Bird of Paradise Flower

In the spring I had taken a photo of a Bird of Paradise blooming in my friends garden, a portion of this photo is my blog header.

I had started painting this photo in July during the summer session class at the Casa de la Cultura.  The class was only for the month of July and I work slowly so did not get it finished.  I brought it home and because I was busy with some other projects it just sat on the easel.

When I finished the Hummingbird painting in class I decided to take the Bird of Paradise back to class and finish it off.  I did and have now finished it.

One more project done.

I took the photo of Zoe and this one too early in the morning and it was a little too bright yet; but was away later, so it is what it is.

Here it is, click on image to see a larger version.  Bird of Paradise done in oils on canvas.

I have now started a new project both at class and at home.  I was going to do an oil painting of a church in a smaller town in our state of Sonora; but the best laid plans often go astray.  One day I happened to show Roy some photos of horses, that a relative had sent in an email.  He loved 2 of them and suggested that I do them in the same technique as the Hummingbird oil painting.  So...... I am now doing a head  pose at class and a full body pose at home, both in the same technique and both the same size.  It should be interesting to see what comes out of them both.  I will keep the blog updated with views as they progress.

Finishing Off Some Pieces

I finally finished off the Pastel Painting that I had started of my sisters dog Zoe.  I think she is a Golden Retriever, sorry not good with remembering dog breeds.
I have been waiting to send the Pastel painting of my daughter in laws cat Spaz to her as I wanted to stick them both together in one package.  Being busy with stuff for class and life in general Zoe seemed to keep getting put onto the back burner.
I finally got sick of her looking at me and decided to finish her and get her sent away.
For some reason I had the most trouble with her that I have had with any of the animals I have done so far.  I am not really happy with the finished results; but am sick of trying to "fix" her so off she will go in the mail.

As always just click on the picture to get a larger view.

Hummingbird At Feeder -- Oil Painting

Well, I finally finished my project last week at class; but before I discuss it I want to give a very big thank you to    MARK BURNELL
who very graciously gave me permission to use one of his photos for the basis of my painting.  Just click on Marks name to head on over to his site and have a look at his great photos.

This is the photo that I used of Marks.

I also hope that if / when you want to use someones photo or any other material for a painting or any other reason, that you DO ask for permission from the owner of the material, not only is it polite, it is a copyright infringement if you don't, or that is my understanding anyway.

Now about the painting.

This was a new technique for me to try and it went like this.  The base or "canvas" is of wood rather than canvas, it has 3 cm. (approx. 1 inch) deep edges which are also painted and is 50 X 60 cm. ( approx. 20 x 24 inches) in size.  It basically looks like a gallery wrap canvas.  It was then painted with a mixture of white Vinyl Acrylic paint and Resistol 2000 white glue, (a 50 - 50 mix more or less), then Aluminium foil was placed onto it, crinkling it a bit as we applied it.  On top of this I painted the picture in Oils.
It was an interesting technique and one that I will probably use again, as I like the effect.

Here is the finished painting.  As always clicking on the photo will bring it up full size.

The class I am in just barely finished our paintings before the Festival de las Calacas and the paintings went straight from the Casa de la Cultura to the exhibition at the Plaza de las Pistolas.  After the exhibition ended, the staff from the Casa de la Cultura transported them back and I finally brought it home after class on Tuesday.
I estimate that I spent between 30 and 40 hours working on this painting from start to finish.

I am fairly pleased with the result; although I do see all the mistakes that I made when I look at it, I suppose that it is normal to be your own toughest critic.

Update On Spaz

Well, after about another 15 hours of work, here is an update on Spaz the cat.  She is almost done, just a few finishing touches.  She still needs her whiskers and little touches here and there; but I am setting her aside for a few days.  I like to do this and then I can come back to it with fresh eyes.

Let me know what you think of her.

W I P - (Work In Progress)-- Spaz

I have started another Pastel painting and yes, it is another cat lol.  Do you see a trend here??

This one is my daughter in laws cat Spaz.  Spaz owned my daughter in law for around 19 years and as Spaz passed away this summer I am doing a picture of him as a gift for her.  She misses him a lot.

The picture I have is not the greatest for the eyes, so I am kind of winging it there and for me that is tough.  I always have trouble with the eyes, so winging it with them is not something that I am enjoying; but it is coming along.

I have probably worked on this for about 10 to 15 hrs. now and have probably that much time to go yet before it is finished.

Here is the picture of Spaz that I am working from:  As you can see the eyes are a problem and the back shadow doesn't help either..

Here is the beginning of my painting:

Lots of work and adjustments to do yet; but have a start on it anyway.

Chad Finished-- For Sure This Time

Well, I waited for a week or so and finally got up the nerve to take the pastel painting of Chad to class and show it to my teacher for his suggestions.

He suggested I lighten the background a bit more if I wanted Chad to pop out more, he also suggested that I darken some areas that I had already thought were too dark.

I brought it home and Roy resisted any changes as he liked it the way it was.  I was of two minds.  I did lighten the background and do like that better as he does seem to jump out of the page more.  I also added his whiskers which I hadn't wanted to do before I decided I was done with him.
I also darkened the areas the teacher suggested and to be honest I am not really happy with it.  I took off some of it and decided to hit the finish button in my head and be done with him.  He is after all, just for practice, so he is not perfect; but then neither am I.

