Red and Yellow Peppers

This is what I worked on today. Peppers from my daughter's garden. Might just do a few tweaks, but essentially its finished.

Ballerinas

Finished this up today.

Still Life with Lemons

I have finally caught up with myself, so here is the painting I did today. Got really ambitious and combined some flowers - daisies - one of my pewter pots - I have a small collection of them - and three lemons. This is a 9 by 12 oil on linen which I started yesterday and maybe finished today. So I actually will be able to use the lemons. I've taken down the set up and will let this painting sit for a day or so. Then I might still make some adjustments.

I"m hoping I can continue to post my paintings here on a more regular basis since I'm hoping I will continue to paint everyday. It's a great habit!

Three Peppers

Back to veggies, bought three peppers and when I set them up the shape of the stems and the way one of them leaned made them look like they were having a gossip convention. So I wanted to go light and bright.

Girl in Red Sweater

After looking at a small painting of a portrait model I had done some years ago, I decided it needed a re-do. So I oiled it out and just painted right on top of it. Much happier with the new version and caught a few drawing errors that I was able to correct.

Three Pears

Decided I'd get more ambitious and try several fruit. I have to admit this one lingered on so long the fruit started to rot. I had to finish the painting after I took down the set up and threw them away, but made a discovery. When I didn't have the set up to look at, or even a photo of it for reference, I was free to make any changes to the painting I wanted just for the sake of the painting itself. This opened a whole new way of working for me. Now when I get stuck, I ditch the set up or reference photo and just work from my gut.

New Paintings

In April of 2013 I had the good fortune to take a workshop in still life painting with Indiana artist C.W. Mundy. Since then I have finally gotten motivated to paint more, and since I am now preparing to participate in an outdoor art fair at the end of September, I am finally painting every day. I don't know if I am producing "a painting a day" as was my original goal when I started this blog, but I think I am coming close. I find that it doesn't fit my working style to complete a painting in one sitting. I can get more than half or even three quarters done, but then I need a break from that work. So I find I am starting at least two, sometimes three paintings in a day and finishing them up within a few days. So maybe I am averaging a painting a day. I'm finding I need to work this way partly because I get bored easily and lose my excitement about a work, and partly because I just need to put it aside and get a fresh look at it a day or so later. Then I can get to it with renewed interest and can see where I need to go, or make changes if need be. So now I can post the results of all this activity.

When I first got back from the workshop, I began painting fruit and still life objects. The first two were a pear and orange.