This is another beauty from our garden, continuing the ‘big flower’ theme for a bit. Fortunately our three hibiscus plants made it through the winter and we might have more of these later in the summer. Yum.
Painting #14. Screaming Red Hibiscus. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 10×8.
I decided to try another yellow flower — even bigger this time. I took the reference photo in our garden one morning — I couldn’t believe that the bee posed long enough for me to lean in for such a closeup. I was pumped. And I guess I got pumped up again while making this painting — it’s one of my favorites of the daily paintings so far! Hope you like it too.
#12 Yellow Squash Flower & Friend. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 10×8
Reference Photo
For my next painting I decided to channel friend Helen Gallagher with some BIG flowers, painted from life from a bouquet a friend sent me for Mother’s Day. Haven’t ever done any large scale, straight-on flowers. I don’t think I captured the color of the shadows very well. I’m also not crazy about the composition, but it was a good experiment. I used the palette knife a fair amount, but not for everything. . . .
I painted from life rather than the photo below — which I snapped to record what I was generally looking at while painting.
Yellow Lilies. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 8×10.
Reference Photo
One of my collectors has bought three of the veggie watercolors I painted last year as a consequence of a workshop with Wendy Artin. And she wants a fourth so she can group them in her kitchen. What to do? A pretty cauliflower was in our fridge so this is how I spent my evening in front of the TV. . . .
I made a few mistakes since I was painting it direct — without a pencil sketch, as Wendy had taught. So I resorted to a bit of gouache so I wouldn’t have to start over!!
One of my grandsons and I harvested some flag irises from the garden on Sunday to decorate our Mother’s Day table. I decided to paint those from life for my Monday painting. I didn’t like the outcome – especially the background, which was pretty awful, so I tweaked it later in the day — and then tweaked it again today!! I’m including the first and second ‘drafts’, which illustrate my changes in scale as I reworked the thing.
#9 Flag Irises. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 8″x10″.
#9 Irises from the Garden. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 8×10
Initial Composition
Prince George’s County Public School interior design students selected the following artworks of mine for display in the student-built house that opens to proud parents and friends next Thursday, May 6, and to realtors on May 8-9. The young folk chose oil paintings, water color paintings as well as digital art. They also used artwork from the Black Panther movie, an idea I’d suggested for the children’s rooms.
I am truly honored to have been chosen to participate in this wonderful project. Kudos to the young folks for their hard work and obviously effective results, as pictured in my last blog post.
I like to paint and draw sculptures, castings, molds and the like. It lets me focus on form and value without the distraction and mystique of glorious color. This majestic Italian lion from the BMA sculpture garden was great fun to paint.
Italian Lion, Baltimore Museum of Art. Original iPad Painting. 1:1 aspect ratio. 2017.
My husband planted some red hibiscus plants in our garden. We’ve enjoyed the resulting drama all summer long. And after spending a bit of time with my stylus and ipad, we can now enjoy the drama all winter long. . . .
Red Hibiscus. Original iPad Painting. 1:1 aspect ratio. 2017.
OK. So, the leeks turned out well, aaaannnndddd ~~~~ I got sassy & decided to paint some portobello mushrooms the next day.
Bad idea! There’s not much ‘there’ there. Dull colors & shapes, arranged (by me) in an overly simplistic composition. Certain artists could make a good painting out of such drab components (Morandi?), but my first effort at ‘shrooms falls short.
I was so pumped up after Wendy Artin’s workshop that, after a day of R&R, I pulled out my paints and a couple of elderly leeks from the fridge and painted another watercolor in the manner we had been practicing during the workshop. Here it is.
Leeks at Home. Watercolor on Paper.
I was tickled that it turned out nicely. Maybe I’ll have to do more!