Rounding Up 

20X10  

Oil on Stretched Canvas 

Painted from a photograph by Julie Carter

Julie's photograph was lovely and my painting is pretty blobby. Cows are just blobs to me. I don't understand them at all. Horses and cowboys have a lot of detail and I'm not good with that either. However, I think the viewers will get the idea of this subject matter as long as they don't stand too close. I like the painting and I'm surprised because the subjects are rather loose and I generally like a bit more detail. The original photograph was taken at a ranch near Carrizozo, NM.

 

Red Lily 

11X14 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Painted from photograph by Sei Nakatugawa

This lily appears to be a rather simple subject. Sei Nakatugawa's work tends to be very dramatic. At first, that resulted in a rather dark and bright painting, but I was uncomfortable with it. Since then I have painted it, and painted it and painted it and painted it ..... I even sent it out to family and friends as completed, but I just was not satisfied. Finally, yesterday I painted all the light areas of the flower itself a bright pink. When Jud came in he said, "I liked it better before." I did too, so I began again today thinking that I didn't want any black in the flower, so the it is painted in cadmium red medium, scarlet, and alizarin crimson. I'm happier. The flower even photograph red whereas before it photographed orange.

Hibiscus from My Deck 

10X10

Oil on Linen Panel 

Hibiscus are beautiful flowers. This one was on my deck last week. The pot I have of them this year contains both yellow blooms and red blooms. The only problem is that they fade so quickly. One day blooming and the next day they are really old looking.

I'm learning to use more contrasts, but it's hard to keep that from being black and white. 

It's easiest to sign the painting while the background is still pretty wet. I've always thought you don't sign until the painting is done and then you don't add or subtract any more. That's not really true. If something needs fixing the signature has nothing to do with it. So now, I sign when I think the paint is at the right stage and then paint the painting. 

Mexican Sunflower 

12X16 

Oil on Linen Panel 

Painted from photograph by Sei Nakatugawa 

Maybe I should spend more time painting sunflowers. Every time I paint one I like it more than the last one.

Grizzly

24X12

Oil on Canvas

Painted from a photograph by Cindy Nowotny

This was an interesting project. The photograph by Cindy Nowotny was taken at a zoo in Montana. I put the forest and the road in the distance where the back wall of the enclosure had been in the photograph. If I had followed through with my original idea the grizzly would be about four times the size it is in the painting, but a smaller bear gives greater depth perception.  have spent many hours trying to figure out how to make the picture interesting in a way that will keep the viewer from being stuck in one part of the painting. I keep telling myself I set him free.

Black Bear

12X12

Oil on canvas

Oregon zoo photograph

A group of us paint together on Fridays. We encourage and tease each other, which helps us grow and also helps us be willing to expand into new subject areas. Two people in the group recently painted polar bears, and have painted dogs as well. The fur is intimidating. I decided I would try it as well. Probably the whole concept of the nose was harder for me. It did take longer.

Sailboat in Storm

16X12

Oil on linen panel

Painted from photograph by Kymberlee Edwards MacKay

I love the drama and the colors of this painting, but living through a storm like this is very stressful, even if you're on land.