Zippo

I painted this little gem using only three colors - ultramarine blue, transoxide red and white. That was this week's challenge. A limited palette meant I had to concentrate on mixing color accurately and had to really think about value. I am loving these challenges! Check out how other artists handled the challenge by visiting the host site, www.dailypaintworkscom..

May I Have This Dance?

I painted this little Valentine's Day beauty as part of an online challenge for daily painters. It is oil on a 6"x6" panel. Consider it my little Valentine's Day gift to all of you. You can take a peek at the other paintings submitted by over 100  artists by visiting www.dailypaintworks.com.  It is quite interesting to see the various interpretations of this one little rose!

Working Solo

   I usually try to take photographs for my portrait commissions just near sunset. On this particular day, an unfortunate cloud happened by just as my
subject started to relax and cooperate with me. I got a great shot of the little girl, but the overall  temperature of the photograph felt more like October than July.
   No worries, for this is the wonderful part about oil painting. I can turn up the heat on the canvas by using warm highlights and cool shadows. I pushed the color here a little more than usual, but I love how it turned out.  Happily, so did my clients!

Reflection on Double Trouble

This commission is an oldie but a goodie. I met with this little family very early on a Saturday morning, before the beach crowd could overwhelm us. The quiet and the stillness of the morning was magical. You can see how still it was by noticing how clearly the children are reflected in the water.

At first I wasn't sure how to handle the reflection in the painting. I didn't want to paint it so accurately, that it competed with the actual subject of the painting, but at the same time, it was an important element of the composition. In the end, I loved the freedom involved with painting the reflection, enjoying the abstract quality it lent to an otherwise realistic portrait.

Walking through the Tidal Pool

 When this little boy began to follow his sister through a tidal pool in the direction of the setting sun, I knew I had captured the perfect moment for this commission. In the final painting, I like the way I caught the sun's glow on their little bodies and its reflection on the water.

Standing at Sunset

This is one of the first commissions I did for a family of young adult children. It was a challenge. For years I had been posing young children engaged in typical beach activities - digging in the sand, making sandcastles or catching blue claw crabs. When I met up with this family at the beach, I instinctively went right to my comfort zone. I had them sit down in the sand, but no one started building a sandcastle, no one was digging. It was awkward. Hmmmm.

 

Then, in a flash of genius I yelled to them, "Just stand there!" I love when I remember to keep in simple!