"Vase & Peppers"

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"Vase & Peppers"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

This painting is another version of the first peppers & vase, I wanted to have more of a whimsical feel to the painting.  The composition definitely gives it that with the traditional triangle approach, having a good flow between the objects through composition can strengthen a painting.  I also liked playing with the colors and their subtle values.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber on the brush.  After the drawing is complete I stated the background first to get more of the overall value feel for the painting.  

After the background is complete I stated the vase first concentrating on big form modeling, this stage is the most important for me.  Its crucial to get this stage right in order for the rest of the form to work, making the light wrap around the form and believable is important to state first.  I spend the most time at this stage getting it right and turning the form, I keep the paints fairly thin, I can build up on it once I get more of the smaller forms stated.  After the big form modeling is complete I start on the darker values and stating their specific forms.  

I do the same with the lighter forms and take them to a finish.  As you can see stating the smaller forms in the darker and lighter values goes much quicker once the big form modeling is working correctly.  I also start to state the top cover of the vase and working on its big form modeling stage, once thats complete I state the darker values and its specific forms.

Then I state the lighter values and its specific forms.  Once the top is taken to a finish I then start on the wooden base and state its local colors, just stating the basic colors and how light affects it.  I'm not worried about details at this stage just wanna get a general statement of how the light is going across the form.  Then I state the lighter values and its specific forms.

Once the wooden base is completed I start on the first habanero pepper, again stating big form modeling first.  Stating the local colors and making the form turn, not worried about details at this stage just a general statement.  Then I add the darker values and its specific forms.

I do the same with the lighter values and take the first pepper to a finish.  I repeat the same process with the second habanero pepper.

The first pic shows after big form modeling stage I started to state the darker values and its specific forms.  Then I state the lighter values and its specific forms, after doing this the painting is complete.  I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did, if you guys have any questions just email me or leave a comment.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing!

"Peppers & Vase"

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"Peppers & Vase"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I've been wanting to paint this small little vase for such a long time, a friend of mine lend me it to paint and finally was able to.  These strong colors contrast each other so well, the cadmium oranges can be overpowering at times.  This vase is asian themed, the intricate designs which resemble a floral pattern was so much fun to paint.  As mentioned before the cadmium oranges can be overpowering, painting the peppers and keeping subtle value shifts within the oranges was a fun challenge overall.  The composition was also another neat factor to do, I wanted to keep it simple and yet fun.

Just a reminder I'll be giving a portrait painting demo at Blick Art Materials store in Edina, MN. on Wednesday the 27th of April from 1-4pm.  If your around the area stop on by! Here's the link to find out more info.

I started with usual dry brush approach for the drawing stage, just a bit of raw umber on the brush and no mediums.  When the drawing is complete I start on the first pepper just applying the local colors, at this stage I am only applying the middle values not stating any extreme darks or lights.  

Then I apply the darker values and take them to a finish, I do the same when I apply the lighter values too.  Having that base of local colors stated first or big form modeling lets me work out how the light is going to be falling across the form.  When I add the darker and lighter values after or the smaller forms it fits just right with the overall value pattern.

I repeat the same process with the second pepper, first stating the local colors.  When stating the local colors or the bigger form modeling I'm not concerned about details that will come after, I just want the form to turn with the general colors.  I'm also keeping the paints fairly thin at this stage, I like to go thicker when adding the smaller forms.  When the bigger form modeling is complete I state the darker values and its specific forms, I try to take it to a close finish and start with the lighter forms.

I then state the lighter values and state its specific forms, I also take this section to a finish.  When finished with the peppers I then add the local colors to the base and background.  I think filling all this information at this stage helps bring the overall values closer to a finish.  

Then I start on the vase and work on bigger form modeling while adding the local colors.  As you can see this stage I'm only worries about turning the form, making sure its believable on how the light is wrapping around the form.  Then I start on the top part of the vase and start to add darker values and its specific forms, I make sure these forms are working with the overall values. 

Then I add lighter values and its specific forms, I do the same as I did with the darker forms.  I then start on the body of the vase and repeat the same process.  After finishing the vase I go back to the wooden base and start to add the darker values and its specific forms.  

Then I add the lighter value forms and take the painting to a finish.  I hope your able to see that my process is fairly simple and straight forward, I like to concentrate on the shape and making it turn with the lights.  Details are not the answer to make a successful painting, it's the understanding of light and how it effects the form.  Thank you for stopping by and viewing, I hope you enjoyed this one!

