Another Project

A cropped shot I took last summer

Warm wash behind, cool in front

Start on B-Man
Colors used are aureolin, quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrene blue

Gradually increasing intensity

A bit of definition within tan and black

   I am also working on a smaller portrait of my landlady's dog, Buddy. Buddy was a lost-and-foundling, discovered mooching around some local farms. Pat took him in as a companion for another dog, and he has been living in BLISS for the last ten years. He truly adores Pat. I'm sure it is mutual; I quite often hear her having "conversations" with Mr. Buddlington [as he is known formally] He really is quite a cool dog; if you believe in reincarnation, Buddy is most definitely an old soul. It is a pleasure to be painting him for Pat's birthday.

Still at the Day job, BUT Trying to Paint, Too

I am here

   My apologies for the inconsistency of the color intensities - me, the camera, the lighting, the computer. I have started on the center of the flower, and also deepened some of the petal values with variations of lavender [aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue] And I still REALLY want to mask the flower, and pour some sort of warm, dark green over the rest of the painting. I'm trying to resist the temptation, knowing that in later removing the masking fluid, I will lose a lot of the flower color in very irregular patches.

Backyard Bunny Does great Cheverell, UK

Before the move

A bit more color, and a trip to UK.

   It is my wont to leave a painting a bit unfinished, lacking depth and background. I decided to give B.B a locale in southwestern England. It still needs a bit more "play", and I must get rid of the cat hair.

Pumpkin, at the watering hole

   Yes, another of my sister's animals has moved out to the country. The other two male cats were ganging up on her, so Miss Pumpkin arrived on Tuesday morning. She is very good, extremely loving, and is showing some interesting quirks. She is a "tap cat" - loves to be in the sink, playing and drinking running water.

Peony Update ... or ... This Is Being Painted with One and a Half Eyes

As of yesterday

More pinks this morning

More pink, and some shadowing started

    As soon as I finished the background, I started thinking of ways I could have better handled it. And I am still sorely tempted to completely cover the flower, and pour some warm greens over everything else.[probably NOT a good idea at this point] I am using a quiet "flower" pink, and a hot pink in a few areas. The greys are aureolin, pink and cobalt blue.
   As for my eyes, I had what I thought was a retinal detachment about ten days ago - giant floaters and flashing lights, and "seeing" things out of the corner of my eye. When examined the next day, the condition was diagnosed as a "gel detachment", and it would resolve on its own. But my vision is still a bit blurry in my left eye, which had been the dominant eye. RATS!!!

A Big Project Continues ... or ... All I See Is GREEN!

Here is where I was 3 days ago

First few background washes

Background around flower done. May have to darken around leaves.

   The background around the flower is done. It was a bit harrowing at times, with pigment moving around as I wet the paper for a wash. I think I'll have to get an Isobey squirrel mop; they're apparently much softer. If anyone knows where I could buy one, in or around Vancouver, B.C., please let me know.
   Now I'll tackle the flower, which I hope will be just fussy and not too difficult. Then the leaves will most likely need some shadowing and touching up. To be continued ...

Taking It Slowly ...

Photo I took at Darts Hill last summer

Road map

1st day of painting

2nd day

3rd day

4th day

   This painting will be fairly large, about 17 x 21 inches of framable image, when completed. I'm going quite slowly, many layers of glazing. And, contrary to my usual habit, I am painting the background first. I thought this wiser, as the peony has such beautiful, light values. I hope to finish the leaves this weekend, and paint all the background preparatory to starting the flower. To be continued ...

A Two Bun Salute ... or ... A Tale of the Backyard Bunny

A lucky photo; they don't stay still very long

Sketch

1st couple of washes

Finsk

Another pose

Sketch

1st few glazes

More glazing and detailing

Bit of shadow for "ground"

Fin

   This is "backyard bunny". He, or one of his friends or relations, has been living here for years. He has a good life here - lots of places to hide and be safe and warm, good food [he regularly gets some of Bruno's carrots tossed under his tree] So I thought , considering it will be the Year of the Rabbit on the Chinese calendar, this would be an appropriate post.