Sweet Treat

As I finished painting "Sweet Treat I" and "Sweet Treat II", ice glazed my front steps and my poor dog skidded down the back ones.  I am ready for the warmth that brings these jewel-like birds to my kitchen window!  These two paintings are a re-visit of two that I painted at the beginning of last year,  but this time I used a smooth panel for my painting surface and a new palette of colors.

Here's one of the original photos from my kitchen window:

Step 1, sketched with pastel pencil on a 6x6 panel (and flowers, instead of a feeder):

Step 2:  Quickly covered the sketch with paint so that it wouldn't wipe away easily

Step 3:  Covered the background with a dark transparent green mix and a quick-drying medium

and then covered the bird and plant with transparent colors in the same family of colors that I wanted to see in my final painting.  My palette currently consists of Michael Harding paints in Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow, Permanent Rose, and Zinc White

While the medium was still wet, I laid on thicker layers mixed with zinc white.  

Here is this year's version of "Sweet Treat I", 6x6 Oil

and its companion piece, "Sweet Treat II", 6x6 Oil

They look great together :)

Click here for more information and to see them on my website.

House Hunting

 To warm your soul and remind you that the winter chill will soon be replaced by the hope of new life, I am posting the "house hunting" of nature that is about to begin in earnest.   

This little bluebird visited my yard a few years ago and was so much fun to watch as he clearly was trying to attract his future mate to this lovely home.  She accepted his proposal and before long their family began :) 

I loved everything about this composition: the verticals of the background trees that mimicked the house, the dynamic lines of the roof and plants that lead your eye to the entrance of the little home and, especially, the way the sun and shadow drape across the entrance in welcome.

But here's my little secret:  the amorous blue bird would not stay still long enough for me to take his portrait on the roof!  So I took a picture of him on a branch and did a little photo manipulation (click on the image and you can see).  The trick was to catch him with the lighting the same as the house.

My artistic vision of this scene was much warmer than the camera captured, adding a glow to the cozy home that would soon be brimming with life.  Happy Spring!

House Hunting,  SOLD

5x7 Oil