Figure Painting

I love to paint figures but often find them difficult to resolve in a completed oil painting. Haven't figured out why yet, but here is one effort.

By the Ocean demo

No painting is a no brainer even when I think it will be. I assume it will be somewhat routine, done a million beach scenes...and then the struggle begins. The woman on the beach proved much more difficult to paint...she started out too thick. The color of the light side was too light, too dark, too yellow...ahh! Still not sure how I feel but for now it's done.

Florida House

One of my older paintings. I started painting small until I became more comfortable with painting. There was a learning curve for me between the tactile feeling of being right on the paper with pastels and the "distance" created with a brush.

Papaya demo

This is the demo from class yesterday. I don't know how I feel about still lifes, or this one for that matter. I think it isn't completely done yet. I am changing my process a bit to make things looser. I work loosely, create color fields for each part of the still life, and carve them to create their shapes rather than do a detailed value study. Adding the pattern helped with the perspective.

Retrospective

One of my first paintings when I was switching to trying oils and not just pastels. I was attracted to the shapes and abstractness of the image. I believe this was actually oil on paper which is how I began. I felt in this way that the painting wouldn't be "too precious" and therefore I could forge ahead with any mistakes and not sweat it!

Free and Easy

Quincy, my "step dog" is a lively, loving dog whose tail never stops wagging. I wanted to do this portrait keeping the idea of movement, as it defines him. I chose to be spare and loose with brush strokes and not "finishing" the portrait to give the sense of a moment in time.

Making Changes

This image proved much more difficult than anticipated. I struggled with the design and the simplicity I wanted to create. I realized that the branch in the foreground was killing the painting. I attempted at first to diminish it but soon realized it needed to be gone completely. Then I decided to make it more abstract too. Not sure how I feel about the results but I think it's a good example of making big changes in a painting.