An Exercise in LOOSENING UP

This little ball of feathers took less than 5 minutes
That's a record for me. :)

One of my friend's, Juanita, chickens.

I've promised myself I will be doing more loose paintings over the coming year, as well as my usual detailed works. Please be honest  and tell me what you think ...

La Serenissima ... or... Another Chicken Alert

Original photo

I did the chicken 1st, then brought some of the background wash into her as shadows.

Some detail 

More detail

Finished. I'm still working on iPhoto to perfect painting color and value.

As promised, here is the next in my "process" series. I call it "La Serenissima" because she looks so calm and serene, and because I love Italian. She is small, only 6 x 9  inches. Again, the painting was an experiment in loosening my technique, and I think , in that respect, it was successful.

My next painting, perhaps with other "smalls" interspersed, will be a floral. I'm quite excited about it, as the colors are gorgeous, with some really strong value contrasts. 

More Feathers

This is the one from the previous post

This photo I took on overcast day, in natural light, i.e. gloomy

   I've been having the devil of a time trying to get the photos to look as much as possible as the paintings. The lighting makes SUCH an unbelievable difference, especially with the browns and greys, I suppose because they are such a mix of hues. Anyway, I had to do the comparison.  If anyone reading this post has thoughts on photographing paintings for computer presentation, please let me know.