Done

I left off about here ...

I've darkened the background, the rose in spots and glazed some of it with a thin aureolin. I think I've done all I'd like with this. Flowers just don't seem to be doing it for me right now. I have a craving for more portraits and landscapes. 

This is the second rose I started, same flower - different angle, and cooler colors.

Meet Trigger. He must be nearing thirty years of age. His owner was at the show I had last weekend [which was quite successful - YAY] and she decided she'd like a portrait of the lad. So I was over at her farm on Monday taking lots of photos. She wanted him painted while he still had his summer coat, as he goes very white and shaggy in the winter. More good painting news for me - my brother-in-law likes the painting of the Burrard Bridge, and would like me to have it framed for his office. But I must admit, I STILL don't really love the painting.

As always, your comments are most welcome!  

A Brief WIP and a Question

First washes were aureolin and two orange hues. Then I started going over those with a green mixture.

This was after the two complete washes.

I did another w/w wash with a much darker green.

Several glazes were done on the flower.

The first few glazes are done on the leaves.

I've posted about a third of the photos I've taken of this rose in progress.  I'm also working on another, the rose at a slightly different angle, and in predominantly cool colors. For a while, I have been thinking of creating an e-book, a short pamphlet of detailed and illustrated instructions on my technique of painting one subject. If it received a positive response, I would do more on other subjects, perhaps animal portraits and still life. My question is would any of you readers be interested in such a book? I have had requests to do a video, but my technique is slow, and would be about as interesting to watch as watching cement dry. I really would love to hear what you have to say about an e-book.

As always, your comments are most welcome! 

The Dog Days of Summer

Bruno following me. I guess I look more interesting than the horse next door; their screaming match was what brought me outside.

The hay guy delivered today ... 

One of the spare stalls is stacked floor to ceiling with 2nd cut local hay.

I had to postpone the delivery for a week because of the swallows. I wanted to wait till the babies were flying, so they  and their parents could get in and out of their nest.

I was out in the near dark last night, trying to re-set the gate. It was originally put up in such a haphazard way that the hinges are out of alignment.

I couldn't find my set of wrenches, so I called Andy, and asked if he could bring some.

And then he fixed the gate! :)

Andy, the hay guy, came today, and stacked 108 bales of hay in a spare stall. That should do Bruno for a year. I think Andy thought I was a bit mad, asking him to wait for a week till the swallows could all fly. I HAD to - they bring me so much joy when I am out there in the summer - swooping, soaring, and chirping and singing. They started flying on Tuesday, and today they are pros.
And a bit of information about the term "dog days of summer". Apparently it predates the Romans, but they named it. At this time of year, Sirius, the "dog star", in the constellation Canis Major, rises and sets with the sun. It was believed its presence added to the heat of the sun during the summer days. The Romans gave the time between July 23 to August 23 the name of "dog days". The Farmers Almanac lists the dog days as those from July 3 to August 11.
I absolutely love this time of year. We have glorious hot weather now - up in the low 30's C. And it's predicted to last for a few weeks, so my open studio/show/whatever should be lovely weather-wise.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

Still Here ... Still Painting - Two W. I. P.

Two views of a rose, taken from a slightly different angle - one to be warm, the other cool.

As always, your comments are most welcome.

One Down, Two to Go ...

I like the effect I got using an extremely dry brush, dragged and scrumbled, to get the pink striations in the sweet peas. 

The leaves looked dead using only aureolin and cobalt blue, so I gave them a thin glaze of phthalo green. And it also looks much better cropped. So, I'm done here. Here you are, Renate!

Believe it or not, I keep adding more reds and pinks to Rhonda. I also glazed over the entire eye with a thin cobalt blue. And the teeth are done. Something still needs something though ...

As always, your comments are most welcome!

Wet Paint ... or ... Taking a Risk

I needed a complementary background ...

And I needed something light and loose to suggest foliage ...
so I taped off the image as best as I could with Saran wrap and masking tape, and did a splatter  and spray with aureolin and cobalt blue.

It's turned out all right, and there was only a bit of leakage onto the pony-tail. I'll touch it up a bit tomorrow.

I've also been playing around with this sweet pea, but it's just not grabbing my focus.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

I LOVE It When the Portrait Starts to Come ALIVE ...

I'm continuing to glaze the pink/orange mixture on the face and neck ...

I've not looked forward to the hair, but I've started ...

I've taken the masking from the eye high-lights, and touched up the iris and pupil - may need more - and I've placed the shadows for her shirts. The very dark blue is a blue/black mix, with indothrene blue glazed over all. The lighter shadow is cobalt blue.

The shirt I've done with a mixture of phthalo and cobalt blue.

I'm taking the day off riding. I'm not sure if it was the weather or not, but when I jumped off Bruno's back yesterday morning, I felt like I was coming down with a flu. I forced myself to drive over to my hay supplier's farm to check out the hay before he delivers it. Then I came home, fed Bruno lunch, and went back to bed for four hours, wrapped up in every quilt I own. When I got up around 4PM,  I was still feeling weak and dizzy, and the weather was really feeling ominous. Then for 5 hours, we had the absolute Mother of a thunderstorm. For almost an hour, the lightning and thunder were literally non-stop. The rain was torrential. When there was a lightening of rain, I went out to check on the lad. Bless his horsey soul, he was fine, and just standing in his shed watching the light show. Any other horse I've had would be panicking, running around in the storm. So we stood together for a while, and watched Mother Nature do her thing. Then, Pat and I took the dogs out for a quickie before bed. Still not feeling quite strong enough to ride, so I'll paint. Then this afternoon, I'll head out to put up some posters advertising my upcoming open studio on August 18 and 19, and put a few more invitations in nearby mailboxes. I'm ready, and looking forward to my show - I just hope lots of people show up!

As always, your comments are most welcome!