dandelion with wrench 8x10

My students all think my paintings start out sloppy. I'm trying to teach them the virtues of doing a loose under-painting and then gradually refining the color and the drawing. I like to get the initial drawing down pretty accurately. It's hard to make major fixes if the initial layout isn't generally accurate. I like to do the under-painting with a transparent wash. Sometimes I thin my paint with Liquin and sometimes I use turps. The Liquin seals the panel with a pretty tough film that doesn't lift when I paint on top of it and I generally like that. as you can see, my under-painting is pretty loose and essentially a value study.





















If I want to keep working on the piece I will dry the under-painting with a blow dryer and then start blocking in the background and more color. While I do this I continue to refine the drawing.





















Here's the finished product.

avocado with water 8x10

calendula with three bottles 11x14

key with apple 9x12

oil can 9x12

crayon monkey 6x8

I'm painting a lot and still trying to get caught up with my posting. This is not a very large painting but it still took me a couple of days.

Burger 8x10

I am pretty pleased with how this one came out.

spray can 8x10

tea with honey 9x12

I've been painting a lot more than I've been posting lately. I'll try to get caught up by this weekend!

Hoho with milk 8x10

I'm pretty happy with how this one came out.

Red Bull with Snoball 8x10

I love the colors but it's hard to believe that people actually ingest this stuff!

peeled clementine #7 8x10

green beans with lemon 10x8

This one started off a little shaky. I was almost done and it just wasn't working for me so I wiped it off and started over. I am much happier with the second effort.

lemon, avocado, creamer 11x14

This is a pretty large painting for me at 11x14. It took a few days to complete.

salt with lemon 8x10

I have a few students who snack on salted lemons.

gum goblet 8x10

water with tomatoes 8x10

calendula and gumballs 8x10

I've been painting pretty steadily for the last week. I have a backlog of pictures to post. I'll try to get to them in the next day or so. It's nice to be back in the painting routine.

Red Bull #2 5x7

I haven't painted in a while. It feels good to be up and running again. This one is a commission for a mother's day gift.
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No Hands Bridge with snow 8x10

There was about six inches of snow in Auburn this morning. I had a feeling we might be having a snow day but I went up the hill anyhow. It's not often that you get to see the canyon with this much snow in it. I haven't painted a landscape in quite a while and I had a couple of miss starts that had to be wiped off. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out though