The Yellow Pitcher

 

Click Here to BUY ($1000 - 12x24in. - OIL)

Once again, this horizontal format just doesn't show well online, so PLEASE click the image to view it larger. I was so excited when I came up with the composition, and am really happy with how it turned out. I used brushes, knives and a squeegee, so it has lots of fun texture. Thanks for looking. : )

Absorbed

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And now for an oil kitty. Or a kitty painted with oil... Can you tell I've already had a glass of wine? : )

Leo

 

Click Here to Bid (4x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I've been asked quite a few times lately to make a gouache tutorial. But I've only been using this medium now for a few months. And I have just as many paintings that work out as don't. As soon as I start seeing some patterns of things that lead to success, you can bet I'll start writing them down. And when I have enough of those things, and I'm sure they might actually be helpful, I will share. Until then, here's another experiment that I like. : ) Thank you for your patience.

Hey Cutie

 

Click Here to Bid (5x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

Ever since I started playing pickleball (3 or 4 days a week for a couple hours each time), my painting productivity has taken a huge nosedive! It seems something relatively small can disrupt my balance quite easily. But I think this is a pretty common issue. In fact my whole life has been a constant balancing act. I know I will figure it out. And the new year will be a good time to focus on it. Until then I'm kind of enjoying the holiday. : )

Here's Your Piglet

 

Click Here to Bid (5x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

Hello! I hope everyone has had some lovely holidays. Ours was quiet, but I suppose most of us are in the same boat in that regard. I figure we could all use some cheering up, so here's the cutest little pink piglet ever.

And my cute little family.

Big Bear Yawn

Click Here to Bid (4x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I used to be absolutely terrified of bears. Whenever I camped, I was awake half the night, paralyzed with fear. The only way I ever fell asleep was out of pure exhaustion. I think it took actually encountering a few bears out in the wild, and watching them turn tail and run away - more scared of me than I was of them - to lessen my fear. I still carry bear spray on hikes, (just in case) and am careful to make noise and be "bear aware," (especially now that I live in an area with grizzlies), but I am no longer up half the night when I camp. And I can see them as cute now instead of vicious. : )

Nap Time

Click Here to Bid (3x7in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

Something that happens to me is that sometimes I'm inspired by something, and other times I'm not. And when I'm not, that thing looks ugly to me. Does that happen to you? Sometimes I think leaves are just the most spectacular things in the world, and sometimes I'm just like - yawn. It's so weird. Most often, of all the subjects I paint, there's something I can get excited about. But once in a while everything looks ugly to me, and that's when I remind myself to take a break.

Don't Be Caught with Your Pants Down

 

Click Here to Bid (5x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I don't know why, but this one makes me think of getting caught doing something embarrassing. Like he was in the middle of changing his (striped) underwear. I have experience doing embarrassing things, so I know what it looks like.

Overcast Florence

Click Here to BUY ($500 - OIL - 12x12in.)

This is a scene from Florence, Italy. A large proportion of the days I was there were overcast. At first I was really disappointed, because I love light and shadow, but then I realized there is a lovely subtlety to gray days. That subtlety is hard to paint - don't get me wrong! But if you work at it, it can be captured. : ) I'm really happy with this one.

Here's a close-up of the texture in the sky. ->

Pink Pelican

Click Here to Bid (4x7in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

One of my favorite things with gouache is playing around with the backgrounds. If I'm painting something like this, I do the thing (bird) first, then the edges (where the bird meets the background), then the background (for those of you who've read my book, island to ocean, just like with oil). And if I mix different colors and then slowly start layering them, it can be super fun and beautiful. Each layer is somewhat translucent (more or less depending on the color and how much water is in the mix). I shoot for a variety of brush stroke direction, size, color, etc, because the eye loves variety. : )

See the same pelican in oil (different reference photo).

Disintegrating

 

Click Here to BUY ($1200 - 24x36 - OIL on gessobord - free shipping in US)

This is another big one. The leaf is from a gorgeous hike I took with my husband in Oregon a few years ago, along Fall Creek. It was late fall and the leaves were just starting to decompose. We think of beauty being in the young and fresh, but I appreciate the old and falling apart just as much. Maybe this is because I'm getting older and my body is starting to have..."issues"? Nah. 

If you buy this painting and it doesn't look good in your space, I will happily give you a full refund (you pay return shipping) and my complete understanding. It happens.

Hey You!

 

Click Here to Bid (3x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

Here's another gouache fish. I think he's part of the underwater mob.

Clever Cat

 

Click Here to Bid (5x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I love how this one turned out. The photo was pretty boring, but I think the fact that I have less control with gouache over exact colors (vs. oil) made for some very interesting grays.

