Greenly

"Greenly"
3.5" x 7"
Alcohol Ink on Yupo 
I fully intended to do more to this... after lunch on Tuesday of last week, but when I got back and saw the edges where the green and yellow had met and became fast friends, I left it alone. 

It's hard to leave a small painting alone that has the potential to become a learning experience, but it happened several times during the workshop and THAT alone was a part of my growth. "Don't dink with it," a phrase my friend and I threw back and forth when we painted murals together, kept playing in my head.

Carol

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Iowa Hills

"Iowa Hills"
6" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
The Iowa countryside outside my car window undulated like green scarves fringed with gold on a windy day.  

Today was a scheduled plein air day, but the weather was more like October than the end of July, so I used one of my Iowa photos and pretended I was outdoors.  I also used a different Cobalt Blue and some Indian Yellow to make my green. I really like how dark the green got. I may be able to get my values closer to what I'm seeing with these two new colors.  I also found this cute canvas size at Blick yesterday. I will be buying more.   

Carol 

Split Complement

"Split Complement"
6" x 14"
Oil on Hardboard
A box of pears arrived at my door this week.  Not only was I excited to eat them, my friend sent me models!  I painted a lot of them last December when friends blessed me with the season's finest.  'Tis the season!  

What goes with yellow green?  I consulted my colour wheel and found the split complement to be red and violet.  Yum. Two of my favorite colours.  I even made the board a combination of the two. 

Carol 


Artichoke

"Artichoke"
16" x 20"
Oil on hardboard panel 
A friend sent a photo of an artichoke the other day.  It was head-on—looked like this; green as Kermit, but the shape of a burgeoning rose.  I cropped it, drew it and squeezed out my greens and reds and grabbed a sponge.  Since she looked like a rose, I'd paint her like a rose. 

I lay down the first wash of most of my large paintings with a sponge. Most of you who have been with me for the year and a half I've been blogging know that. Consecutive layers of color also go on with the sponge, a little snippet of it, and only the small or fine lines are brushed on.  I enjoyed this one... a lot!  I'll bet she was a good eat, too.

Carol

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Mango Maze

"Mango Maze"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel
Mangoes were two for $5 when I was at Whole Foods at noon on Tuesday.  They were the largest ones I had ever seen. I bought two.  I went home and photographed them both and painted this one from life. Then I ate one.  The next morning I went back to buy as many as I could, since cherries are now out of season. The produce man remembered me, and was astounded that I was already back for more.  That's when I found out that mangoes are now out of season, too.

Carol

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Tone Poem IV

"Tone Poem IV"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel
Queen Anne's Lace dots a band across the front of this August landscape.  They're plentiful along the roadways where this was shot taken early one morning.  


Number four in the series is of larger trees and not so many different fields. I used a sponge and one scruffy brush  to paint all of the Tonalist pieces. Not my usual fare.

I appreciate your attention here.
Carol

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Tone Poem III

"Tone Poem III"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel
                                                                     
Farmland to the north and west of my home ripples and rolls toward the Mississippi River.  It quilts the land in an array of nature's favorite colors.  

This is number three in my series of five Tonalist paintings.  I learned something as I painted each one. 

Thank you for stopping to look today. 
Carol

Late Afternoon

"Late Afternoon"
5" x 5"
Oil on hardboard
Late in the afternoon when the wind begins to tuck herself in for the night, a calm settles on the serpentine river. Shadows run from the sun as she bids adieu to another day.  


This is a pretty small painting. It's on the smallest panel my art supply store stocks.  On the other hand, I've begun a large rose painting!  She may not be as pink as I thought, but she's large enough for me to paint with my beloved sponges. I'm enjoying a neurobiological high—getting "blissed out" over the process, as Robert Genn says.

Thank you for joining me here on the banks of this river today.
Carol

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Spring Ahead

"Spring Ahead"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas
The promise of spring is so anticipated this time of year, that we accept the advancing of our clocks by an hour to arrive there sooner, and in daylight to boot.  


This is another in my series of succulents painted with a nearly dry bristle brush. The stalk shooting up to the left is new growth... a new beginning.

Carol

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Succulent in the Mist

"Succulent in the Mist"
6" x 12"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas

The fog that particular morning was dense in the area of the succulent gardens. I stayed on the familiar path, face to the ground and happened on this gossamer image. 

Here's another exercise in edge control. This is a dry brush technique done with a bristle brush, swirled in a similar motion I would use to stencil. Paint is applied layer upon layer until the shape of a plant begins to form. 

I'm happy you found my blog today.
Carol

Your Left or Mine?

"Your Left or Mine"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas board
Succulents can be soft and kissable, or spiny and prickly. I prefer the rounder ones, but this one struck such a humorous pose that it stole my heart.


I found this plant in the Desert Environment at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I swear he waved as I passed.

I have been thoroughly enjoying your comments. There have some witty ones of late!  I can't imagine who these people are, but they are entertaining me.  Thank you one and all for making this process so fun.
Carol

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Limes and Lace

"Limes and Lace"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel
One week when limes were plentiful, I filled a crystal vase with them and had it ready to photograph on a piece of cut work lace. It seemed all too round, with the vase, the holes and a bunch of limes, so I cut into one.  Perfect.

This is a study to see if I can get the color for the limes right.  They look right in my studio light.  I'll work on the actual piece over the next few weeks.  The vase is going to be the hard part now. Although, I've painted it many times before.

Thank you for stopping by.
Carol

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Succulence #2

"Succulence # 2"
20" x  24"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas
I looked straight down into her face like a lover reinventing courtship.  She stared back at me with capricious intent, yet nary a move did she make. 


This large succulent was painted with a stencil brush, a 1/8" little round one; about the size of a Q-tip. It was a dry brush technique I perfected during this series.

Succulence #2 is listed with and for sale through a Dailypaintworks Auction.

Thank you for stopping by today.
Carol