On the River - plein air

Oil on 9x12 Wrap Canvas

 

We did some plein air painting today in a small town close to here, Wrighstown.  They have a cute downtown and a river which makes is the perfect place!  It was threatening to rain all morning but thank goodness, we didn't get rained out.  I do love painting outside on location, I wish I would do it more often!

 

Below are pictures of my setup:

 

Life Figure - Martin

Oil on 18x24 Canvas paper

 

We just finished a two-day life figure session at the Academy.  I enjoyed playing around with oil paint for a figure study.  School at the Academy will be starting back in just a few weeks and I'm excited to get back at it!  I hope everyone is having a great end of summer!

At the Winery

Oil on 9x12 wrap canvas

 

We did another plein air day with the Academy.  This time we met at a winery not far from here.  It was hot and windy but I really enjoyed painting outside!  Below are some pictures of my setup.

 

 

Taylor

Oil on 24x18 Canvas paper

 

We had portrait session at the Academy last night and Taylor, my 13-year old daughter, was the model!  She wasn't sure how sitting for 3 hours would be like but she did a great job!

Madison

Oil on 18x24 canvas paper

 

Madison is 12 and sat for us last night, she did a great job sitting still as that is not an easy task!  I didn't have much time to work on the background and from the neck down so I may go back and work on that some more.  I'm really enjoying the Monday night portrait sessions, the 3 hours fly by!

Red barns in Plein Air

Oil on 8x10 board

 

We went plein air painting yesterday with the Academy.  We had a great time painting at a lady's farm where there were horses and chickens and these pretty red barns.

Krista

Oil on 18x24 Canvas paper

 

We had life figure at the Academy today.  It was a two day but I could only make it for one.  I really enjoyed pulling all kinds of flesh tone colors out and probably would have worked on those more if I had worked on it for a second day.

Lauren Portrait

Oil on 18x24 Canvas paper

 

Another lovely model for portrait session tonight.  Only a one day this week.

Day 2 - Portrait

Oil on 18x24 Canvas paper

 

I could have worked on it for a lot longer but that's all the time I had!  I'm happy with my second live model painting at the Academy and I'm looking forward to doing more Monday nights!

Day 1 - Portrait

Oil on 18x24 Canvas paper

We have a model on Monday nights at the Academy, it's not a class, everyone just shows up and works in whichever medium they want.  We have this lovely model for 2 weeks so I'm looking forward to putting the finishing touches next week!

Poppies

Oil on 8x8 deep wrap canvas

 

I love poppies and I love to paint them!  Such a funny name in French: coquelicots!

Another beautiful picture from my sister-in-law who lives in Belgium, I owe a lot of my inspiration to her!

A Provence Scene

Oil on 8x8 deep wrap canvas

 

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend!  It is finally warm here and I'm enjoying seeing the green grass and the pretty flowers coming up!



Farm Houses

Oil on 11x14 Wrap Canvas

I started this painting a few weeks ago and finally finished it today.  Now that school is done for the summer (the Academy of Fine Art) and that I'm home during the day, I'm hoping to get back to painting more!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Lisa seated and final Sculpture day

 Lisa Seated 24x18 - Charcoal on grey toned paper

Well this is it for the summer!  The Academy is done for the year.  We'll be meeting a few times for life figure and plein air but no instruction until September!  It's been a great year, I have learned so much but a break for the summer will be nice too and maybe I can get back to painting!

Thanks everyone for your kind words about my cat, it meant a lot to me.

Academy Works and Art Garage exhibition

Sculpture class Day 3 of 4

 

Fabric Study

 

Ear cast painting

 

 

Art Garage Exhibition - my 2 pieces are Christina and the Chateau des Alpilles

 

 

 

I hope everyone is doing well!  I've been away from the blogging world for a few weeks now...  Unfortunately my 17 year old cat which we loved so much passed away a few weeks ago and I haven't been in the painting mood.

 

I've been busy at the Academy as you can see and only have one more week before the summer break.  I'll use this summer to get back to some of my "daily" painting.

 

Happy Spring everyone, I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone!

 

Portrait of Colette (updated) and studio pictures

 

I made some changes to the background as I thought it was way too dark before.  I also made minor changes in the face.

 

Below are some pictures of my studio.  I put a table and chair in the corner and I really like the addition!  My space is in the basement and I love the fact that I have that room all to myself!  The only part that I struggle with sometimes is that when it is sunny, I have a hard time with the glare on my canvas.

 

I would love to know where you paint and what you would do to make it better?

 

 

 

 

Portrait of Colette

Oil on 20x16 canvas paper

 

My mom came to visit for a week and agreed to pose for me to practice painting a portrait from life.  We had a great time, did a lot of talking (except when I was working on her mouth!), took breaks for tea and ended up with a pretty nice portrait at the end and she thinks it looks like her!  A success!

 

This took about 4 days of about 2 hours of sitting each day.  I then worked more on the background today once she was gone.

 



Cast Drawing and other Academy works

 

Charcoal on Canson Mi-teintes paper - Approximate size 20x16

 

This has been a long process!  I started this cast drawing at the Academy in mid October and it has finally been approved!  I will be moving on to grey paper in life figure classes and painting soon after.... a long process but so worth it!

 

Below are some other works from the Academy in the past few weeks:

 

Charcoal - 24x18

 

 

 Charcoal - 24x18

Graphite - 9x12

Charcoal - 24x18

Chateau des Alpilles in St. Remy

 

Oil on 20x16 Wrap Canvas

 

I'm submitting a couple of paintings for an exhibition at the Art Garage for the Arts Unlimited group and this will be one of them.  I'll post a picture once they are framed!

Red Barns

Oil on 22x28 Wrap Canvas

 

My sister asked me to paint a version of the Peaceful River painting I did a few months ago.  I made it slightly different than the first one to make it unique, I enjoyed painting it again!  It's amazing how you still notice new things even after having painted it a few times!

Final Portrait Class

 

Final day of portrait class today.  Worked more on the hair and details in the features.  I opted to leave the shirt undone as that would have taken me the whole 3 hours to shade it in!

Portrait - Day 3

Vine Charcoal on 18x24 Mi-teintes paper

 

Day 3 of portrait class, only one more day!  I need to work on the values in the face and model it some more.  If I have time, I'll add some values on the chest and t-shirt.

Egg Study 1

Oil on 6x6 Canvas

I started doing some egg studies as I'm trying to work on the turning of the egg and the subtle changes in value and temperature.  An egg and a human head have a very similar shape!

Art meets Heart - Benefiting the Art Garage in Green Bay, WI

 

The unveiling of the heart for "Art meets Heart" happened last week in Green Bay.  It looks great and it will hang at the airport for the next year!  Below was my submission.  All paintings are 6x6.  You can find mine in the lower middle, about 7 rows up from the bottom.

Portrait Day 2

Portrait Day 1 and other Academy works

 

Today was day 1 of a 4 day portrait class that we have every Tuesday.  The first day is always tough as you try to figure out the proportions and don't really have time to start modeling the face. 

 

Below are some other Academy works from the past few weeks, a few charcoals, one graphite and one watercolor value study:

 

 

Graphite

Watercolor