Time to Eat, Junior

 

Click Here to BUY (6x12in. - OIL - $300 - click image to enlarge)

This wide format never shows up well here, so make sure you click the image to see it bigger. I've had this pink pig for a WHILE - a student gave it to me years ago. And I have so wanted it to make it's way into a painting, but it was just a little too big for 6x6. So today is the debut for Mrs. Pink Pig, mother to Junior here, who has been playing with his shiny ball instead of eating his lunch.

Sad Eyes

 

Click Here to Bid (4x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

When humans feel love, our bodies produce the hormone oxytocin. When dogs see their "peeps," scientists have found that they are also flooded with oxytocin. So it makes sense that they'd be sad when we're gone. : (

Smiley Faces

Click Here to Bid (5x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I'm pretty sure I know why people love alpacas, besides the fact that they're fuzzy and soft. They always look like they're smiling!

And now for some art app updates based on your feedback (I will also update the ArtByte).

MY IPAD CASE: This is the one I got. It was under $30, and most are. Note that you'll need to get one that fits your specific ipad.

COST of APPS: I once paid $700 for the desktop version of Photoshop, and now pay $9.99/mo, so compared to that, all the art apps for ipad are super cheap!!! I can't remember exactly how much I paid for each one (and now that I've paid the prices don't show anymore), but they are all under $15, and usually a one-time fee. Some you get for free (or very low cost) but have to pay a little more to use ALL the features. The great thing about that is you can try out the app first and make sure you like it before you pay.

PROCREATE: 

Apparently they added a feature recently for reference photos. To see it: touch the wrench icon > touch "canvas" > toggle "reference" > touch "image, then "import image". You can move this little window around and resize the image (within the little window).

OR, you can split screen your ipad, opening procreate (or any app) on one side, and your reference photo open on the other. It's really easy to do - here's a video that shows you how.

Also, you can trace an image (in any app that has layers) by inserting a photo on a layer, and then tracing onto the layer above it (and then hiding or deleting the layer with the photo). I feel like a dufus not thinking of that! But so thankful that you guys kindly share with me. : )

Now Look Right

Click Here to Bid (5x3in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I worked all day on my art app review (ok, I did squeeze in some Pickleball), and now it's ready! There was a lot of info, and I thought it would be helpful to include images, so I decided to use the ArtByte format, and of course make it free. So here's "A Few Art Apps, Reviewed." I hope you find it useful. Feel free to give me feedback, and I will update it. Thanks!

Ps. You do have to login to Daily Paintworks to see it, but so you know, we don't use your info or email you or anything like that.

 

Assembling Apples

 

Click Here to BUY (12x12in. - OIL - $600)

I've gotten a huge response from you guys that you DO want a review of art apps from me. : ) So I'm taking it seriously and putting work into it. Which means it'll take me a little longer (hopefully just a few more days). 

Meanwhile, here's an even bigger painting! This one is a whopping 12x12inches!! I've had this coffeepot for years and finally felt like I could fit it in to a painting. Woo!

Just Peachy, Thanks

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

You may recognize this one from before. It went on a long journey but never quite made it to it's rightful place. Long story, but now it's come back to me, and I'm redoing the auction.

Meanwhile I am spending time with my ipad and writing down all my impressions of every art app I've used. I'll post that soon...

Teacher's Spot

 

Click Here to BUY (10x10in. - OIL - $400)

I mentioned the other day that I used my ipad and Procreate to try out some possibilities for "fixing" a painting before doing it for real, and what a useful tool that was. Someone asked if there are any other art apps I like that aren't specifically for Apple. Yes! Perhaps my favorite so far is Infinite Painter. I also like Artrage. Heavy Paint was recommended to me but (while the name seemed promising) doesn't seem as intuitive for someone coming from natural media. I also have a few of the Adobe apps. Please let me know if you'd be interested in hearing what has been useful (and frustrating) about each one for me.

Cups Bouncing Color

 

sold. (10x10in. - OIL - $400)

A few months ago I decided to quit painting the little, 6x6in still lifes (after 14 years of mostly that). At the time I thought I might be done with still life altogether. But after a few weeks it called to me again and in doing some experiments I realized it was the SIZE I was feeling constrained by. Back in 2006 my compositions were simple - often just one object (see example to the right). But as the years passed I got more ambitious, and it became harder and harder to FIT what I wanted into six-by-six-measly-inches. 

This one of cups isn't a whole LOT bigger, but let me tell you, it makes a big difference in my experience of painting it. And I feel a whole new world of composition possibilities has opened. Which makes me happy. And that's exactly what I was looking to rediscover - the joy.

Canyon de Florence

 

Click Here to Bid (8x10in. - OIL on gessobord - starts at $100)

This is a scene from Florence, Italy. I painted it in two sessions because after the first one ... I wasn't quite satisfied. So I took a picture of it with my ipad, opened that in Procreate, and played around with a few options for how I might change it, digitally. Once I landed on something I was happy with, I used that to make the changes for real, in paint. What a handy dandy tool!