Bamboo puzzle



"Bamboo Puzzle", oil on canvas 7" x 5"
September 22, 2012

I love wooden burr puzzles -- so fun to draw!  This one looks like a three-dimensional asterisk.

White star



"White Star on Magenta", Oil on Canvas 7" x 5"
September 11, 2012

I love the way reflected color bounces around on the facets of this little white ceramic star.  Here I placed it on a magenta ground with bright, warm lighting.  The blueness is sky light coming from my studio window.  I've started a series with this star exploring different color combinations.  Look for more posts coming soon!

Cuties




"Cuties", oil on canvas 5" x 7", September 9, 2012

Here I challenged myself to see all of the subtle color and value shifts in a shiny black plate.  I especially liked how the red-orange of the background mingled with the blue ambient light in my studio to create some unexpected notes of red-violet.  This one was a joy to paint!

Blue lightbulb



"Handy and Blue Bulb", acrylic on canvas, 24" x 8", 9/7/12





This painting was inspired by the "Lightbulb" challenge on Daily Paintworks.  I use colored light bulbs a lot in my classes to show students the amazing variety of shadow color and temperature.  Many students comment that before my demonstration they thought all shadows were gray.  It's so wonderful to open people's eyes to the beauty of light and color!  Here I decided to make the bulb itself the star.

Still, life



"Pear Study", oil on canvas 6" x 6", 8/30/12

So tempting, with pears, to give your painting a "punny" title, especially when it's a pair of pears.  But I thought I'd spare you!

Apple studies



"Green Apple Study", oil on canvas 6" x 6", 8/27/12

I'm returning to oils after painting with acrylic for several years, so I'm going back to basics.  I absolutely love Carol Marine's style, and she has these great tutorials on Daily PaintWorks that have really inspired me.  I did the little value study below first, using only burnt umber and wiping out the lights.  It's a lot harder than it looks!

The color study came next -- what a joy!  But the photo also helps me see areas I need to work on, like softening and losing edges, seeing color accurately, breaking the form down into planes and getting the light right.  Holy Moly!  Good thing it's fun!  I plan to do many, many more of these studies until I can get a handle on this stuff.




"Apple Value Study", oil on canvas 6" x 6", 8/27/12

A new little streetscape




"Georgia Street Bridge", acrylic 5" x 7", August 2012

Here's a new one in my series of little tiny streetscapes.  This beautiful bridge spans University Avenue in San Diego, and it always reminds me of an aqueduct.