"Nectarines"

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"Nectarines"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to continue the paring of fruits since the previous pair resembled nectarines so much.  The whole time I was painting I thought wow these really do look like nectarines.  That's the reason I wanted to paint actual nectarines for todays alla prima session.  Today was a bit challenging to paint these in natural light, the weather was cloudy for most of the day and pretty gloomy at times.  I wanted to stay true to painting in this manner even though it got pretty dim the colors were still pretty true to the original.

I wanted to let you guys know I'll be doing a demo on Thursday September 22 at Dick Blick in Edina from 1-4 p.m.  I think I might do a rose or fruit painting still undecided on what to paint, any suggestions?   Hope to see you guys there! 

I started with the usual dry brush approach using a bit of raw umber on the brush.  Once the drawing is complete I stated the background and nectarines with its general colors.  The colors I used were ultramarine blue, naples yellow, titanium white, burnt sienna, cad.red light, and cad.yellow light.

Then I stated the darker values with their specific forms, the colors I used for this section were burnt sienna, cad.red light, raw umber and ultramarine blue.  Then I added the lighter values with their specific forms, the colors I used were titanium white and cad.yellow light.

I repeated the process with the second nectarine after the first one is completed.

After the nectarines are completed I stated the wooden board with its general colors, the colors I used were raw umber and burnt sienna.  Then I stated the darker values with their specific values, the colors I used were ultramarine blue and burnt sienna.

Then I stated the lighter values with their specific values, the colors I used were titanium white, naples yellow, burnt sienna and cobalt blue.  This is the finished painting and really happy with the result.  The lighting was an issue in the beginning but it was just something to figure out and able to work through.  As stated in previous posts painting in this manner is addicting, I love the colors one is able to see with natural light and how subtle value shifts are presented.  Thanks for stopping by and viewing, hope you enjoyed this one. 

Picture of the setup.

"Peonies"

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"Peonies"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Being on vacation has its benefits but the downside is that I wasn't able to paint for a while, it was nice going back home and relaxing it lets me clear my head and come back with a fresh slate.  I cannot believe its been a week since I last painted I don't like that I had to do that, since coming back from vacation I've just been so busy with everything and finally had time today to paint again.  It feels so great to paint again it just puts all your worries away and I just dive into my painting not thinking of anything else, its pretty therapeutic.  I always say to myself after not painting for a while how I can go so long, I seriously go through withdraws.  What can I say I'm addicted to painting!

Peonies are intimidating to me their pedals are so complicated to paint and there's not a set way to paint them.  To say that I went out of my comfort zone again is an understatement, especially being the first painting back from not painting for a while.  Usually I like to paint a couple pictures before I dive into something so complicated like this, but today I just decided to go at it.  Peonies are just so beautiful in their subtle colors and how each pedal has so much character to it.  Other than being intimidated to paint the pedals I was also excited because I can be so gestural with the paints, usually I'm not able to do that but with this painting I went to town with it.  The subtle colors and gestural strokes made it so much fun to paint, I'm really happy with this painting and how it came out I hope you can see how much fun I had with the process photos.  Now time to get back to the grinding wheel and start painting more again!    

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and just a bit of raw umber on the brush for the drawing stage.  I kept the drawing pretty simple didn't want to get to detailed since these flowers are pretty complicated with each fold.  After the drawing is complete I went in and added the general colors of the peonies, not worried about details at this stage just the statement of color and how it wraps around the form.  I also do not add the darkest and lightest values, I wait to do that in their separate stages.  

I start on the first two peonies working them at the same time, I only paint the middle to darker values.  When that stage is close to completion I start on the lighter values and highlights, this stage was so much fun.  Since each pedal has a gestural look to them I decided to treat them in that manner, I went very gestural with each stroke I didn't wanna make it to abstract just enough to give the sense of movement.  When filling in the lighter values I bounce back to the darker values and adjust the intensity if need be, usually it does.

Once they are done I move onto the next two starting with the middle to darker values, I wish I can say my approach to painting peonies is the same as my other paintings, it's not.  There are some similarities but peonies are so complicated with each pedal, they are so mushed in together its hard to just render each pedal one at a time.  When adding the lighter values and highlights I also go back to the darks and adjust their intensity, and also go back to the lighter values and do the same.  When adding the lighter values I notice I need to add the darker values around the peonies which are the leaves, they frame the peonies and give them their shape which is important so I can take it to a finish.  I keep working on the peonies for a while bouncing back and forth from darker to lighter values, I'm also getting thicker with the strokes in the lights.   As stated before I'm being more gestural with the strokes to indicate movement and texture, I can not lie it was so much painting like this I was able to be gestural than usual.

Then I filled in the background after finishing the peonies, stating the background now is important so I can address the edges and push certain areas further away.  When stating the background I also fill in the  stems and clear vase, once that was complete I go back into the leaves and take them to a finish by adding more chroma and lighter values in certain areas.  This painting was a lot of fun all the way till the finish, playing with textures and movement of the paint was a neat thing to do.  I'm looking to implore more of that in the future with my paintings.  I hope you guys had a lot of fun with this one, thanks for stopping by and viewing! 

Plein Air Painting

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"Lake of Isles"

4 x 6 in

Oil on Linen Panel

Today was raining for the most part and it cleared up around noon time, I went out with a buddy of mine for a quick plein air painting.  Here's a pic of our set up:

It was a lot of fun doing a landscape painting, completely different than what I usually do.  Landscapes are not my cup of tea for the most part but after today and just diving into this painting, I can say I changed my mind a bit about them.  Since the weather is getting better I plan to do more of these in the near future, thanks for stopping by and viewing. 

"Apricots"

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"Apricots"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Apricots have a smooth surface to them, their tones are subtle and colors are deep but subtle as well.  I really like the shape of these guys they have a funny quirky shape to them, needless to say it was fun painting them.  Composing these guys wasn't to difficult no matter how you arrange them they always seem to say something by their body shape.  The smooth skin and rich colors made them even more delicious to paint, and to eat them was a plus after a long day of painting.

I started with the usual dry brush approach using no mediums and a bit of raw umber on the brush.  After the drawing is done I started laying the general colors, I'm keeping the paints fairly thin at this stage as I still have more paint to put on.

Then I start to get darker values to turn the form even more in the big form modeling stage, I progressively go into each level of tones.  I treat it as if I'm drawing with a pen or pencil, I slowly go from one tone to the other.  This creates better handling of the paints and more control.  At this stage I also don't add the darkest and lightest values, I like to keep the values in the middle stages.  I like to break down after big form modeling to darker and lighter value stage, meaning I add the darkest and lightest values and its details to take each area to a finish.  

After the darker values are stated I start on the lighter values and its specific values.  After finishing with the apricots I start on the wooden base by stating the general color and the way the lights are wrapping around the form.  Remember at this stage I'm not worried about details just a general statement of colors and the way the light falls on the form.  

Then I lay in the darker values and its specific forms, I do the same with the lighter values and take it to a finish.

I finish the painting by adding the background and softening the surrounding edges, its easy to forget about edges but remember they can make or break you'r painting.  It's important to not forget about them, sometimes I like to keep all the edges soft until the end of the painting and sharpen certain edges to give more of a focus to that area.  Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoyed this one.