Plum and Roses

Plum and Roses

8x6in oil on canvas panel    $100.


I tried for a more muted palette today
and for the life of me I could not get the fracturing correct.
Frustrating!

Artist Note.

Regarding a transition value or color.
This may sound elementary but I am
always seeing hard contrasts where there should not be any.

Hard edge. Perfect for point of interest.
Usually the lightest light
next to the darkest dark

This is a value between the
light and dark.
The transition between the
two values (and color)
is a way of softening an edge
without blending them.






An example would be trees where they meet the sky.
A mixture of the foliage color with the sky color
makes a better transition. Some artists will let the tree
color mix into the sky color as they paint, but that often
gets a chalky effect.
Best to mix a new color between the two

Have a look at art books to find the transition colors
the masters used. I promise you - it is fascinating.

Exception. If your style is hard edged/high contrast
then this obviously is not for you!

White Roses

White Roses

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   $100.

I wanted to have some fun today after working so hard on the
polk-dot vase yesterday. This little group of flowers did the trick.
I like the happy colors.

Artist Note.
When I have something light next to something dark
I always try to place a transition color/value to step
the values together. With white flowers, the shadow
area is important to achieve that, but so are the edges.
I do try leave a high contrast in the focal area...
don't always remember though!
Will show a little demo of transition value tomorrow.

Sunflowers and Polka-Dots

 Sunflowers and Polka-Dots

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  $125

This DPW Challenge is by the fabulous artist, Carol Marine.
The Polka-Dot Challenge . I was asked if these Challenges are
competitions. No, they are held weekly to stimulate and
share work with other artists. Anyone can submit to them.
They are fun and you see some really creative ideas
and  lovely paintings.

I had set my mind to paint something yellow today
so it was easy to place sunflowers into my neat, polka- dot jar.

Artist Note.

There was a request from Maga, on today's post asking what I had learned
about becoming more comfortable with using yellows when I did
my series of lemons.

First and foremost... never use white to lighten, only to mix the highlight.
I think that had been my main problem.

I used Holbein - Naples Yellow Italian to take the acid touch out of
 Cad Yellow Light - I had three brands of CYL in my box, trying to find one I liked
Richeson - Unbleached Titanium. (fabulous for lightening warm colors)
Windsor Newton -  Indian Yellow. The only brand I like for IY.
Windsor Newton - Cad Yellow deep.
Rembrandt - Transparent Oxide Brown.  Beautiful with the Indian Yellow
to reach darker shades, keeping them transparent
and adding a bit of Naples to move into
a lighter area before adding cadmium yellow

Fracturing the Roses

Fracturing the Roses

6x6in oil on canvas board   $85.

Had a lot of fun with this one. Guess what...No LEMONS!
I guess my series has finished. It only took 17 lemon paintings!!!!

This is completely from the imagination. I was drawing on memory
from the series of roses I did in October/November last year.

Fracturing is a term I came up with for my own work in this technique.

Artist Note.
For those of you who do not do a "series" or wonder why I would
do them, this is my story.
Yellow bothered me. I disliked some of the acid tones I seemed to get.
I never used raw or burnt umber  on my palette - which is
common to darken yellow.
I used purple, the complement, but still had a struggle.
If the purple was too bluish then I would produce green...too red a purple
and I would get an unpleasant brown. Plus, it all depended on the type
of yellow or brand, but now I have found a comfortable way of using yellow
which I did not have before the series.  The series was successful.
This morning I came to the studio and started to paint
the underneath part and found myself getting rid
of the lemons and putting in roses.

The Perfect Couple

The Perfect Couple

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Red is very hard to photograph and I had to work hard at this one
because my first efforts were way too bright.
 I did learn a something though... never paint a red teapot on a day when company
is due to arrive!

One Too Many

One Too Many

7x5 oil on canvas board   SOLD

One too many because I am running late and this would have been
quicker with one or two lemons instead of the three.

Final day of teaching at the Guild until August.
Part sad and part glad to have time to finish a commission or two.

And The Winner Is...

And The Winner Is...

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  100.

Lemon or limes?
Easy, for painting them, the lemon wins hands down.

Artist Note.

Still painting some of the same objects as I find that working on
something I find difficult, becomes easier each time.
In this case I am talking about painting the cans.
Trying to learn how do do the fracturing technique has been 
requiring a lot of intense concentration.
I stop and take notes when it works and also when it doesn't!
My notebook is starting to look as big as an encyclopedia!
Does anyone else keep notes on their paintings?

Red, Yellow and Blue

Red, Yellow and Blue.

6x6in oil on canvas panel   SOLD

Busy day so I took the opportunity to use the same still life set up again.
Hope you are not fed up with seeing really bright colors! I know I am happy painting them!

Lemon with Cans

Lemons with Cans

6x6in oil on canvas panel    85.

For the Dailypaintworks Challenge - Seeing Double. Where two paintings
of different sizes have to be done from the same source material.
This is the other painting done from the same set up as yesterday.
I just moved my easel slightly and zoned in on the cans.

Artist Note.

Here is the grouping in the studio. All these things I had recently painted and
placed on the counter ready to be put away,
but as I was walking past them the colors caught my eye
and I found them beautiful.

yes...that is masking tape in the top
right corner! My level below it.
The plum and little vase was
replaced by the lemon and lime.
The turquoise pencil was right there.
It all looked perfect so I brought my
easel over and painted it as is.


I had to be careful not to have both cans too shiny so I made the closer
one more detailed. The cans were the most difficult thing to do with
the fracturing technique.

Pencil with Lemons

Pencil with Lemons

8x6in oil on canvas panel    SOLD

This color combination, red, yellow, blue and green, all in the same painting
can be one of the hardest to pull off. Need your sunglasses?

Artist Note.

This is for the Daily Paintworks Challenge , Seeing Double.
Hosted by Artist, Kimberly Santini.
You have to do two painting of different sizes from the same source.
I painted two side by side.
I will post the other one tomorrow.

Regarding the rainbow of colors in the painting above.
The grey cans help act as a foil against the bright red colander.
All the yellow lemons have some green and red in them.
The green leaves have red and yellow - get the drift?
Everything should be harmonious when mixtures contain
similar bases.
The turquoise pencil is the stand alone color but turquoise
is a yellow/green blue and I moved small touches of it around
here and there.
I think the golden rule is to not have equal amounts of all
the different colors but I have seen it pulled off beautifully
in expert hands.