New WIP's

I have been working on these three paintings throughout the summer. It has taken me longer than usual to finish due to the temperature inside my studio this year. Yikes it can get hot! I still have some work to do but i thought I would post them now. Maybe this will give me incentive to finish them up. The photos are not the best but here they are anyway.

16 x 20 inch oil "Copper & Peaches"

This is another of the 3 paintings I have been working on these past weeks. This was another challenge for me especially the copper bowl. I have a bit more work to do on the peaches. This is a terrible photo. I just could not get rid of that glare!

18 x 14 inch oil "Orange Tea"

This paintings has been very challenging for me and I am almost ready to give up on it. It is almost done for now but I will probably make a few more changes soon being the perfectionist that I am.

16 x 20 inch oil "Bagged Pears"

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This is another work in progress as I still want to make some changes to the bag and pears. It is coming along and I will post the finished painting soon.

20 x 24 inch oil "Tulips"

I played with this painting some more on the weekend. I am calling it finished now, but I am not very happy with my tulips, especially the one on the right. I just can't seem to get it right. I really suck at flowers!

10 x 14 inch oil "Lemon Tea"

I had a very productive weekend in the studio and I think I may be finished with this painting. I was quite challenged by the tea can, an old one I found a long time ago in our basement. The pattern was very complex but I think I pulled it off ok. This may be going in my exhibit in August. More about that later.

New WIP's in oil

I thought I would post what is on my easel at the moment. These 3 paintings are in various stages of completion and are all done in oils. I like to have several going at the same time so that I don't get bored with the drying times involved.

WIP Finished!

I have finally signed this one and I am calling it finished. It was a lot of fun to do especially the white cloth. I enjoyed painting the subtle changes of value in the cloth. I have two more paintings on my easel right now in various stages of being completed. One is a floral and the other a contemporary still life. I will be posting them soon. Stay tuned!

WIP 20 x 24 inch oil Radishes & Pitcher

This is the second painting that I am finishing up on my easel. I worked another 3 or 4 hours on it today and still need some more time. This is the same pitcher as the previous painting only slightly larger than life.

Finished! 20 x 24 inch Oil Still life

I really enjoyed doing this painting probably because it is in oil and not acrylic. Oils are really lovely to work with even with the slow drying time. I have another one on the easel right now about half way finished and I am eager to start another.

New acrylic 16 x 20 inch

I have been playing with this painting for a few days and it is finally finished. The crystal just about drove me crazy but other than that it was a fun one to do. Thankyou to the contributor of the photo at WetCanvas.com. This was done in the interlude of waiting for two oil paintings to dry so that I can continue with them. I will post them soon.

WIP NEW 20 x 24 inch oil

It feels so good to be working in oil again after being in the house with my acrylics thru the winter. I only like to work with oil in my outside studio when the temperature warms up. I am planning on doing several paintings over the summer months hopefully before it gets too warm. This is just the beginning to this painting after around 3.5 hours of work. It is going quite quickly and I like how it is progressing. I will need to wait a few days for the paint to dry as I am using a painting medium of stand oil and OMS around 5:2 ratio. I really like how the stand oil leaves a nice shine to the surface and the OMS will increase the drying time a bit. Stay tuned!

WIP finished!!

It is time to get this painting off the easel and another on. Glad of it.

WIP 20 x 30 inch acrylic "Crock Pot & Friends``

I started this painting around a week ago and I am moving very slowly towards completion. I guess I am just not feeling this one for some reason. Originally I had the background in a pale yellow color and it looked so washed out. I think the dark background has made a great improvement but I still have a lot to finish up.

"Strawberries & Cream" Finished

I am putting this painting away for a little while. I have spent far too much time on it and I am not sure it is really finished yet. I am sure I will see something to change after a week or so of looking at it!

New WIP "Strawvberries & Cream" 12 x 24 inch Acrylic

This is the start of the painting I am working on now. It is going fairly well although the red cloth proved to be a bit of a challenge. I think it will be ok in the end though. Stayed tuned for progess shots.

