Servant's Quarters at Balmoral Castle - Payne's Gray monochrome

Le très grand spectacle

Kindly Uncle Ken at the prestigious Renaissance Center Christmas in July Art Fair.  

Mostly sold the 5x7's at a double sawbuck.  A few 9x12's at 35.  Once again none of the 18x24's.  How can anybody not want to take that tiger home?  The problem is people don't have fireplaces anymore.  Wouldn't he look great above an ornately carved fireplace?

Pat wanted to know how they were matted, got them all from Amazon, pretty cheap.

Go To Church? Shop? Sit In The Garden!

 4th Presbyterian Church view looking north east. 

Non-stop Begonia. Used Alizarin and Hookers Green for the darkest leaves and Daniel Smith Mayan Blue Genuine for the blue ones. 

July 25, 2026 — Elaine O.

I'm very attracted to contre jour scenes...and then I struggle with the darks. Here's one I'm determined to get right. This is the first color/value study. I still think I can heighten the value contrast but I'm okay with the colors and I'm ready to try again. This time, I'll be pulling out to include more of the subject than just his head and shoulders.

Class Photo — Summer 2026

You know how it is in summer—some people are on vacation, one is under the weather, but we still make a good showing (complete with blooming plant), don't we?

Apocalyptic Beauty….

 

Well, this turned out a little more dramatic than I intended, but I like the darks and lights on the garden. The sky kind of got away from me and that tree looks more like an incoming explosion…doesn’t help that the Subaru Outback turned into a Tesla truck. It’s 5x7 and believe it or not, I gave to my friend as a birthday card! (She took the original source photo. ) War of the Worlds in Racine WI!

Three Little Pics

These are all 5x7,  The size just seems to suit me lately.
 

July 18, 2026 — Elaine O.

I ran across an old photo that intrigues me. It's small, with faded color and contrast but I love it. So I started by zeroing in on just a small part to get more familiar with the shapes. For now, this is very light and tentative; I will be adding the deep shadows that are part of the attraction for me. But for now, I'm still looking and thinking about a final color palette and values...and how much of the original snapshot to include. 

10" x 14"

Buckle up—I think this is going to be a series, so get used to it!

Matt - art therapy

Alan Summer 2026-4

 I finished this painting of the view looking towards Biloxi on the Mississippi coast. On coldpress 140#  

This is a view from Truman looking north from the A train stop. It’s in my hot press sketchbook. Somehow the paper got damaged so I’m just going to have some fun with it by trying anything I can imagine. Got a lot of work to do but I have some ideas. 

Orthodox Convent - Trascău Valley, Transylvania | recovered from scrap paper

Museum of Natural History - Vienna

A Tree, a Flower-headed Dragon, and a Dancin' Fool.

 All 5x7

July 11, 2026 — Elaine O.

Finished the painting...and the pad of paper! One thing about these "last sheet on the pad" paintings—I tend to go in with reckless abandon because "who cares if it works or not? I just want to finish off a pad!" And sometimes it works. I think this is one of those times. At any rate, I'm happy with it.

10" x 14"

Life Is Just A Bowl Of

 #2 and 3 drew with ink then painted. Fun to work with RED,,

Santillana del Mar, Cantabria - in progress

Sara Was Right

 She said windows on background building too prominent. 

The paper didn’t like it,  but I muted them somewhat. Could only go so far as paper was pilling  

This is better with less distraction  

Oh, just some stuff.

Here is what I have been calling the Enchanted Forest, but now I am thinking of changing it to The Enchanted Forest with Poison mushrooms.  What do you think about those blue dots, too much whimsy?

And here is the change on Ernie Banks' tree which I thought was too harsh but now I am lightning it up a bit.

And these are my entrants for the high prestige Renaissance Art Fair which will be on Thursday, July 23rd.

 

July 4, 2026 — Elaine O.

I pondered and pondered and couldn't think of any background that would add to this...so I decided to leave it as is. I know that plate looks strange, but it matches the reference! Sure, it's drawn and not traced, but seriously, that's how it looks!

14" x 10"

I'm on the last sheet of my paper block, so I decided to do a quick still life. This is my first cantaloupe of the season (and it was incredible!). It's not finished, obviously, but there are some lessons here. I started with the cantaloupe and it looked way too dark. I thought I'd ruined the painting...until I added the surrounding dark background. A reminder that you have to keep the whole painting moving together and that values are relative.

10" x 14"

And finally, I had to sketch this rather disheveled robin who's been hanging around my front window this week. His front feathers are fluffy and "uncombed" and he's got the cutest tilt to his head. 

4" x 3"

Lerma, Burgos, Spain - second wash, and finished

Lerma - pencil

Lightening up

 That first one is the painting I was calling The Ugly last week, and I think made it more, interesting (Note the red cat).  The second is a new version of the Ernie Banks tree, a little heavy-handed at this stage I think.  And the last one is because I think I need to lighten up a bit.  I am calling it The Enchanted Forest.

Alan Summer - 2026-3

 I finished the view of the Chicago River behind Blick. While I didn’t put the geese and ducks in, I thought it was a nice representation of that scene. On hot press. 

A bigger view. East Beach in Ocean Springs looking west towards Biloxi. I liked using the bloom to suggest rain and some little scraggly clouds. 8 X 10 on coldpress.  Got some work to do on the pier and shadowing. 

Survivor Three 062526

Best in Research

Got Any Pie?

  Maybe a little more work on the big shadow. I used Daniel Smith Shadow Violet (which is always a surprise when it dries) and dropped in some Peacock Blue. 

Evanston street - sketch

June 27, 2026 — Elaine O.

Well, this was originally intended as a quick impression, but along the way I got interested in the different leaves and petals. So it's moving forward slowly but I'm okay with the change in direction.

14" x 10"

First Presbyterian - Evanston

pencil sketch 

light wash

added value