Green Shadow

 "Green Shadow"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

I painted this alongside a lovely group of workshop students last weekend, walking them through the steps of planning a successful still life. Thumbnail sketch, Notan, 5-value study, underpainting, color! 

These steps are great tools  - I don't do them all, for every one of my paintings, of course. You loyal readers have seen many black and white studies from me, but over time, the other steps have become mental - I look through a viewfinder and try out different compositions in my head instead of doing thumbnail sketches. I think about the Notan, the overall light/dark effect I'm creating. Then I launch right into the value study.

The step I'm leaving out is really preliminary - setting up the still life! Always fun, always challenging. And that's the part that my students don't have to worry about when they're in a workshop with me! I take care of that. ;)

A New Painting of Some Oranges...With Videos!

"One Turned Away"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

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This was the painting demonstration for my online art mentorship students at our monthly group session in Februray. It's a fun little piece! I love composing with cast shadows, and this is an excellent example of why. 

I just published a full-length video of this demo on YouTube - walking through my 3-step process for alla prima painting. Here's a clip!

(If you're reading this in your email - thanks for being a subscriber! You may need to click this link to watch, though. ;))

A Plein Air Still Life on Whidbey Island

 "Five Lemons"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

In my last post, I shared pictures from my recent opening at Brackenwood Gallery on Whidbey Island. It was a fantastic opening, and the fun didn't end there! The next day, I did a plein air still life demonstration outside the gallery doors, enjoying the cool island weather, and the gallery-goers who stopped to chat. I even had a canine audience, as you can see!

The light was a little strange, as it was cloudy and hazy with smoke from nearby wildfires - a kind of grainy, golden light. Not bad, but not as dramatic as the stunning summer sunlight I got for my demo afternoon last year!

Here's a look at my process: a simple black and white oil sketch (in a sketchbook) to plan the value pattern and composition, an underpainting on the canvas in sepia tones, and color laid directly over that, alla prima.

"Tangerines on Turquoise"....and Tons of Teaching!

 

 "Tangerines on Turquoise"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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July was a whirlwind month, busy and full. This painting was a demo I did for students in Portland, over a two-day period. Here's my palette - heavy on the red-oranges. I really wanted to emphasize the red glow that reflects back and forth when oranges cuddle up together, and those saturated contrasting colors on the oranges and the plate.

 

...And this, believe it or not, is some of the student work from that class! What a talented bunch - not beginners. They did great. 

The Green Teapot, and a chance to watch me paint it - live!

 "The Green Teapot"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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As an artist, I don't often feel that I'm in a "helping" profession. Yes, the arts benefit society hugely, and I'm proud to be a part of that. And yes, when I'm teaching painting, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to pass on my experience to my students. Donating my work to charitable organizations is a different kind of difference-making. I'll never be a social worker, but I truly know how important social work is to my community. So! This Thursday, I'll be participating in a great benefit for Sheltercare, here in Eugene.

I say it's a great benefit, because it really is - it's at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the U of O campus, there's live music, great food, a silent auction of local art, and this year, my talented friend Heather and I will be making art, live, during the event. AND our paintings will be part of the raffle - along with our subject, this lovely green teapot.

So, today's painting was just a warmup, you could say!

Click on the image above for more info about the event - and click here to read an interview with yours truly, on the Sheltercare blog!

Swedish Ivy: A Painting and a Video

 

 "Swedish Ivy"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

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This painting began as a demo for my online students - unbelievably, my art mentorship program is almost one year old! Time flies. And time certainly flew while I was doing this demo - in over two hours, I only got as far as the image on the left. As usual, the group and I covered a wide range of topics - and I DID edit the recording down to about 90 minutes, so you just get the good stuff!

Watch this painting come together! If you're reading this in your email, click here for the video.

Interested in studying with me in person? I've got a list of upcoming workshops in the right-hand sidebar of the blog -----> including this weekend, Intro to Oil Painting, in Eugene.

Teaching the Figure in OKC

 "Adrian in April"

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

$400

Email me to purchase

I just returned from a fantastic workshop at The Conservatory for Classical Art in Oklahoma City. We were doing alla prima figure painting - three days of live models, plenty of paint mixing, and value studies. It all resulted in some gorgeous work by my students!

I'm always so impressed with the drawing skills and dedication shown by the students at the CCA, across a wide range of ages and backgrounds.  

What a great group! I'm already looking forward to my next visit, "Painting the Dynamic Still Life," in October. 

 

And if you're interested in painting the figure with me in Oregon, I have a workshop coming up in June. Email me for details on that!

Pointed Persimmon and Public Painting Demo

 "Pointed Persimmon"

8 x 10 inches, oil on linen

$250

Click to buy

Lots of elements came together to make this painting! First, the persimmon: gifted to me by a friend who knows his trees (also, a little something about my persimmon obsession). It's a Hachiya persimmon, as opposed to the Fuyus I usually paint. Second, the fun patterned paper - a new addition to my still life stable which I already can't wait to paint again. And third - the luxurious Belgian linen canvas I painted it on, a sample sent to me by the generous owners of Masterpiece Canvas. It's from their Vincent Pro Muir series - a beautiful surface, and drum tight! 

The painting went through quite a few stages, and you'll notice it gathered more cranberries as time went on. They multiplied before my eyes!

