A Fall Shopping Spree

 "Ghost Pumpkin"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Click to buy

I lucked out in more ways than one when I found this farm during the Washington County plein air event last week. Not only did they have gorgeous pear trees, they had lots of pumpkins for sale. So, with Still Life Open Studios in mind, I stocked up:

We had a fun session of SOS last night - and a colorful one! The next one will be Thursday October 20th. Join us!

In Which I have a Rockstar Moment

 "The Apple Barn"

12 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

Framed, $700

Click to buy

I'm just going to say this at the outset: I'm really proud of this painting. We artists all know the feeling: a piece is working right from the beginning. I say, "It painted itself," "It fell off the brush," or "It was a rockstar moment," but I think the best description of this particular magic is that I felt in control the entire time I was painting it. And that doesn't happen all that often - maybe once every 20 paintings? 

As you can see, it was a heartbreakingly beautiful day - one of those fall afternoons that make you feel grateful to be alive.

I started with a 3-value sketch - oil paint in my sketchbook. This was extremely helpful, especially when it came to painting mid-value areas like the grass and distant hills. Green just doesn't feel all that light to my eye - in general, it's a mid-to-dark value color, and it's very saturated and beautiful in the sunlight. But, referring to my sketch, I told myself to keep it as light as those rooftops. 

 

Understanding that color has value - and how that works in our paintings - is a huge benefit of practicing in black and white. So, if it's been a while since you went back to basics, give it a try....you might have a "rockstar moment" yourself!

Plein Air for the Still Life Painter

 "In the Pear Orchard"

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

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After a morning of painting landscape, this still life painter was ready to get back to more familiar territory. So, I found some fruit to paint - plein air! it even had a tree attached.

I continued using my palette from the morning, now with some lovely leftover greys all mixed up.

 I parked my easel in back of a U-pick farmstand, in a shaded spot between three pear trees. No plein air umbrella needed - perfect!           

I began with those patches of bright sunlight hitting the pears - the very first stroke on the canvas (after my underpainting) was the bright spot on the central pear. Everything else got keyed below that, to really make it pop!

Fresh off the easel. This one was really fun!

Plein Air Washington County, Take 1!

 "Plum Hill Barn"

14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas

I just got back from a fabulous paintout! The Plein Air Washington County event happens every fall just outside of Portland, Oregon in an extremely scenic area chock full of rolling hills, gorgeous vineyards, and farms.  

With so much to choose from, it took me a while to settle down and pick a spot, but I finally did: a weathered white barn on the property of Plum Hill Vineyards.

  

I knew I wasn't going to need a lot of greens for this kind of landscape. Two reds, two yellows, two blues and a bonus purple. My kind of split-primary palette!

 And my secret weapon for all plein-air painting: Radiant Blue, by Gamblin. It makes gorgeous skies. The anonymous guy on the far right is Ultramarine blue, by the way.

I started with a notan sketch, in a mixed dark paint, just in my sketchbook. If you think you can't oil paint in your sketchbook, give it a try sometime! I can't say enough about how helpful these preliminary sketches are - so be forewarned: I will be saying more. Because there were two more days of painting after this one, which I'll save for future posts.

So now that I've covered the future, I'll bring up the past.  Here are my posts about the first and second time I did this paintout. And obviously, the third time's the charm: this painting was awarded an honorable mention by judge Eric Jacobsen - and I do indeed feel truly honored!

Fall is in the Air

"Red Into Green"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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Well, I had my birthday, and I've broken out the legwarmers, so it must be Fall. I spent yesterday painting outside in some gorgeous weather at the Plein Air Washington County event, and will be heading back up there tomorrow for some more - including their quick draw with costumed models, which I love.

Here's a work-in-progress that shows how this apple came together. Specifically, how I painted out beyond the contour lines and then used the background to refine the shape of the apple, working back and forth to create the edges that I want.

 

I'll also mention that this was painted with a limited palette:

hansa yellow, alizarin crimson, cerulean blue, titanium white.

Avocado and Tomatoes in Black and White - and More about Notan

 "Avocado and Tomatoes"

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

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After reading this post by James Gurney, I decided to try some notan sketches on brown cardboard as a warmup for this painting - and it was fun! It's so satisfying to put thick white paint over a midtone surface. Why? Who knows - but I'll be back for more. 

The idea with notan is that midtones have to get lumped into either dark or light - you only have two values to work with. These forced choices remind us that we are interpreting, not copying the subject; composition is something we impose on nature. Two artists will not come up with the same value scheme in a notan sketch. There is no right or wrong way to do it. 

Also, it looks cool!

"Orange Orbit" oil painting and work-in-progress, notan to finish

 "Orange Orbit"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Available here

While I had this still life set up, I thought I'd try a vertical rectangle in addition to the square composition I painted first. 

These oranges were really patient! They stuck with me for weeks - and I even ate one of them after I finished this today. So maybe they really were from outer space....orbiting. Hm.

Here's my progression from notan to a 4-value sketch to my underpainting to the finish! No shot of me eating the orange, though. Next time.

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.

Orbit: A new allaprima still life, plus workshop announcements!

