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.

Some mini-paintings

After the commissioned architecturals, I was ready for something different.  I follow another instagram acrylic artist and have been been inspired by her work to try a few mini-paintings for myself.  The pumpkin one is a 4″X4″ and the others are 3″X3″.  After doing these, surprisingly, I found the littler ones almost too small for me.

Decorative pumpkin

Lemon

Broccoli

Peach

 

Tomato

Red impatiens

Red impatiens

After several work sessions, the red impatiens painting is basically done. I am not quite happy with the red hue – I think it needs to be redder – but that is the only red I have in my paint box right now.  Last year I bought a package with 9 colors in it just to get started,  Now that I am painting a bit more and getting a better idea of what I like to use, I probably need to pick a bigger variety of paints.

This looks okay to me.  This has really been an ongoing  process.  It’s only this year that I have felt that the paintings have become something more pleasing and unique, starting with the lily pond ones over the winter.

Lately, I have decided that the gloss varnish has been the way to go.  It definitely added something to the greens and blues in the pond in a very good way.  The reds here will pop more when I varnish it.