daily painting practice - more painting your own children

I thought I owed an explanation for my not posting as much lately. My show is drawing closer and the studio is well, as you can see.... a wreck.
The other day I shared one of the few sketches I have of my daughter. Here is one I found of my son. Details don't matter. It's the essence of the moment. To me this pose was my son.... book between the legs, bare feet, reading.
Sketching your children does not have to be so serious all the time. ( I can't believe this is me talking)
My son posed for me when he was very young. All I could manage to get down on paper were his eyes. (before he decided posing was too hard). I think there is something so wonderful in those eyes.
His eyes have always told the story of who he is. (or was supposed to be)

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Now that he is older I rely on those eyes to check my work and tell me how I am doing. Strange, but the wisdom was always there...... In those eyes.

daily painting practice - painting your own children

Painting our own children has got to be one of the finest things we as artists are allowed to do. I wish I had tried it more often while they were growing up.
I don't usually dwell on regrets. I think it is a fool's game. However, I can say there is one regret as an artist that I live with... not having sketched or painted more of the two greatest gifts God ever gave me.
Here is the only sketch I ever did of my daughter. I have never had confidence in my ability to sketch. I now feel that is such a meaningless whimpy excuse. Check out (Anthony Zierhut) my favorite family chronicle on the web. He shows how capturing everyday family moments as sketches are sooooo much better than a box of photos.

I did start to mend my ways.,,,, Just before she left for college.

My favorite model.

It is never too late, so my advice is to start today. Any sketch or painting is a new beginning.
Speaking of new beginnings and second chances. My new favorite model!

Daily Painting Practice - Last trumpet vine series

I thought I needed to try a totally different approach. So I used a square format and a very cool blue/green pre-toned board. I also used a lot more Liquin for the underpainting of the darks. This gave me a very transparent and thin shadow color to start on.
I kept using Liquin with my paint to keep the color transparent even when over painting the shadow color. I am thinking dark shapes and halftones at this point but I am also aware of form.
It always is a thrill to put the highlights in.

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Trumpet Vine study No.3
8"x8"
oil on wood

I really like the color and texture of this painting. But the best part to me is the strong horizontal element of the cloth. Even though this is a square format the horizontal lines in the cloth seem to trick the eye into thinking there is much more width than height.

daily painting practice - Trumpet Vine Study No.2

Trumpet Vine Study number 2 - I am back to using a pre-toned panel. I like the spray of the leaves on this one. It fills the painting with a lot of movement.
I have a hard time with the warm oranges in the trumpet vine. They are so intense even in the shadows.
The cool background helps offset the warmth of the blossoms.

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Trumpet Vine Study No. 2
8"x10"
oil on masonite

I have one more painting in this trumpet vine series I want to try. Then back to the garden. My garden manager/wife has some beautiful lavender growing. That might be a good match with the purple petunias. I'll get the clippers.

I wonder if I can deduct the garden as a business expense since it supplies most of my subject material?

Daily Painting Practice - Peaches and Peonies No. 4

Brush in the dark over the pre-toned panel. If you like the abstract design of light and dark at this stage you will most likely enjoy the final painting. Of course, if you don't like the design at this stage of your painting there is little that can help you later when you start adding detail. Better to begin again than waste a lot of time.
Darks and lights, darks and lights. I should have a parrot in the studio trained to squawk at me and keep me from going into detail too soon.
I began adding the flowered print on the backdrop. It stole the spot light from the focal point so I removed it.

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Peaches and Peonies No. 4
8"x10"
oil on masonite
SOLD

This is the last of the series. I could go on and on but there are so many flowers blooming now and I don't want to miss any of them. What a great problem to have. How many people in this world get to wake up and say to themselves "What beautiful thing should I look for today?"

daily painting practice - Peaches and Peonies Series Part 2

around the Day 2 - Continuing the series of painting Peaches and Peonies. Only this time I left out the peaches. Painting a series allows me to experiment with many of the ingredients that go into the recipe of a painting. Here I changed the size (from 5x7 to 8x8) and the format from rectangular to square. I also added a peony to the arrangement and started with a darker pre-toned board. I painted the lighter background to create a silhouette of the form.

The paper is a list of focus points I keep attached to my easel. It reminds me of the main ingredients I should be using in my composition.
Another benefit of doing a series - Comparing one painting to another before adding the finishing touches.

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White Peonies in a Green Glass Vase
8"x8"
oil on Artboard
SOLD

I like the composition of this painting. The leaf on the rightside pointing down adds just the right amount of movement and balances the fan of leaves on top.

daily painting practice - Peaches and Peonies Series part 1

Blocking in the darks and lights is so much easier when the background is already toned. I have lightened the background just a touch but I have not painted in the halftone in the shadow of the peonies. This gives the illusion of form very quickly.

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Peaches and Peonies
5"x7"
oil on masonite
Sold

It occurred to me that I have not yet done a series of paintings using the same objects. So, using these peaches and peonies, I will arrange several compositions. Stay tuned, this sounds like fun!