WHY Do We Do This???

Some light initial glazes ...

... and I end up here

Leaves are basically, there, but need more touching up.

Start petals, w/w with aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue.

The model

Why do we paint? And ride horses? - not just ride, but aspire to dressage movements? I'm feeling like a caged tiger today. I usually do get this way when fall is starting. It must be some sort of atavistic behaviour, like following the migrating herds.
I'm feeling very frustrated today. Still fussing with the *%&# bridge, though John said to frame it - he'll take it for his office. The leaves in this painting look like felt cut-outs. How to fix?
The weather is cooler. Bruno has been gradually getting his winter coat. He is also full of himself - makes for much more "exciting" rides. That's another "why". If I had known what it meant to ride and keep a horse those many years ago, would I do it? The number of times I left a lesson in tears of frustration, the many times I was injured ... And I still go back for more! If anyone has some answers, please let me know. I think I need to go out and do some physical work.

As always, your comments are most welcome! 

Bete Noire

It really is a lovely, art nouveau styled bridge - the colors at sunset are glorious. 

Started out with some very, very thin washes ...   

then drizzled in some more of the same colors, a bit  more dense ...

Made the mistake of darkening the water TOO much

Played with this small version, to see if more vibrant colors would work ...

not bad, once I get the shadows in ...

This painting has become the bane of my artistic self. I so much want to do something vibrant and different. I've been reading up on landscapes, looking at landscape artists I love [ Michael Reardon and Thomas Schaller are at the top of my list.] I do believe I am even dreaming about painting it! I have these wonderful ideas floating around in my head, and when I try to put them to paper ... YUCK! But I have another plan, simpler in a way than what I've been trying, so we shall see.

As always, your comments are welcome and much appreciated!

The Tale of the Haunting Bunny ... the One Haunting Me!

Cute rabbit reference photo

Reasonable sketch

Light glazes on B., using cobalt blue
I used staining colors for background , and it looked much too intense, so I scrubbed with sponge to lighten

Darkening B., using aureolin, quin. pink and indanthrone blue

Re-working background, using viridian [I've never used it before]
I am hoping it tones things down, and adds a more gentle green

Viridian worked well, I think.
Added some shadow around B. and leaves.

I've got a light glaze of the darker grey on his face, and I am starting to think there may be hope for the rabbit.


I am being haunted by the ghost of Smokey. He was a friend's pet for years, and for her birthday [in May] I thought I would paint Smokey. The only photos she could find were less than helpful, so I found some reference photos, and set out from there. The first attempt was OK, but Laara said he was darker. When I glazed to darken, I lost all definition; it looked like a grey Schmoo. For those of you who are younger, there once was a cartoon called L'il Abner. One of the characters, actually there were tons of them, was called a schmoo. Essentially, they were little, slightly elongated blobs, with faces. [My sister has a schmoo; she insists it is a pug]
I really like to be able to do a good job in whatever I do, so I am finding myself somewhat frustrated by this painting, hence the HAUNTING!
As always, please feel free to leave any comments! [back to the schmoo]