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.