Fun with Paint

After working on a couple of paintings I had a little paint left on the palette. Cleaning up the pinks and blues by using the them on rabbits and grass. Still having burnt sienna left helped with the darks. 

12" x 6" oil on baltic birch

Had some time to go out to Wilson Lake to practice. 

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel 

Painting What You See

Painted during Bluffstrokes inside Monk Kaffee Pub in Dubuque. This was a lesson in painting what you see versus what you think you see. This is a mannequin not a person. I struggled to put aside my previous knowledge of human anatomy and stick to what is in front of me. I think I should have softened the transitions and made it stiffer. A good challenge would be to take a photo of a real person next to a mannequin. 

10" x 8" watercolor on panel.

Appleberry Orchard

Appleberry Orchard has some young trees dripping with heavy apples planted close together. 

10" x 8" oil on panel

Sundown Mountain Resort Dubuque

Tuesday during the Bluffstrokes plein air event was cold with intermittent rains in the morning and possibility of  rain in the afternoon. At the first light of day I took off for Asbury Road where I was told there were great vistas. After a failed painting I headed back to the Convent Suites with the intention of painting downtown. Gin was still there nursing a cold. When I told her about the great views along Asbury Road she asked me to show her the way. The road goes past Sundown Mountain Resort. We pulled over when Gin suggested we could paint there if we ask. They groundskeeper even offered to open the lodge so we could paint from the balcony. We had a beautiful view and place to warm up. When the rain hit hard we could go inside. Gin took a pic and sent it to a friend to brag. I remember the place back in the 70s when my husband and I took his teenage brother with us sking. He skipped school and told us his mother was OK with that. She was not, but he had a great time and was grounded.

16" x 12" oil on panel

Rocky Bank at Wilson Lake

Yesterday afternoon I sketched some of the residents of the one of the local assisted living homes. I did not get model releases so no pics. Wish I could share as I loved the interesting faces with lots of character. Sunnybrook sponsored the art center's current exhibit, so the art center director and I entertained the residents for an hour and a half as a thank you.

I had enough time after that to run over to Wilson Lake to paint. I liked the abstract quality of scenes like this pushing the limit of color with the red. 

8" x 10" oil on baltic birch panel.

University of Dubuque and other plein air paintings

Brush Strokes plein air event this year was a wonderful experience. The sponsors and volunteers did a great job. I am so honored to have been a participant.

This is the Heritage Center on the campus of the University of Dubuque. I had a hard time finding a place to park that was not restricted. This view was from a residential street that had a sign saying students and faculty of the DU not allowed to park, so being neither, I parked there.

14" x 11" oil on panel

Wednesday was a rainy day and we were allowed to paint interiors. Paul's tavern is a great place to eat and paint. This is a watercolor on gessoed panel with india ink. I spray an acrylic varnish over it.

8" x 10" watercolor on panel sold

Dubuque has several beautiful murals downtown. This is Michelangelo's David painted during the nocturne.

9" x 12" oil on panel

This one sold. I took a photo with my phone, not the best image. This is from the quick paint. Under the bridge is a good place to paint on a rainy day. 

12" x 9" oil on panel sold

Practice commission

Working on a commission, I will paint several images to get one I am happy with. The proportions are off.

11" x 14" oil on canvas 

Grazing on a Summer Day

Final painting

I was playing with mixing mediums. This started as watercolor on gessoed panel. After it was dry I brushed it as lightly as I could with Acrylic Glazing liquid. The Acrylic glazing liquid can be used to extend drying time with acrylic paints. I painted acrylic into the glazing over the watercolor. The problem was the glazing did disturb the watercolor. I may try airbrush medium in a spray bottle.

10" x 8" mixed medium