Color Confab

 

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

Here's another one that greatly benefited from taking off my glasses. In my experience we tend to only compare values (and colors) that are right next to each other, and we forget to also compare them to things all around the composition. When your vision is blurry (either by squinting or without glasses), you can see all the relationships more easily.

I'm repeating myself here, but I think this is a critical aspect of painting, and one of the most difficult. I've been painting for 30 years now and it is profound how much painting without my glasses has helped and why.

A Great Day to Fish

Click Here to Bid - 11 3/4 x 5 7/8in. (just under 6x12) - oil on panel

(click image to see larger)

Here's another scene from my trip to the beach in North Carolina this year. There were guys like this up and down the beach - their fishing poles stuck in the sand. One (I) had to be careful not to get snagged on the lines as they ran into the water, especially when they were distracted by picture taking.

I often have my husband cut panels down to make the sizes I want. I have a pile of "scraps" from this, and I thought, well, 6x12 isn't a standard size, so if I have something that has to be just a little smaller, a framer will have no problem with it. So. : )

What's Left Behind

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil  on panel

After completing a recent painting, I started to dismantle the setup. I was going back for more when I noticed just these guy left behind. I was surprised how much I liked the simple, sort of random composition. So I adjusted it a tiny bit, and painted it.

In Between Pads

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I thought I might be too late to catch the flowers the last time I went to the lake this summer. And at first it seemed like they were all gone. But I found hidden pockets of these cuties!

I have a kayak, but I got addicted to paddleboarding this summer. It has the added benefit of making it easier to get good photos of the water lilies.

Did You Lock the Car?

 

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

Here's another little people scene. I think I'm in love with reflected light. In general. On fruit, on people, on anything. It's so subtle, but so satisfying in paint.

Sitting Pretty on Yellow

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

For years I’ve been struggling more and more with close-up vision. I’ve worn contacts for distance since sixth grade, but eventually I realized I could still see up close perfectly well without them. So I switched to glasses, thinking it would be easier to simply take them off whenever I needed to see up close.

Unexpectedly, this has turned into an advantage for painting. I’ve been experimenting with leaving my glasses off for the first half of a piece, and then taking them off intermittently afterward. I often talk about squinting to see the “big picture” and compare values accurately—but squinting also darkens everything. Letting things go fuzzy because of my natural vision softens the details without dimming them, which makes value relationships easier to judge. In a way, you could say I’m lucky to have poor vision. : )

Pretty Placeholders

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

From my recent trip to the beach. An outdoor still life. I painted them because of the gorgeous reflections in the wet sand.

Early Birds Get Coffee

 

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

Here's another market scene from our lovely Missoula Saturday affair. I had a lot of fun with the background. And the people. Happy happy. : )

Missoula Market Walk

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

Missoula has a series of markets downtown on Saturdays during the summer. You can make a morning of it - walking from one end of downtown to the other, hitting all the markets. I did this a few weeks ago, with a friend, and my camera. This is a scene from said trip.

Sampling the Goods

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

I had been meaning to get down to the farmers market in Missoula for a while. Years. When I finally went recently, with a friend, I realized that I have no trouble going in other towns, but when it's my own ... I hesitate. I feel self-conscious with my camera. The solution was to go with a friend and pretend I was a tourist. It was great. I got lots of photos.

And speaking of people paintings, I recently got a new batch of my "People Out and About" book, an improved version. I was hearing from people that the last batch had faulty glue in the binding and the pages were eventually falling out. If you got one of those books, I'm so sorry! AI helped me find a new printer: Dazzle Printing, which I am quite happy with. Eventually I will put out other books as well.

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.

Market in the Trees

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

A few weeks ago my husband and I drove over to Spokane & Coeur d'Alene to explore their Saturday markets for reference material. We found the one in Spokane to be fairly underwhelming. This is a scene from the one in Coeur d'Alene, which was nestled in the trees. It made for lovely ambience, and cool shopping, but fairly dark photos. I was thrilled when these two stepped into the light!

Out for a Stroll

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

It takes me about 3 to 4 times as long to complete a painting with people in it than it does for other subjects. People are tough. Even though I suggest them, I have to get every mark in the right place. I mean, not that it's perfect, by any means, but we know what people look like, and we can tell at a glance if something is off. So I have to do a lot of careful considering while I paint. It only looks loose.

Captivated

Click Here to Bid - 8x6in. - oil on panel

This was an experiment with color. It was a pretty boring (gray) reference, so I made up some colorful bits to make it more interesting. 

Look at This One

 

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

I wish I lived closer to the beach so I could go out regularly and get pictures of scenes like this. Alas. I guess it'll just have to be an excuse to take more vacations. Poor me.

Pig and Peony

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's one last peony from my garden. They are all done now. It's never long enough. The pig feels the same way.

Mom Needs Shade

Click Here to Bid - 6x8in. - oil on panel

This little girl was entertaining herself with a dance while her mom took a snack break in the shade of the pier. I picked the reference with the best pose, and then had to move her over a bit so she didn't line up in funny ways with the posts. It was challenging, but I'm happy with the result. : )

Peony Shadow Touches Plate

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another peony from my garden. It looked especially good from above, and I used these blocks of blue (paper) for contrast.

Digging for Treasure

Click Here to Bid - 8x6in. - oil on panel

Here's another NC beach scene. It's so fun to interpret the wet sand!

I've been busy doing summer things the past couple of weeks, so I haven't been painting or posting as much. I hope you're enjoying the summer too!

Pick Your Peony Cup

 

Click Here to Bid - 6x6in. - oil on panel

I took a break from painting people scenes to take advantage of my blooming peonies. I missed some of them, but better late than never.

A while back I did a little color chart to help me understand my pink and red options. I used only the colors I have, and played around with different mixes. Camera's don't pick up the subtle differences between the reds, so they all look the same in the picture. Unfortunately it's the same for reds in my reference photos. That is why I paint from life whenever I can, so that I understand what is missing in the photos.