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.