Mexican Pottery

Today's painting is a still life with some Mexican pottery my birth mother gave me after one of her trips to San Miguel. She was an artist as well and loved the Mexican people. She would take many trips there to get inspiration for her art. I met her for the first time 10 years ago and she passed away in March of '08. I wanted to include something of her's in a still life and I have to say that pottery was fun to paint. I'm not sure I love the rest of the set up but I plan to use the pottery again in other still life settings. I am still experimenting with thick paint and big brushstrokes. It's the very opposite of how I am used to painting but Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". I don't want to go insane so I'm trying something different no matter how painful.

Mandarin orange with Bowl

I'm really going to try and be a better blogger. The holidays have been hectic for me. I had a double portrait commission that had a Christmas Eve deadline and so for a couple of months, that's all I could think about. Now that it's done and the client is happy, I'm feeling motivated to get back to painting the small daily paintings. I'm really trying to loosen up and use big brushes and lots of paint. It's hard to break bad habits and though I'm doing better, I still am not there. I bought some new large brushes today to see if that helps. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Three Red Pears

It's been so long since I posted anything! I've been painting almost every day but no time to sit at the computer. Yesterday I spent the whole day painting these three pears. It's 14"x18" and it was an exercise in painting with large brushes only and finishing in one sitting. That is extremely hard for me to do. I have to resist the urge to bring out the small brushes and put too many details in. I'm please with this one. I chose to paint the background green since it's the compliment to red but that is a tricky thing to do so that it doesn't look too Christmas-y. It might look Christmas-y but I like it anyway. I'm going to keep painting pears for a while. I'm sure it can only help to paint the same thing over and over. The challenge will be to keep them interesting.

Paying job

Today I painted in someones home. I enjoy these jobs because they are fun and don't require too much thought. The designs are basic and easy for someone who has been drawing and painting for a long time but always seem to awe and impress the client. I enjoy making the client happy. I always think that they could do it too if they just tried but I guess that's not always true. Anyway, I'll add the picture of what I did today. It's a baby's room with an animal print theme. I will go back on friday to paint a powder room that might prove to be a little more tricky.

Lukas

Here is my latest painting. It sure did give me trouble but I'm declaring it finished. I'm sure my trouble was with my reference photo. It's just not possible to paint a child from life so it had to do.

Today I am finishing up some odds and ends and getting ready for a mural job tomorrow. Hope to have a photo to post of that tomorrow night.

Getting Older

I haven't painted or posted for a couple of days because I've jacked up my neck somehow. I played tennis on Friday night and felt fine but woke up the next morning with severe pain when I tried to move my neck. I've been using the heating pad and regular doses of ibuprofin and I think I'm finally getting some relief. I have to remember that I'm 39 not 29 anymore. Getting old is the pits. I plan to paint tomorrow and finish the latest pear painting. I think it is better than my last one which was sort of an experiment.

Pears in Blue Bowl

I'm trying something new for a change. I'm going to paint large and loose keeping in mind what I've learned about Sargent and his brushstrokes and edges. This painting is 14"x18" which I guess isn't that large but the subjects are oversized. I bought these beautiful pears, set them up and painted them from life. I stood looking down on them so that explains the angle. I probably won't do that again so not to confuse the viewer. I'm working on another one now that I will post hopefully tomorrow. It will be pears again but I find them to be very interesting to paint.