I took many photos of Lady and decided to come up with this one. Pencil sketch. Under painting. Final painting, so I thought. I wasn’t too happy with the color of the background and changed it to the lighter color to bring out Lady.
Commissions info and prices at my Etsy Shop.
I finally was able to attend an open session at Patris Studio. It was good to be there drawing and painting from life. I started off with a pencil drawing which took about an hour. The next two hours was painting in oils with the Zorn limited palette – titanium white, ivory black, cadmium red and yellow ochre.
The last painting was done at home from a photo.
The Art & Ag Project is a call to artist event.
“The Art & Ag Project cultivates a dialogue between artists, farmers, and the community to raise awareness about the importance of preserving farmlands and the visual arts in Yolo County. A nationally recognized creative place making project, Art & Ag has invited farmers to open their land to local artists, providing unique opportunities to capture private landscapes that would otherwise remain inaccessible and unseen.
Each month, artists visit a different farm where they can meet the farm owners, paint en plein air, or take photographs. Artists are invited each Fall to exhibit their agriculturally–inspired artwork at YoloArts’ annual Art Farm Gala, the first Friday in November.”
The “Red Barn” was painted at the Valley Oak Wool Mill. A young woman rented one of the buildings to run her wool mill business. She would take raw wool and spin it for clients. Her waiting list is about a year long.
The next two paintings was done at the Good Hummus Produce. Caught this dog napping in the middle of the road. Love how the sun light shaped around him.
The “Red Tractor” was parked underneath these trees. I did a small quick study, 6 x 8 and got up to stretched. Before I knew the owner had driven the tractor away. Thank goodness I had that quick study plus a few photos.
This last painting, “Hazy Day” reflect the fickle weather of March or maybe April. I love how the grapevines captured a glimpse of the sun peeking through the clouds.
There are still more farm visits coming up. I probably would visit up to September.
Again this year I participated in the Garden Tour organized through the Pence Gallery. I was assigned to the home of Dick Mccapes. A beautiful backyard that bordered a creek with a winding trail that passed private sitting areas and a three level playhouse build by the owner’s son. A spacious and delightful garden to sit around and paint for hours!
In the past garden tours I had painted in oils. But I found watercolors suit a garden environment. It captures settings in an illustrative way.
By the way, all three watercolors sold to the owner!
Last night was the Crocker Museum Auction of Big Names Small Art (BNSA). Primarily of small arts to be auctioned off. 100% goes to the Crocker for art education and exhibits. I donated one of my favorite paintings of four years ago. After being exhibited in various places, it finally found a home at this auction. Thanks to another artist, Dawn Pederson who kept tabs on my painting, the last bid known was at $325.
This painting was painted four years ago. I painted this after taking a workshop with David Shelvino. Here’s blog post that explains how I painted this.
Just finished up two dog portraits in oils for one client.
Begins with many photos provided by the client. I choose one photo, make a pencil sketch, then an underpainting to establish values and the painting. Each step I show the client.
These paintings are small 8 x 6 inches and done on stretched canvas for easy hanging.
I took Craig Nelson Speed Studies Workshop in April at Patris‘ Studio in Sacramento. It was a three day workshop. The first days were devoted to the figure. But the last day he demonstrated landscaping painting.
I have to say that though I’m more into the figure/portrait painting, I enjoyed the landscaping painting more. His demonstration was lively and there was a playfulness to his approach to painting the landscape. I have been drawn back to landscaping painting.
This is Lexi, the dog who would not stand still for a photo. In this painting I worked more on soften the edges to give it a more softer look. The background is different from how I treated other dog portraits. I wanted a more neutral color so that Lexi would stand out.
Another commission done! This time with three dogs on one canvas. All three dogs are close friends named Blue, Ballou and in the middle is Miss Marple. Miss Marple is the oldest and at 16 passed away. Instead of just painting their portraits as I did with the others, I wanted to include their whole body especially their toes. Their touching toes showed how close they were.
Stages: Pencil sketch, then block-in in oil on canvas and the open grisalle before the actual painting.
