Monday, August 17, 2009

Lazy hazy summer days

Waiting for the Parade
8 x 8
oil on wrapped canvas
I saw this scene at our local market and loved the way the pooch sat patiently on the bench. The personalities seemed to come out in each of the figures as I painted them and no matter how I tried to change the dog owner I couldn't seem to make him happier...Maybe he'd rather be walking. It's so much fun to go to the markets to see the parade of dogs and to buy local organic produce. I love summer and it so close to being over I can almost smell the fall air. I'm swimming almost daily in the lake for fear it will be the last one.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Smokey Days


Collioure Creameries
10 x 10
oil on wrapped canvas

We are having a bad summer here with the forest fires and one of my challenges is wiping the ash off my paintings when I get up in the morning along with the usual dog hair or two! This is another scene from the Mediterranean which gave me a chance to use lots of bright pure color and to also try to loosen up as it would otherwise take forever with all the detail in the scene. Am starting to get a feel for how I want to paint - loose, what I want to paint - people, and what support is going to work best for me. This was done on a wrapped canvas which means it doesn't have to be framed since I have painted right over the sides, it's a 10 x 10 which is the smallest size I think I want to paint on and the under painting was done in a mid value orange acrylic rather than black which I found kept my paintings too dark.