If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

 The first one done in class. Looking at it later, it broke the portrait rules. Width of mouth should reach center of eyes. Nope. Tried to fix. Distance between  two eyes should be width of one eye. Nope. Did a second one. Now different issues. I’ll just give her both. Then she’ll know it was hard work. 

May flowers….

 I tweaked these a bit after class, darkening shadows, intensifying colors, etc. Nothing frame worthy, but fun to do.

This is a copy of an oil painting. Just a study. I like some of the colors that you can’t really see because the tree s so big! Also I over sponged the tree leaves. It’s sad because I really like the brush marks in oil paintings, but that just doesn’t work well in watercolors— it’s the color mixing that shines in watercolors…

Well, I tweaked this portrait a bit— worked on my mouth and jaw. I think this is me in 2026!

Alan Spring 4-2026

 Changed the background of my little bathroom still life to bring out the yellow of the flowers per instructions from Elaine. 

Did a little more work on my trading card sunset on Yupo.  I might fix that little bleed of yellow in the middle but I kinda like it  

I think I’m done with this downtown New Buffalo painting. It’s on rough paper. While it’s okay, and I like certain aspects of it, it does not give me joy. I might try it again with a more free flowing style. 

This is the beginning of a still life at one of my friend’s house. Everybody brings a bottle of booze and sets it on the table top. Then we drink. The top right is a painting of Greeta’s. I don’t think that I’m going to paint all the labels as I am more interested in painting the glass-which there is a lot of.   Done with Yupo. 

A cormorant dries her wings, a Ginko tree spews leaves, and a ghost cormorant prepares for flight.

I like the contrast between the purplish certainty and the greenish uncertainty.

I don't know about those sky holes, but I think they work as a compositional element, floating along with the tiny yellow leaves as they rise daintily out from the sturdy trunk.

 This is just the beginning,  I may try to have the cormorant be more of the water, but we shall see.

May 2, 2026 — Elaine O.

This is one of those slow and steady paintings. Hours of work...no big changes. Still, I'm having fun. Right now, I'm working my way in towards the center, which is the opposite of my usual MO; we'll see how that works over the coming weeks.

10" x 14"

Tryout sketches….

 

I’m trying out composition and values with these two sketches. They look pretty washed out here on the blog. I’m going to try them again with a little more intention.

I was working on this in class and now I like it so much I’m afraid to finish it because I might ruin it!

Sagebrush in the spring, tree with skyholes, just the trunk.

Okay they don't look quite like skyholes, but what's the big deal with anyway. just a spot of blue.

 

North Pond

 Pretty much finished. Able to let the trees be light like spring time and resist the impulse to get involved in the cafe. From a FB post. Photographer:  Chris Cullen. 

Alan Spring 3-2026

I worked on this little sketch I made while waiting for the Yupo to dry. It’s just a sketch but I need to find a different background color. This is the third one so far. 5 X 7 on hot press. Don’t really like hot press. 

I spent a little more time on this self portrait on Yupo. I think it’s done unless I want to add more lines to my face. 

Finished the barrel painting on Yupo. I thought that it was the perfect medium for this. I finally got the technique for painting the reflected leaves down. Made it more fun than work. 

Back to 140# Rough for this painting of a corner of New Buffalo. Even though it’s structurally precise, I’m going to try to paint as loose as I can. 

April 25, 2026 — Elaine O.

Here's the finished painting of my kitchen counter (sans cord tangles and a few little things like the spoon rest). Considering that the major appliances are all white, who knew I had so much stainless steel? Going forward, I'm thinking of weighing how easy something is to paint before I buy it....just in case I decide to add it to a still life down the road. 

10" x 14"

From there, I started this cityscape. Not much to see yet besides the drawing, but I notice I'm using the same composition as the kitchen interior. Coincidence or some deep meaning?

10" x 14"