Dog in the Window

"Dog in the Window"   7" x 5"   Oil on Gessobord

Sept 3, 2015

Day 3, 30 paintings in 30 days,  #95   www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com

You’d think I would have titled this Doggie in the Window.  Which for me brings to me mind a sweet little dog you that just have to take home.  Well, not this guy.  He just goes nuts every time we walk by his house.  Slams his body into the window, barking, scratching, hmm. 

Anyway, caught him a second before he started in.  Looks pretty sweet, huh.  Looks can be deceiving… ;)

I love the shadow of the window pane cast across his chest and his pink belly.  The reflections of the trees across the street provided great contrast for the dog to be the center of attention.

Trumpets Early Morning

"Trumpets Early Morning"    5" x 7"  Oil on Gessobord

Day 2 of 30 paintings 30 days, #104 on http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/

Beautiful trumpet flowers allover the neighborhood. I love how the red just vibrates against the green, sunlight surrounding it.  I started out defining the flowers more but it started to look so mechanical.

Scraped, worked dark reds and the popping in some brights.  Much happier with it.

8 pm Alkire & Cross

"8 pm Alkire & Cross"   5" x 7"  Oil on Gessobord

 

I've joined the 30 painting 30 days challenge on Leslie Saeta's site, http://lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/
I had originally planned a theme around my daily walks with my pup, Violet. A painting each day.

A couple of weeks ago Violet started limping. She was diagnosed with Elbow Dysplasia. She had surgery today and will require 4-6 weeks of recuperation. So... paintings will be from walks prior to her surgery.

Her bouncy, wiggly bum and endless energy will still be in each and every one of the paintings.

I see this view as I walk out of my little neighborhood.  The canopy of the trees casting their shadows across the road and their leaves rimmed in light, just beautiful!

And here's my sweetheart Violet.  Missing her badly tonight as I can't pick her up until tomorrow.

Swelter in Joshua

"Swelter in Joshua"   16" x 20"  Oil on Oil Primed Masonite

Playing around with a palette knife and working some new color combos with the limited palette. Originally did this scene a year ago on a 5" x 7". Learned you just can't scale up and go with it. I had to some redesigning.

Leather and Lace

"Leather and Lace"   8" x 8"  Oil on Oil Primed Linen Board

 

I joined the Littleton Fine Arts Guild last month.  A great group of artist, a fulltime brick and mortar gallery and lots of activities, etc.  On Mondays,  Jennifer Riefenberg teaches an oil painting class.  I attended this past Mon.  We worked on the sightsize method.

 

A first for me and I found it kind of tough.  Patience definitely needed with this method.  Jennifer had a few still lifes set up.  I chose a set up with red heels, black lace draped over them.  The lighting was not the best as is was just the overhead lights, thus the shadows are all over the place. Still, I was happy with the end result.

Here’s an article about the sightsize method:  www.sightsize.com

Looking forward to next week!

Sandra's Bloom

"Sandra's Bloom"    6" x 6"    Oil on Gessobord

My sister was in town during my B'dy last week. She gave me a huge beautiful bunch of flowers, lilies and gladiolas. Wish I had been able to capture them all but I just couldn't do them justice. This is one of the blooms from that bunch.

Side of th Barn

"Side of the Barn"    6" x 6"   Oil on Gessobord

I painted a larger version of this awhile back. Cropped in close this time. This photo of the painting has darkened the fields behind the barn. The colors are actually a little more muted, with lavenders and creams.