Minna by the Creek

 

NFS - 23x16in. - oil - "Minna by the Creek"

Here is another one of sweet Minna. Her grandma came to pick both paintings up yesterday and seemed very happy. This one is my personal favorite so far.

Minna

 

NFS - 22x15in. - oil. - "Minna"

I keep feeling compelled to make my paintings larger, but the bigger they get the harder they are to photograph! So I'll mention again that these look so much better in person.

This is Minna (pronounced Mee-na). She is three and full of spunk and confidence. Her grandma met me at a park and then disappeared for an hour, which turned out to be perfect. Minna and I explored the park and the creek that runs through it. I got to know her, and saw her in all kinds of light, which I find is VERY helpful when I am painting.

Norah

 

NFS - 19x12in. - oil - "Norah"

This is my new friend, Norah. She is completely adorable, as you can see. And very shy. It took me a while to get her to smile.

Avery

NFS - 16x16in. - Oil. - "Avery"

Avery was a wonderful model. She loves the camera and the camera loves her. For this pose she was in the shade of a big tree, with a lot of darkness behind her. I played around with the reference image on my ipad and decided a light background would work best. The only problem was the dress was suddenly mostly the same value as the background, so I tried an outline and found I really liked it! I have found my ipad to be indispensable for these portraits.

Audrey

 

NFS - 22x12in. - Oil. - "Audrey"

Audrey lives across the street from us. When they first moved in she was just a baby, so we have been watching her grow up. We had a lovely photo shoot at a park in town recently. At one point she walked up into a closed little staircase that was all dark except for the bottom step. The light that reflected up on her was just spectacular. So much color! (click image to see larger)

Hattie

 

NFS - 9x12in. - Oil. - "Hattie"

This is Hattie, Margot's older sister. I am learning SO MUCH doing these portraits. And (did I say?) thoroughly enjoying it! 

A REMINDER: My Portland, OR workshop (July 11-14, 2024) will open for registration tomorrow morning at 10 am PDT, for any of you who might be interested. You can either go to my workshops page, or use this link (that won't be active until the appointed time).

Margot

NFS - 16x12in. - Oil. - "Margot"

This is Margot. We had a group photo shoot a few weeks ago, with Margot and her sister, Hattie, and the other two kids I've painted so far - Rietta and Ryan - all grandkids of some good friends of mine. They ran around at the playground, and whenever they were in particularly good light, or a fabulous setting popped up (like this little playhouse window) I said - hold it right there! Otherwise they just played together. I was mostly an observer, and it was so neat to see their personalities emerge. People are just fascinating, and kids are great because they haven't learned to fake anything yet. I am loving this!!

Ryan

NFS - 10x10in. - Oil - "Ryan"

This is Ryan, the brother of Rietta (from the last portrait I posted). He is 9 and was a little harder to photograph because he was constantly moving. I got probably 20 good shots of his sister for every one of him. Haha! Such a boy. : )

WORKSHOP UPDATE - I didn't do a great job explaining the workshop I'm doing next year. For one thing I forgot to say where - it'll be in Portland, OR. And I should have said - the link to sign up won't be active until Aug 10 at 10 am PDT. I will post a reminder on the 9th. If you would like an email sent to you the day before, with a link, just email me (me@carolmarine.com) and I'll make that happen.

Rietta

 

NFS - 10x10in. - oil - Rietta

Recently I have been borrowing kids from my friends. I have found GREAT joy in painting them! More on that later. For now, I have a

WORKSHOP PRE-ANNOUNCEMENT!

One week from now, on August 10th at 10am PDT, (note the time zone!) if you're interested, you can sign up for a workshop that will happen next year, July 11-14, 2024. Here's the official description:

In this workshop we will be focusing on the fundamentals of still life painting, in a small format, using oil (acrylic or gouache also ok). My teaching philosophy is: say it, show it, and then you try it; repeat. Towards that end I'll be demoing daily and talking about how and why I do what I do, and then helping as you paint. We will do fun exercises that include ten-minute-apples and "one stroke" paintings. These will help you jump-start a potential daily practice (a great way to improve!) and take a step away from fussy, lifeless paintings. If you want to paint poems rather than dissertations, this workshop is for you!

