Corner of Sunshine

Today's Sun Day Art blog post is in honor of my father and mother-in-law who are preparing to sell their beautiful home in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. 

I love finding spots where the sun is slipping around a corner.  It makes me want to soak in the moment because I know I can't hold on to it.  This sunlit corner caught my eye when we were visiting my father and mother-in-law.  The warm tile, clay pots, and stucco walls filled the corner with glowing reflected light, as well as the direct sunlight filtered through the flowers.  Ten minutes later, the allure of this corner had slipped away until another day...

I chose to crop the photo so that the focus was on the fleeting sunlight.

Starting with a little 6x6 study, one of the (very) subtle things that I enjoyed about this composition was the way the white plastic chair serves to soften and add interest to the bottom left corner.

Corner of Sunshine, 6x6 Oil, sold

And here's a larger 20x20 version.  Love that sunlight!

Corner of Sunshine, 20x20 Oil, sold

Me and my dad :)

Peace of the Day

What could be more enticing than layers of downy comfort on a warm, sunlit bed?  After a long, hectic drive on the Jersey Turnpike, this is the wonderful view that welcomed us to the Sleepy Hollow Country Club for my cousin's wedding this Fall.  It was definitely our peace of the day.

As I thought about painting this scene, I knew that I wanted to emphasize its strong light and dark patterns, so I started with a small "thumbnail" sketch to establish my values with dark, light, and medium.  This quick sketch was my road map for both an 8x10 study and a larger 12x24 painting.

 For both paintings, I began with a lightly toned canvas and basic placement of the elements, giving special attention to getting the perspective correct. 

The next steps involved adding color, focusing on warm and cool, while trying to be true to the values that I established in my initial thumbnail sketch.  If you squint at this final painting, you'll see that I managed to stay pretty close! :)
Peace of the Day, 8x10 Oil, framed (available)

For the larger painting, I decided to use a wider canvas for my composition, which I think worked really well:
Peace of the Day II, 12x24 Oil (available)

Curb Appeal

In honor of the last few days of Spring, today I am featuring one of the many Spring-inspired scenes that have found their way to my easel.  

"Curb Appeal" celebrates my favorite time of year.  The hope of new life is everywhere, the colors are vibrant, the shadows seem to dance with newly emerged leaves, the thick yellow-green pine pollen coats our patio furniture (oh wait, that's the part I try to forget!)

I love walking through my neighborhood, camera in hand, eyes seeing as if for the first time.  This particular scene caught my eye because of the way the foreground shadow spilled across the street and then the gentle curve of the street drew my eye to the distant sunlit azaleas.

The photo doesn't capture the intensity of the purple-red azaleas in the shadow of the foreground trees.  In fact, the color was so intense that it seemed to reflect right in to the shadowed street!  The fun I had as an artist was remembering those colors and bringing them to life.  I also had fun with the composition, making sure that the dark and light values worked to lead the viewers eye around the scene and back again.

Here's my 8x10 version of "Curb Appeal":

Curb Appeal, SOLD

8x10 oil

And here's a larger, 16x20 version:

Curb Appeal, SOLD

16x20 oil

Role Model

Today I'm featuring a painting that I highlighted in my newsletter last year.  I got so many positive responses on how fun it was to see my "step by step process" that I decided to feature it in my blog too.  Enjoy!

 A couple of years ago I came across this scene at a garden center that cried out, "Paint me!"  It had all of my favorite components:  strong light and show contrasts, stonework, flowers, and great reflected light.  Here's the photo I took:

I chose a square canvas and cropped the scene to emphasize the story I wanted to tell -- the little pot standing in the proverbial shadow of the big one, his "role model".

My Studio Set up
Here's what my studio set up looked like.  I put my ipad (a great tool!) on the right to view the photo and prepared my palette with opaque and transparent primary colors.

Step 1  I toned my Ampersand panel with Transparent Oxide Orange and then sketched basic outlines with that color mixed with a little Cadmium Red Light. Then I wiped out the light areas with a paper towel and a paint brush.  This is the most important step because it tells me if my composition is going to work!

Step 2  I laid in some background greens with transparent pigment.  I've found that transparent paints are great for giving a sense of depth.

Step 3  Then I painted the reflected sky color that I saw, knowing that I would tone this down later on.

Step 4  Worked a little on the mid-ground greenery, keeping it soft so that it didn't draw attention away from my center of interest.

Step 5  Finished covering the background and began with the warmer colors of the stonework...

Step 6  Finally got to paint the flowers!  I wasn't happy with the greenery in the small planter though.

Step 7  In this step I decided to replace the big leaf that was in the smaller planter with a more colorful spray of flowers. I also decided to soften the background so that it would look more distant. 

Here's my completed painting, before framing...

and after framing...

Role Model, Available

6x6 oil

Ready for a good home!  Click here to learn more.