"Fruit Tart"

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"Fruit Tart"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Hi everyone first I wanted to let you guys know I'll be giving a demo on Wednesday, April 27 at Blick art material store in Edina.  If you'r around the area you should drop by I will be there from 1-4, this is for the 100th anniversary of being open.  There'll be live music and also great food, I might be to distracted to paint with all the food. 

This is another attempt to paint these delicious treats, I had to do this one because of the kiwi's and strawberries mixed into the usual group.  The colors and textures made it so much fun to try to paint, its always great to push yourself and achieve textures you'r not familiar painting.  There's also a lot of subtle value shifts in the body of the fruit tart, its great practicing these techniques it sharpens your skills in many ways.  Needless to say I enjoyed every bite when completing the painting, it's always a great incentive to finish.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber on the brush.  When the drawing is complete I start on the raspberries just stating the local colors first.

Then I apply the darker values and when thats complete I add the lighter values as well.

I repeat the same process with the right side of the fruit tart where the strawberries and raspberries are at.

When that section is done I start on the body of the fruit tart, stating the main colors first going from light to dark.  

Then I apply the darker values and take it to a finish and do the same with the lighter values.  Then I add the cast shadows and background giving more of a finish look to the painting, this sets up the final touches needed in the middle part of the fruit tart.  When adding the background and cast shadows I'm being aware of edges and how soft I need to take them in order for them to recede. 

Then I start on the kiwi's stating the local colors first, when thats complete I introduce a bit of middle to darker values showing how light travels across the form.

Then I add the lighter values to the kiwi's and take them to a finish.  Then I start on the blue berries and just state the local colors again, the same as I did with the kiwi's.

Since blue berries are just basically two tones, it's an easy fruit to complete very quickly.  Then I start on the last section of the fruit tart, again stating the local colors first and getting the general statement of light  wrapping around the form. 

Then I add the lighter and darker values and took it to a finish.  With this painting I was still concentrated on bigger and smaller form modeling, I expedited the process by just stating local colors and painting the darker and lighter values which is basically the same thing.  By just simplifying this process one gets to see how simple you can render with the paints and push the values in each direction.  I hope you enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing! 

"Lady Finger Bananas"

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"Lady Finger Bananas"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

This is the second version of baby bananas painting, a friend of mine told me there actual name is "Lady Finger Bananas".  This composition was interesting in many ways, to paint these fruits in a view where there not so noticeable made it fun.  I like doing that at times deconstructing the subject matter by changing the composition with a unique look.  The subtle values of yellows to greens became a bit of a challenge to paint with such subdued tones, a great challenge overall to a delicious and beautiful fruit.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using raw umber and no mediums for the drawing stage.  After the drawing is complete I started with the medium values not painting the darkest and lightest values.  The colors I used where cad. yellow pale hue, viridian, and raw umber.  The reason I did not state any darker values such as ivory black or lighter values with titanium white, is because I wanted to work out the middle values which can be the most complicated values to get overall.

Then I stated the darker values including the wooden base.  Then I added the middle values and filled in the background.

I then stated the overall value patterns for the base. after that I stated the lighter values and took it to a finish.

Then I went back into the bananas and added the finishing details.  I also wanted to mention when finishing this painting I was aware of the edges all around the bananas, blurring some areas to push back and sharpening others to have more of a focus.  Edges as I've mentioned before are vital in a painting, they can do so much for your painting always pay close attention to them.  Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoyed this one!

"Angel Cake"

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"Angel Cake"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I was at a local coffee shop next to my house, this place is great to go relax and just enjoy a good cup of cappuccino or coffee.  I especially like going with my sketchbook and draw the people around me, its great capturing the moment with a simple gesture.  When I was done and ready to leave I saw they had these delicious angel cakes and was just drawn to them, not only was I wanting to eat them but really wanted to paint them.  It's always fun running into your next subject your gonna paint when you least expect it.

I started with my usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber.  After the drawing's complete I start filling in the strawberries with middle values using ivory black, cad. red deep, and cad. red light.  On this stage I like to get the forms turning and getting a sense of the overall light, which is also called bigger form modeling.  I am also keeping the paints fairly thin at this stage never going to thick.

Then I start to add the darker values and put in the smaller form modeling or details, I do the same with the lighter values.  Having the bigger form modeling first stated is so important for the smaller forms to work so well with the overall form, ninety percent of the painting is done in the bigger form modeling stage.

Then I start on the body by just modeling the lights first and making sure the form is turning with the general colors.  I only paint the middle values first, when those are working well then I start to add the darker values in which I can state them with details.

When the darker values are completed I then add the lighter values and take the body to a finish.  Then I add the background by just using ultramarine blue and titanium white.

