I Believe I Can Fly

Walking around my favorite lake on a recent autumn day as the leaves gently drifted on the breeze, I came across this small turtle who seemed to have big plans.  Balanced precariously on the tip of a submerged log, he stretched out his legs with aerodynamic precision and lifted his head toward the sky.  With his eyes closed tightly, I could imagine him repeating to himself, "I believe I can fly ... I believe I can fly."  We can dream, can't we?

I wanted a close-up of Mr. Turtle on his inaugural flight, but when I cropped the photo I could tell that the surface of the water would look vertical without some visual clues.  So I decided it would be important to move some floating leaves into the foreground and have them overlap the turtle's reflection.

In my under-painting I worked out the composition with the leaves and added some hints of leaves floating on the surface behind the turtle to indicate distance.  At this point I was excited to begin capturing the turtle's character, as well as the smoothness of the water, while the under-painting was still wet.

In the final painting, you can see the important role that the leaves play in defining the surface of the water and in leading your eye into and around the canvas.  Of course the turtle doesn't care about all the things I did to properly compose him ... he's too busy launching his dream :)

I Believe I Can Fly, available

8x8 oil

Here he is framed:

Rose

I found this week's flower at the Raleigh Rose Garden.  What a beautiful place for the senses!

As with the other flowers I've been sending to you, the Rose is part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered to my blog, newsletter, and facebook readers for only $40.  This one has sold, but just send a note to me to find out if others are available (or maybe I can be convinced to paint one just for you!)

Here's the photo I took in the Raleigh Rose Garden.  I painted this as a 6x6 and it is framed and currently available (see Time to Smell the Roses).

For the 4x4 mini, I focused on this one amazing rose that seemed to have light emanating from within.  It truly glowed.

Here's my painted version, with fun, lively colors:

Rose, 4x4 Oil, SOLD

Pansy

This week's flower is one that graces my window boxes from October to April every year.  The purple and yellow pansy is my favorite because of the great complementary colors and because they always look like they are smiling (squint your eyes and you'll see!)

As with the flowers of the past two weeks, Pansy 1 and Pansy 2 are part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered to my blog, newsletter, and facebook readers for only $40.  Add a smile to any room by placing your wilt-free flower on a little easel.  Just send a note to me if you'd like to start a bouquet for yourself or for a special someone :)

Here's the photo I took of pansies in my window box:

And here's one of the smiling faces I focused on:

Cheers!

Pansy I, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

And here's the companion piece.  See if you can find this one in the original photo above :)

Pansy 2, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

Iris

This week's flower is one of my personal favorites... the iris.

As with last week's amaryllis, it is part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered to my blog, newsletter, and facebook readers for only $40.  They make perfect gifts and add cheer to any room when placed on a little easel.  Just send a note to me if you'd like to start your wilt-free bouquet!

Here's the photo I took of irises at my mailbox:

I cropped the photo to emphasize the shape of this lovely blossom:

I had so much fun with this particular flower that I painted it twice:

Iris 2, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40

Iris 1, 4x4 Oil, SOLD

Amaryllis

For the next few weeks, I am going to send you flowers because, well, you deserve it!  As a new collector recently told me, "These are nicer than a dozen roses because they never wilt!"  

These flowers are part of a series of 4x4 mini paintings that are being offered for only $40.  They make perfect gifts (for you or someone special) and can be placed on a little easel to add cheer to any room.  This offer is reserved just for you and my newsletter and facebook readers, so send a note to me if you'd like to start your wilt-free bouquet!
 
This week's flower is a brilliant red Amaryllis.  I found these in Raleigh's JC Raulston Arboretum, which is a beautiful place and definitely worth many visits.  I started with this photograph from an earlier painting (see Amaryllis at the Arboretum), but for the 4x4 mini panels I've found that it's important to focus on just one or two flowers that have an interesting silhouette.  

I chose to zoom in on this graceful Amaryllis...

... and then I made it the star of the show:

Amaryllis, 4x4 Oil, Available for $40 

Azalea Glow VII

Azalea Glow VII is actually my tenth (and largest!) white azalea painting.  Each time I paint a white azalea I think, "Okay, that about does it for me."  And then something draws me back again.  

This time, it was the desire to create drama on a large scale, so I challenged myself to express the glow of the delicate blossoms on a 2' x 4' canvas.  Not an easy task, but It turned out just how I had hoped (which definitely doesn't always happen!)  I'm especially happy with how the strength of the values and shapes work equally well with either bright or low lighting.

Here are some of the steps in my process, starting with the original photo,

which I cropped to create interesting shapes around the flowers ("negative space").

I sketched a simple 4x4 grid to help with my placement of major shapes.  I usually use a soft pastel pencil for this stage because it wipes off easily.

Using transparent paints, I established my shapes.

After the paint dried, I covered the background greenery with a transparent blue/yellow mixture.

After the first layer dried, I added another layer and this time painted the areas of my flowers that would be shadowed.

At this point, I started in with opaque paints, keeping layers thin and adding nuances of warm and cool colors.  And, voila!  After a mere two weeks my painting is complete!  

Here's Azalea Glow VII, 24x48 Oil:

For size comparison, here it hangs at Waverly Artists Group next to two 18x24 paintings and several framed 6x6 minis.   Please stop by if you're in town!

 

Two Views: Safe Harbor and Red Boat Reflections

Often, there are several different paintings that can come from one photograph.  This particular view of Vernazza, Italy, inspired two paintings for me, focusing on different aspects of the same scene.

In Safe Harbor, I cropped the original photograph to emphasize movement.  I liked the diagonal lines that start with the reflection near the bottom right and zigzag through the boats, up to the walkway on the top right, and across the plaza to the left.

My challenge with this composition was to gently bring the viewer's eye back to the foreground.  My solution was to emphasize the reflections of the buildings and umbrellas to vertically connect back to the boats.  Here is Safe Harbor, 20x20 Oil:

After the first painting, I decided I liked the reflections so much that I wanted to paint the scene again, but with the focus primarily on the boat reflections.  I chose a long, horizontal format and cropped the image for my 18x36 canvas like this:

Here's the result ...another point of view.  Red Boat Reflections, 18x36 Oil

Both of these paintings are currently available at The Little Art Gallery.