Red Lily and Web Site

Part of my problem with working on my web site was that I had pop up blockers that were interfering with the video instructions.  So yesterday was a little better and at least I'm not as stressed but I am still vowing to keep on track and make the site my priority until its finished.

Red Lily, 9x12" oil on board

The Red Lily may be finished.
I wanted to put two flower paintings into the upcoming Newburyport show but now I have to frame them before Sunday.  The issue there is that I don't know what I want for frames.
Today is painting this morning at Mark Hayden's and I'm thinking that I'll start another flower painting.

Weebly Site

I had a hard day on the computer today.  Initially I was very pleased with the progress of my site and then I lost the header with a very nice banner that I had created.  It is a very long story which I won't go into and also the design changed.  I was choosing a design template for like the 10th page I was working on, and for whatever reason, the first page changed and I couldn't get it back.  Not yet anyway. 

Shiny Silver Paint - Still-life

Still-life with silver background, 5x5", oil on board

See how the silver changes depending on where you are in relation to the light source.

This looks great in my kitchen that has a granite counter top with various grays in it.  Big color for a small painting, don't you think?

Chunky Candy Bar

Chunky Candy Bar, 6x6", oil on panel

Silver is a tricky thing to paint and the reflections on the writing of the word Chunky make it blurry and hard to see and I painted it the way I saw it, but wonder if you think I should make the name more legible.  I liked the cheery pink background against the silver. 
It is painted with regular paint, not silver paint.  BUT, it reminded me of another painting I did a while back using silver paint.  I got it out and repainted some of the items in the still-life and will post it tomorrow.  The silver paint catches the light in different ways depending on where you are standing or where the light is coming from.  I rather like the effect and should do some experiments with gold paint as well.

Mounds Candy Bar

Mounds Bar, 6x6" on board

I forgot to post this one yesterday.  You might be surprised to know that after looking at the candy, broken in half and ready to eat, for hours I was able to wrap it up and put it away!  Yup, but today could be another story.  It was one degree out this morning and has risen to seven degrees now at noon time.  I'm warming up soup to eat for lunch.  Maybe I should just paint the soup.  Hmmm.  An idea for another day.  I worked this morning on the Garden Fairy and it has a very pink sky on the horizon, so I was remembering that poem about red skies (and that it should be nice and warm the next day--) well, that is wishful thinking, right?  ha

Choco-Lite Candy Bar

Choco-Lite Candy Bar, 6x6" on board

This is really much more colorful than the photo with a stronger pale yellow background.  This is a commission for someone's mother for Valentine's day.  This was a popular candy bar in it's day but has been discontinued.  They say that Nestle's Crunch is similar now.
I have finished the Mounds Bar and will work on my Garden Fairy later today.  I'm still not sure what to put in the background of that one.  For candy bars, next I'll do the big Nestlle's Crunch Bar and then maybe M&Ms.  I like the idea of all the color I can play with on the M&Ms.

Happy Valentine's Day

Truffles, Oh my heart! 6x6" Gessobord Panel

This one took longer than expected because it's more detailed than I would have wanted.  I painted the tops of the paper cups in colors but the composition was way too busy and I changed back to plain white cups. Moving on--today will be the Choco-Lite Bar.

Reese's Candy Bar

Reese's Candy Bar, 6x6"

On black background, this is the Reese's Big Cup candy bar.  Maybe I should call this series "Trick or Treat", I guess I'm inspired by the black and orange.  I'm still enjoying painting these little paintings for possible inclusion with my flower paintings for hanging a show in the Spring.  What do you think?  Flowers and Candy Bars, do they go together?

Necco Wafers, an ode to my granddad

When I was little and went to visit my grandparents, my granddad would meet me at the door with a big kiss and when I was leaving, he would give me a quarter and a Necco Wafer candy bar.  When he died (many years ago), I had the florist make up a bouquet that were Necco Wafer candy bars attached to sticks, so they looked like Cat-in-9-Tail Grass Plants.

Necco Wafers 6x6

So this was #2 of the Candy Bar Series.  #3 is Reeses Peanutbuttter Cup (in the works) and #4 is a heart-shaped box of candy as in Valentine's Day (in the works).  #5 will be a commission for the Choco-Lite candy bar.

