Thursday, June 28, 2012

Floating Lemon Stripes


Floating Lemon Stripes   6" x 6" oil on board

I was rereading my book on Sergei Bongart by Mary N.
Balcomb.  He thought that still life was a great learning tool.
One of his students that contributed to the book said he
challenged her to paint lemons floating in a bowl
of water.  It inspired me to give it a try.  The
distortion of the stripes beneith the glass bowl
was complicated and it was a big
challenge to try to keep it simple-
but still fun!



Monday, June 25, 2012

Purple Striped Pepper


Purple Striped Pepper  6 x 6  oil on board

I loved this orange pepper.  I chose a split complementary color scheme
and went with orange, blue violet and blue green.
The stripes look pretty blue but they were
mixed with quinacridone violet,
 ultramarine blue and white with a bit of orange
to gray it down a bit.









Thursday, June 21, 2012

Green Striped Cherry Tomatoes


Green Striped Cherry Tomatoes  6 x 6 oil on board

One of the really nice things about living in Malta is that
Italy is only a ferry ride away.  And of course the
whole world knows that Italy has the most
AWESOME
tomatoes on the planet.
If you don't believe me just ask my buddy
he'll back me up on this.

Agree or disagree?





Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Magenta Striped Lemons


Magenta Striped Lemons  6" x 6" oil on board


Still striping away. 
I mentioned before that I do all these with the same
blue and white striped towel and make up the colors except for
the fruit.

About the process:
I've been asked about how I change the colors so
I thought I've give you a little more detail.
Basically I just use my imagination and/or pick an Analogous or Complementary color
combo from either the tradition or Munsell color wheel.
Then I make up a darker and lighter color for
each stripe. Sometimes I have to
play around a bit to get it to read "right".
A lot of the decision making is intuitive and about what appeals to me
aesthetically.
I don't think we need to be enslaved by the subject and simply copy
what's in front of us.
How do you feel about this topic?




Monday, June 18, 2012

Blue Striped Oranges


Blue Striped Oranges 6" x 6"  oil on board


The stripes are so much fun to paint this theme
continues to hold my interest!




Friday, June 15, 2012

Purple Striped Apples


Purple Striped Apples  6"x 6" oil on board

and the striping continues......

I've used the same blue and white cloth in all of these
but come up with different color combinations
that I like depending on the fruit.
It does get a little more complicated when you're
making something up.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Striped Watermelon Slice


Striped Watermelon Slice  6"x 6" oil on board


I'm having so much fun with these stripes I feel I need to
keep on painting them. I dream up these
different combinations literally
while I'm asleep.
Does anyone else do that?
Sometimes if I'm having a problem with a painting
I'll wake up with a solution.
Pretty cool!
Where I get asked a question and don't know how I
feel about it I always say-
"let me sleep on it"!



Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Striped Cantaloupe Slice


Striped Cantaloupe Slice  6" x 6" oil on board

I'm hooked on stripes.  It's just so much fun to paint
this tea cloth with different color combinations!






Monday, June 11, 2012

Summer Read


Summer Read   9" x 12"  oil on board

I don't think there anything much better than summer
weather and a good book.
Lately I've been reading Game of Thrones.
It's better than the TV show!
Any good book suggestions?



Thursday, June 7, 2012

Striped Cherry Cup


Striped Cherry Cup  6" x 6" oil on board

This was inspired by the Daily Paintworks striped challenge.
I've painted this cloth before and this was a good excuse to paint it again.
It's lots of fun!
If you'd like to view the other entries


Monday, June 4, 2012

Cherry Tea


Cherry Tea  6"x 6" oil on board

This was a demo I did for a group. I was trying to
stress holding the lights and darks together
by softening the edges and subtle
changes of color within the values.
I used the cherries to help lead
your eye through the painting.
Good fun!





Friday, June 1, 2012

Spot of Shade


Spot of Shade  18 x 24  oil on canvas

Things are starting to heat up hear in Malta.  This will be
typical of what I'll see for the next few months.  People will be hiding in bits of
shade where ever they can find it -
or create it!

BTW- I don't always work small, I like to vary the
sizes of my paintings.