No. 35: One Too Many

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Here is the first painting I did of the oranges now that I've finished the touch ups.  The paint was too thin in a couple of places and I had to wait until it had dried a little to apply more.  I tried painting more oranges today but it got wiped.  I think I was tired and started rushing once I knew my daughter would be getting up from her "nap" soon...even though really she was just playing in her room...oh how I miss 2 hour naps!  

No. 34: So Transparent

SOLD (6x6 inch)

This painting is actually the second I did in a series of oranges...or cuties...they're small.  But the first one I did needs a couple of touch ups.  I felt more confident while painting this one.  I'm also enjoying painting glass.  I'm becoming a lot more comfortable with clear glass.  Need to give some colored glass a shot at some point too.  I'm sure there is a lot that could be improved but I'm happy with the progress that I've made since this time last year.  I'm also really happy that I've started painting in oils.  Once again, photo is not quite same as painting...a little washed out.

No. 33: Petey the Parrot- Daily Paintworks FB Pick of the Day!!!

DPW Spotlight Giveaway Painting (5x7 in.)

This piece was also inspired by this week's DPW Challenge.  I was intimidated to start it but it was actually a lot of fun to paint!  It is one of my favorites now.  It was hard to get the photo colors to match the painting.  The darks are actually darker than they show here.  

It is an honor to have a painting picked by DPW for one of their FB Picks of the Day.  

No. 32: Perching

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I painted this Kingfisher bird for another DPW Challenge!  I always enjoy checking the DPW website every Sunday to see what new challenge has been posted.  I love the challenge of painting something I've often never before painted.  In this case, I have painted a couple of birds but never in oil.  I read that kingfishers eat many types of prey, including fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch.  

6x6 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  

No. 30 and 31: Shadowed Tulip and Pink Rose 2

Click to see in my Daily Paintworks Gallery!

Another piece I painted for my cousin.  This one might be my favorite.  I love how the shadow and glow turned out on the inside of the tulip.  I've never really noticed how lovely the inside of a tulip can be!  

8x8 oil on wrapped canvas.

This was actually the first piece I painted for my cousin and my least favorite.  But she likes it so that makes me happy.  It's just a little flat compared to the other two.  I painted it on a canvas that had a very rough texture...did not realize that until I had already started painting.  I won't be using that type of canvas again.  It was so hard to get the paint to apply!

8x8 oil on wrapped canvas.  Email me at sutibabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks!

No. 29: July Book Club

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When I had the idea to paint this set up, didn't realize it would be as challenging as it was!  Ellipse...challenging, white mug...challenging, and lots of shadows...which I love, but it was hard to get all the values correct.  I always dream of painting things more loosely but they end up tighter than intended.  Oh well!  Overall I'm pleased with it.  This month we read "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer.  I actually read it for a book club years ago, but didn't remember it well.  This time around, I really enjoyed it.  I'm pretty much a sucker though for historical fiction...especially from World War II era.  

5x7 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks for taking a look!

No. 28: White Water Lily

Check it out in my DPW Gallery!

This painting is a little out of order but I wasn't able to get a picture of it earlier since the edges were still drying.  I painted it for my cousin.  She commissioned me to paint 3 floral pieces that she will hang together in her home.  It was my first attempt at painting a white flower.  I really like how it turned out.  I'd like to try something like it again though and attempt to paint it more loosely next time.  I'll post the other 2 pieces in upcoming blog posts!  

12x12 inch oil on wrapped canvas.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks for stopping by!

No. 27: Two Jalapeños on a Plate

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I think this painting will be my last in the series of jalapeños.  I wanted to practice painting something white and an ellipse.  I learned that even though I "grayed" my whites, I need to make them darker in value to help the highlights show better.  I have an idea for a painting with a white coffee cup in it so I might be giving white another try soon!  

6x6 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks so much!

No. 26: Two Jalapeños and Glass

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After taking a break to finish a few commissions and paint ice cream, I came back to the jalapeños.  I've been wanting to try painting glass again.  First time I actually like the way it turned out!  I also used them in another painting today but I'll post that one tomorrow.

5x7 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com  Thanks!!!!

No. 25: Saturated Ice Cream

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Did you know that today is National Ice Cream day?  My four year old heard them talking about it on the morning news and she gasped in delight!  Ha!  That girl LOVES her ice cream...and just about anything else with sugar.  We've been having a girls weekend while daddy is away with some good friends from college.  I was really excited to see that this week's DPW Challenge is painting ice cream.  Really had no idea how it would go when I started but I'm pleased with how it turned out.  It's always hard for me to get the colors in the photo to match the actual painting...it looks better in the painting!

6x6 in. oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com with any questions. Thanks!

No. 24: Two Jalepenos

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Overall these peppers were a lot of fun to paint...aside from lots of interruptions from a certain 4 year old who was "napping".  Ha!  I can't complain though.  She has taken three naps in the last week and that is a BIG deal around here these days.  I'm hoping to paint a few more pepper pictures...adding in some other colors and elements.  But first, I need to finish a commission.  I'm doing 3 floral pieces for my cousin.  I've finished two and  have one more to go.  I'm super proud of one of them and will be excited to post them once they are all complete!  

5x7 in. oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks!

No. 23: Ollie

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I finished Ollie's portrait today.  Ollie will be 5 years old this August.  He's one of the most extroverted dogs you will ever meet.  He loves people.  I took the reference photo for this painting a couple of years ago in our backyard.  It captures his personality pretty well...happy go lucky.  Painted for a DPW Challenge. 

Work in Progress: Portrait of Ollie

This week's DPW Challenge is painting a portrait.  It can be an animal or a human...with an emphasis on the face and emotion.  I'm attempting to paint a portrait of our lovable Ollie.  I worked on it during EK's nap...which didn't last long!  So hopefully I will get to work on it some more tomorrow.  I have NO idea how this will turn out.  If it ends up good...I'll post the result!  

No. 22: Surprise Encounter

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I named this painting "Surprise Encounter" because it seems like the cherry was maybe walking along and suddenly came upon a whole group of green onions. The cherry is kind of leaning back in surprise.  Or maybe I've just been staring at this painting for too long and none of this makes sense!  I really enjoyed painting this today.  I haven't liked the last few paintings I've done all that much so it was fun to finish one I like!  I'm still so new to painting and really still trying to figure out who I am as an artist.  But I kept this one in a color scheme I'm drawn to...light blues and greens...and added the red cherry because I knew it would be a good compliment to the green in the onions.  I've never painted onions before so I'm glad those turned out!  I also love the cherry's shadow.  And I've discovered that I really like painting cherries.  Good thing they are in season!

Oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

No. 21: Solo Act

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I bought sunflowers at Sprouts last Friday and they still look great!  Wanted to practice painting another one and taking another shot at painting glass.  Really struggled to get the colors on the photo of this painting accurate.  They are a little warmer than the photo shows.  

No. 20: White Vase and Cherries

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Another attempt at painting cherries.  It was also a good exercise in painting a white object.  Carol Marine's recent art byte was really helpful for that.  I wish I had painted this more loosely so I'm going to work on that next time.  

No. 19: Sunflower and Cherries

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My favorite part of this painting is the cherries.  I really need to get my still life box finished.  I actually took the photo reference for this painting outside on my back patio...sitting on a little table with a bunch of random stuff in the background...not ideal.  It was tricky painting a glass jar while creating a background that wasn't really there.  

6x6 in oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

No. 18: Let Us Paint

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I was making a salad for dinner the other night and decided to paint the lettuce.  I didn't realize until I sat down to draw how difficult drawing lettuce can be!  Whew!  Once I got that out of the way, the painting part was pretty fun.  "Let Us Paint"...pardon the pun!

6x6 in. oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thanks!