Tomorrow is painting the portrait from the model day and the next day I fly to Florida for a couple of days.

Cup with orange after Carol M

Cup with Orange 6x6" oil (after Carol Marine)

This is a small panel and copy of Carol Marine's painting.  She hides the fact that she is a genius.  There is a lot more going on here than is apparent.  A great lesson, thanks Carol. 

Sky Bar, candy series begins!

Sky Bar, 6x6", oil on panel

I've been thinking of doing a series of small paintings of everyone's favorite candy bars or old fashioned candy bars.  This is the first one and was one of my favorites.  So I really can't be eating all these candy bars after I paint them.  Next is Necco Wafers.  It's all set up and ready to go.

Quick, easy,cheap, functional panel holder

panel holder

OK, here is a perfectly functional, very expandable (good for lots of panel sizes), quick and easy to construct, panel holder that uses binder clips to hold the top and bottom strips in a pressure position.  Cheap?  I used scraps I had on-hand.  It works great, holds the panel in place while stabilizing it on the easel and allows for taping on photos if necessary.  Reposition at will.  Use the thickness of your panel for the top and bottom strips so you can paint over the edge.
The first panel I painted, I was surprised that previously I had trouble along the edges, but not now, and the darn thing moved all over all the time, not now.  I might cut a hole at the top to make a handle to carry it.

Fun with Carol, then it disappeared!

After Carol Marine

Lately I've been working with my student on quick copies of Carol Marine's paintings.  This project is working well with my student who is improving by leaps and bounds.  I almost can't tell our paintings apart on this particular one.  I was working on a piece of plywood that I didn't gesso enough and the paint sunk in a lot, so I used my latest trick of putting on the Galkyd medium to seal it and should I want to do any more painting on it, it should paint well.

This painting--gone but not forgotten.  I have tiled my kitchen walls between the counters and the upper cabinets with small paintings by using strong commercial strength velcro buttons on the backs of small paintings, usually 6x6".  I was placing this little painting here and there to see how it would look and "BAM"--IT SLIPPED DOWN BETWEEN THE WALL AND THE LOWER CABINET.  There was a tiny gap in this spot that allowed the 1/4" panel to fall down between the backsplash and the wall.  Someone many years in the future will find it.  I think that the Galkyd would preserve it except that I only put in on one side.

Today's project is to calk any small gaps like that so it won't happen again.  While I'm in carpenter mode, I'm going to make a panel holder to use on my easel while painting these small panels.

Another day online

About another 8 hours in front of the computer.  Now I'm brain dead.  I do it because I love it, or is it an excuse not to paint? 
I always can't resist wanting to "get busy" with the site when my desire and intention is to keep it very simple.  I just can't resist playing with all the gadgets.
First thing this morning, I went to a site that I built at the beginning of the year last year (which I never published) and took out all the gatzie stuff because it was awful.  Now it doesn't look that bad.  I spent weeks on that one.  I thought, "What took me so long to make this?"  It's always easy after you know what you're doing.  So I used to make them with html code, then I learned about three different software packages, maybe more.
I have to streamline my fees for paying for domain names and sites, etc.

New Weebly Site

One of my new years resolutions:  I've spent about 5 hours today learning to build a new web site to replace my old one.  Once it's completed, it will still take days to populate itself on the various search engines.

I'm thinking I'll start with a small version and expand as I go along.  At least this way, I can get it up and running.

Portrait at the Church 12-28

Quick portrait sketch

Another portrait last week from the model at the Church in Bradford.  I felt good about my colors, that's not to say that it was accurate but I had a better sense of finding and using warms and cools.

Garden Fairy Galkyd experiment

More progress and Galkyd coating

This painting was started as a quick study for the Garden Fairy paintings I want to do of several views of a small statue I have of this beautifully made garden fairy.  It stopped being a quick study somehow and has taken a while to complete.  Since I painted it on a poor quality board, the paint has never built up properly and so I have just completed an experiment using Galkyd by Gamblin straight which is a painting medium, ready to use, and makes an enamel-like surface.  So far, it looks like it will work and now I can get a better build-up of paint.
The new year is upon us and I haven't made a plan yet as to what progress I wish to make.  I am working on a theme of flowers for a show in the spring for which I still don't have confirmation.

