THE FLOWERS

Here is the beginning of my Valentine Flowers painting.

FRIDAY ACRYLIC

Now for something completely different...

First we did an underpainting - making marks.

Then we negative painted something that was supposed to look like the underside of a palm tree.

FRIDAY ACRYLICS

We talked about value in today's Acrylics Class.  Then we painted these peppers.  Fun!

IMPRESSIONIST SUNFLOWERS

So, I started over with making an impressionistic painting of the sunflowers.

It went quickly.  I like it.

  I did do a few more touches on this one and then I took it upstairs to put on some coats of sealer.

LAST ITERATION

I changed the table and fixed a few things.  I think it's done.

THIRD DAY SUNFLOWERS

Here's after the third day of painting on the sunflowers.

SECOND DAY SUNFLOWERS

I was back at the sunflower painting this afternoon.  It's coming along.

SUNFLOWER PAINTING START

I went to Daniel Smith today for my watercolor class.  Great fun again.

While in the store I bought some stretchers and made up a canvas when I got home and made a start on my Sunflower painting, outside under the gazebo on the picnic table.

VALENTINE'S FLOWERS 2015

Here's this years Valentine's Day bouquet.  

Can't say I'm in much of a good mood, but I figured I'd soldier on and get it done...

I don't really like it, it looks amateurish.

But I'm done.

Hopefully, next year's will be better.

29 FACES - NUMBER 25

This is acrylic on paper.  It responds completely differently.  The paint dries pretty much when it hits the paper, so you better have it where you want it.

29 FACES - ROGER REVISTED

I don't know if I'd call it an improvement, but at least he looks concluded.

(Once you see it online you can spot a lot of things that need to be redone.  Yikes, I don't know what happened to his right eye, it shouldn't look like it's solid - I'm blaming it on Photoshop because it doesn't look like that in real life.)

29 FACES - NUMBER 23

A quickie:

Acrylic on a tiny little canvas 2-1/2" by 2-1/2".

PORTRAIT OF CHLOE

A friend at work asked if I would paint a portrait of his Great Dane, Chloe, who had just recently passed.  I don't do much of dogs (I find it very difficult for some reason) so I was hesitant, but he kept asking, so I relented.

I've been fiddling with it off and on for over a month now.  I really didn't like it at first, so that makes it difficult for me to work on it.  But the guilt outweighed the dislike, so I persevered. I'm not hating it.

Here it is, acrylic on canvas 9" x 12".

Chloe, Good Dog.

BIRTHDAY BOUQUET

6th & ROYAL WIP

I must have been extremely bored today.  I actually got out an old painting and started working on it.

No, I don't think it was boredom, as much as wanting to pick up the paintbrush and paint something...anything. And this painting seemed to be the handiest and easiest.

It was already laid out and started.  I remember being very tired of painting freeways at the time I set it aside.  But, I must say, I really enjoyed myself today.  I think I took it in a different direction from where it was originally headed.  And I don't think its done yet.  But I had a great day.

How it looked before I started.

At the end of the day.

PROCESS PHOTOS OF WEAVER

VALENTINE FINISHED?

This painting has been on my easel since February.  I've been messing with it off and on since.  If you look at the progress pictures you'll see I was not happy with it for a while.

So, I've been puttering.  I added some colored paper, then added some actual petals from the roses.

I had to abandon it for a time while I worked one week, then we went out of town for a week, then it was back to work for a week.  By that time the roses were long dead and Darrell had taken the black board I was using in the composition for it's intended purpose.  Needless to say, I was working without reference.

This week I got out my pastels and used those - then I sealed the pastels in with matte medium - which changed the colors.  But, it added some interesting texture and I found the medium will 'melt' the pastels and you can use them as paint.

So, here it is, finished (or not).  This is this year's Valentine's Day Flower painting, as is.

Ten roses - ten years.

VALENTINE'S DAY FLOWERS

There's been a lot of discussion about Negative Space lately. So that's where I started with this year's Valentine's Day flowers from my husband.

I set aside two of the dozen, because....this is our 10th Anniversary together, and so I wanted to paint just ten roses.

I started with a pre-painted canvas.  I usually just scrub the paint that's left in my palette onto a canvas.  This canvas has been around awhile.  And then just to complicate things, I decided to use a palette knife (which I'm not very proficient with) instead of brushes.

First I painted the background around the composition with white:

Then the black:

I really liked it.


I went for a walk, went out to lunch with my husband, came back and lost my mind.  To heck with that palette knife - that was too difficult.  So I pulled out some small brushes and 'painted'. 


I hate it. 


I should have stopped while I was ahead!

I left it for the day.  Maybe I can fix it tomorrow.

PAINTINGS ON DISPLAY THIS MONTH

Some of my paintings are now hanging in a local pizza place - Proletariat Pizza in White Center.  

We first discovered this place by chance, while driving by. What caught my attention was the font on their big overhead sign.  It's a very cool Art Deco font. Very different than everything else in this neighborhood of porno shops and Asian markets.  White Center is definitely an area that can only get better.

We went back a few nights later and enjoyed one of their great pizzas, and have been back several times since.  It's owned and operated by Mike and his wife, who make the pizza dough every afternoon and hand-make the pizzas - when they run out of dough they close the doors! 

We noticed the art on the walls and asked about it.  Mike told us they planned to invite artists in to display their art.

Several months later I saw a request from them on Facebook, asking if anyone knew of an artist that would like to hang in their restaurant.  I figured my paintings of 17th & Roxbury, which is only a few blocks away, would be perfect for there.

My paintings will be on display through the month of August.  I highly recommend you stop by for a pizza and tell them you heard about them from me!  There will be an official Art Walk on the third Saturday of the month, maybe I'll see you there.