a chicken beauty

Isn't her face beautiful? You can see that she is dressed up for the day - make up around her eyes and flowers in her hair (and under her chin in this case! This painting is going to be called Ms. Fluff because the main part of the painting will be her gorgeous fluffy tail feathers! But all of her is fancy.

I also finished the charcoal drawing for my French chicken painting, which will be a companion piece for this one. I like painting companion pieces at the same time for several reasons: while one needs to dry, I work on the other one; I learn things from one which helps me with the other; and it keeps my mind channeled to the same genre. So now I am in chicken mode!

Are cougars allowed to have crooked noses?

I have finished my gorgeous cougar painting! His golden fur glows. He face is at an angle, which emphasizes his slightly crooked nose. I thought about "fixing" it but decided to leave it as is. What was the story? Did he get into a fight over a girl cougar? Fall from a tree when he was a kit? And he had one little freckle on his pink nose, which I thought gave him a little vulnerability - so I painted it too. To see the whole painting - go to my website: www.MyBrightArt.com. There are other cats there too!

eye of the cougar

I have begun the underpainting of my cougar. I decided to do the underpainting in a warm golden brown, which will come through the finished painting. I already love her layers of fir and intelligence which shows in her eyes.

It feels good to be painting again. I love the challenge of capturing the likeness while still leaving some to the imagination of the viewer.

To see my other cats, go to www.MyBrightArt.com and check it out!

elfunket

When my son was little, he couldn't pronouce elephant. He always said it as "elfunket". So, I decided to go back to my really bright colors and do a happy baby elephant. I did the drawing and some of the background today and hope to do the underpainting in blue tomorrow so it can dry for a day or two while I work on the lupins.

Oil paints are wonderful for blending colors and having the time to fuse parts. It takes patience to let the paint really dry before adding another layer. Having a few happening at the same time helps me be patient. I touched my background for the lupins today and they are still too WET to paint! Maybe tomorrow.

bright parrot

My parrot painting is coming along. You can see by the photo that I will need to go back and add in the pine branch he upon which he is sitting. I will need to wait until his feathers have dried first. I love all the various textures of his feathers as well as the bright colors! Wow! He really is quite amazing.

I love the way there is pink/red in almost all his feathers, even the blue ones. It will be a cheerful and happy painting.

Alaskan lupin

My Yellow Iris is done! You can see it in the background here. It came out lovely. The petals remind me of a ballet dancer with her arms gracefully extended. To see it completely, go to my website at www.MyBrightArt.com.

And today I started two lupin paintings from my photos of Alaskan lupins. These lupin are gorgeous as they stretch in the long Alaskan days. They begin very blue and turn pinker as they age. They are the symbol of summertime.

(Skunk cabbage mark spring and fireweed mark autumn, but lupin is reserved for summer.)

I painted the background in shimmery greens and golds. (You can see in the photo on the right how green the fields are around the lupin.) So what as this painting develops.

Lacy iris

The curvy ruffles of the iris petals are gorgeous just for themselves. I can see why people paint just portions of the flower. Still, the graceful wings of the side petals add to the whole.

The iris is a royal flower and the lace behind enchances its regal look. It stands proud and bright against the green foliage.

I am excited that this painting is almost completed! I hope to do a final sitting tomorrow to go back and add whatever touches are needed. Then I will sign it and it will be done!

To see my royal purple iris, go to my website at www.MyBrightArt.com.

leaves

Leaves: What are leaves to a flower? Esthetically they are the clothes which enhance the flower's beauty. They often support the blossom's weight and help present it in the best light. Leave (and stems) bring nutrients to the flower and help it transform from bud to blossom.

So today I just worked on the leaves of my yellow iris. They have edges of light with the darker greens within. The budding nub holds the flower and supports its weight. The edges of the nubs give hints to the future blossom's sunshiny hues.

These iris symbolize summer to me. What symbolizes summer to you?

I'm HOT!

I am hot today! It is exciting when a painting just takes off. This yellow iris glows with sunshine against the blue/green background. It will be a gorgeous companion piece to my royal purple irises I already finished. (Click on www.MyBrightArt.com to see the purple iris painting!)

After being out ill last week, it was difficult to get back in the swing of things yesterday. But today it felt exquisite to create something beautiful. YES!

backgrounds in paintings

I used to paint the subject of the painting, and then dither about the background. Sometimes I would be upset about how the background I chose effected my subject. So I am trying to do it the other way around.

This is going to be a painting of a colorful parrot sitting on a pine bough. I have done the back ground in a wash of sorts, of blues, greens, and greys. I added in the grey to slightly mute the rich colors. I am using these washes in many of my paintings now and love the way they support the subject.

Today I also added in some of the pine branches, which go behind the parrot. I thought that they came out well. I love the little bits of new growth on the very tips of the needles.

heavy metal, well, metal anyway!

Painting metal is very interesting - I look at all the reflections and keep the different colors crisp. These came out well, for my bath scene. I like the little ducktail on the spout!

