Vintage Marbles

Vintage Marbles

Oil on Masonite Panel  6X6

Time to get back to painting.  It seems that since the holidays, there has been a steady (but VERY welcome) stream of house guests!  Now I need to put painting time back into my regular schedule.  I have plenty of new art supplies to keep me busy.  I stocked up on canvas of all sizes and lots of masonite panels- along with a good supply of watercolor paper.  No excuses.

The painting above is a small part of the jar of marbles my mom has from her childhood.  It is times like this that I am so happy that my grandparents had a basement AND the desire to keep so many of these little treasures from long ago!

WIP Pebble Beach- Oil on Canvas

Since we started the relocating in July, I haven't done much painting to speak of.  The only painting I have worked on at all is this 15X30 oil of a photo I took at Pebble Beach- on the awesomely beautiful 17-Mile Drive.

While going through the nightmarish process of packing up everything and trying to downsize at the same time, painting time was pretty much nonexistent.  Along with packing, I needed to pare our home's contents down enough to fit into a 1500 sq ft beach house, from our previous 3100 sq ft.  Now that I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and no longer living surrounded by moving boxes, I hope to make my art a priority again!

While I was getting ready to move, I did find time to get to my weekly painting class now and then- and this is what I was working on.  Now that I live further away, I will not be going to that class as often- but will still get there whenever I make the trip to see family.  Anyway, enough rambling.  I am hoping that by posting this, I will be back to painting and blogging on a regular basis again.

WIP "Mosquito Lake" Oil Painting

oil on canvas 12X16

reference photo

Mosquito Lake is a beautiful lake up in Northern California on the way to Lake Tahoe.  The lake is on Ebbetts Pass in the Sierra Nevadas at about 10,000 ft. elevation (Alpine County). It is one of our favorite day trip destinations.  It seems that every time we go there, the water is perfectly still and makes for perfect photos!  I have been meaning to paint this for months and finally got to it.  I am working on it in my painting class and should be done with it this week.  I have to add some more details and glaze in some more darks at the shoreline, but it is almost finished.  When it is completed, I will post some photos of the start-to-finish progress.

Sea Shells!

oil on canvas 8X10

oil on canvas 5X7

These are #37 and #38 of my 100 Paintings Challenge.

http://www.100paintingschallenge.com/

  I was taking my time and in no rush at all since I have a year to do this challenge- well, I guess I really need to get with it or I will be passed up very soon by a participant that is on her second 100.  Should this worry me?  Maybe I should just let it happen and continue to have fun!  I am enjoying the challenge because all of the artists participating have different styles and there really is much to learn from the experience.  So- back to the easel!

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!

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

Seashell Trio- oils on canvas

I am finishing, one at a time, the oil paintings that I started earlier this week. Sometimes I find I get more done by starting a batch of paintings at once. If I prime multiple canvases, they are then ready to go and easy to start. No excuses. Painting on these small canvases is so fun, too!

The dark still life starts out on a canvas covered in dark (usually black) acrylic paint. It is faster and uses less of my more expensive oil paint. Then, I can mix my darks for the background- usually alizarin crimson, burnt umber, and ultramarine blue. For the beach/sand paintings, I usually start with a raw sienna mix. Then come the grains of sand, then the shells and beach glass. Some of my shells and fruits (cherries, pomegranates, etc.) get a pure black background to make them really stand out.

Time to go paint- I have more than a few paintings waiting in my studio!

Thanks for visiting-

Sheryl

"In The Garden" Oil on Canvas- Finally Finished

Well, I finally finished the oil painting of my tree roses that I started many weeks ago. I am a slow painter, but not that slow. I only work on it when I go to my oil painting class once a week. I have been with the same painting group for many years- since college. I had to give it up for the years I lived in New York, but now that I am a mere 2 hour commute away- I get to go! Same instructor, and same group mostly. The group is mainly women in their 60's to 80's- we have all aged in the almost 30 years since I joined. I am not in my 60's- barely into my 50's- and once a week I get to feel like the kid and that is awesome. Yesterday, I went to class and finished up some details like the water drops and the light splashes in the leafy area. Then, I got to hear the words we wait for Gary to say- "time to sign it". Woo Hoo!

The painting is painted from a photo of one of my tree roses in my nicely maturing (third year, best so far) rose area of my gardens. I have another photo of the same rose bush that has a bird nest tucked into the branches and I really think I need to paint that also.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl