Egg with White Shell

I didn't know if I had it in me to do another egg quite yet, but I figured I at least had to try a white shell.  I think I learned a lot from the last one, because this was much easier!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Three Apples

I can't believe I have never painted an apple before.  I think it is because we fly through them in our house!  They were fun, but not at all similar to any fruit I have attempted.  They were closest to cherries, but have more "facets" than cherries do.  I foresee more apple paintings in my future!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

One Egg

This week's Daily Paintworks challenge is the broken egg challenge.  I have been thinking about trying an egg for a while, and now I had an excuse!  By no means is painting an egg as easy as it looks.  Yikes!  I may try another, or I might just stop at "One Egg."

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Crown Royal

This is one of three commissions that will go along with my Captain and Coke painting.  Commissions are always a challenge, and this was no exception.  The angles and facets of this dang bottle took forever to figure out!

oil on panel
6 x 6
nfs

Clementines with Blue Mug

Working with the blue and orange challenge theme again, I incorporated a glass bowl.  I love this glass bowl.  It picks up so many colors and reflections from everything around it, and it casts very interesting shadows.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Hiding Clementine

After several days of no internet I find myself back in civilization!  Not that I even left home, but without access to the internet on my computer, it seemed like the stone age.  I can check email and other basic stuff from my phone, but it's just not the same.  I have been painting the last few days, working on figuring out the other color combos for this weeks Daily Paintworks challenge, as well as a few commissions (yay!).  And to make things even better, I sold 2 paintings yesterday and 2 more today!  This painting is for the orange/blue combo for the challenge.  I thought it would be easy for me since I have already done so much with this color combo, but for some reason, working with parameters just made me struggle.  I finally think I have something worth showing.

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Radishes on Table

The same bunch of radishes from yesterday, just without the plate.  Yay for fun shadows and twisty, turny roots!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Radishes on Plate

Inspired by the Daily Paintworks "Complementary Challenge," I tried to use red as red, and green as the complimentary color that I could play around with.  Doesn't make sense, you say?  Didn't to me either.  Then, as usual, Jo handed us all the guidebook with her lovely peppers here.  She nailed it!  Now I'm still uncertain as to whether or not mine fits into the parameters of the challenge, but either way, I had fun with this one.  At first it looked bad, then it looked terrible, and then it went in a completely different direction that was both unplanned and satisfying at the same time.  Tomorrow I will have a go with orange and blue, more in my comfort zone, and see what happens!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Back Lit Pears

I've been wanting to try a back lit subject for a while now, but didn't really know what to use.  These little pears were fun and curvy enough to work for this.  The light coming in and the cast shadows were so fun to paint!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Eggplant and Pears

It was only a matter of time before these two ended up in a painting together.  The greens and purples compliment each other perfectly.  My 6 x 6 panels arrived this morning and all is right with the world again!

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Cut Pear

My 6 x 6 panels were supposed to arrive yesterday.  Supposed to.  I paid extra shipping to have them get to me faster, and then the Fed Ex guy dropped off my package somewhere else and left me with some guy's Ford parts (it says on the box, don't worry I didn't open it).  I was pretty bummed about it, mostly because I'm pretty sure they are sitting at someone's house about 2 blocks from me, and I can't do anything about it.  But then I stopped whining and pulled out a 5 x 5 instead and got to work, and got back to the pears like I promised.

oil on panel
5 x 5
sold

Eggplant Line Up

These quirky little eggplants really are a blast to work with.  They remind me of the cherries with their colors and reflective surfaces, but they are a lot less serious.

oil on panel
5 x 7
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Mini Eggplants on Plate

I know I said more pears were in my future, but I picked up these mini eggplants at the farmer's market, and wanted to paint them before they had to be cooked.  Their shapes and colors were so interesting to me!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Two Pears

Pears are tricky, tricky little fruits sometimes.  They aren't just one sphere that you have to make look 3-dimensional, like a lime or tomato.  They have two distinct bulbous areas that need addressing.  In this painting, back pear looked like a deflated blob for the longest time.  With the angle, I couldn't get him to be both pointing upward and not an apple.  He finally came through after several attempts.  I think what this means is more practice, more pears!

oil on panel
5 x 5
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Blue Pitcher with Pears

I've been wanting to paint something bigger, but I've been too intimated to pull out the really big canvases just yet.  I realized yesterday that I have only 1 (gasp!) 6 x 6 panel left, so I quickly ordered more and pulled out this 8 x 10 panel to try a bigger composition.  I recently purchased this beautiful blue pitcher, but it's too large in scale to use in a square format, so this was the perfect time to try it!

oil on panel
8 x 10
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Lunch Break

This painting is from a photo I took while still living in Southern California.  This adorable dog was sitting with his owner waiting very patiently for it to be time to go.  Neither of my dogs would ever be this well behaved in public!

oil on panel
5 x 7
sold

English Breakfast with Lemon

I tried out a few different things with this painting.  I worked really hard on making all my brushstrokes really deliberate to keep it clean and fresh.  I think I'm getting better at this, but it's still a process.  I also tried to branch out and play around with some different colors.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Sliced Clementine

We cut up and ate that last clementine, so tomorrow I will be moving on to different things.  I have no idea what it will be, but here's hoping something inspires me!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Clementine Study

I had "artist's block" today.  Instead of giving up and walking out of the studio, I plopped down my last clementine on a blue paper and did a little study of it.  With this study I left the clementine in the same spot and changed only the light source.  And of course, I did it in blue!  Each little square on the panel is roughly 4 x 4.

oil on panel
8 x 8
sold

Cut Grapefruit with Fork

I tried to do this painting with fewer brushstrokes than yesterday's grapefruit.  I like the results.  I think it looks fresher and less fussy.  This is also my first time trying a fork.  I know it sounds silly, but I was worried it would be so much harder than a spoon or knife.  Maybe I'm getting somewhere with my skill level, or maybe it was luck, but either way, I think it looks pretty good!

oil on panel
5 x 5
sold

Grapefruit on Blue

Grapefruits have the most beautiful colors inside. The pinks and oranges are so fun to play with, and they look so good with blue!  I only picked up two, so hopefully I can fit in a few more paintings with them.

oil on panel
6 x 6
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Captain and Coke

I have never attempted ice cubes before, and while I'm not sure if they look enough like ice, I am pretty sure that most people will assume that's what they are.  Hopefully.  Either way, this was a fun one.  I think I am getting the hang of using my viewfinder and really cropping in on the subject to avoid all the excess dead space.  I have to keep telling myself to go in further than I think I should.  So far so good.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Two Cows

Now this is not my first time attempting cows, but it is the first one I'm pleased with (at least for now).  I took this picture in Nebraska last summer, when the cows were all hanging out in the water.  Most of them didn't care about us at all, but the one in back was at least a little curious.

oil on panel
6 x 6
sold

Three Clementines

Having some more fun with the clementines before (maybe) moving on to something else.  If you haven't noticed by now, blue is definitely one of my favorite colors to paint with, and I've yet to find something that I don't like against it.  I know it's all personal taste, so hopefully there are other blue fans out there!

oil on panel
5 x 7
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Puddle Splashers

It's getting to be that time of the summer that I dream on sweaters, pea coats and boots.  My son's wellies were hanging around, so I thought I'd have a go at them!

oil on panel
6 x 6
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