Tomorrow I will work on the legs more and add in the bath water. Then I will consider if I want to add in some steam swirls coming up from the water. It would add to the surrealism if it didn't look hokey. So - see for yourself tomorrow!

hot chili peppers

Now that I did my talk at the Sandy Art Guild, I can begin to do the final painting of my chili peppers! I did the underpainting in hot red so that even the green peppers would have a touch of spice to them! I put two other "pepper trees" in the background and am beginning to work down my central pepper tree. I love the soft beige tie against the strong greens and oranges.

I am beginning to do my drawings for a glass fish swimming among the daffodils and tulips! It should be a fun painting! Look for it soon.

p.s. I finished my wolves so hope to have them on my website next weekend. www.MyBrightArt.com

sunmoon and flowers

My SunMoon Flowers painting is completed! (Of course it is VERY wet so has to wait a day or two before it can be photographed for the website - www.MyBrightArt.com.) Still, I love hte contrast between the flat glass image and the live flowers. THe colors complement each other and it is just fun.

I began working on the coloring for one of my wolves today too! I wanted to just add a little color into the underpainting rather than make it so finished and tight. However, my conservative nature got me again and it is more finished than I wished. Still, she is beautiful! I hope to finish her tomorrow as she is a little painting.

Charger the ram

I am doing a little painting on canvas board of Charger, the ram. His horns are magnificent the way they curl upon themselves. He is very masculine. But then he has some soft curls along his nose and cute freckles! I think his name says it all though - I would not want to mess with this big boy! I put him in the barn with the warm woods echoing the colors in his horns.

I haven't ever painted on canvas board and find that it is more different than I thought it would be. Not only do I miss the gentle give of the canvas as you apply the paint, but the paint doesn't seem to adhere as well. Still, I will be able to take this in my suitcase as I head for Alaska this summer!

Painting from real life

I had a bouquet of roses and this one was particularly lovely. I couldn't resist. So, I brought out a little 12x9 inch canvas and painted my rose. It's delicate peachy center is echoed in the glowing background. It was great fun to spend a morning on a rose. I love painting from life. It is such a treat after using photos as references. If you want to check a small detail, you can just LOOK.

The soft color of a seagull's wing

What color are a seagull's wings? Today I added some seagulls into my painting. Their wings are the softest grey. It is an almost impossible color - delicate. I began with my raw umber brown and added white, but that was too cold. I needed something which tasted of the sea. So I added some cerillian blue. Ah, there is was!

So many things seem like one thing, but have a hidden element underneath. I want to listen to people intensely and begin to hear it. The soft grey of the seagull will remind me. (P.s. There are three seagulls in this part of the painting - can you see them?)

Pink Sky - well, clouds anyway!

My underpainting dried so I have begun to do the final painting of my Rocky Shore! I began with the ski and put in the clouds. They are heavy with moisture and had a pale pink tint to the edges. These were my first real clouds to paint and very interesting to do.

Next I worked on the water. Turquoise is not my favorite color with which to work, so adding it into the ocean will be a challenge for me. I was intrigued by the forces of the waves hitting the rocks and rebounding out into incoming water. There is a lot of movement and energy I wanted to capture. I think it is coming along. To the left is the beginning of a rock cliff, which will be a warm contrast to the colder water.

Red hot peppers!

We always go to the Pike's place market when we are in Seattle. These pepper "bouquets" hang on strings from the shop's awning. They have all kinds of peppers mixed in with flowers and are beautiful. There are others of mixed herbs and peppers.

I planned to do a large painting of 3 of them, but decided in the end to do a 16x20 inch one of just one. (Although I have "ghost" ones in the background.) I did the underpainting in red to make the scene warm, even though many of the peppers are green.

I am going to do a lecture on my paintings to an art group in Sandy next month, so I may put this aside to show an underpainting until then. So, you won't see this one progress for awhile - it will be hard to wait!

North west shoreline

Finished! I added a little red boat on the horizon and some brown into the rocks to make them blend into the scene. And voila! Look for a good photo on our website: www.MyBrightArt.com in the next few days.

These landscapes are kind of fun. They have a lot of movement and life. It is relaxing as it doesn't matter if a tree is taller or wider than reality, unlike a person's nose! I plan to do at least one more landscape and think I will make this one large! (4 x 3 feet anyway) Look for it tomorrow!

Northwest shoreline of trees

The painting is progressing! I added the trees in the foreground to push the fir trees in the distance further back. I worked on the rocks in the foreground too - painting them in purples and blues. It is fun to see all the parts come together. I am hoping to have the final sitting tomorrow - although it may be the next day. We'll see how it goes. It is exciting at this point and difficult to quit. But I want to go back with fresh eyes tomorrow to see what details need to be adjusted or added. This sure reminds me of the twenty years I lived in Juneau, Alaska!

This was such fun - I may do another seascape!