First one finished

Watercolored commission

The first commission watercolor portrait is done.  I still would have preferred to feature the front door a bit more rather than the garage, but what is important to the client is important to me.  The birch trees must have some special attraction or meaning.  Not many flowers here, but the rest of the landscaping is in full fall bloom and helps liven the scene up with color.  I always feel I am guessing somewhat about what the color taupe really is. but I think this is pretty good.  The red shutters help the house from being too monochromatic.

The first holiday gift commission

Pencil drawing

All inked up

Here is the first of the holiday portrait commissions.  While I usually like to emphasize the doorway and not the garage, the clients wanted the birch trees on the right front and center. Notice the little West Highland terrier in the shrubbery.  This is the second time I have added a dog on the front yard  This will be watercolor for the final piece.

Final of the Snake River painting

The Snake river

I don’t know if you can tell the difference, but this is the final of the Snake River painting.  I like it standing a bit away, but not as much close up.  Still, isn’t most artwork meant to be seen from a distance?  I think I have captured a canyony feel and am pleased with the colors.  I have never done a vista like this before, so it is all new, but I do think it turned out okay.

Snake river painting

Acrylic base coat

Layer 2

This started out as a floral painting, but I changed it to one based on a snake river photo I took on the way back from Boise last summer.  I was less than thrilled with the way the preliminary of the floral was going, so I threw it in a virtual “circular file” and re-gessoed the canvas to start over.

At 8X8 it is small, so there is a lot of vista to capture.  The picture was taken from the top of a bridge overlook and the view below me seemed endless. I have never tried a landscape with so much in it, so it will be challenging.  So far I like it, but it is definitely better if you stand a bit back and let the colors and features blend.

More little pumpkins

Orange pumpkin

White pumpkin

I had 2 last 4X4 canvases so I continued the fall pumpkin theme using the other little decorative ones I bought as models.  These are pretty much the finished product as I don’t want to overwork them.  So easy in something so small when I can’t get the details I do with the pen and ink.

I can’t believe it has been a month since I last posted.  It certainly wasn’t my intention, but I guess life intervened.  We had my mother’s 90th birthday and a variety of other things happening.  I’m now back in the studio starting the Christmas commissions.  Back to bigger sizes where I am much more comfortable, even though it has been fun to experiment a little bit.

Another lily pond

Intermediate layer

Final layer, maybe

The lily pad paining number five may or may not be finished.  I have let it set a few days and I still can’t decide. I’m more pleased with it than when I stopped, but I am not yet convinced that it is done.  I think the gloss varnish will help deepen, yet soften the colors, but I’m not quite ready to take that step.  Overall, I am happy with the balance of colors.

Another lily pad painting

Under-painting

Lily pad’s first color layer

The lily pad paintings have been calling to me to do another one. I went back to the photos and picked one with pink lotus flowers instead of white and a nice mixture of colors for the pads.

This is 12X9 and the lily pads are larger compared with the other two paintings close to this size.  I will have to find a good balance of detail versus abstract.  I still have way too much problem with any intricate brush work.