I received the Daniel Keys DVD yesterday

Nice, just in time for xmas--Daniel's 2-hour video of the painting and taping day at Regis College last summer. It comes in a nice package, a booklet more or less, that shows the colors he uses and the brushes (Rosemary & Co.). 

Fallen Fairy at Glue Hospital

My model fairy fell off my easel today and is in the glue hospital.  The frog's arm and a couple of the frog's fingers broke off and they are very tiny so I haven't found them yet.  The fairy's wings broke off, one in two places, and they are being stubborn about staying on after I glued them.
I've found a couple of references that I plan to try to use for the background--water lilies.
This accident happened because I'm not in my usual studio where I have appropriate stands, but in my gallery space where I work with students.  I didn't take the time to set myself up properly and even taped the fairy to the easel, I don't know how the tape broke.
We are having a snow storm as I write this.  It's accumulating fast.  I shoveled once, came in to glue, and a couple of inches fell in about 1/2 hour.  A couple of days ago we had about a foot of snow.
If the fairy doesn't need a lot of physical therapy, I'll put her to work tomorrow.

Thursday--fairy progression

Latest version

third day

second day

first day

So this is one of the paintings I'm working on for a show about flowers scheduled for the spring. I bought this little statue in Florida years ago and love it from every angle.  I might do more views of it.  I never paid much attention to frogs before now and I'm having some trouble painting this little guy.

Video studies today

I did a little research today (several hours actually) on various portrait artists' work, looking at different palettes, Zorn, Henshey, Robert Liberace.  I'm impressed by the Liberace demo here Liberace demo. This video is the third part which is near the finish line of the work.  I like the way he talks about the colors he's using as he goes along.
This is not on the video but an example of his work.

So this is the study for that painting I told you about of my husband.  (kidding)

Helpful information

Everyone has their favorite stuff for cleaning brushes, clothes, etc.  Dreama has recommended this product for getting paint out of clothes.  Get the paint out, and all kinds of other dirt or stains. with this dandy product.   I usually don't have problems getting paint out of my clothes as long as I tend to it right away.  My go-to product is my dish soap.

She also posted some tips for painters who travel by plane:   http://dreamatolleperry.com/traveling-with-paints-and-other-things-your-mother-told-you-not-to-do/ I have flown with my paints and put them in my checked luggage.  I don't wrap them in bubble wrap, although it's probably a good idea.  I don't want to change my luck, but I haven't had any problems with the inspectors.

Today I had my art student and she was celebrating her one-year anniversary by completing a painting from a photo.  She did a painting of this photo before she started her lessons, and next week, I'll post her before and after photos.  I am proud of her accomplishments, she is a good student who listens and is cooperative, and she is diligent.

Today I also painted and tried the Zorn palette.  Wow, hard to get colors from only black, white, red and ocher.  I used a student grade black, so I'm going now to look through my stuff and try to find a professional quality Ivory Black as it might make the difference in trying to get blues and greens.

Visit to PEM

VIDEO-Installing "Nana" for Impressionists on the Water show.  I can't believe it, this video (this gig is gorgeous) has only been viewed 278 times as of today with my capture. 
This adventure to the art museum in Salem, MA last Thursday was exciting because I saw some actual boats that are not, for whatever reason, made much of in their advertising; along with a life-sized model of a painting boat--great fun--I'd love to do that.  See more at my adventures blog.

David Curtis and Stage Fort Park

This photo does represent the design of the painting that I am working on.  I finished the plein air "sketch" and David suggested that I now do a studio painting from my sketch.  It's an idea I want to pursue.  I was happy to be able to be there on a day that very accurately represented the season, lighting, colors, etc. of when I was there years ago.

oil sketch on site of Stage Fort Park in November

More at Stage Fort Park

OK, so these photos were taken this year and the bottom photo represents the design of  a painting that I had done years ago that I was not satisfied with.  The photo above looks to me to be a better composition.  I'll work on both of them and see what I can do to improve the bottom one and maybe the top one will be an improvement.  I'll keep you posted.