Still houseless…

 This house portrait is testing my patience. I kind of ruined the side of the house in the first one, plus the mask didn’t all come off . Anyways I’m using the first one as a test, trying out pen and ink and different ways of interpreting clapboard. The second one I’m trying to go simple & not overwork the details. 

In the meantime I worked up these two sketches kind of quickly just to paint something more interesting. I will say the house portrait is exposing my painting weak spots, ie , planning. For example I never wrote down what blues and other mixtures I was using. I don’t pay attention to what brushes I’m using. I didn’t even test colors before I started to paint the first house…I could go on and on, but you get the drift….

The barn is done and on to the haunted house.

 Another addition to my Masterpiece Archive (the plastic shelving in my bedroom.  Did indigo and turquoise for the sky.  I think it looks better in person.  The road I tried to give it a bit of a golden glow but other than that left it to itself.

This will be the next one.  In my book it is called Haunted House, but when I do a google search I get nada.  I think those are rain-whipped trees, and then there is the house which I am going to have to make some changes with, and the rest, just night and rain I think.

House painting….

 Not my jam, but this is Chloe’s first house and her mom is an old friend and asked me to paint it.  It still has a lot of masque on it, the side shadow is probably too dark, but I kind of like that left tree…House portraits are sort of like human portraits but with more landscaping….

Here’s a flower portrait that’s more my jam…haven’t done anything to it since class, but not sure what I should do. Suggestions welcome since I gave quite a few in my comments!!

Oh look a barn

 Inspiration for those vertical lines on the barn from Susan's peppermint mill.  Sarah sez I can jazz up the sky or the road, or both, but have to do at least one.  At this point I think we will see a cloud tossed sky and a golden glow to the road.  Subject of course to, to, well shit google sez there is no muse of painting, so I guess I am on my own, with the advice of my panel or experts of course.

March 23, 2024 — Elaine O.

I'm slowly but surely carving a garden and pond out of last week's underpainting. Feeling no stress, though. I figure it took decades for Monet to get his to look like this...I can take a couple of weeks! Now my only worry will be to stop in time—before it gets overgrown.

11" x 14"

Alan Winter 11

 I’ve wanted to paint my neighbor’s grape plants for awhile now. I used the negative painting technique on coldpress. I might do a little more work on the grapes themselves trying to get a little more color in them—-or not. 

I tried copying an old master for the class we’re taking in Biloxi. It’s alright. Hard to copy an oil painting  

I’m trying to do a better painting of the great Live Oak in my front yard. So far, all plein aire on Yupo. Just beginning.

Kids Reading to Dogs

 

My neighbor’s grandson from a FB post. And then my granddaughter sent me a pic of a girl she nannied during the pandemic.  Love that she put that blanket over the dog. I had never seen children do this so I googled “kids reading to dogs” and it’s a “thing”. An idea promoted as reading therapy to build confidence in children learning to read. 

Ss The Antique Corner

 I just realized recently that I could paint portions of my house interior as inspiration & that other artists have made a series or collection of this fascinating subject. This painting was inspired by the Antique Corner or the  wall separating the dining area from our petite kitchen. The oval mirror and table were purchased from an antique shop in Andersonville.The mail basket is the remnant of the fruit basket received as holiday gift. The table clock was a gift from a cousin who retired to Ph. The wind chimes or dinner caller was an early purchase as newlyweds, so it now qualified as an antique. The cute globe pencil sharpener was a travel souvenir from NZ. The newest members of this set up are 3 container gardens of the orchid, the pothos & the snake.  Included at top right is a landscape painting of a man & woman walking thru a tropical forest painted circa August 2008. Bamboo Forest, the painting, was my first complete art work in Watercolor. I remembered, my husband was on   out of town audit assignment, that day,  thus I was able to paint on a flow   and without interruption! During the Saturday showtime last week, I felt that this art work done during the class was still incomplete. At home, I retained the cerulean blue background of the wall and I like its chalky nature. However, I ad

ded a darker bottom on the interior. I enhanced the objects of the painting to give them volume and body. And past midnight, I rested!

Alan Winter 10

 I made some adjustments to the English arsenic mine and am done. On 8 1/2  X 11. 140# coldpress. 

A little sketch of the live oak in front of my neighbor’s house. When you sketch outdoors a lot of people comment on the fact that you’re arting.

I tried a real painting on Yupo but still missed the magnificence of the tree. I think it needs more of a sense of place and more height.  The sketch has the vertical and the painting has the horizontal  

 

Lots of greens. 

Corn by the side of the road.

 Had a good time putting in the corn on the right this morning.  Don't know why I was so prissy with the corn on the left yesterday.  

A painting comeback….

 I wish I had taken a before picture of this painting. In class, this is the painting that had the very black shadows across the mountains. Well, fortunately paynes gray doesn’t stain, so I scrubbed out the black shadows and repainted the mountains. I added more color to the sky as well and other places, and now I really like it.

