Blue and Gold, a new Ornament Painting, with a Video!

 "Blue and Gold"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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The stages of this piece. Isn't it funny how GREEN the gold ornament looked before the rest of the painting got filled in? I admit it, green is my secret weapon for creating the illusion of gold. 

Here's a quick time-lapse video of the underpainting coming together - I love these things! No matter how long you let the camera run, the resulting video is always 30 seconds. So, I have absolutely no idea how long this part took. 😉

I get a LOT of questions about materials - what paint, brushes, etc I use. For this part, the underpainting shown in the video, I'm using a #2 round taklon brush by Connoisseur. The canvas is toned with a mixture of red, yellow, and blue - an orange dulled with its complement. And, as always, the brand is M. Graham. To provide a quick answer to questions about materials, I've compiled a list of products I use on Amazon - you can check that out here!

Golden Loops

 "Golden Loops"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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My first ornament painting of the year! With this shiny gold ribbon thrown in as a bonus. I love the  texture and movement that ribbon brings to a still life - and the eye workout!

Here's how my paintings begin - as compositions seen through a viewfinder.
Looking through an aperture that's the same format (square, rectagle - horizontal or vertical) as my canvas helps me decide where to place the objects in a painting. Using this tool takes SO much of the guesswork out of my process, but taking photos through a viewfinder? Definitely a next-level challenge. I'm working on it!

All That Glitters

"All That Glitters"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

This painting makes me really happy. Hope it brightens your day! 

Here's a time-lapse video of me painting it. If you're an email subscriber, you may need to click on this link to check it out.

Unfurled

 

 "Unfurled" 

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

Click to buy

Still Life Open Studio, Holiday Edition, was a bit smaller than it might have been due to some seriously yucky weather, but those who braved the icy rain got to witness firsthand my wretched excess when it comes to ornament still life setup.  Even I had trouble deciding which of the half-dozen paintings I was seeing in the objects on the table to bring to life on canvas. But this curling ribbon kept snagging my eye - and here it is! 

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Collectors! Don't miss this opportunity to browse my paintings, new and old - come find out what I mean when i say serious end-of-the-year deals. Saturday and Sunday, 11-7, at Whitprint:

Circle Of Light

"Circle of Light"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$200

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One fun thing about painting Christmas balls: there's a tiny self-portrait inside each one of them! You can see it especially in the dark purple one. 

I could make a list (and check it twice): there are probably a dozen things I love about painting ornaments. This has been kind of a big year for them already, considering that I only painted ONE last year.....

I can feel it coming on, the annual stock-taking that accompanies this season. It's like a holiday for my inner statistician. How many paintings did I make this year? How many blog posts did I write? How many new Instagram followers? Blog subscribers?

Depending on how you feel about statistics, comparison, and self-judgement, either something to look forward to, or a situation requiring immediate distraction. I suggest shopping! Specifically, at the WhitPrint Holiday Show and Sale - next weekend, December 10-11th. I will be there, showing my newest (as in November's) paintings, and with a huge table covered in bargain basement holiday deals.

Persimmons and Purple Ornaments

 

 "Persimmons and Purple Ornaments"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$350

Click to buy

Here's how my palette looked when I finished this painting - you can tell I painted the persimmons first, followed by the ornaments, ground color, and cast shadows. Or, at least I can tell. Because all the bright clean oranges are mixed over - they would have been found in the Northwest quadrant earlier on.....kind of like me, up here in the PNW. Except my mixed oranges were located more towards Utah and Nevada. 

 

And here's even more evidence that I painted those orange persimmons before anything else...my work-in-progress! 

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!

 

Christmas Passed

 "Merry and Bright"

8 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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I'm just a little bit late for Christmas with this one, but hey - your tree is still up, right? I figured I had until New Years before this would be really inappropriate.  And I didn't want to miss my annual opportunity to pull out the fun paint tubes - Pthalo Turquoise, Quinacridone Rose....

I say it a LOT: you can create the illusion of almost any color using a limited palette. Case in point: the golden egg yolks seen here, painted using only Yellow Ocher - a very dull, earthy yellow. But to really nail the intense colors of these ornaments, special pigments are required.

Here's a work-in-progress, at the halfway point:

And! Also too late for Christmas (I could give you my list of excuses, but Nah...) I made my Calendar for 2016! One of the best things about making these is that throughout the year, I'll randomly get a message like, "Hi! July's painting is just lovely!" And I'll have five long seconds of having NO idea what you're talking about.

Click to view and/or purchase - Thanks!

"Suzanne's Daisies" A top-secret Christmas commission!

16 x 20"

oil on canvas

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Merry Christmas! I am blogging to you from the warmth and sunshine of my in-laws' place in Florida. Our orgy of giving is complete, and since a certain lucky friend of mine also received her gifts today, I can now share this painting with you. Back in July, when these daisies were blooming in their garden, her husband commissioned this piece - and then, somehow, he had the willpower to wait five months before giving it to her! Now, they will have daisies all year long, and you can, too, since my preparatory sketch is up for auction:

"(sketch for) Suzanne's Daisies"

5 x 7"

oil on canvas

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I'm already excited for all that's to come in 2013 - but hey, it's still Christmas Day, so, from my family to yours - Happy Holidays! 

"Jewel Toned Ornaments" Christmas painting xmas art oil painting holiday decor gift for the artlover

 

8 x 8"

oil on canvas

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I had a fantastic time last night! Our excellent local art store invited me to show some work and paint in their store during the First Friday Artwalk. Today's painting was my trial run. I painted the very same ornaments in a slightly different configuration for the live demo, and the painting (which I finished in just under three hours) is on view at Oregon Art Supply.

 I want to say a huge thanks to Rebecca and Robin at Oregon Art Supply, for hosting me, and to the M. Graham paint company and their awesome sales rep Dan for coming out! M. Graham is my paint of choice, and they're also an Oregon company, so it was great to meet a member of their team and find out even more about their products.