Here is the now finished and sprayed Chad.  Which do you prefer?  This one or the one in the post below?

Back To The Animals

I was working on a Pastel picture of a cat before I headed to Canada and finally finished it yesterday, or maybe I finished it.  I will look at it for a few days and then decide whether it is done for sure or not.


Here is my finished ?? Pastel Painting of him.

As always I am open to any constructive comments/criticism so feel free to let me know your thoughts.

Painting In Progress Post

I have kind of been missing around this blog this month.  I have been busy going to class 4 days a week and not really accomplishing much at home either, just being lazy I guess.
Yesterday I brought home the oil painting of the Bird of Paradise flower that I have been working on in class.  I still have class today; but wanted to bring the painting home while it was kind of dry to the touch so I didn't work on it yesterday.  I took a pastel of a cat that I have been working on at home and meant to work on that; but when I arrived everyone was sitting around the table and visiting and having snacks for the end of class "party".  We snacked and chatted and I discussed my ideas for the September class with the teacher.  He had suggested that a couple of us that have now taken both his classes start working on some new to us techniques.  One he suggested was using aluminium foil,  another lady and I liked the idea of trying this so I showed the teacher some pictures I was thinking of using for this technique and he approved one of them.  So I will be trying to paint a unique flower with oil in this technique come September.  Should be interesting.
I will continue working on the oil of the Bird of Paradise painting at home and hopefully sometime this century will finish it.  Can anyone say "Toooooo many leaves"????   Some of the leaves have a base coat and 2 or 3 other green colour coats on them now and none of them are done yet.  I haven't even begun to work on the bloom part as I wanted to get all the leaves done first.
Here is the progress so far.  Comments and critiques welcome as always.

I seem to have a problem with my books eating my bookmarks or something.  They just seem to disappear into space somewhere, kind of like the clothes dryer eating 1 of each pair of your socks, not that I have this problem anymore as #1 I don't have a clothes dryer here and #2 I rarely wear socks anymore.  I guess the gods have now realized this and have moved on to my bookmarks.  I can never seem to find one so last night I decided to make a bright coloured one that maybe?? I will be able to find easier when it goes missing.  It is definitely not a work of art; but should be find-able or so I hope.  If not I can just make another and another and another.

 

Diegos' Birthday Present Framed

I finally remembered to take a picture of the Pastel Painting that I did for young Diegos birthday which is coming up in August.  I know it is early; but I also know that with the summer session class I am going to be taking, starting today that I might not be doing too much stuff at home.  The class is 4 days a week so it will keep me busy.
I got the same frame and mat colour as the one for baby Santiago just in case the mom wants to hang them both in the same room, then they will match.
I am tired of doing different fishing scenes with this bear as this is now the third one.  That is it, no more.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.

White Lily

Last Thursday I finally finished the White Lily painting that I was working on.  I gave it a few days to dry before messing around with it taking pictures.
It is a study of light and shadow.
It is oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm. or about 16 " x 20 ".

Almost; But Not Quite Done

I have been working on a pastel painting of a Bird of Paradise flower that I took a photo of in my friends garden awhile back.
This is not quite done; but it is getting there.  A few finishing touches to put on it today and hopefully I can say it is done tomorrow.
I have some sheets of 300 lb. watercolour paper here that I dragged with me from Canada when we moved.  They have been sitting wrapped up since then so I decided I would see how I liked doing a pastel painting on it. I have mixed reactions, it is different and works better to blend with a stump or cotton tip than my finger, I like using my fingers so I have had to adjust to that.  All in all it is OK; and will probably try this paper again sometime.
I also tried, only on the background, brushing it with water to get a different effect.  I wasn't all that struck by it  when it dried  so I went over it again with pastels, mainly because of my colour choice.
I think that using the water technique is a good one on this paper and it would do away with the need to spray the finished painting with fixative, so may do that again the next time I use this type of paper.  I don't think it would work on a thinner paper though.
So here is the almost done painting.

Martin The Cat, Finished and Framed

I picked up Martin the cat from the framers on Tuesday and finally remembered to take a picture of him in his finished state.
I really need to find a better lit place to take photos.  I think I need to set up my easel outside and take them in the natural light; perhaps they would be better then.
Anyway here he is.  I really like this frame and think it really complements the colours in the painting.  What do you think?

Hummingbird Framed

This morning I picked up the hummingbird picture.  I like the way it looks.  I dropped off Martin the cat to get framed and also mailed my granddaughters picture to her.  A good morning.
The next project at home is another pastel, this one of a Bird of Paradise flower that I took a picture of in my friends garden.  Still working on the White Lily on a black background in oil on canvas at class.  I am hoping that  during the next class I will finish with the leaves and be able to start on the flower itself.  It has to be done by the end of June so the clock is ticking.  All of the classes work is to be on exhibit at the new gallery in Guaymas during the Mar Bermejo festival on July 8 and 9th., so I have given myself until the end of June to finish so that it can be dry before transporting it to the gallery.

Gift For My Newest Granddaughter

I wanted to do a picture for my newest granddaughter.
I thought I would try one a little more involved; but I was not really happy with the end result.  I had trouble with all the fine details with the pastels.  Oh well, it was good practice if nothing else.