If you'd like to watch a painting come together before your eyes, you can! This Friday, December 2nd, I'll be giving a figure painting demonstration at Whiteaker Printmakers, to introduce my workshop - also this weekend, and also with spaces still available. 

Come watch me paint this lovely model, Hannah. Young artists welcome - everyone in the room will be at least partially clothed. ;)   

Info and registration for the demo and the workshop here.

Flaming Leaves

 

 "Flaming Leaves"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Available Here

What brilliant timing - the day before the huge art supply trade show at the U of O, a friend offered me persimmons from her tree - making the question of what to paint for my demo an absolute no-brainer! I love that.

The show was a blast - and a whirlwind. Two days of painting, talking, and junking out on the latest and best in art supplies. I came home with a bunch of new things to try. Because who doesn't need more art stuff? No one!

 

Alla Prima Portrait Sketch; Limited Palette Workshop Demo

 

 "Sketch of A."

approx 8x11 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

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This month marks two years since my first portrait painting workshop. Amazing how time flies! And although I've painted this model quite a few times, it's always nice to revisit a familiar face - especially one with such lovely coloring. I've got pinks, peaches, greens, lavenders, and orangey-browns in those flesh tones - all mixed from three tubes of paint! 

My work-in-progress shows how I painted the face out beyond the contour lines, and then re-drew that edge with the darks in the hair. I also painted the setting of the eye before putting too much detail into the eye itself. 

And the ear - well, I got that on there early and then left it alone, because this.

Whidbey Island Weekend

 "Dappled Light"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$400

Available, click to buy

I had a FANTASTIC weekend, making my second visit to Brackenwood Gallery on Whidbey Island, Washington. (You can read about my first visit here.) 

They call these gallery visits "Artist's Salons," how lovely. And so civilized! I set my easel up outside the gallery doors and chatted with the people who strolled by all afternoon.

 Those gorgeous apples came right out of my hosts' garden on the island, and they were delicious! I know, because I ate them as soon as I was done with this painting. Farm to easel to table? More like ground to hand to mouth. But yes!

 

Whidbey Island is so great, and so are all the people at Brackenwood Gallery. I'm already looking forward to next year, when rumor has it, I'll be offering a workshop through Whidbey Island Fine Art Studios as well! Exciting!

It's One-Dollar Auction Time!

"The Red Snake"

approx. 8 x 11 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

One-Dollar Auction!

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This was kind of a demo for my Online Mentorship students, a couple of whom are working on loosening up their process this month with one-hour paintings. They are doing some incredible things! Here is a blog post one of them wrote - I promise, I'm not making her work THIS hard, she's just incredibly motivated. When I say I get as much from my students as they get from me, this is what I'm talking about. What an inspiration!

And speaking of inspiration, I had some help naming this painting. You know who you are, and thanks. ;)

Teaching In My PJ's

 

 "Purple Arrow"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

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My new online art mentorship program is off to a great start! It's been a couple of months, and the improvements I'm seeing in my students' work are exciting - plus, I'm loving watching them inspire each other (and me). It's like art school, without having to get dressed. Not that I put too much effort into that back in the art school days....

This piece was a demo for one of my students - I recorded our session, and edited it down from over an hour to about 20 minutes. You'll hear us chatting about various things... some related to this painting, some not. Enjoy!

The Artist's Vacation

 "Oranges on a Grey Plate"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

Sold, workshop demo painting

 I just returned from a wonderful whirlwind week in the Midwest. I think it's safe to say I covered all my bases while I was there, too! I taught a workshop, had a gallery opening, visited my father in Cleveland, my sister in Chicago, hit two amazing art museums, and did plenty of other cool touristy stuff - since, after almost a decade in the Pacific Northwest, I am pretty much of a tourist in the land where I grew up.

It all started at BayArts, in Bay Village, Ohio - a pretty amazing place. Here's a panorama of my solo show, "The Color of Light." 

 

Next up was a workshop. BayArts has a fantastic classroom. You know the feeling a space gets when art is made there for years and years? Lots of that going on here!

It was a great group of students - enthusiastic and talented. Check out their paintings from day two!

Then I decompressed from all that artmaking with some hardcore art viewing. Modigliani at the Art Institute of Chicago:

I have lots of workshops coming up, including another round of the same workshop I just taught at BayArts, at home in Eugene. Spaces are still available for this Saturday and Sunday. Info and registration here. Join us!

Painting Together, Painting Alone

 "Blueberry Tart"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
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I love a new project - and I have one this week! I've been attending open studio sessions to draw and paint the figure for years, and lately have found myself wondering - could that model (no pun intended) work with still life? Get a group of like-minded artists together to paint, chat, and share a still life set-up...why not?

The inaugural session of the Still Life Open Studio was this past Thursday at Whiteaker Printmakers' Annex - the same space where I recently taught a figure painting workshop. There were six of us in attendance, but I brought enough subject matter for a small army of artists. Tea and lemons....shocker!

The fruit tarts were a change for me. First time painting one - and I loved the shiny fruit! 

Underpainting to finish. I always start my still lives the same way: with a wet-toned canvas in a warm neutral orange, then a value block-in in thin paint. I recently made a video for my online mentorship students demonstrating my whole process. If you enjoy watching it, give it a thumbs up on YouTube - I'd appreciate it!

Talking to myself in an empty room....no wonder I was craving a group of painters to hang with!