#209 Foodies

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Painted for this week's DPW Challenge from the photo that was provided.  Carol Marine took the photo reference when she was in France recently for an art workshop she taught!  I have only done 1 or maybe 2 other figurative paintings.  I'm usually too intimidated to try, though I LOVE figurative works by others.  It was actually a lot of fun.  I started with a thin block-in using paint mixed with with mineral spirits.  I learned to do that at the Gina Brown workshop.  I also worked dark to light and came back with some thicker paint in some places after the block-in.  

Here are a couple of other pictures showing sketches before I started painting.  

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

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Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#208 Fun Flower Challenge

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I painted this flower last Sunday for the Daily Paintworks Challenge,  but didn't get a chance to post it until now.  I had a great week in Alabama at a Gina Brown Workshop.  If you have never seen her art you should check it out!  I will write a whole post about it soon. Right now I'm trying to get this written quickly before putting my 4 year old to bed :)  I felt a little crazy in the middle of this painting but I like how it turned out in the end.  The pinks in the painting are warmer than they appear in the photo.  It was hard to get it to match!  

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#207 The Yellow Truck

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I had a hard time getting a photo of this painting without the glare!  My daughter and I were driving home yesterday when I spotted this yellow truck in my neighborhood.  We pulled over and I took a quick photo.  Truth be told, I also took several pictures of a nearby mail truck and hope to paint it before long.  I don't know why, but I'm always inspired by mail trucks around town!  It was really fun painting the yellow parts of this truck.  I tried to keep the rest simple and without much detail.  I like landscapes like that.  I'm very inspired by Michael Chamberlain.  You should check out his art.  It was a challenge to draw.  

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#206 Light on Berry

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I took the photo reference for this painting about a month ago, sitting at a stoplight, when I was taking my daughter to AWANA.  The clouds in the sky were beautiful that evening.  I took a couple of other photo references at lights and maybe I will get around to painting them, too.  I'm glad I attempted more clouds.  I had a little more of a plan for how to approach them this second time.  I started by painting the lightest parts, then the darkest values, and then the values in between.  Seemed to work pretty well.  What is your process for painting clouds?

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#205 Sweet Cherries

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I'm so excited that cherries are back in season.  Not only are they delicious, but I really enjoyed learning to paint them last summer.  It's also fun that I've been oil painting for almost a year now and I'm returning to subjects from last year.  I can already see an improvement, which is very encouraging.  Hoping to paint a  lot more cherries this summer!  I'm still trying to use thicker paint and more pronounced strokes.  I'm also trying to play around with the edges more than when I first started painting.  The background of this painting is a little more mint green than the photo shows.

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#204 The Cloud Challenge

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This week's Daily Paintworks Challenge is to paint clouds.  Since I've never painted a cloudscape, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try.  It was definitely challenging!  I respect artists who paint cloudscapes even more now.  It was hard for me to slow down and really pay attention to the value and color shifts in the clouds.  

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#203 Lemons and Blue Bowl

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This was the second painting from Monday night.  I don't usually paint more than one in an evening but I was on a roll and didn't want to stop!  I painted the bowl at a place in OKC called The House of Clay.  It's a pottery painting place.  I also painted a ceramic vase that I want to use as still life prop soon.  I'm hoping to go back and paint more pieces to use in my paintings.

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#202 Little Yellow

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I painted this lemon on Monday evening.  I was tired and almost didn't paint but I'm so glad I did.  It was one of those rare times when I didn't over think things and cared less about the result than the process.  I experimented with thicker paint and I really like how it turned out.   I think I get stingy with paint at times and also lack confidence when mixing up a pile of paint.  This time I tried to let those things go!  I painted a second painting afterwards that I also really like.  I'll post that one tomorrow!

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

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#201 Watermelons on Green

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I'm late writing this post.  Finished this painting a few days ago and have already moved on to lemons!  I used green and red because they are complimentary colors and usually work well together.  Worked on my values and creating a sense of light.  

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

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Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#200 Yellow Pitcher and Watermelon

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This one was a struggle.  I don't know what it is about ceramics that is so hard for me!  I started with the watermelon slices and their shadows.  Then I started on the pitcher.  I went back to it later in the evening, wiped off the handle and corrected the shape of bottom of the pitcher.  I also darkened the values on the right side of it.  I don't have time to paint today, but I'm thinking about doing a 10 minute mug challenge...or something like that with a ceramic item to help me loosen up a bit and not overthink it.  I also had a hard time getting the photo to look right.  

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

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Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#199 Watermelon Slices

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I started painting this while my daughter was "napping" and finishing it up once she was awake and at my feet!  Didn't go so well! Ha!  I was so distracted and went back to it again in the evening to correct the things that didn't look right.  I had to make the shadowed sides of the slices a darker value and I brightened up the background a little, too.  Hoping to paint more watermelon again this week.

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

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Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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#198 April Book Club

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I'll admit I really like this one.  When I set the still life up in my box I wasn't too sure how it would go.  I like the color of the apple, I like the gold in the background and I like the pink of the eraser.  Maybe the book is a little crooked?  I haven't loved my last few paintings so it was nice to do one that I'm more pleased with.

For April we read "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman.  Very interesting!  We will talk about it this Sunday and looking forward to it.

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

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Etsy

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#197 Yellow Daisies

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I think this will be the last painting from the bouquet I purchased last week.  Wanted to do something a little more dramatic for this one.  It was actually a lot of fun to paint.  I used a piece of cardboard next to the light source to push the background into deeper shadow.  I also experimented with my brushwork a little though you can't tell as well in the photo.  

7x5 inch oil on gessobord  Email me at suitabledesigns425@gmail.com

Thank you for viewing my art!

Daily Paintworks

Etsy

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