Another Hydrangea Finished

I have added some veins to the flowers, the stem and a shadow.

I have done the shadow beneath in two stages, to be able to enhance the gold.
Well, it's done, and to its credit, I like it better than my earlier attempts at hydrangeas [below]. I like the idea of the starkness against a soft, almost-not-there background. I will have to play with this concept a bit more ...

The above two paintings were done about a year ago.

What I really want to paint are some thoughts and feelings about Rio de Janeiro.  I have never been further south than Mexico, but I love the Brazilian culture - music especially. A few nights ago, I watched Black Orpheus - a great old movie. And I have been doing a lot of reading and researching on the recent turmoil concerning the "gentrification" of the favelas. I have google-mapped as far into the favelas as the map permits, and have scrounged for pictures all over the net. Now I must mull over images and ideas to come up with some work expressing how I feel about all of it.

Thank you for dropping by - hope you enjoyed the visit. And your comments and critiques are always welcome.

And It RAINED and RAINED ...

I took this photo this morning. Last night, it was all under water. I waded through about 8 inches of water going to the barn at 10 PM. The rain was pounding so hard, that when it stopped, I looked up and wondered what was different - the noise had disappeared. We really do get some torrential downpours here.

It's still very wet, and yesterday the water was to the bottom of the large cedar tree. I was busy changing Bruno's blankets, from soggy to not-quite-as-wet, and finding a dry spot in his shed to put his food. I now have an intimation of what it is like to have a flood, and it is very disturbing. I think the worst is that one feels so completely helpless. But enough of that! It's stopped, and I will be out cleaning up and setting things straight in the barn.  

I have done all the shadows for now. It's time to get some local color on the flowers. My swatch is on the left. I'm thinking of cobalt blue and quin, pink at the upper left, and quin. pink and phthalo blue in the lower focal area. I have a feeling I will have to go darker on the left and bottom, and take some of the leaf shadow colors into the flowers. The other option may be to crop, but I'll get some more color on first.

Round #2 for the barn swallow did not work. I wanted to get a backlit effect on the bird. I still like that idea, and will try to get it using graded washes instead of random blobs of color and shadow.

As always, your comments are so welcome!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from a Bunch of Crazy Party Animals

Bug, disgusted that I have a dog in here, has gone to bed early.

Lucy is here for a week while her mom is away on business.

The chins - Fat and Baby. They were very disappointed that a camera was in front  of their cage, and not a raisin.

And yes, I am indeed starting the hydrangea over!!! The pink was just not looking right, and I wasn't sure I could do a credible job with shadows on those pinks. I've started here with aureolin, quin. gold and phthalo blue. The blue is not a color I often use, and it will be interesting to see how it works out. 

I'm bringing in a bit of quin. violet, and quin. burnt orange mixed with the blue to get more intense darks. 

At this point, I feel I need to see some of the colors of the flowers. I've thinly laid in cobalt blue at the top, and will apply thin glazes of ultramarine blue on the bottom. So far, I really prefer the cooler colors.

As always, your comments are so welcome.
And I wish you all a most wonderful New Year, and thank you for being such great blog buddies!!!
BIG HUGS TO YOU ALL! 

HAPPY HOLIDAY from the Farm

For now, the background is done. I may have to touch it up when I get the flowers painted.

I've started the flowers. My plan is to go from cooler pinks on the upper left to warmer and more detailed petals on the lower right. 

The gradated washes are done for the cows, and I will start the girls this evening, unless I decide to turn into a vegetable and watch some science fiction movie.  :)

Here are the boys, begging for raisins. Baby is on the left, Fat Bastard on the right.

This is how Fat likes to sleep when it is warmer. 

Here's the Bug. I think we have finally "bonded". I had my doubts - cats are so different from most animals. 

Me with my BIG sweetheart.

I've posted photos of all of the weird and wonderful animals at the farm [myself included], so we could all wish you a very happy holiday, a Merry Christmas [if you celebrate it] and a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous   New Year!!!
I would also like to thank you all for being here with us on my blog. It has been a pleasure getting to know you!

Not Exactly Moving at Warp Speed ...

Not a lot of progress, but what I've done, I like. I am finding that this technique gives a more "organic" - for lack of a better word - appearance. I'd like to do more with the leaves and background before I start the flowers. THAT will be a challenge! 

By popular request, the cows are making a comeback. So far I have done three graded washes of aureolin, quin. siena and phthalo blue.

I finally got a photo of this portrait in decent outdoor light. It makes such a difference. I have yet again darkened the entire background with a w/w wash, and am making very careful and thoughtful adjustments to the shadows of his face. Being a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, I think it would be a good idea to start entering some of my work in their shows. There is a "Works on Paper" show in January, and this is one of the paintings I am considering as an entry.

As always, your comments are most welcome!  

Out of the Comfort Zone ... ACK!

Beautiful, but difficult, photo of a neighbor's hydrangea as reference.

My first timid glazes of some of the flowers' shadows.

The start of a background was in order. I decided to keep it warm, to accent some of the cooler flower colors in the lower right focal area.

Here, I've started a road map of the leaves, with some of the sunlight filtering through,  giving, I hope, some interest there. 

More glazes on the leaves and simultaneously the background.  That's the difficult part.  I would like to integrate the leave and their shadows into the background to give the painting more of a natural look. This one is going to take a while! And I find myself almost having to force myself to paint - not that I don't like it, just that it is a different style for me.

As always, your comments are most welcome!