100 Paintings Challenge #32, #33

 oil on canvas 5X7"

Oil on masonite 5X7"

These are the last two paintings I posted for the 100 Paintings Challenge.  Every time I am ready to post, I get stressed out.  The blog suggests that you stick with one medium instead of trying to "master" more than one.  When I started the challenge, I had intended to just use my watercolors.  I have been taking some time with the oils also, and when I paint with oils for a few weeks, I don't have new watercolors to post.  Why waste the oils and not count them?  They are still paintings that I am painting, and learning from.  Many/most of the main ideas of painting are shared between mediums such as perspective, value, shadows, etc.

Well, as you can see, I did decide not to discount the oils I have been doing since they are definitely learning experiences.  Some of the other participants have included sketches, pen and ink, acrylic, and watercolor- so why not oils and watercolor?  Why must I over think everything, anyway?

Now that I have had my morning stress, time to enjoy my coffee and crossword puzzle!

Stained Glass Window- California Poppies

I included this photo since it shows the copper patina

My latest stained glass window is ready to hang. I finished the poppies a few days ago and put a copper patina on the solder.  I took these photos before I had my husband hang it up since it will be in a high window and harder to photograph. The next window I am going to do, I will be working with lead and learning a new process.  Making these windows has been so much fun, I am really happy that I decided to finally learn how after years of thinking about it!

100 Paintings Challenge #30 & #31 - Venice, Italy

Well, as usual, those few sunny days last weekend were just a teaser.  I know it happens every year, but its hard not to get excited about the thought of spending more time outside in the sun.  It is raining and the sun has been a no-show for several days.  Since I won't be doing any gardening this weekend, I will work on my 100 paintings- I am on #30 & #31. I was going at a more leisurely pace, but some of the other participants post them 3 or more at a time.  Guess I need to step up my game!  Back to the reference photos again while I wait for the garden to come back and give me new things to paint.  I love looking through the piles of reference photos collected over the years and among my favorites are the ones from Italy.  I've said it before and here it is once again- I would go back to Italy in a second.  Italy is a beautiful country and the people there are so friendly!

These are small watercolors, done on 8X10" 140 lb cold press paper.  Another stab at people (loosely painted, no detail just really working on proportion and scale)

I have been thinking again about trying out ebay.  Anyone had any good luck there?  I like etsy and have no complaints, but sometimes I get frustrated with the low number of item views.  There are somewhere around a gazillion artists on etsy and sometimes I think it is nothing short of a minor miracle when people find my items.  I really don't understand how some shops have ridiculously high item views!  I have signed up for Fine Art America, but haven't put anything on  there yet.  I am also trying to put a "buy now" button on my site like I have seen on other blogs- back to copying and pasting html code which I hate.  I have a domain name, but setting up a website from scratch sounds like a lot of work!  I am great at procrastinating, but need to get over it and do something.  It took me forever just to start my blog, and once I finally did it- I am really glad I did.  I have found many other artist bloggers and you all have wonderful comments and feedback!  I would love to hear any of your ideas on ebay, etc.

Thank you!

Watercolors- Ready for Summer!

Can you tell I am ready for summer to get here?  Where I live (in a valley in California) we get hit with foggy days much of the winter.  I don't mean hazy fog.  I am talking about the kind of fog they use in creepy movies.  The kind of fog that means you can't see 5 feet into your yard.  No sun for days.  Well, we saw the sun the other day and now I got a taste of what is coming- just not soon enough! I opened up windows to get some fresh air in the house after a winter of being closed in with the heater running.  

So, now I am already planning my first trip to the nursery-first of many.  I can't wait to start spending days in the garden- even though the first days will be spent doing all the dreaded spring clean-up and pruning away dead branches.  And, of course there will be the beach days!  

I am dealing with my Spring Fever by painting the beach.  I have said it before, but here it is again- I miss Long Island's beaches!  We have nice beaches here in California also, but the main problem is that they are more like an hour away now instead of the 15 minute drive on Long Island!     

Watercolors- Trip to Paris

After spending the last week painting with oils, I took some time for watercolors.  I am doing The 100 Painting Challenge (http://www.100paintingschallenge.com/) and my understanding is that we should stick to one medium- and I started with watercolor.  These are #25 and #26 of my 100, so I need to keep up with them.  I love working with oils also, so I tend to go back and forth between the two mediums- mixing in some acrylic paintings along the way.  
The reference photos for these watercolors  were taken during a fun week in Paris a few years ago.  My husband was there on business, so I had some time to wander around and take pictures while he was working.  There are bakeries and pastry shops (boulangeries/patisseries) on every street like the ubiquitous delis and bagel shops on Long Island.  Lucky Long Islanders.  I loved looking at all of the beautiful and delicious (I sampled more than a few) items in the display cases!  I am sure they thought I was crazy for taking pictures of these tasty treats, but everything is a possible future painting- something my fellow artists would agree with.  The photos for these were taken on the Rue St. Dominique and Rue Cler-  two of my favorite places of the many wonderful areas in Paris. 


Thanks for stopping by!

Cherries Painting- Oils on Masonite

Finally got a good photo (actually a scan) of the finished cherries. I had a lot of trouble since the finish is reflective and I kept getting glare with my photos even with the flash off. So much for taking a quick photo to post! Fortunately, my scanner has a professional mode and definitely gave me a perfect image. There isn't much difference in the two photos, I just put some final touches on the glass to give it more of a shine- but it was definitely worth it!

Thank you for visiting and for any (much welcomed) comments-

Sheryl

Another Still Life- Cherries!

I am finishing up the still lifes and other small oil paintings I started last week. They are a great way for me to have fun while working on my skills with reflections, light and shadow, etc. My favorite part is at the end when I add things like water drops and highlights. The champagne/sorbet glass with cherries is almost done. Need to wait for the paint to dry so I can add a little shine to the side of the glass. I will post it when it is done- I will wait a day to be sure I don't end up ruining the under layer of cherries. I painted the single cherry on a 4X4 canvas and the glass of cherries is on 5X7 gessoed masonite.

Thanks for visiting and thanks in advance for your comments!

Sheryl