Thursday, September 26, 2013

Glow

"Glow", Acrylic on Panel, 10x8"
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Here's yet another figure study to end my week.  I'm going out of town tomorrow and will be offline until Wednesday.

I think this is the most successful yet.  There's a great sense of light and movement, especially in the fabric of the dress.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Gaze

"Gaze", Acrylic on Panel, 8x10"
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Here's another figure study for my Dryad's series.  I love the ambiguous expressions.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Pause

"Pause", Acrylic on Panel, 10x8"
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I decided to do some of my figure studies as my daily paintings this week.  These are some images I was hesitating to do on large boards, but wanted to try.  I love the gesture of the figure in this one - it looks like she's thinking about something serious.

I opted to go a bit bigger than my usual daily size so I can get better detail on the figures.  I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.  I especially like the back foot.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Aurae

"Aurae", Acrylic on Board, 24x36"
Here's another large tree painting to start the week.  The title is a nod to the Greek nymphs of the breezes, which came to mind when I looked at the finished piece.  I think the swirling brushstrokes do a great job capturing the movement of wind through the leaves.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Coil

"Coil", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"

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Here is yet another example of plant-life from the Pacific northwest.  I'm not quite as happy with how this one came out as it was hard to get the detail I wanted.  The tree had an amazing coiled trunk - maybe not a tree but some sort of overgrown vine?  I love the brushwork on the foliage in the background though.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Bough

"Bough", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
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This is an image from one of my earlier shoots.  I think Meghan looks so graceful in this pose.  It was extremely frustrating to do it this small - even with a size 0 brush.  I don't know how other artists do it! Here's one of my local favorites who does incredible tiny portraits (www.fatimaronquillo.com).

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Thorns

"Thorns", Acrylic on Panel, 36x24"
I decided that I'd finish and share my newly completed large painting today instead of doing my regular little piece.  For the most part, I'm happy with how how it turned out.  I was a bit frustrated that I couldn't get a better likeness of Meghan (the one in red), but I like the expression on her face as rendered.

I'm having a lot of fun with these multi-figure paintings.  As soon as you introduce a second figure, there's a sense of story - since you try to figure out the relationship between the two people.  I picked the title because the women reminded me of a flowers (rose & violet) and relationships between women are never simple.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Northwest #2

"Northwest #2", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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Here's another tree from the trip to the Northwest.  I think this one is reminiscent of the work of Emily Carr - maybe just the subject matter?

Monday, September 16, 2013

Northwest

"Northwest", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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This is an amazing tree I saw while I was visiting Seattle.  It's hard to capture the full effect - but I gave it my best shot.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Practice Ivy #2

"Practice Ivy #2", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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I haven't been painting as much as I wanted this week (sick kid & then a trip to Dallas), but I hope to get back on track next week.  Here's another practice ivy to end the week.  I like the detail of the veins on the leaves.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Practice Ivy #1

"Practice Ivy #1", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
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My sister commissioned me to do a multi-panel ivy painting for her newly renovated office.  I thought I'd warm up by doing some studies of ivy to see what works.  Here is the first.

I like the pop of the ivy against the dark on the left side.  I think for the final I'll play around w/scale a bit (close ups of individual leaves) and/or show ivy against different surfaces (wood, brick, etc.).

Monday, September 9, 2013

Squirrel

"Squirrel", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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It has seemed to me for a while that the squirrels in the neighborhood (in the whole city, really), are getting braver.  They don't run away, but sit right where they are until you're almost walking on them.  They also seem more numerous, but maybe that's just because I've been noticing them.

I saw a cat stalking one of these brave squirrels in a vacant lot the other morning and the squirrel just sat there - apparently trying to stare the cat down.  It ended up jumping to a tree and escaping.  I was a bit disappointed.

Subject matter aside, I'm happy with how this one turned out.  There's a great sense of sunlight on the fur.


Friday, September 6, 2013

Sit

"Sit", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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Here's yet another of Stuart to end the week.  I like the extreme foreshortening of the body, but wish I'd done something more interesting with the ground.  Oh well, at least I managed to get a painting done each day this week.  I managed to finish a big one too.  I'm sooo glad to be back in the studio after the long break.

I wish I had a more consistent body of daily paintings.  I seem to jump from subject to subject at random.  I admire the other painters on the Daily Paintworks site who seem to have a subject that they are passionate about.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Arbor

"Arbor", Acrylic on Panel, 5x7"
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Here's another view from my neighborhood.  I love the quirky/picturesque things I see while walking my dog in the mornings.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Musician

"Musician", Acrylic on Panel, 6x6"
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I can't seem to stop taking pictures of random people I see on the street.  It started with the homeless who were panhandling w/signs and has expanded to include anyone interesting I see.  This guy was sitting outside of Walgreen's on a very hot day.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Smile

"Smile", Acrylic on Panel, 7x5"
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The vacations are over, the kids are back in school and I'm back to painting - hooray!  Here's a picture of my happy dog to start off the week.  It's nice to do something purely fun as a counterpoint to my more 'serious' big paintings.