Into the Light

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel

This is a scene from Florence, Italy that I have painted before with no success. The two main people remind me of my in-laws, which is why I gave it another chance. My favorite part is her striped shirt, and the way her hand goes back.

Bored on a Bench

 

Click Here to Buy for $200 - 6x8in. - oil on panel

Here is group of bored teenagers in Florence, Italy - probably waiting for the rest of their group. I'm just happy to see they aren't looking at their phones!

Florence Spotlight

 

Click Here to Buy for $300 - 6x12in. - oil on panel (click image to enlarge)

This was painted from my favorite reference photo from my last trip to Florence, Italy. I admit I stood there and waited for people to pass through the shaft of light until I got the perfect shot. But I was also waiting to paint it! Why? No idea. So here it is. I kind of completely love it.

It's Getting Warm

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

This is another scene from Florence, Italy. These two were walking through a main square, and I just happened to catch her taking off her red rain jacket with the sun shining through bits of the other side.

Someone Look it Up

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

It was gray and/or raining for a lot of the time I was last in Florence (so much that my flight home was delayed because of flooding!). I tend to prefer sunny scenes, but ended up getting a lot of more subtle references that I never would have gotten otherwise. And I just love the reflections of their shoes on the wet sidewalk.

Purse Shopping

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

No, we can never have enough bags. And in Florence there are about a million stores the specialize in them. So it's quite impossible to come back from there not having bought at least one. I speak from experience.

Window Shopping

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - Oil on panel - starts at $100

This is another little city-scene from Florence, Italy. I was there teaching a workshop this past spring and am finally feeling motivated to tackle some paintings. I knew it would happen eventually. I try not to push it anymore. There's a time for everything.

Group Twelve

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil on panel - starts at $100

When you are in the center of Florence (Italy), there are often several tour groups touring around you, at all times. This makes for lovely clumps of people to photograph. My thanks to group twelve for posing so nicely.

Bonding Time

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil - "Bonding Time"

I got a great series of photos of these two (on a bench in a square in Florence). At first the kid was having a meltdown (probably hungry). The dad was trying so hard to make it ok, but the boy was leaning away and having none of it. Then finally the dad got through, they had a little chat, and a hug. But the final photo was the very best arrangement of limbs and light. And that bird! So I chose to paint it even though dad's on his phone and you missed all the bonding. Ah well.

Map Glow

 

Click Here to Bid - 8x8in. - oil - "Map Glow"

It took me a while to settle back into regular life after 20 days in Europe! I spent the first half in Germany visiting my mother-in-law with my husband. We took a couple of day trips (to Freiberg & Zurich) to collect photos for painting, which you will see eventually.

I spent the second half in Florence, Italy, teaching 12 wonderful human beings about painting people and cityscapes. The weather forecast was dismal, but the reality was better. We managed to get out a few times to collect photos, and sometimes the sun even came out. The food was amazing, and the wine was spectacular. Florence is lovely. But the absolute best part was the people I spent the time with! And the hosts (Debra & Ivano) who made it happen. Thank you!!!

This painting is from Florence. I took a LOT of photos, but I knew this one was special when I took it.

Italy Workshop!

 

In case you missed it, I am teaching a workshop next year in Florence, Italy (May 11-19). Registration for that is opening TODAY at 5pm, MST. I am taking 12 students on an adventure in painting people and things in this beautiful city. I hope you'll join us. : )

SIGN UP HERE

Across From the Duomo

 

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - oil - starts at $100)

I know it's been a while since I posted any people paintings. That's because I haven't been anywhere in forever. This is one I dredged up from my Florence, Italy files.

To the right is my reference photo. You can see I changed some things. Photos tend to capture darks as darker than they are, especially in the background. I lightened the darks there so they would recede a bit more. I also took out some of the people right behind my main characters, because mostly I felt they were awkward - a head sticking out from the main guy's head; one person on the bench hunched forward so much they don't have a head; the lady with a bright red purse and no legs...

Also with their hands up both main characters looked like they were on their phones, so I picked one and guessed where the lady's hand would be if it were down. And I gave her black shoes.

Conferring

 

Click Here to Bid (8x9in. - OIL - starts at $100)

These three cuties were students of mine in an Italy workshop a couple years ago. We were probably waiting outside for our ride to dinner one evening, and they were sharing pictures from the day. It's always more enjoyable to paint people I know because then I think of them fondly the whole time I'm painting.

The Big Bench

 

Click Here to Bid (6x12in. - OIL - starts at $100 - click image to enlarge)

I love this horizontal format, but they look so small here! Make sure you click on the image to see it larger. This scene is from references I took in Florence, Italy a couple years ago. I'm looking forward to going back someday.

Strolling by the Flower Shop

 

Click Here to Buy ($600 - 12x16in. - OIL - click image to enlarge)

Here's an even larger painting that I did recently from some of my Florence references. I experimented with my process on this one. The references weren't that great, so I started with burnt umber and OMS and just played around with the values where I wanted to see changes. I brushed on more paint for darks, and wiped off paint with paper towels and squeegees to go lighter (hint, if you brush on OMS and then squeegee it, you can precisely remove paint down to almost nothing). One thing in particular that I changed was to add the shadow that sticks out on the ground behind the foreground gals. Without it the scene seemed like two separate parts: the left and the right. I really feel like the shadow connects them, while being believable.

Once I was happy with the values, I painted for a few hours and then let it dry overnight, unfinished. The next day I had a fresh perspective and was able to see more clearly where I wanted to take it. I found I really liked some of the areas where I had pushed around the burnt umber much better than the actual scene, so I mostly left them alone. Sometimes I would paint an area and then decide to wipe it off and try again. Having the dry underpainting really helped me with that because it left a road map behind. All in all I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Yes Dear

 

Click Here to Bid (8x6in. - OIL - starts at $100)

Here's one from Florence that I've been saving to paint. I don't have a ton more references of people before I run out, so I have to admit I've been taking it slow. Because who knows when I'll be able to travel again, much less find people walking around without masks! But hopefully soon, right? Right?!

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. ->

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!

And I Also Got...

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - OIL - starts at $100)

I've wanted to paint this one for a while (from Florence, Italy), but wasn't sure how I was going to handle the background. As you can see > the wall is kind of weirdly textured, with no context. What I ended up doing was painting on the general color, mixed with a bit of gamsol, and then moving the paint around with a squeegee. Then once that was somewhat dry, I added some darker bits on top and modified the edges next to the girls. I'm really happy with it. I'm definitely going to try that again.

Can We Hear Yet?

 

Click Here to Bid (6x8in. - OIL - starts at $100)

All the tour groups in Florence used headsets. The guide talked into a little mike, and everyone in that group could hear it through little earphones, rather than the guide having to shout. There were tour groups EVERYWHERE, so it really helped keep the noise down this way. But it was always a little bit of a hassle at the beginning, making sure everyone's headsets worked. This is what I imagine these folks were trying to figure out. But oh how lovely they look in that light!