 "Orbit"

10 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
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Here's the progression for this one. On the left is a 3-value oil sketch, in which I resolved to keep my lightest lights in the foreground and on the left diagonal half of the composition. In the center is my underpainting, in a mixed up warm orange - you can use any colors you like for this stage as long as you don't add any white. 

 

For a lot more about my process, consider joining me for a workshop! I've got several coming up this fall, but my baby is the 3-day Dynamic Still Life class in Oklahoma City this October:

info and registration here!

If you're looking to try oil painting for the first time - or get a new perspective on a familiar medium - I offer a one-day Intro to Oils every month at Oregon Art Supply. September's is coming up, on Saturday the 10th. 

Info and Registration here!

More workshops, including two in the Portland, Oregon area, can be found in the right hand sidebar, or here. :)

Pink on the Inside

"Pink on the Inside"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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Another piece from my Still Life Open Studio sessions - if you're in the Eugene/Springfield area and looking for some artists to paint or draw with, join us! Next meeting is September 8th.

Cozy Cantaloupe

 "Cozy Cantaloupe"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Click to buy

There are some truly tricky and subtle oranges going on in cantaloupe. I suspected as much, but I'm not sure I've tried this subject before - at least not in color!

 

 As you can see, I threw pretty much everything-but-the-kitchen-sink at it, warm-color-wise: clockwise from bottom left - yellow ochre, hansa yellow, cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, titanium white, cadmium red light, cadmium red, alizarin crimson. That's a lot of tubes, for this limited palette girl! (The blues are cerulean, ultramarine, and ivory black, in case you're curious).

Color Has Value

"Cantaloupe Slices"

9 x 9 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

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If there's one thing I say over and over again to my students, it's this: you can paint something any color you want, as long as you nail the value, it will work! 

The single most important element of realistic representational painting is value: how light or dark something is on the gray scale. And that's relative to everything else in the painting - so our goal as painters is to train our eyes to perceive that hierarchy of values. 

Sketching is great for this, but black and white oil studies are even better. You kill two birds with one stone, really - focusing on values, and also practicing your mixing and brushwork.

Three Tangelos

"Three Tangelos"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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These funny looking oranges are a cross between tangerines and grapefruit. Wikipedia claims that they are "juicy at the expense of flesh." Which I think should be the alternate title of this painting, don't you?

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!

Self-Portrait, With Video

 "Self-Portrait (Hopeful)"

approx. 8 x 11, oil on Arches oil paper

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This self-portrait began as a demo for an online student. At the end of our session, it looked like the first image on the left - so that was about an hour-and-a-half. I worked on it for several more hours, and you can see the progression:

I really enjoy painting for my online students - it's like having excellent company in the studio, with the added bonus of having video documentation of my painting process! I edited this one down to just the block-in - it's about a 15 minute video:

Plum Parade - Now It's a Series!

 "Plum Parade"

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

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Here it is, the one that made it a series. And my third one-dollar auction of the week! You can see the first two here and here.

All three plum paintings, in chronological order. Which is your favorite?

Left to right: "The Red Snake," "The Red Knife," and "Plum Parade," each approx. 8x11 inches.

The Red Knife - Another One-Dollar Auction!

"The Red Knife"

approx 8 x 11 inches, oil on Arches oil paper

One-Dollar Auction!
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Here is the second in my plums-and-strawberries series. It officially went from a "thing I'm doing" to a "series" when I painted the third installment this morning. Hopefully you'll be seeing that one soon - it still needs its highlights touched up.

Plum Line

 

 "Plum Line"

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

$200

Available here

I painted this at Still Life Open Studios - a new project of mine, which is exactly what it sounds like: a drop-in studio session dedicated to my beloved subject, the not-your-momma's still life!

There was a LOT to choose from this week: melons, flowers, strawberries....but I seem to be on a plum kick lately, and I loved using a combination of Ivory black and Alizarin crimson to push those luscious purples as dark as could be.

Just a note: I've got a coupon code for FREE SHIPPING in my Etsy shop this month. It's AUGUST. Go figure!

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. ;)

Painting a Dead Horse

 

 "Dark Horse"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

$300

Available Here

My new project, Still Life Open Studio, is rolling along! It's a gathering where I set up a still life, and you come and paint it! Well, I paint it. You work in any medium you choose. 

This month's session was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe - skulls and flowers. I had the whole gang assembled - Bambi, Bessie, and Mr. Ed. Yorick was on an artist's residency and could not attend.

I'll be hosting two sessions in August: the 11th and the 25th. Come see what I concoct theme-wise! It's still a mystery to me.

Yellow Path (aka Lemon Pie, the Sequel)

 

 "Yellow Path"

24x12 inches, oil on canvas

$700, framed

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Here it is, the missing slice! 

I enjoyed playing with all the different yellows in this setup - once I got past my freakout over being out of Cadmium Yellow. Seriously, that's like a chef running out of butter! But just like a chef with enough milk and elbow grease, I made my own perfectly suitable substitute using a combo of Indian yellow and Cad yellow pale. No churning required.

 

A warmup sketch. Getting comfortable with those whipped-cream ridges! Eeek!