This is the other painting I was working in class. I spent some time on it this morning, making sections lighter and darker and now I think I’m thru with this whole Southwest moment… both of these are 9 x 12.

This one is called Girls on Tanks. It’s 8 x 8. This one is for the new parents among us! Get that little girl outside climbing on things! Then one day when she’s 4 or 5, take her out to Cantigny , the MsCormick estate out in Wheaton, boost her up on the tanks, and watch as she climbs right up to the top and scares off all the boys and takes her rightful place on top of the American war machine. I know it’s a mixed message, but they have a great time. Those trees behind them are Grandpa and Grandma waiting with open arms to catch them….

The Platter Was Large…..The Painting is Tiny

 

A combo of raw and char broiled oysters with a glass of Blue Moon served outdoors on the bayou. 

March 16, 2024 — Elaine O.

Several things going on here. First, I've spent an inordinate amount of time over several days trying to fix this. I darkened the street at the bottom. Then I added some people and spent a few more days tweaking them. In the end, this is it. I may or may not attempt this again.

14" x 11"

Still in the Parisian mood, I began this landscape. It's Monet's Water Lily pond, as seen from a wisteria-covered bridge. It's more cheerful than my rain-drenched actual experience, but that may change.

11" x 14"

And finally... a bit of an Art Mystery! I saw the Picasso Drawing exhibit at Chicago's Art Institute. (It's worth the visit.) And, while here, I saw a series of 4 lino cut prints. As you can see, they're listed as "Still Life with Lunch"...

However, a closer look shows that Picasso called them "Nature Morte a la Bouteille." My very limited French lessons tell me this means Still Life with a Bottle, not Still Life with Lunch (which would be dejeuner).  Thanks, Duolingo! You've made me one of those know-it-alls who go around correcting art installations! 

Still, I was intrigued enough to research further—and the mystery deepens. The Met in NY has two of these prints and they call theirs "Still Life with a Snack." What?! Their website lists Still Life with a Bottle (the French version, as printed in the Chicago exhibit) as a secondary title for both, though. There are no visible written titles on theirs, just a Picasso signature.

So, what's going on? Is it a snack, a lunch or a bottle? Does anyone know anything about this series of lino cuts and what they're really called? As for me, I'm going with the title in Picasso's own hand.

Alan Winter 9 1/2

 Okay. I think I’ve taken most of your comments to heart. 

Darkened the interior screened in porch and outlined the leaves with ink  

Faded the pier. Darkened the wall and some shadows. Stronger values on the woman. 

Added detail to the ruins. Reworked the background cliffs. Did a little work on the foreground. 

Alan Winter 9

 Well, I’m sitting here in Mississippi looking out a window in the Green House in Ocean Springs across the road, and,thinking about Sara’s window work, I had to sketch the view. So, heeding your advice, I just layed in some paint while sitting in the recliner, let it dry, then added the ink and reworked the paint. Not what I’m looking for but I’ll keep trying. It doesn’t matter if the line is ink or paint-it’s still a line. 

I still didn’t get the freedom I was looking for but I’ll keep trying. Sketch on 5 X 7 cold press. 

Back to hot press. I more than sketched this beach scene in my new Mississippi 5 X 7 sketchbook. I’m not pleased with the values but am pleased with the composition. I’ll probably intensify the values at some point.

             

More ruins on 8 1/2 X 11 cold press. It’s hard to paint on Yupo in this humidity. This is an arsenic mine in England. Most of the mines have these cylindrical structures. I tried the unstructured technique on the bottom but the paper was too wet to get the effect I wanted. Go back to newbie’s first wet on wet study.                   

Romping in the Dunes

 This is Alan’s first cousin twice removed. He’s probably knee deep in sand. 

 

The end of another road

 Unsure of some of the elements in this one, but I will leave it to the gentle reader to point them out as I don't want to give any hints.

Prickly subjects…

Three souvenirs of my trip to Arizona— 8 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, and 9 x 12. I did these from photos after I got back home. Actually I combined elements from several photos, trying to develop interesting compositions. Not sure I succeeded, but I did capture those Southwestern colors to a certain extent….Also, I did give the portrait of my niece to her and she seemed happy with it. At least she displayed while I was there!

March 2, 2024 — Elaine O.

Very close to finished! I was trying for that quintessential Parisian building color; and then I noticed that I was way too light. Here, I've adjusted the values and moved down through the awning. All I have left to do is finish the cafe seating/street area (and a few other small bits). It'll be done next week for sure. Now I wish I'd stopped in for a bite...I'll have to go back, I guess.

14" x 11"

miles to go until I sleep

 Spending forever on that hill on the right.  Still looks a foot, but like I said, I have miles to go.