A Pair of Eggs

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.

John Ruskin

I have decided to try my hand at some painting with a very limited palette. For this one I used only four different colors ~ black, white, green, and brown. There's still some work to be done with the shadows and molding the eggs and jar but I think its gotten off to a nice start ~ certainly makes cleaning the brushes a lot simpler!

John Ruskin

Sunset Sail

Once a man would spend a week patiently waiting if he missed a stage coach, but now he rages if he misses the first section of a revolving door.

Simeon Strunsky

I fell in love with this picture the minute I saw it. Although a city girl, the feeling of solitude and isolation conveyed here really appealed to me. These colors are way out for me ~ but everyone in my class today loved them. Today was make-up day so I really didn't know anyone. Maybe they were just being nice. Anyway, for now I'm keeping this one vivid. It still has a long way to go but at least today I got the canvas covered.

Apples with Pot

If I try to be like him, who will be like me?

Yiddish proverb

The hardest thing about painting is making the painting one's own. Although my teacher says its fine to copy other people's work (particularly the masters), he strongly advocates setting up one's own still life or finding a particular place and taking your own photograph and working from it. Unfortunately, I tried that. I took a fabulous picture of a courtyard in St. Thomas and decided to paint it several weeks ago. After hours and hours of working on the stone courtyard I carefully placed the painting in the corner of my studio and dug out this photograph I found on Wet Canvas. I can claim no originality here but I am enjoying turning the photo into an oil painting with Carravagio in mind. That doesn't mean I don't like the above quote ~ it just means once in awhile it's okay to copy. There's a lot to be learned from other people's work.

Lion 3

Courage ~ fear that has said its prayers.

Dorothy Bernard

Well, with a little reshaping Leo is starting to look more like a lion and less like a monkey. I reshaped his snout and enlarged his head giving him a whole new profile. Now its just a matter of getting more and more texture in his mane and adding some more detail to the area above his mouth (what is that area called anyway?)

Lion 2

Everyone is a genius at least once a year; a real genius has his original ideas closer together.

G. C. Lichtenberg

I am used to going back over my paintings many, many times but when it comes to painting fur it's a whole new ball game. I don't know how many layers are on here but to my mind it still needs a lot more. He is starting to look quite fluffy though.

The above quote has nothing to do with this painting but everything to do with this blog. For days I have been going around and around trying to sign on using my user name and changing my password over and over all to no avail. Finally I just went to the blogspot website and signed on through that and it worked! I may not be a genius everyday but every once in awhile the light bulb does go off.

Anyway, back to this painting. I'm still not happy with the background ~ not happy with the shade of green. This week my art classes start again so I will ask my teacher for a little help. The green really makes the yellow in the lion pop but it's just not the right shade.

Bowl of Grapes 3

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.

John Ruskin

I am having major issues with my blog server. As usual somebody wants to fix what isn't broken. Hopefully, I will be able to figure it out but for now this is the last post of the grapes.

Lion 1

Dogs come when they are called; cats take a message and get back to you.

Mary Bly

We are not a "cat" family. After one disastrous attempt to have a cat which resulted in a major flea infestation we have had only one pet, a lovely little Cocker Spaniel named Maggie. However, when I came across a photo of this magnificent lion I couldn't resist painting him. How regal and uninterested he appears. After painting feathers it seemed like a good thing to give fur a try. Once again I've found it's a matter of layers and layers.