Horses, Shade, Water

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We've been doing a lot of exploring here in our new state of Montana. We love to hike so we're looking for that, plus potential spots to camp and for me to paint. On a recent explore we bumped into these guys. They were very friendly, and came right up to the fence to say hi. They even followed us along until we came to this little creek, and then took the opportunity to have a snack. So I snapped a million pictures (with my phone, which is all I had), and someday I WILL do a bigger version. Oh, and on that same day we saw a moose! I love this state!

Shade in Mexico

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As I slowly process what I learned from the online tutorials I recently watched (by John Burton and Nathan Fowkes) I find myself wanting to pull out old reference material and look with fresh eyes for potential paintings. This one is from a trip to San Miguel (Mexico) I took with some buddies a couple of years ago. The "thing" to the right of the skirted lady is a big bunch of balloons and toys being held by a guy who (I'm guessing here) was trying to sell as many as possible to us tourists. But the thing that really grabbed me about this scene was the split between light and shadow. It was tricky to get all the value relationships just right, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Stuck in Here

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I wasn't sure how I was going to paint the "gold" of this goldfish, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. And before you ask, no, I didn't use any gold paint. : )

Big Rig

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I have been happy to find MANY old trucks all around Missoula, and Montana in general. Unfortunately I often see them when I don't have my camera, or I'm on my way somewhere and can't stop. So I will just have to systematically comb the streets. Or something. Here's number one.

Cherry Camps

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More fun with cherries. For this one I used a warm light - as opposed to the cool light I lit the last 2 with. I always like to try my subjects out in different environments.

Cherry Jubilee

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The title of this is "Cherry Jubilee," not to be confused with cherrIES jubilee, the dessert. A jubilee is a special celebration of an event - an anniversary. The cherries are celebrating the time they won the cherry bowl. You should'a seen it. They killed.

Cherries Three

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Cherries are in stores again, so I felt it was fitting to pull out my little copper pot again. I found it in a Laguna flea market several years ago on a lovely trip with some artist friends. Ah, good memories.

Visions in White

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One thing that is different about my new studio is I have true north window light! Actually, I had it (more or less) in my last 2 studios, but there were so many trees, and SO many glum days in Eugene, that I always relied on an overhead to supplement. Here I have a lot of natural light (from that big Montana sky!), and I'm right up against 3 windows, so I almost never need extra. Which has been nice! I feel like I can really see what I'm doing.

BUT, because of the way I'm situated to make the most of the natural light on my easel and palette, a fair amount of that cooler (sky) light makes its way into my shadowbox as well. You can see that very clearly here with the front bits of blue on the garlic (as opposed to the warm light that hits them from above). I loved what it added here, but I don't always love it, so I'm trying to find a way to modify my setup. I'll figure it out - it's a process.` But if you look back at my recent still lifes you'll probably see this a bit here and there. I think it's why I've been pushing my setups to the back of my shadowbox more often than not - I say that because I'm SURE you've noticed and wondered! ; )

Curious Garlic

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And now ... drumroll please ... daily painting number 3000!!! I decided for this one to do something a little different - something I've been intending to do for a while - a still life lit only by candle (and whatever ambient room light there was). I really like it.

And, so you can see where I was 1000 paintings ago -->

Sadly

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Here is one last sunflower before my batch gets tossed. Sunflowers have several great qualities - they don't move or change very much AT ALL, even when you shine a bright light on them (unlike tulips other flowers I won't name). And they last a really long time. Thank you sunflowers.

The Stripes on Vacation

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This is what Mr. and Mrs. Stripe did on their vacation. They consulted maps and wore fanny packs. They were very organized and got to where they were going, on time. And always had chapstick when they needed it.

Pardon?

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And now for something completely different. This is a scene I borrowed from Pixabay (royalty free). I just love how we seem to be interrupting these two. Like they were having a meaningful conversation about the state of the ocean before we arrived. "What are we going to do about this pollution, Frank? It's just got to go."

Quarantined

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I couldn't help myself.

Florence From a Bike

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Here's one from my trip to Florence last year. I've been sort of avoiding painting anything from that trip, only because I know they will soon run out of reference photos and then I will be bereft. This happens every year, but I will be especially sad, one, because that trip was especially awesome, and two, I won't be able to photograph more people scenes for a while yet, probably. Not until all this crazy-virus-ness is done. But aside from that, what do I miss the MOST? Hugs.

Civilized

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I had to try this one twice before I was happy. So much for my confidence of yesterday! Sheesh. What do they say? Pride go-eth before ... something. I can't remember.

For some reason this inspired me to go through some old files, and I found this one ("Gather Around" 6x6in. - sold), in which I used a very similar little white vase. I lost the original vase in the fire, but I'm sure I was happy when I found the new one! I need to use it more often. And figs.

You Lean That Way

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Painting is finally starting to feel like second nature again. I just looked back and counted - I took just about 4 months off from painting entirely, while we finished fixing up our old house, moved, and set up the bare bones of my new studio. And it took just about 2 whole months of painting almost every day to get back to where I felt I was before the break. Yikes! Don't they say something similar to that about relationships? If you break up with someone after a year, it will take 6 months to get over them? Something like that. Anyway, I didn't think it would take this long, but gosh it feels great to have my mojo back! (just my luck I'll have forgotten how to paint again tomorrow!)

Fitting In

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I just took a look at ALL my previous sunflower paintings, to date, and I thought you might be interested as well. Honestly, I thought I'd done more. Oh well, this is one of my favorites ... so far.

Posers

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And now a small break from sunflowers. Even though the online classes I've taken so far have been about the landscape, I find that most of the lessons can be applied to still life as well. I did this one right after I heard John Burton talk about rhythm. I'm definitely learning, but I'm also getting inspired!

Cold Shoulder

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Here's number three in this series of sunflowers. My husband provided the name - because of how the two on the right are treating the sunflower on the left.

Today I am watching Nathan Fowkes talk about painting the landscape with gouache and watercolor on Schoolism. So far I think he's pretty great in lots of ways. It's funny because I've heard all this stuff before, but it's so cool to hear someone else's take. And watch their process.

Sunshine Flower

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Even though this current series is about the sunflowers, I am most proud of the green vase and the plate and spoon. Go figure.