12 x 12 inch acrylic "Cherries"

Another smaller painting completed. I didn't really enjoy doing this one. I found the bowl to be especially frustrating and I am not really happy with it. I have another idea for a larger painting that i think I will start next. Stay tuned.

WIP Finished 15 x 30 inch acrylic

I am calling this painting done. It was a real challenge but i think I say that about every painting I start! The red of the tomatoes was especially hard to get right with the colors that I have but i think in the end they turned out ok. I really love this format and size for still lifes. It makes the painting have a real presence in a room.

WIP 15 x 30 inch acrylic

This is another new painting started yesterday from one of my own photos. It is turning out to be another challenging piece but at the same time I am enjoying the whole process and learning as I go. I am finding it really hard to get a decent orange for the tomatoes. It is leaning more towards red and not the brownish red that I want. Off to do some more mixing!

Green Apple Finished

I am so glad to call this one done. It was more challenging than it started out to be. The value changes in the white stripes where especially hard to do.

WIP stage 3

I put another layer of color on this painting and it is starting to take shape. This is starting to be a fun piece and I love the greens.

WIP continues

This is the first color layer in this painting. It seems to be going quickly but I know I will need lots of layers to get the effect I want.

18 x 18 inch acrylic WIP

I thought I would post this painting to show my progress starting with the value study. I usually don't begin a painting in this way unless it has a lot of value changes as this one does. This will make my job easier when I get into the color. This actually went quite fast just over 1 1/2 hours so I think putting the color on will go just as fast. This is definitely the "messy" stage.

14 x 18 inch acrylic "Mason Jars" SOLD

Here is another painting in the "canning" series. This one gave me a lot of grief and I am not really happy with the results. I don't think I really liked the photo from the beginning and it shows in my results. I will probably do some more work on it at a later date.

Red & Silver reworked

After some good suggestions from my friends at WetCanvas, I changed the table color in this painting. I think it looks a lot better now and I am happier with it.

WIP 16 x 20 inch acrylic

I couldn't wait to start this painting mainly because I love the colors. After the muted colors of my previous painting, this one is a joy to paint. I still have a lot to do on the bowl and apple, but I think the cloth is just about done. I may also lighten up the background color, staying with the blue but just a bit lighter. The blue is a nice complement to the red. The reflections are a little trying so i am going to simplify them a bit.

WIP Finished 15 x 30 inch acrylic "Copper, Vinegar and Eggs"

I think I will call this one finished for the time being. It went fairly smoothly for such a complicated set-up and I enjoyed painting it. The most trouble came in the reflections and I am not fully satisfied with them. I will probably re-paint them at some point.

WIP 15 x 30 inch acrylic

I thought I would post this new painting although I am a long way from calling it finished. I think this is the first time I have tried to paint copper and it has been quite challenging. I think this is mainly due to the fact that my reference photo, which I shot myself, has two different light sources, one from the right and one from the left. There is two windows in the room I shot this photo. These windows left quite a glare on the kettle and there are some weird reflections that I may have to tame a little. I really wish I could take better photos. It would help a lot.

WIP 12 x 24 inch acrylic

I am not sure what to call this one, but I liked the simplicity of this still life when I shot it. For such a simple layout, it really gave me a lot of grief and i am still not finished with it yet. The teapot is looking too white for my taste so i will have to redo it and the background needs another layer of paint to smooth it out. My daughter says I am too much of a perfectionist and she is probably right. She thinks it is fine the way it is but i know I will still play with it tomorrow.

WIP Finished "Waiting to get Pickled"

I am finally putting this painting to rest and calling it finished. This was a fun one to paint and I learned a lot about how to paint white ceramic. This is not an easy thing to do. It is very hard to get a smooth finish with acrylic since it does dry so fast, but i think I did a not too bad job on this one. The bowl definitely was the hardest part of this painting.