Cactus Glow

 Living in Raleigh, NC, the land of tall pines and rolling green hills, I didn't realize how beautiful a cactus could be until our recent trip to San Diego.  We were exploring a park when the late afternoon sun gently rested on this prickly beauty, softening the sharp edges with its warm glow.  I knew immediately that this was a subject I wanted to paint!

I chose an 18x24" canvas and sketched the basic placement of the cactus and the shadows, being careful to include accurate lines that defined the roundness of the shape.

My first layer went on quickly, with bold colors and transparent paints.  This part was really fun.  I put a thin coat of purple along the sunlit rim of the cactus to enhance the glowing effect.  While it was still wet, I wiped off paint to create the soft highlight area and also to create the prickly parts.

Applying opaque paints in the next layer took a lot longer, but I feel like I was able to capture the spirit of this sunlit moment the way I had envisioned.

Cactus Glow, 18x24 Oil, available soon :)

Dressed for Spring

After a week filled with snow and sleet, I am definitely ready for Spring!  My head knows that somewhere under the slush and muck a transformation is on its way, but my heart could really use a reminder.  Here it is...

I pass by this home on my morning run and when the azaleas bloom I am in awe.

 I chose a cropped, square format to minimize the house and emphasize the sunlit coat of blossoms.

There's surely no better garment with which to be dressed for Spring than a sunlit coat of blossoms :)

Dressed for Spring, 6x6 Oil, (available)

Framed:

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)

Life is Sweet

Every Spring I hang my hummingbird feeder on my kitchen window and look forward to the return of these beautiful and amazing wonders of the world.  One year I stood very still near the feeder (for a long time!) with my hand resting on the perch.  What a thrill it was when one of the tiny birds landed on my finger and stayed there while enjoying the sugar water that I had prepared.  Life is sweet!

Here is my painted version of two of those kitchen window visitors...

...and these are the reference photos that I used:

To create a stronger composition and to give a sense of story to the paintings when they are hung together, I made several intentional decisions: 

- chose small, 6x6 canvases to focus more intimately on each delicate hummingbird

- reversed the direction of the female bird so that she was facing her sweetheart

- replaced the feeder with impatiens from my backyard 

Here's the edited photo I ended up using for one of my references:

And here are the two little paintings in progress:

I really enjoyed painting the reflected color on the belly of the female ruby-throated hummingbird.  Since she doesn't have a red throat like her male counterpart, it was a great way to give her more color! 

Life is Sweet II, 6x6 oil (sold)

Life is Sweet I, 6x6 oil (sold)

I Believe I Can Fly II

This post may look similar to my last post, 

but this week the turtle dreams are even bigger :)

After completing the 8x8 version of I Believe I Can Fly, I set to work on a 20x20 canvas, using the smaller painting as my study.  

Here's my initial sketch:

I used basically the same steps as with the smaller painting, but I had to work harder to achieve some of the effects that require laying wet paint into wet paint because it started to dry before I got to the second layer.

The smaller painting is now sold, but here's a bigger turtle with a bigger dream:

I Believe I Can Fly II, 20x20 Oil (available)

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