Orchids - Work in progress

Here I have worked on some of the petals. The two white petals will be next...

New painting in progress - Orchids

I am working on this huge painting (24" x 36") of Orchids. You can see the closeup details in the first 2 photos. I'll start painting the petals a shade of peachy yellow with lots of pink radiating veins.

Yellow Pansies - Final, SOLD

Yellow Pansies ~ 6" x 6" ~ Acrylic on stretched canvas ~ SOLD

Here is the finished painting. Did a lot of minor refinements and veins on the petals. Hope you like it.

Yellow Pansies - 3

I painted leaves and background. I layered the big pansy with orange veins. I can't wait to paint the center of the flowers.

Yellow Pansies - 2

This is how it looks so far. I am painting this in acrylic medium.

Yellow Pansies - 1

I started painting these beautiful pansies. This is a reference from the Chicago Botanic garden.

Garden Walk - Plein Air

Grandma's planter ~ 9" x 12" ~ Acrylic on canvas panel

After a nice vacation, I am back to blogging. I was invited to paint at one of the gardens selected for the Antioch Garden Walk. It was a beautiful garden with fragrant roses and a really nice host. After I wandered around the garden and took pictures of the roses, I decided on this subject for my plein air. I had never seen something like this before and did not really know what it was, but I thought it made a nice flower planter. (I was told by the host that it was her grandma's coffee grinder). I was attracted to the rustic beauty, the shadows, the bright red geraniums and the little pink blossoms swaying gently in the breeze. It was a wonderful day and the owner of the house also bought one of my flower prints. My thanks to all gardeners out there for bringing so much beauty into life!

Plein Air checklist

I enjoy plein air (painting on location) with a couple of artist members from the Lake County Art League. I have struggled to remember all the supplies I would need. So, I made myself a checklist of all the things I may need. Although I may not take everything on this list, it will help me decide quickly, based on location and weather conditions. Here is my list for acrylic or watercolor media.

1. Hat
2. Canvas/Paper
3. Paints - acrylic/watercolor
4. Brushes in holder
5. Water container
6. Bottle of water.
7. Mist sprayer (to keep acrylic paints wet and for other effects)
8. Palette (I use a disposable paper palette for acrylic)
9. Easel (I use a valpod which has tripod with a attachment for board and palette holder)
10. Sketch book
11. Pencil
12. Kneaded eraser
13. Paper towels
14. Artist apron
15. Drop cloth/table cloth
16. My reading glasses!
17. Camera - check battery, memory card
18. Business cards
19. Insect repellent, SPF
20. Nuggets of dark chocolate and water bottle.
21. Artcomber (This is a product I can't do without. It can hold all your supplies in and also doubles as a chair and has good wheels to roll on the entire bag)
22. Driving directions/GPS to the location.
23. Wallet with driver's license! (In the frenzy, we might sometimes forget this)

Well this is my list. Let me know what works for you.

Tulips - Final, SOLD

Tulips ~ 6" x 6" ~ Oil on stretched canvas ~ SOLD

Here it is...the completed tulips. I refined a lot of details. Mainly the leaves and repositioned some of the blue flowers in the background. Hope you like it.

Tulips - 5

The flowers now come alive with the details in the center. Need more work on the leaves.

Tulips - 4

Here I worked on the background. I did not want the bright yellow flowers in the background (from the reference picture) to compete with the main tulips. I used the complement blue flowers instead. I can't wait to finish the center of the flowers.

Tulips - 3

I started with water-mixable oils and began with the yellows first, then orange and then red. I blocked in the background with dark and light greens.

Tulips

My new work in progress. These look more like yellow tulips at this point. Sometimes I use the yellow underpainting to give warmth. These will eventually become reddish orange tulips. This first layer is in acrylics.

Tulips

I will be painting this next. Feel free to use the reference picture if you want to paint.

Plein air session - Kingfisher

"Kingfisher" 6" x 6" Acrylic on stretched canvas

On Saturday, I went to the Field Museum of Natural History with a group of artists from Lake County Art League for a plein air (painting on location) session. Even though my paintings on location never look finished, I keep going because I enjoy the whole experience. This time, I am very happy with the result. I guess sometimes you get lucky!

Purple pansies - Final, SOLD

Here it is, the finished piece. "Purple Pansies", 6"x6" acrylic on stretched canvas. As you can see, I have changed some elements from the original reference. Do you know which ones? You can write to me in the comments section as to what you think has been changed from the reference, and whether you like the change.

I will share the answer later.

Purple pansies

Work_In_Progress...

Purple pansies

Work-In-Progress... I am painting this on a stretched canvas 6" x 6" in Acrylic medium.

Purple pansies

I visited the Chicago Botanic Garden over the weekend, my favourite place in Chicago. I took this picture of purple pansies, so fresh and colorful! I will be painting this next. Feel free to use the picture if you like to paint it yourself. I can send you a bigger picture if you need one.

Peruvian Vase - Final

Here is the final version. Smoothed out the background, put highlights on the flowers and the lip of the vase, darkened the shadow under the vase etc., etc... Finally, signed it! I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed painting it.

The painting is 9" x 12" on Raymar canvas panel.