SIGN UP HERE

Florence From a Bike

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

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.

Authentic Florence

Click Here to Bid (12x24in. - starts at $1 - click image to enlarge!)

This is a scene from Italy that I photographed last spring during my Florence workshop. This spot is right down the street from where we stayed, in the "authentic" part of the city, where the regular people live. And shop. And park.

I experimented a bit with the texture, as you can see in these close-up shots. Some parts are thicker than others, which I was shooting for, because, you know, variety. : )

I was REALLY happy with this one, but I'm starting it at $1 again (even though it's 12x24 inches!) because of the move. My studio is almost empty of paintings now! Just a handful left scattered around that I will make decisions about soon.

Lovely and Waiting

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

These are the same steps as yesterday's, but in the sun.

My Yellow Bag

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

Here's another scene from my trip to Italy this spring. Apparently Florence is famous for it's leather, and this gal had clearly invested in a beautiful yellow specimen. The wall she was leaning against was the same color as the steps - gray. So I used Photoshop to mock up some alternatives. A purple wall was the winner, which is how I painted it, being careful to keep the "shadows" around her. But my favorite part is that little light reflection on her glasses. It's pretty funny, the things I'm proud of.

Snack Break

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

Here's another one from San Francisco. It ALSO came from a terrible reference. The lady was mostly ok, but the background was ick, and her bags were ... awkward. I was emboldened by my last one, so I decided just to go for it.

Mr. Grumpy Pants

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $150 - click image to enlarge)

For those of you who saw my Painting People ArtByte, you know I used the reference photo for this painting as an example of one NOT to use. Yep. My reasoning was - the main character blends into the background too much, because his values are too close to what's behind him. But I painted it anyway, because at the end of the day, everything should be questioned. And I always did like this scene.

Elevensies

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $150)

Never before have I had a tiny little head go so well as this! And it only took one try. Man oh man that feels good. : )

Lunch on the Lawn

Click Here to Bid (6x12in. - starts at $150 - click image to enlarge!)

Here's another one from San Francisco. This gal was on a hill, in a park, in the spring, with droves of other young, hip people, seeing and being seen, with her snazzy yellow bag, and grabbing a bite while she was at it.

Mommy's Helper

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

I only managed to get one photo of this pair, but it was a pretty perfect one. Aren't they cute?

I've said this before, BUT, one of the biggest things I've realized about what a photo captures vs. what's really there is - the darks. As darks recede into space they get lighter (because of atmostphere), but photographs don't always capture that. So I try to think of these kinds of scenes as having layers. The gal and her dog are the first layer, so they are going to have the darkest darks. The next layer contains the tree and corner building, and the darks there are a little lighter than the darks in the first layer. I mix these darks right next to each other on my palette (literally touching) because it's just a subtle difference. Then the next layer, which contains the background buildings, is a bit lighter still. In the photo, all those darks are the same, so I have to really think about it rather just repeating what I see. But keeping my piles of darks all lined up in order helps, and never putting my darkest dark in any layer but the first one.

Squeezing Through

Click Here to Bid (8x8in. - starts at $150)

Unfortunately this painting has nothing to do with what I have to say next. This painting is a tight scene from France, whereas what I have to say is about Carmel, California. I will be teaching a plein air workshop there, at the end of May. It's not something I plan to do regularly, but I'm going to try it, with a relatively small group. Ideally all the participants will have taken a workshop from me before, so I don't have to repeat a bunch of stuff. I will be opening it up for registration in one week, Saturday Feb. 10th at 10AM on the WEST coast ... of the US. : ) Click the link for deets...

Sun-kissed

sold. (7x5in.)

I spotted this gal in Germany last time I was there and snapped a quick picture. The back-light was just too perfect. I had fun making some things sketchy and some more solid.