After the background is completed I move onto the base by adding the general colors, and the movement of light.  When that stage is working well I then add the details and take the whole painting to a finish.  This painting was so much fun to do from beginning to end, needless to say I enjoyed the days hard work with a delicious treat and a cappuccino.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed.

"Baby Bananas"

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"Baby Bananas"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I ran into these baby bananas the other day at the grocery store and loved the miniature size of them.  Having them upright resembles a crab walking, I was hoping to create that image and movement with this composition.  I really like the subtle colors that these fruits have, the soft greens and yellows make it an easy choice to paint.  Unfortunately after painting them I haven't finished eating all these bananas, it will take me a while to do so but they are delicious so far.

I started with the usual dry brush approach for the drawing stage, with this painting the composition and number of bananas gave me more of a challenge.  When the drawing is completed I started to just apply the middle values and a bit of the darker ones as well.  The colors I'm using for this stage is viridian, cad. yellow pale hue, and ivory black.

Then I apply the middle to lighter values using the same colors.  These two stages of the painting was just to lay out the main colors and not worry about details and rendering it to perfection.  Then I apply the darker values and start to get to the rendering stage, one can say I started to do big form modeling at this point.  I worry about the fall of light and the way light wraps around the form.

I donn't take the bananas to a finish I keep it at the middle stage and start to add the background by using ultramarine blue, naples yellow and titanium white.  Then I added the base first stating the fall of light going from darker to lighter values.

Then I add details to the base and take it to a finish.  Once the wooden base is complete I go back to the bananas starting from left to right and take each section to a finish.  I add all the smaller forms or details and complete the painting.  This process is a bit different but similar to my usual way of painting, I enjoy keeping the fundamental part of my technique and changing the process in minor ways.  I hope you enjoyed this painting as much as I did, thanks for stopping by and viewing.

"Cut Pepper"

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"Cut Pepper"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Hi everyone I have been extremely busy and finally back to painting, this quick little painting I thoroughly enjoyed.  Its always a little hesitating getting back to painting these guys so quickly, I feel once you paint these guys so much you start to get into a groove.  But once you stop for a little bit then its hard to get that groove back.  Awww the joys of painting!  

With this painting I wanted to do something different in the nature of this beautiful pepper.  The colors between the wooden board and vibrant pepper made for a good combination of a painting.   

I started with the same approach as I usually do, a bit of raw umber on the brush and no mediums for the drawing stage.  When the drawing is complete I start on the pepper, with this painting I am still concentrating on big form modeling but I want to emphasize on just laying all the major colors first.  Once I've laid all the main colors I start to turn the form and see how the light wraps around the form.  

Then I add details and take the pepper to a finish.  Once the pepper is complete I move onto the wooden base and do the same.  I start first this time with just adding the overall colors and fall of light.

Once the fall of light is working I then add details to the wooden base and take it to a finish.  Then I add the background and take the whole painting to a finish.  This painting was fun and a quick one in comparison to my other compositional paintings, but still a fun one to paint.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed!

"Mini Fruit Tart"

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"Mini Fruit Tart"

6 x 6 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to paint these guys in an overhead view, I was going to paint it in the usual front angle composition but I wanted something different with this one.  It's always fun to experiment with different angles to see what works best for you'r painting.  The textures are another reason why I painted it at this angle, the wet and smooth feel of the blueberries and strawberries are just delicious to paint.  Needless to say I couldn't wait to be done so I can indulge in this delicious treat.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums just a bit of raw umber on the brush for the drawing stage.  When the drawing stage is complete I started on the black raspberries, first getting the overall values stated.  This is also called big form modeling seeing how light wraps around the form.

Then I add the lighter values to bring the raspberries to a finish and tie it in with the darker to middle values.

Once the black raspberries are done I start on the blueberries and do the same as I did with the black raspberries.  I start on the fall of light and get the general statement of values.  Then I add lighter values and tie them in with the middle to darker values.

Once the blueberries are complete I started on the strawberry.  I paint the main color notes and get the main value shift of that section.  I keep the paints thin in this section and keep the edges soft, I've also started to add some of the reflected lights on the strawberry.

Then I add details to the strawberry and take it to a finish, the details work within the larger values and chroma's that where stated in the bigger form modeling stage.  Once the strawberry is complete I start on tart itself.

To take the painting to a finish I painted the background and cast shadow, I used titanium white, cerulean blue, naples yellow, and raw umber.  This painting was a lot of fun to paint and even more enjoyable to eat afterwards.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing!