Friday, March 31, 2017

#184 Orange Bee


(6x6 in.)

I decided to keep with my flower and bee theme again today.  I almost wiped this one off about half way through but decided to stick with it.  The orange color is actually richer in the original.  Still getting used to painting again after taking time off!

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!


Thursday, March 30, 2017

#183 Dahlia Bees


SOLD (6x6 in.)

I haven't posted in awhile.  I was out of town for work for about 4 days and didn't get a chance to paint again until yesterday.  I was so ready to get painting!  I painted this flower and the bees for this week's Daily Paintworks Challenge, "The Spring Challenge".  I also painted a couple of other pieces last week but haven't posted them here yet.  Soon!

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!


Thursday, March 23, 2017

#182 Waiting Their Turn


SOLD (6x6 in.)

What I love most about this painting is that it was unexpected and I didn't overthink it.  I painted this on Monday night after attempting a bouquet of tulips.  The tulips were not working out and I was feeling frustrated.  I wiped off the painting and set this still life up in about 5 minutes...maybe less.  I wasn't painting it to be a finished piece, more just to get some paint on the canvas and play around with it.  I was pleasantly surprised to realize I actually liked it! It was so nice to just loosen up and not paint for a finished product but just for the process.  I've mentioned recently that there are some things I want to try but often feel too intimidated because I don't think it will turn out well.  But I really want to let go of the end product and just go for it.  Experiment and let it be.  This piece was painted in 1 hour.  

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!


Tuesday, March 21, 2017

#181 Thru the Glass



SOLD (6x6 in.)

Painted this piece for this week's DPW Challenge.  The challenge was to paint something while looking at it through glass.  I've never painted my pitcher and it was fun to give that a try.  I liked how bits of orange and even purple showed up in the glass.  Sometimes the background of paintings just fall into place, but this one gave me trouble for some reason.  

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

#180 Yellow Clock Tower


6x6 inch oil

Not sure how I feel about this one.  It's light years away from what I hope to one day be able to do.  How do you keep buildings loose?  That was hard. The photo reference was just so so and a little dark for painting.  But I took it while my husband and I were walking on the OU campus just a couple of weeks ago, so it is still somewhat fresh in my mind.  I was drawn to the beautiful yellow light shining through that narrow passage way.  I think it would be cool to come back to this photo in a couple of years and hopefully see all kinds of improvement. 

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

#179 The Corner Hydrant


SOLD (6x6 inch)

I had so much fun painting this one.  I used a new color, Cadmium Red LIGHT. I've only used medium in the past.  That is a fun color!  I took the reference photo for this painting practically right across the street from my house while I was on a walk with my husband and daughter.  I'm usually too intimidated to do much outside of a still life but I really want to start pushing myself in this area.  My favorite part of this painting might be the background because I added minimum detail but I think it still works.

6x6 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

#177 & #178 Mini Three


SOLD (5x7 in.)

I found these miniature eggplants at the store about a week ago and finally got around to painting them! I love the background so much more than it shows here.  The color is richer and you can see the brushstrokes better in person.  My sister and her family have been in town for the last several days, but they headed home today.  I took advantage of the extra time today by painting!  More family is arriving tomorrow, but hoping to paint a couple more pieces this week.

I also painted the painting below for this week's DPW Challenge.  I used the photo reference provided.  It was really hard.  Water, rocks, dapples...I don't have much experience with any of those things.  Though I don't like it, I'm glad I gave it a shot.


6x6 inch oil on gessobord

Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!


Saturday, March 11, 2017

#176 Colorful Challenge Avocado & #177 Avocado in the Sun



SOLD (5x7 inch)

Really enjoyed painting this avocado today!  I also painted it yesterday for the DPW "Colorful Challenge", but I don't like how it turned out.  I would like to try something like it again, though.  The challenge was to take a reference photo in black and white and paint it with color.  The colors were to be unexpected.  I just didn't like the color combination.  I have family from Texas visiting all week so I probably won't be painting as much.  Hope to get a few snuck in though!


5x7 inch oil on gessobord


Here is the photo while it was still in black and white.  

5x7 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Friday, March 10, 2017

#175 Bursting Forth


12x12 inch oil on gessobord

This painting was my second attempt at painting the flowers I bought from Sprouts last weekend.  It didn't flow as easily as the last one.  I really struggled with the main sunflower.  I also painted 2 commissions (gifts) this week but I won't post them until the person gets them in hand.  One will be delivered in the next week, but the other one won't be given until May!  

12x12 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Monday, March 6, 2017

#174 Spring Preview


SOLD 6x6 inch oil on gessobord

The last two days were really gray in Norman...so naturally I wanted to paint something bright and cheerful.  I admire so many artists and all of the different ways they paint florals.  I don't really know what look I'm going for with mine yet.  I mostly focus on getting the values and colors correct, but I would love to learn more about brushwork.  I'm not totally sure how to do that.  I'm really excited to be going to an artist's workshop near the end of May.  Her name is Gina Brown.  The brushwork in her paintings is so interesting and I have no idea how she does it.  So I'm looking forward to learning from her and seeing how those techniques make it into my art.  

This painting will be for sale, but I'm not sure when.  I might save it for an upcoming show.  One question I have, how do you make dark yellows?  I've been using Cadmium yellow medium, ultramarine Blue, and Cadmium red medium.  I wanted the inside of this sunflower to have a darker value but I was afraid of it just looking like a muddy brown.  Thoughts?

6x6 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

#173 Stacked, Again


Click to buy! (6x6 in.)

This painting may have been a little overly ambitious for me, but it was a good challenge.  It's my second attempt at the "Stacked Challenge" for the DPW Challenge this week.  Those plates just about did me in.  I also snuck in a lost edge!  Do you see it?

6x6 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

#172 The Imperial


Click to buy! (5x7 in.)

I painted this piece from a photo used in the very first Daily Paintworks Challenge back in January 2011.  The challenges never expire, so I thought it would be fun to go back and give some of them a try.  Carol Marine took this photo originally in Florida.  I thought it was a fun perspective and enjoyed the challenge of painting the reflections.  

5x7 inch oil on gessobord.  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com
Thank you for viewing my art!