One Last Egg

 "Farm Fresh"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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The last egg painting for a while! I'll have 5 of them on display at the Small Pleasures show, which opens December 4th, in Eugene. 

Here's a shot of my underpainting. With this limited palette, I use a simple mix of Alizarin and Yellow Ocher for the underpainting. Makes a nice Burnt Siena-ish tone to work into.

 And here's the card for the show. Look at that list of artists! (click on the pic to see it larger...)

Painting Eggs at the Duck Store

"Morning Eggs"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas, framed

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I was invited to demo at the University of Oregon Duck Store (what might be called a "campus book store" at a less football-crazy institution) during their art supply trade show last week. Two full days of painting and talking about painting. It was a blast! 

I decided to keep working on my series of limited palette egg paintings. Here's my palette, all mixed up. The "parent" primaries are yellow ocher, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue. From those three, I mixed a color wheel, and then an "inner ring" of tints:

 

 I'll be showing this whole series of egg paintings next month at the Jacobs Gallery's Small Pleasures Invitational, in Eugene. If you've never attended this yearly show, it's truly a showcase of the area's best - at seriously affordable prices. Opening reception is Friday December 4th!

 

"Quiche To Be"
8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
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Simply Cracked

"Simply Cracked"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas, framed

Available Here

Another in my new series of limited palette egg paintings. I'm aiming for six of these. Three down, three to go!

I'm ready to paint up a storm this month, after hitting up Oregon Art Supply's semi-annual canvas sale this morning. Here's my haul, hanging out with some friends that have already been painted and framed. Before and after!

A New Series: Limited Palette Eggs

 

 "Shell Game"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I enjoyed this limited palette demo at my last workshop so much that I've decided to do a series based on it. This trio of colors is a strange choice for painting eggs since the yellow is so muted - and egg yolks are such a vivid, vibrant yellow - but the subtleties and harmonies are pleasing. And, as with all limited palettes, in the absence of anything "Yellower," Yellow Ocher does just fine!

My colors for this series: Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ocher, and Alizarin Crimson - with Titanium White, of course!

The paint brand is M. Graham - my favorite.

Below is my underpainting. I put a wet tone on the canvas - with this limited palette, I use a red-orange, but any warm neutral orange (such as Burnt Sienna) works well - as long as there's no white added. Next, I sketch into my tone, pulling out the lights with a clean brush or rag and Gamsol, and deepening the darks by adding some red, purple, or blue to my toning orange. 

I think of the underpainting as the first two "stages" of my three-stage painting process. The first is layout, or drawing - the second is values - and the third, of course: color! I'll be discussing this and much, much more during my still life workshop at Winslow Art Center this weekend. There's still time to register, if you're interested!

Limited Palette Love

 "Ocher Yolk"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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Here's my limited palette demo from last weekend's workshop. I used Yellow Ocher, Ultramarine Blue, and Alizarin Crimson - plus white, of course. 

I admit I had some doubts about that egg yolk - trying to capture that vibrant yellow with only Yellow Ocher on my palette? Limited palettes never let me down, though. As long as there's nothing "yellower" to show it up, Ocher does just fine, as you see.

Here I am, in the underpainting stage: 

 

Speckled Eggs and Spring

  

"Quail Eggs"

6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

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The Asian market strikes again! These little cuties have been sitting in my refrigerator for I-won't-even-tell-you-how-long, but hey - they don't smell yet - and I'm not planning to eat them. Quail-egg-painting procrastination is over now, and I've got another version on the easel as I type.

One thing I'm terribly excited about this week: Spring! I actually saw the first Camellia blossoms of the year yesterday. I'll be out and about with my scissors soon.....

 

A post for a snowy Thursday

 "One Dozen Brown Eggs"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
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Here's the painting from my always-fun live session at the gallery last Saturday. If you've been reading awhile, you might recognize this plate as the green twin of my subject from the previous weekend. If so, bonus points for you!

 

If you're interested in watching me paint, I'll be at the gallery this Saturday for the final day of my solo show, from 12-4. Feel free to join - pull up a chair, watch as long as you like, and ask me anything!

If you prefer a fancier soiree, tomorrow is First Friday, once again (because it's February, for all you doubters!) and I will be out and about, in a dress, no less! Brave the snow. Let's meet.

