Back at the easel

Who says we don't have fall color in California. This painting is from a photo I took while walking my dog in a park along Imperial Ave. in El Segundo, where I live. These leaves were lying on a wooden bench in the park. The painting is oil on 10 x 8 inches canvas board.

More Pears etc.

Yes, I am getting tired of them too.......but they are so available! Actually I painted this from a photograph of the setup which I did a month ago and thought it was too difficult for me to paint at that time. I finally got up enough confidence to tackle it.

Bringing This Blog Up-to-date!!

I am sorry I have let this blog languish for a month. I have not been goofing off. I have been painting since I posted my last blog entry. But I was getting a little discouraged because I didn't have any feedback and I wasn't comfortable with what I was doing. Then I found an oil painting class. The teacher is Gabe Kreiswirth and he is a fabulous teacher for me. The class is at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center which is about 30 minutes from my house.

First let me show you some of the things I did since my last post and before I started class.

Pears were in season and they are easy to paint.

I have finished two paintings since I started Gabe's class. They are both from real objects, not photographs. The first painting is from a setup in class. The challenge was to paint the glass vase!

Gabe suggested I try something more challenging, like peppers. I started it at home. Here is a photograph of the setup. They are called Stoplight Peppers!

Peppers are more challenging.......no smooth curves here.....and lots of color.....and the plastic covering! I felt a little overwhelmed at first but painting, after all, is just step-by-step. The first step is the underpainting to get the lights and darks in. This was done with a thinned mixture of burnt umber and pthalo blue. I also painted in the background using the same mixture with a lot of white added.





Then I added the colors; the red pepper is cad red medium plus a little cad red, the yellow pepper is cad yellow med with a little cad lemon and the green pepper is cad yellow med and thalo blue.






Now for my next challenge........en plein aire!

Whoa! No. 4 is hard!!

I may have bitten off more than I can chew, uh paint that is. This is the underpainting. I am going to let it dry a bit before I play with it some more. I think the values still need adjusting. I am not good at drawing, as you can probably tell, so I painted in the major forms first then played with the values and brush strokes. I need to let it sit before I decide what to do next.

Black and White Reference Photo for No. 4

Getting ready for no. 4

This is the reference picture for number 4. It is a digital photograph I took in the Banyan Grove at the South Coast Botanic Gardens in Los Angeles county. I love the serpentine forms of the roots of this tree.

I enhanced the photo's colors and contrast in Photo Shop Elements. I also printed a black and white version to bring out the values.


Only 116 to go.

Blue Bottle and Oranges....at last!

Here is my 3rd oil painting. Only 117 to go! Depicting the glass bottle was interesting. Still haven't got it ......but I am learning.



I found another excellent teacher on-line......Brian Simons at http://www.briansimons.com/. I love his style and he has a wonderful eBook available. I have downloaded it and read through it twice. This picture is not his teaching yet. But the next one will be. He spends most of the book attacking the mythologies of painting. He believes, and demonstrates, that anyone can paint. Then he explains his 7 steps to making a painting. They are truly simple and he explains them very clearly. Now....to put them into practice.