A New Member of the Team ... or ... Steph Did It Again!

   I have three sisters. One of them, Stephanie, has, since she got married and had two children,  also become an avid animal collector. She also likes to "help" others collect animals.
   When I had to put my dearly-loved and much-missed mare to sleep, Steph found a rescue horse for me. Carlo was quite handsome, but wanted NOTHING to do with the riding game. After he tossed me hard, and fractured my pelvis, he was returned to the rescue people. He is now being "used" as a companion horse - NO riding for him!
   Then her husband bought two chinchillas. [previously mentioned in this blog] Steph refused to keep them in their cage. Whenever you visited her house, you could hear the scurry of feet and the gnawing of teeth on anything, and see the occasional flash of grey. After six months, I got a slightly teary phone call, asking if I would take the chins. I did. They chewed a saddle, a bridle and my bathroom!!!! I've had the bathroom re-done, and the tack did not fit my new horse, but ...

DO you mind?

Nothing better than I warm horse blanket

Hmmmmm?!!!

Definitely worth investigating

   Now I have Pumpkin. She is a very adorable brown tabby with her own agenda. She has taken over my bed, and the bathroom. And she is showing a few quirks. She does not glide gracefully and quietly, as most cats do, she THUMPS! She is an avid tap-watcher; she loves to watch and drink running water. I have a sick feeling, she is probably an art critic, too, and is only biding her time to let me know what she thinks of my painting.

Yes, I Started Again ... or ...Buddy the Second

2nd time going much faster

All body colors laid in

Intensifying colors

I am here, and it is starting to look like Buddy

   With the first "Buddy", I got to a point where the brown points looked too dark and orange, so I started again. The flip side will be used for a trial of another idea I want to pursue about my farrier. In retrospect, the original would probably have worked, with a bit of careful lifting here and there, but it's all a learning experience. I'll be working on the head details now. I don't quite like his left leg; I think if I "mould" his body color a bit more, it will look more like a leg than a flipper. Any ideas??
  

The Temptation of the Peony

Before temptation took me

After giving in

Complete

Close up

 

   I absolutely could not resist. The whiteness on some of the leaves was so distracting. And I'd also accidently dribbled a few drops of water on the dark background. I HAD to do something. So I masked the perimeter of the flower, mixed up a batch of warm green, spritzed the page, and let loose. I think it looks much better, but I would very much appreciate some feedback. I thank you. [ahead of time]

  

I

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!!!