 

A Plate, A Love Story

"Amy's Plate"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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  Sometimes painting still life is all about serendipity. I haunt thrift stores, gratefully accept donations and loans of lovely little things from friends, and frequently paint my food - but chance is a powerful force in my work, and small romances with objects often bear fruit.

I'd been flirting with this plate - which belongs to my gallerist, and is usually a vessel for opening-night treats - for a while, but found myself awake at 5 am and thinking about it yet again this past Saturday morning. With the addition of a few things from my collection - and some eggs stolen from her family's breakfast - my vision congealed.

 Never discount the possibilities inherent in just showing up prepared to paint. The universe will always supply what we need, as artists, when our eyes are open.

In progress....the block-in

I Display My Values

 "Breakfast Bar"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$300

click to buy

Hope you all enjoyed the blog carnival-slash-virtual-studio-tour yesterday! I thought my studio was pretty cool, but man, now I've got serious studio envy! The Titanium is always whiter....

So, this painting has a back-story. And as with many stories, it beings with "I've got this friend...." Because I do. Have this friend. Who is really into whiskey - or scotch - or whatever this stuff is - and also likes art. His big idea was to buy me a bottle and see what kind of painting I'd make of it after sampling the goods.

Let the record show: I'm perfectly willing to be the victim of sadistic artistic manipulations when high-quality alchohol is involved.

The eggs were kind of incidental. I had just finished this piece, and thought, 'Man, some whisky/scotch/moonshine would be really good right now,' and before I knew it, I had begun my commission. 

The value scale was another happy accident. I just threw it in there, but halfway through the painting I saw the genius. Whiskey and eggs for breakfast - now those are some solid values. Get it? Yuk yuk.

Hot, Smelly, and Shipping for Free

  

"Simple Egg"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

click to buy

Hello, beautiful people! It's hot here. I'm wondering how long I can keep this egg sitting out in my studio before it starts to smell. This should be incredibly entertaining to my dear sis-and-bro-in-law who will be spending next week sleeping in my studio's alternate incarnation, aka... The Guest Room. Good thing they don't read my blog! (lol, no, they really don't.)

...To make matters even sketchier, these brown eggs were on 50% markdown at Safeway, so they're definitely not for eating.

  

Want to buy this painting, but shipping charges totally bum you out? I know! With the code SARAH, everything in my Etsy shop ships for free this week. Use it, share it, take care of your summer wedding gift list, or just ignore it. Just try to ignore it...

An Audience of One

 "Sunny Egg"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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This morning I had company in the studio, and not my usual, mostly feline, company either! Luke Fannin, an arts writer and journalist with Create Eugene sat with me during the entire start-to-finish process of making this painting. He'll be writing an article about it for the blog Handmadeology. I'll make sure and link to it when it's published!

I've demo-ed in front of students and other groups, and been joined by models and friends in the studio before, but I doubt I've ever been so closely observed and documented while painting - even when I was professionally photographed! It was interesting, especially as I approached the end-stage of the painting, which can be a tense time even on a normal day. Under questioning, I noticed things I hadn't before - like how I hold my breath when executing more precise passages, and then exhale and breathe deeply once they're completed.

Who Wants Quiche?

 "Cracked With a Spoon"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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In addition to my regular huge box of props, I arrived at the Art Center this morning with two big cartons of eggs and a bag each of red and yellow onions. And that was just my lunch.

Just kidding! I know, I had you for a minute there.

Anyway, today was Egg Day, with onions as a special guest star, and it was all about facing your fears, your allergies, your culinary aversions...ok, it was really just about value, color, and texture. 

First, I did a little demo:

 Then everybody got to work. Some awesome paint was slung today, and I'm totally proud of how everyone "womaned-up" to the challenge. Sometimes I think an artist could spend a lifetime painting just eggs....

I Break a Few Eggs

  

"Egg in a Dish"

 6 x 6 inches, oil on canvas

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Monday was the last meeting of my "Painting: Fast and Fun" workshop. I was hoping to present some intimidating subject matter, and demonstrate that sometimes these things turn out to be easier than you'd think. Not sure I succeeded. We all struggled a little! 

I've had several really good experiences trying to paint subjects I had long dismissed as being too "hard." Onions, for example. Onions are SO satisfying to paint - and I feel the same way about eggs. I mean, what doesn't look like fun about this setup?

(Colored paper. I like it, too.)