Another Painting in Progress...My Second Rose

I'm glad I took a short break from painting.  I was having a problem getting inspired.  My quick sketches and drawings kept me in practice (e.g. learning to look).  I was able to get some rest over this long weekend.  After I dropped my brother off at the airport, I came home to paint.  I thought I was going to paint one of my sketches, but decided at the last minute to paint another rose from one of my photographs. 

So, here is my work in progress: 

Quick sketch in Yellow Ochre thinned wash

Painted the dark value

Painted the mid value and started the light value

Values completed

Painted a bit more details and blended the values

Still a work in progress

I have to laugh at myself.  At one point during my painting session, I had three brushes and my palette in my left hand.  I ended up getting paint everywhere.  You can see on my canvas paper some mistakes where my brush and my hand got in the way.   Here's the result after 1-1/2 hours of painting:

Another Pencil Sketch...a Rose

I've been trying to do something creative when I have a moment.  Lately, I've been very tired and so attempting to paint is out of the question.  I created "mud" with the last painting as I didn't have any creative juices.  I won't be posting a picture of that any time soon.

Instead of sulking on wasted time, paint, and paper...I've decided to spend some quality time doing sketches.  This trains me to see the different "values" of the subject I'm drawing.  This will definitely help me when I'm painting.  I seem to be struggling with "values" when I'm painting with different colors.

So, this evening I had an hour and drew this ingle stem rose:

A Pencil Sketch...Spiderwort Flowers

This evening I had some time to do a quick pencil sketch.  This will eventually be used as a future reference for a painting.

Spiderwort sketch

Not a Rose-y Day

I've been trying to paint at least 2-3 hours a week...if I'm lucky.  If the week nights are busy, I wait to do the 2-3 hours on the weekend.  That's the goal I've set to become proficient at this new hobby.

Today, I allocated some hours to paint after I was done with teaching a knitting class.  I thought the class would take 2 to 2-1/2 hours the most.  It went for 4 hours.  I was one tired puppy.

It took an hour to put away all the knitting stuff and then collect myself in front of my canvas and arrange the paints, palette knives, and miscellaneous art stuff.  This blank canvas stared back at me:

I've been collecting pictures of stuff to paint (e.g. flowers, blueberries, our beloved beagle, some buildings, etc).  I pulled out a picture of a pink rose and thought it would be an interesting challenge for me.  So, here's my sketch in a thinned yellow ochre wash:  

I have to tell you, my heart was not in the mood to paint.  I could tell as I was mixing the colors for the pink rose and then for the green foilage (or lack of) and background, I just wasn't happy with the colors.  So, I trudged along and applied the paint to the canvas panel and this was the so-so results of my efforts:  

I decided not to touch the painting anymore and let it sit and dry for the next few days.  Was I trying to tackle a subject that was way over my head?  Not really.  I've done several pencil sketches of roses and other flowers...it's not a new subject for me.  Was it because I was using a cheap canvas panel?  That may have something to do with it...it was from Walmart.  Was I too tired to paint?  Yes!

Lessons learned:  (1) not to use cheap art materials.  I'm using good paint and great brushes.  What was that?  You get what you paid for?  I know, I know.  No more cheapie canvas panels.  (2) Not to attempt too many hobbies in one day.  (3) Stay on target and focus on the hobby (e.g. painting) that I want to work on.

Back to the drawing board....

Three Applies Painting

This evening,  I got a chance to sit and paint for a few hours.  I went ahead and finished my apples painting by adding in the shadows and then painting the white paper towel underneath.

Three Apples (close up)

Rough sketch on the left and the final painting

I'm going to leave the painting as is and call it "done".  I've been learning that the more I touch something, the more I overwork it.  Simple and less is better.

Now, I'm off to look for a photo to paint from.  I've got thousands to look at.  Sigh!

Three Apples - WIP

In less than two weeks, I'm on my fifth oil painting which is an apple study.  I used titanium white, lemon yellow, alizarin crimson, cerulean blue and yellow ochre.  The three primary colors represent cool colors.

My palette of mixed colors

Used yellow ochre mixed with thinner to create a light wash for my outline

Still a work in progress...to be completed later this week

Two More Paintings on Values and Secondary Colors

Here's my third oil painting called 'Secondary Colors'.  This represents the purple, green, and orange colors that are created by mixing the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue.  I then mixed the purple, green, and orange colors to create the background colors.  I also used some titanium white to create the lighter colors.  I have to wait a few days for this painting to dry before I can finish it.

My second painting represents another take on values, but in the color blue.  I used Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White to create the values.  Before I finish this painting, I have to wait a few more days for the painting to dry.  

I'm trying to figure out if I should paint the background first and let it thoroughly dry and then paint the objects.  Currently, I'm painting the objects first and then painting the background.  This method makes it harder to paint in between the objects.

My New Hobby...Oil Painting

I've been interested in drawing/sketching since Jr High when I took the required art class, but I never pursued a career in the arts.  Let alone an education in that field.  In 2000, I picked up watercolor painting. I took a local class that got me off to the wrong start.  One, may paintings were miserable looking and two, my instructor wasn't that good.  That was a short lived hobby.  In 2002, I decided to get back into watercolors and took an 8-weeik course at an Old Town shop.  I studied with a wonderful lady, Karyn, who painted beautiful and lively scenes.  I wanted to paint like her.  My painting skills improved immensely as she introduced me to artist/professional paints and brushes.  That made a huge difference.  I continued painting for another year or so.

Since then, I have taken on additional hobbies like sewing and knitting garments and accessories.  I really enjoyed spending time in my fiber arts.  My short lived painting experiences helped me see a gamut of colors, hues, and textures.

Now, I've taken up oil painting.  I looked around for classes, but decided to learn this new hobby on my own.  The money I would have spent for lessons, was instead used for my new supplies (paints, palettes, and brushes).

My first oil painting called 'Values'

After playing around with the oils, I can honestly say that I enjoy it more than watercolors.  I did a wet-on-wet or single layer painting technique called Alla Prima.  It took only two hours to complete this painting.  

Here's my mini painting studio area:

My painting area.  One of my watercolor paintings is hanging on the wall (upper right)

I got the hang of holding the palette in my hand and didn't feel any fatigue.  It felt natural.  I also managed to hold additional brushes and a paper towel in the same hand.  I do need to get a larger palette once I start painting and mixing additional colors.  

My clear acrylic palette